A STATE-OF-PLAY RAMBLE... (Patreon)

Hello you lot. Hope everyone is okay.

By now many of you will have seen the latest Lost Footage - and the latest video with Sanja and I. I really like both of them, even if their very different nature risks giving our audience the tonal "bends". 

Current plan is to keep going as we have been over the past couple of months; vids with the two of us, and Lost Footage as and whenever they get finished. We might be changing up the sort of videos we do with the two of us. We're not about to go all glossy - I've liked the ease of them being more lo-fi and relaxed - but we've started planning the next batch a bit more.  

It's odd to see how views have plummeted since Lockdown, and Lost Footage, despite the enormous amounts of work that goes into them - gets about half the views the other videos get. And, as I always mention, splitting the focus has definitely impacted on subs. But, frankly, they were struggling already, even before I started doing Lost Footage.

Partly, it might be due to the sheer amount of content that's being produced during this time. Partly, it might be due to not using the website to plug stuff.

Plus, I admit, I've not been promoting the episodes like I was pre-Lockdown, when we were doing Digitiser Deluxe. Somehow... I dunno... I doesn't feel right to be going "Look at my stuff!" right now (no offence to anyone who is, it's just how I feel about it), but also... it has made me realise just how much of our audience we inherited from Barshens and Cheapshow. 

Without any of those guys in the videos... it might be another reason why we've been getting fewer views. As well as the fact the videos are much more impromptu, and less a "show". 

I mean, I'm not really bothered. I said at the start of this thing that I want to make stuff for people who want to watch whatever I'm in the mood to make, if that makes sense. 

I don't really do it for the views, or to try to turn this into some sort of career. Not at my age... not when I already have one fairly demanding career. I seem some career-driven content creators trying to get ahead, get noticed, get clicks, and it seems so exhausting; I just don't have much in the way of ambition, or impetus, in that area. I guess I'm driven by creativity, primarily. 

It's like... the best relationships in life - be they romantic, friendships, whatever - are with people who accept you for who you are. If you're having to hide part of yourself, or you're pretending to be something you're not, for the sake of the other person... then it's not meant to be. I don't want to do that in any of my relationships in life, and that extends to the one I have with my audience. I don't want to play it safe, and tailor my content for the sake of numbers. 

Can you imagine if I had carried on doing Digitiser The Show, and it became massive, and then I was locked into just doing something that I found debilitating, catering to that hyper-critical audience...?

I don't want that. Sod 'em. 

I just want to make what I enjoy, for people who enjoy watching it. We deliberately made the Digitiser Value episodes more chatty, because I know that's what I want right now. I don't always want to watch or listen to things that don't acknowledge what's going on at the minute. And, candidly, I don't have the energy at this time to make something like Digitiser Deluxe. I find myself kind of squashed - for want of a better word - by world events, and I'm just doing what I'm able to do, and I'm happy that some of you appreciate it. 

The good news is... we're clearly doing something right, because Patron is doing better than ever. For me, that - the passion of the audience we have, whatever its size - is more a marker that we're making the right content. 

The next video we film will probably be me going through my old school books and reports. They're a disgrace, frankly, and I thought it might be funny.

I've also just started working on the next Lost Footage - The Later Years - though it may be a while before you see it, as I want to ensure it's as good as The Early Years. I'm glad so many people have responded to the music in the first part, as it's going to go even further in that sort of 'ambient comedy' direction. It's as much driven by Chris' music as it is the overall concept. 

I see these two eps as a calling card, in some respects; a demonstration of what Chris and I are capable of.  

After that... I'll take stock, then I think I'm going to attempt something that isn't part of Lost Footage. I don't yet know what it'll be, but I've a couple of ideas for something.

I'm sure, in some ways, the way the channel changes and mixes up the content is bad for growth, because people seem to prefer predictability, but I like how that makes it feel like a more traditional TV channel or on-demand service - with lots of different shows. You might not always like what's on there, but there's always a chance it'll come round again to something you do want to see. 

Right. That's it for now. Enjoy the eps, if you've not seen them already. And stay safe.

Paul