Hello everyone on Newgrounds. I have a relatively unimportant announcement, but I feel like making it anyways. It's kind of long though, so I expect few of you to read it all.
Anyone who watched and reviewed my last movie, Outlaw pt.1, I'm very grateful. It makes me very happy to see that a decent amount of people enjoyed it. However, I've been putting a lot of thought into whether I should continue with the series or not.
When it first entered the portal, I was positive that I would not in fact make a second. It's score was below a 4, and the first review I ever received was from a kid who gave it a 0, and said it was boring (it's been deleted I believe). Another one said they didn't watch the whole thing, stating the same reason. I've released a decent amount of movies to newgrounds, so that wasn't anything new to me. Most of my movies are below a 4 rating, with even fewer above 10k views.
That's fine with me however. Most of the movies were made a in a few days time, and were just for fun. I liked what I made, but never had a sense of pride in them. Not like I had for Outlaw. I spent countless hours working on the story, the plot, the dialogue, the backgrounds, the animation, music - everything. It was my first attempt at a serious movie and I put everything into it. I even re-recorded the entire movie's dialogue after I got a new mic (a socom navy seals usb headset) so that it would sound crisper. Even after I finished animating the movie, I spent two weeks editing the scenes to make it flow better, removing or shortening some and adding others.
After the animation was complete, I spent another week and a half creating the extras, and then another week to figure out how to code the movie to have subtitles - and have the subtitles work correctly with scene select (I almost let the bug stay, but decided against it). At that point it would take 5 minutes to edit one line of code, since the file size was 150+ megs, and I had over 800 symbols. I stuck it out though, and got the code working. Even after all that, I had to find a way to bring the size under 10 megs, and spent a day working on sound compression. All in all, I'd say around 6 actual months of work was put into the movie.
Needless to say, it was soul crushing to see it perform so poorly out of judgment. It got the daily first though, and I was happy with that. With hundreds of submissions that day, mine was first. A few days passed, and it began to sink in that it wouldn't make front page. After another day without it being there, I accepted that it would stay at roughly 5000 views and remain in obscurity.
I'm a graphic/interactive design student about to graduate college (even tried to get an internship at NG), so I always knew I could use the movie as a portfolio piece. No matter what happened on newgrounds, I knew this piece still had value to me. I could still use it to get into grad-school, even if no one on newgrounds cared about it. But then, low and behold, it was on the front page. My dashed hopes had been risen, and a larger audience got a change to watch it. However, the experience has been bitter sweet.
As its score rose, it made top 50. What a feeling it is to be on the top 50 of all time where I had seen all of my favorite movies reach. When it reached #3, I knew it was doomed. No movie save MGA2 and Waterlollies (or anything Adam Phillips) has lasted that high for very long. And thus, it was voted back into obscurity. As it stands, it still has a very good score, a lot of reviews, and a lot of favorites. However, I've reached a dilemma - a conflict within myself.
Any way I look at it, Outlaw pt.1 is a success. Many people have expressed their excitement for the story to continue. It had reached top 50, and many people favorited it - a small gesture that goes a long way. It reached 30,000 views. All this is great. However.
In my desire to make something else other than Outlaw during its long and arduous process, I created "How to Succeed on Newgrounds". It took me a few days to make it, and honestly thought it was going to get blammed. And now it has 110,000+ views and several awards. It was 6th over-all that month (a stinging blow), and still gets reviews and comments to this day. All this is great, and I love it. But at the same time I see that a movie that I spent a couple days on has gotten close to 4 times the views as something I spent half a year on. Granted they are two completely different styles and genres of movies, but the fact remains that HTSON is a much greater success. The only difference is that Outlaw is ranked 1/100th of a point higher. With Outlaw not making the top 20 this month, it has made me think very hard on where I should put my efforts. That's not to claim that it deserves top 20, but I still believe Outlaw is better than HTSON.
This rollercoaster ride that is newgrounds has made me reflect on my work, and think about where I should put my efforts. In no way am I saying that my movie is/was immaculate that deserves praise and demands respect. But it has made me think about if making a second is worth it. So much time spent on something that will garner very little attention over-all. The first one had a reason outside of newgrounds to be created. It is now a portfolio piece to showcase my work. The second one however would be strictly for newgrounds, and nothing else. While I still take great pride in the universe I've created and the movie I've made to portray it, part one didn't generate enough interest to justify a second. Movies like Tom's Easter Orgy have double the views (hilarious by the way). Most people just don't seem to care about what I've made - and perhaps it doesn't deserve it - but regardless, It's made me think long and hard if I should make a second.
That's not to say I'll never make a second, but if I did, it would be purely for the love of the story I've made and for nothing - or no one else. It will have to wait until graduation though. I've got a job and a place to live to find. However, I will indeed be attempting to enter the MGS Collab. I loved the Blamformers collaboration. I have other projects in mind as well. But as stated miles above, Outlaw Pt.2 is in limbo, and I will be thinking long and hard in the coming months on if I will complete it. So to those who are eagerly awaiting the sequel, you may have to wait a while. If the wait is unbearable, maybe I'll tell you what happens if you PM me. Who knows. Anyways, thanks to those who took the time to read this all, and stay classy newgrounds. You're a great community. Oh, and here's a small shot from the short I'm working on for the collab.
