August Box Peek Update (Patreon)

I'm running a little late this month. I was hoping to have more done by the time I wrote this post but sometimes it's just time to write.

Production Update
Episode 9 is colored, cut, and ready to shoot, which is exciting, but that means I got half of what I wanted to get done in August. I believe there are two reasons why I goofed this up. Firstly, that "tricky visual element" I referred to last month became a series of visual elements. A visual sequence, if you will. I don't like to talk about this stuff because I imagine you watching episode 9 with your arms crossed thinking "okay when is the visual element?" but yeah I think I figured it out in a number of ways I'm not truly satisfied with but will at least function. Even then I'm still not sure any of it will work in the edit so just promise you'll forget we talked about this by the time you're watching the show.

Second, I think I had fewer Box Peek days this month than even E3 month. I knew my Germany trip would be a time suck but did not account for my susceptibility to jet lag, which dragged me out for a week. (I've mostly recovered at this point--I just wake up very early and get work done in the morning like some kind of insane adult.) The Phase 4 changes do make it so I'm doing one fewer Box Peek day a week, but I believe the remaining workload and time table is manageable.

Where we stand now--realistically I predict that September will be only Episode 10 art. I think October will be shooting and editing Eps 8 and 9 and November will be shooting and editing Ep 10. My old dream was to have Box Peek completely done by the time Death Stranding is out; my new dream is to have the Season 2 premiere by the time Death Stranding is out. My last resort goal and only thing I can promise simply remains Episode 6 uploaded by the end of 2019.

Behind-the-Scenes Thoughts
Cutting out the drawings can be the most chilled-out aspect of Box Peek production, but in specific moments this part can also be the most rewarding. One of the show's unique challenges is that my actors, props, and backgrounds are all permanent, and instead of a swift Control-Z I either cope with an imperfection or throw a whole thing away and start again. So there's this uncertainty throughout imagining, drawing, coloring, and cutting that the thing I'm making might not actually work when it's out here in the real world. A good example is the beard that Allio Vulla peels off in Episode 4--you just make a face and a beard and hope they work out in the end.

When they do work out it's this creative fulfillment I only get here. It's sort of like that rush of feeling like a little genius when solving a puzzle in a video game or clearing an escape room with just your friends, but there's a little something extra in it because the only one who created this problem is you. You're escaping your own escape room.

You'll see Episode 9 and have no idea what I'm excited about unless I point it out to you, and even then you'll be unimpressed, but that's fine because it's really these tiny eurekas that drive me when the work can feel mundane. Still, the thought that I have only one more episode left to figure out is one of relief. After this I'll be fine getting my little eurekas from Zelda dungeons for a while.

Look forward to another monthly update at the end of September. Just a few more of these left!

Thank you again for your patience and continued support,
Kyle