# [[MFP43 - "Unpacking a Part of Myself" with Javed Sterritt]] Transcript
This transcription was completed on March 4, 2026 with the application MacWhisper on macOS. This was done automatically, without human input during the transcription process. The transcription used the Parakeet v3 model.
My hope is that by offering this transcription – however accurate it may be done by a machine learning/AI – will help you, the listener. I’d love to offer full, proper transcription some day, but that is not feasible at this time. Thank you for listening and reading. I hope you enjoy the show and that this document was helpful. Enjoy.
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Hello everybody and welcome to the Max Frequency Podcast.
*00:00*
I'm your host, Max Roberts, and I have the honor and privilege of returning to the show, Javid Sterr.
*00:02*
Hey Javid, how's it going, man?
*00:09*
Oh good.
*00:11*
Man, you're so good at those intros.
*00:12*
I think I said it last time, but like man, just it's a real craft, like just getting the getting
*00:14*
The rollout.
*00:20*
Just cons practice.
*00:21*
Lots and lots of shows.
*00:22*
You can go back a long time and find not good intros.
*00:24*
I promise they exist.
*00:27*
And they're on the internet.
*00:29*
Um I'd been this is what I sent you in the message.
*00:31*
I've been thinking of a lot about your work lately.
*00:35*
I was actually talking with it about with uh
*00:37*
Uh with Wizawa, I think you know Wiz, right?
*00:39*
Um Outer Wilds Club kind of guy.
*00:42*
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
*00:45*
And then I was just, I kept thinking about it.
*00:46*
I was like, I should just have Java back on the show to talk
*00:48*
about it because you've put out a lot of videos since the last time we spoke.
*00:50*
Um and it's been it's a lot.
*00:55*
But before we dive into all of that,
*00:57*
I didn't tell you this up front.
*00:59*
I did want to thank you.
*01:01*
Discord has a feature where if your friends have synced up their Spotify, you can see what they're listening to.
*01:03*
And one day I was like in my DMs or whatever and I saw you were listening to music and the art looked interesting.
*01:09*
It was a cat with a beer can.
*01:15*
And it was the album Greatest Hangs by Good Hangs.
*01:17*
And the song was uh I only do push-ups when I'm drunk, parentheses drinking lonely.
*01:21*
And I was like, that is so strange sounding.
*01:27*
Like name-wise.
*01:30*
I was like, I've gotta listen to this.
*01:31*
And then it just hit me like this wave of nostalgia.
*01:33*
Just this type, this type of music.
*01:36*
I was like, oh, this album's awesome.
*01:38*
And it only came out a couple years ago.
*01:40*
I was like, people are still making this kind of
*01:42*
Punk emo y music that just I love it.
*01:44*
So thank you.
*01:48*
Yeah.
*01:49*
Oh man, that's far out.
*01:49*
That if I've got a feeling when my Spotify
*01:52*
like summary, you know, at the end of the year comes out, sure.
*01:56*
It's gonna be mostly that record.
*02:00*
Like that's been my that one and another one uh by Bill Murray.
*02:03*
Um
*02:08*
Wikimedia kind of No no no no it's uh B uh B-I-L-M-U-R-I.
*02:09*
I think it's supposed to be like a bit of a joke on the Bill M.
*02:16*
Mari name.
*02:19*
Yeah.
*02:19*
Um w w it's a bit more of like a hardcore.
*02:20*
He he was like the guy that runs that band, he was the one of the guitarists from Attack Attack.
*02:22*
Which, if you remember them, they were like the the crab core band with the break the breakdowns and stuff.
*02:28*
Um
*02:36*
But yeah, good hangs.
*02:36*
That that one record is just so emo, so like post hard corey punk.
*02:38*
Oh, it's uh yeah.
*02:44*
It I told him I described it to my friend as it it reminded me of the game Emily Is Away, like that era of instant messenger.
*02:45*
But even though that obviously that record wouldn't be in there
*02:54*
Just like this is something that someone on, you know, AIM would be listening to while they're messaging their friend in high school about going to a party later or something.
*02:56*
It's like so good.
*03:04*
Yeah.
*03:05*
Well man, that was it was funny because like I I
*03:06*
Uh from my own experience, I appreciate now all the new music that I can discover through Spotify.
*03:10*
So I think for a while I was, you know, y maybe like mid-20s, I was really resistant to
*03:19*
like letting new music in because I had my favorites.
*03:27*
You know, I had my my favorite bands or my favor favorite records.
*03:30*
They meant a lot to me.
*03:33*
And I think the idea of every like everyone still creating stuff or like
*03:34*
There I don't know, like I I held my old stuff so closely.
*03:39*
Uh but there was a point where I'm like, I'm just gonna start listening to new music and I think when they started making those like suggestion playlists or like discovery playlists or something
*03:42*
I started playing them and then I started to really open myself up to new music and new bands and realized as well that so many bands are still making really good emo punk.
*03:52*
Music.
*04:06*
Yeah.
*04:07*
Like it maybe even better than what we were making 20 years ago.
*04:07*
You know what I mean?
*04:12*
Like really thought for, really good production.
*04:13*
Um
*04:16*
stuff and yeah so good hangs that that was one that stuck out to me from that that discovery playlist was like a really plus the plus lyrically
*04:17*
They there's a lot of nostalgia in their lyrics too.
*04:26*
So there there's one song Um I I watched all my friends fade out.
*04:29*
Yeah.
*04:34*
And that really that really stuck with me because that was one about
*04:34*
Um how your friendships start to just kind of dis like you disband a little bit as you get older and responsibilities take over, family, kids.
*04:39*
And it was quite s it's quite a sad song, and if you paint lyrics.
*04:48*
Yeah.
*04:52*
I've no, it hits the same way for me.
*04:53*
Yeah, it it that that's so that was actually the first song I heard from that band, and that stuck with
*04:55*
me.
*05:00*
It's like holy moly that they're putting into words like they're putting to music feelings that I've had for the the last like ten years.
*05:00*
Um
*05:08*
So yeah, man.
*05:09*
Yeah.
*05:10*
But it also just sounds like the stuff that we were listening to when we were all friends.
*05:10*
Like we were all listening to this music together and now we're totally off doing our own things.
*05:16*
It's
*05:21*
It's a very good album.
*05:22*
Uh I like it a lot.
*05:24*
So thank you for just casually listening to it.
*05:26*
And and thanks to Good Hangs for having very interesting names.
*05:28*
And uh album art because that enticed me.
*05:32*
Yeah.
*05:35*
Yeah, I think all all their album art is like cats doing stuff.
*05:35*
Like drawings of cats.
*05:40*
I'm just gonna check it out.
*05:42*
The last time you were on the show was January of twenty-three.
*05:43*
And let's see, you had just put out line by line the Majora's Mass translation documentary
*05:48*
Started the Hyrule Journals channel.
*05:56*
And so basically over the last 19 months, I I wrote it all out, but you've done a lot.
*05:58*
Actually a s more than I thought that you had done.
*06:06*
Um
*06:09*
uh in the last year and a half or so.
*06:10*
You put out five other uh high world journals videos, you know, the MO MMORPG
*06:12*
Which was really dope.
*06:20*
Uh the snowball effect of journalism, which I love.
*06:21*
People still say that it was inspired by that one cartoon, the Wind Waker.
*06:23*
It's great.
*06:28*
And then your unboxings and the notebook, all that cool stuff.
*06:29*
And then in August, it seemed, like August of 23, you joined the folks over at the Escapist.
*06:33*
You started cranking out some really interesting stuff over there.
*06:40*
I um
*06:43*
Like even like really funky stuff like that Stratos I totally forgot about it, but that Stratos Starfield series when you were like you guys were exploring what it would be like to like roleplay the role-playing game, which
*06:45*
Which was it's pretty clever.
*06:58*
Then everything I and this is this part of the stuff I don't uh know entirely, but like everyone left the escapist and formed Second Wind.
*07:00*
And second wind blew up huge membership, push and drive, and all that stuff.
*07:09*
So you join your s you're with the folks over there.
*07:14*
And then all these good blood videos are coming out across both of those.
*07:17*
You've got Sonic, Outer Wilds, Metal Gear, Allen Wick Pokemon cards, like all this stuff.
*07:21*
And then you're editing a lot of stuff.
*07:28*
By my count, you've done like 18 good blood videos, plus whatever editing and other stuff you're doing over
*07:31*
there and then of course your latest good blood video the box garden or hakuniwa uh video which was
*07:39*
Chef's Kiss So Good.
*07:50*
Uh it was one of those videos that after I watched it, I was then reading some interviews about Super Mario Galaxy and
*07:51*
And one of the devs was like, yeah, Miyamoto talks about it should be like a box guard.
*07:59*
I'm like, no, it's everywhere.
*08:04*
I see the box guard and quote everywhere.
*08:06*
Yeah, it's funny.
*08:09*
Hey
*08:10*
Yeah.
*08:11*
And so you've done a lot.
*08:12*
We both played Outer Wilds, which by the way, first of all, great way to talk about Outer Wilds without spoiling outer wilds.
*08:14*
Your video is the one I recommend to everyone.
*08:22*
Cool.
*08:24*
And then just like what a game, dude.
*08:25*
Holy smokes.
*08:28*
Far out.
*08:30*
I I it's it's cool that you bring this up because I I I think it was even just yesterday I was
*08:31*
someone had sent me a video of uh oh I don't want to spoil it how do we talk so hard um send me a video how to achieve this one thing a certain way
*08:37*
I could send you the link later.
*08:51*
Um.
*08:52*
But it was just like even watching a video of it
*08:54*
I my I found my s my heart racing.
*08:59*
Like it was just just watching this this playthrough again.
*09:02*
My heart was racing, dude.
*09:05*
I'm like, this has such a connection.
*09:06*
I I
*09:08*
I I knew I had a connection with it, but I didn't realize just how much it stayed with me.
*09:09*
Um just just watching this playthrough again, the music, the sound effects, watching them travel through these these um planets.
*09:15*
Far out, dude.
*09:23*
Yeah.
*09:25*
It I think it m is really making me realize how m how uh
*09:25*
Maybe close to art Outer Wilds is or that the perfect execution of what a game
*09:32*
could be, uh where the player is in control and yet even even, you know, the Hakoniwa concept
*09:41*
That is the almost the perfect box garden.
*09:51*
It is.
*09:54*
You can't help but think of it now.
*09:55*
Like when you go back and you look at it, you're just like each planet is its own.
*09:56*
Beautifully contained curated thing.
*10:02*
It's so Yeah.
*10:04*
I I was telling my dad, I'm like, I've never played a game like this before.
*10:07*
Yeah.
*10:11*
Where it's it's this pre it's this pre-crafted thing where there's a story that that unfolds through exploration.
*10:13*
Um, but it's all about leaving it up to the player to how they navigate and how they play with the pieces.
*10:22*
It's yeah, man.
*10:29*
pretty great maybe someday.
*10:42*
But I'll have to tell you how I solved a particular puzzle maybe after the show because it's I think it's pretty
*10:44*
Cool.
*10:53*
I guess before I I dive into my main question that kind of sparked this whole episode, how have the last nineteen months felt to you?
*10:53*
Because when I laid it all out, I was like, dang
*11:02*
Yeah, uh it's it's it's been a lot.
*11:05*
Um
*11:10*
Hmm, w where do where do I start with this one?
*11:13*
I I it's definitely doing something that I haven't done before.
*11:15*
So but but the the ultimate change is that I've you know mainly been working in the YouTube space.
*11:19*
space as a full-time thing, which was not what I was doing before.
*11:25*
Um before before say August last year, I was still doing f freelancing, working with other clients, um, doing video editing, design.
*11:29*
animation for for commercials, you know, and even little documentaries, just whatever came in.
*11:39*
Um but ever since the Escapist thing started and I
*11:45*
got on there, you know, kind of working with them at a more of a full-time capacity.
*11:49*
It's been pretty much the YouTube world full time.
*11:54*
Which is has its challenges, but it and also its joys.
*11:58*
I think it's easier to see the challenges because they feel like bigger things than joy does.
*12:03*
You know, like sometimes I don't think we recognize
*12:09*
recognize or appreciate joy for when it's here more, you know, it's it's just easier to recognize the hard times.
*12:12*
And so when I when I look backwards, I see the hard times more that than the joy.
*12:18*
Uh and it's a and th the hard times are only because I'm getting pushed in ways that I haven't been pushed before as far as how to write stuff faster.
*12:22*
How you know, so I I had my own series on on the Second Win YouTube channel.
*12:31*
Um and I appreciate those challenges, but it but it's like okay, how do I write things faster?
*12:37*
How do I produce things quicker?
*12:43*
Because now we're working for YouTube where it has its own rule sets with
*12:45*
algorithms and attention spans and um uh you know d delivering deadlines faster and and whatever.
*12:49*
So that so it has been challenging uh and I think in a way it makes me pr understand the parts to production that I appreciate.
*12:58*
more, you know, as far as um and we could probably talk about this as uh a little bit later, but but I uh I've said a few times now in other like streams that I've done
*13:10*
I really love the researching process, you know, mm-hmm and I don't like the video production stuff anymore.
*13:19*
I find that stuff to be a real drag just because I know how to do it, you know.
*13:26*
Where the research, the finding of the thesis, developing a through line, writing it, I love that stuff.
*13:30*
Uh and that's where the joy is for me.
*13:39*
But it's also sometimes feels cramped when I have to research and write in the space of five days, which is really hard.
*13:42*
I
*13:51*
I my brain doesn't naturally work that way.
*13:52*
I need to sit on something.
*13:55*
I need to simmer and just bathe in the material until I find what the thesis is, until I find the core.
*13:56*
And so to to brute force that is really hard.
*14:04*
Um, and that's been one of my main struggles over the the last year is like, how do I speed up this process?
*14:08*
Um
*14:16*
when my brain doesn't work that fast.
*14:17*
Yeah, I that's hard to do things 'cause I've done my fair share of just like a deep dive research.
*14:20*
project and uh I'll take months years to do something yeah and like I'm just reading and watching and just like you said bathing it's
*14:29*
in it and then it then you you produce the thing and sometimes when that that deadline comes of like I need to crank this out
*14:42*
I I find myself working more, like you do it more and more, and you I don't deadlines are a powerful thing, but they also suck.
*14:54*
Yes.
*15:04*
Cause it's like it's gotta get out.
*15:05*
It's gotta happen.
*15:07*
But I just wish I had more time.
*15:09*
Yeah.
*15:12*
Man.
*15:13*
I've I so many times I wish I could just clone myself so I could be researching twice as fast or like the one half of me doing the video production and the other half just kind of refining
*15:13*
the the the essay or or whatever.
*15:24*
Yeah to wh which is kind of a terrible thing to to dream of.
*15:27*
Again, how do I work faster?
*15:33*
You know, like, oh how do I work more?
*15:35*
It it's it doesn't feel like the right balance.
*15:38*
It should be
*15:41*
I don't know.
*15:43*
Maybe it's too, it's like, okay, how does half of me work and the other half play with my kids?
*15:44*
That's where I'm at, you know.
*15:48*
That it's
*15:49*
I have I have a two-year-old.
*15:51*
I want to spend she's only two for so long, you know?
*15:52*
It's how do I spend time with her?
*15:56*
I could come out in the garage and and play a game or read a paper or whatever, but it's
*15:57*
She's only home from daycare for so long, it's like I need to s I not need I need to, yes, but I want to spend time with her.
*16:04*
And it's this really h hard balance.
*16:11*
That's why I'm up so early or up so late.
*16:13*
It's like, well, this is the only time where it's they're asleep.
*16:16*
Yeah.
*16:20*
And that's it too.
*16:21*
Like that's the the other component is is
*16:22*
just having kids.
*16:24*
You know, like it's where, you know, I I am locked locked into a routine uh where I need to be off the computer to do
*16:25*
dinner and bedtime or and to drop my kids at school.
*16:37*
You know, it's and so how do how do I squeeze all that work inside a six, seven hour kind of bracket when school
*16:40*
schools on.
*16:46*
Um and and I don't want to have to work nights as well.
*16:47*
You know, it it does happen.
*16:51*
Like if if you're a creative in the creative industry or or maybe even almost any industry.
*16:52*
Like you just
*16:56*
And a working nights emails or w whatever.
*16:57*
Um and and I I like to think that it's only for a time.
*17:01*
You know, like maybe down the line I'll figure it out and I can be faster and
*17:05*
or outsource things better and so I can just be like m just be with the kids more or even just like watching a movie with my wife.
*17:09*
Sometimes you're like, well watch a movie and then at least for me I'll fall asleep.
*17:17*
I'm so tired.
*17:21*
Oh dude.
*17:22*
And that's the reality.
*17:23*
It's it's kinda I'm not sure I I don't want to say depressing.
*17:25*
Because I think that is just the reality of life that we're not told about often.
*17:29*
You know, like it's you know, we we're we're sold so many times.
*17:34*
Through the media, that a happy marriage looks like this.
*17:41*
You know, and where where in reality, when you've got kids and you you're working, you are just really tired.
*17:44*
lot and you will fall asleep and sometimes we'll be on the couch and we'll both be on a laptop not talking to each other but at least we're in the same room like
*17:49*
We're just we're in each other's company.
*17:58*
That's what it looks like sometimes.
*18:00*
That's that's what m like being in a relationship looks like.
*18:01*
That's the day-to-day.
*18:06*
That's the stuff you don't see on Instagram or you
*18:07*
YouTube or or what have you.
*18:10*
It's you squeeze in what you can.
*18:11*
Um we just actually today is our seven year anniversary, but we celebrated it earlier this week.
*18:13*
Oh man
*18:20*
So that was nice.
*18:21*
We were able to leave Eloise with the grandparents and go out of town for a concert and stuff.
*18:22*
So that was fun.
*18:28*
Um but later this week it'll probably be
*18:29*
Are you awake enough to watch 23 minutes of a show?
*18:33*
It's give and take, balance, all around.
*18:39*
So all of this, you've got your videos on the Good Blood channel, the Hyrule Journals channel, and second wind slash escapist for for a spell.
*18:42*
there.
*18:51*
And I just started wondering.
*18:52*
I wrote this back when your Metal Gear Untold video came out on The Escapist, which was kind of like your big debut working with the team, I think.
*18:54*
If I remember it correctly.
*19:03*
So the correction that was Metal Metal Gear Legend.
*19:04*
Legend was the original.
*19:06*
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
*19:09*
Alright.
*19:10*
My bad.
*19:11*
Yes, that's slightly fine.
*19:12*
Dyslexia Strikes Again.
*19:13*
Legends.
*19:15*
Uh over at The Escapist.
*19:16*
I wrote this at the time because I didn't understand you were you were hired there or whatever, but
*19:18*
But I wrote that uh the video was uh that this is the good blood good blood style I love, but interestingly published on the Escapist YouTube channel.
*19:22*
I'm happy they hired Java and let him do his thing.
*19:32*
Curious to see where the series goes.
*19:35*
A year later we know where it's going.
*19:38*
My question for you is like, what is a good blood video to you?
*19:43*
You have the videos spread out across the place.
*19:48*
But they're all unequivocally Java.
*19:52*
So like what is a good blood video to you?
*19:56*
Hmm.
*19:59*
I would love to know what you mean about
*20:00*
w a video being Java.
*20:03*
What what what do you mean?
*20:06*
Can I ask that?
*20:07*
What what do you mean by that?
*20:07*
It's your uh well it's your video style editing production.
*20:09*
You just
*20:13*
You are to me an after effects wizard.
*20:16*
I just the stuff you get you pull off there is great.
*20:18*
And it's those when I think of a Java video, I think of that table you have
*20:22*
have out in your office, that wood table.
*20:26*
Oh yeah.
*20:28*
The shots of the Game Boys or the magazine.
*20:29*
You're adding a practical tangible effect to things that are so digital.
*20:31*
And we even I listened to our last episode just for a little bit and you even talked about how you
*20:36*
like recreated a CRT shot, but you went through such lengths to make it seem as real and practical as possible.
*20:40*
So there's like a there's a real character and tangibility and just like texture
*20:47*
to everything.
*20:52*
And it's it's thinking about things outside of just their context as you usually do talk about video games, but it's
*20:53*
How does that interact with the rest of the world, the audience in particular, and other pieces of art?
*21:04*
Because
*21:11*
Your Last of Us video in particular, I remember even reaching out to you after that one.
*21:12*
That literally deals with how does it interact with the audience, but you pull it from this theater perspective.
*21:18*
and or Norse mythology with the God of War one and the the religious side and Ocarina of Times.
*21:23*
So you're you're pulling in context from the world as well and framing it
*21:30*
in I think a very interesting way with the it makes me look at things differently.
*21:36*
And and then your voice, obviously you're just
*21:41*
The way you talk.
*21:46*
Sounds like Javid.
*21:47*
It sounds like Javid.
*21:47*
Yeah.
*21:49*
Well, yeah, thanks thanks for that.
*21:50*
And I think it's uh when it comes to what like
*21:52*
when it comes to defining what a good blood video is, I think I'm on that same journey, like to to figure it out.
*21:56*
And I think it mostly comes down to
*22:02*
Uh I've got I've come to this realization recently that I think what I've been doing with every video is unpacking a part of myself or unpacking a part of my childhood.
*22:05*
to just try and identify what that is.
*22:17*
So for example, uh and this is why the research, what I was saying about the research process being so much more interesting.
*22:20*
Is because I myself am learning about myself and the human race and storytelling and how we interact with each other.
*22:28*
and what we see as important, what are the patterns in our species that we that we are drawn to.
*22:38*
So for for example, it was really started with it really started with Crash Bandicoot, I think.
*22:45*
What my one of my earlier Crash Bandicoot videos where I really started to look at what do I feel about this um this game.
*22:51*
What does it mean to me?
*23:00*
And I think too, like, uh I I've been trying to shed this this ego skin of um, you know, where I need to make it appear like I am
*23:01*
intelligent or that I am uh some some kind of uh th wh like thought leader.
*23:13*
Where where I where I and I I feel like b because I had that stance
*23:21*
during my like mid twenties, uh trying to make a name for yourself.
*23:26*
You kind of have to fake it till you make it.
*23:30*
Uh and I d I don't regret that a little bit.
*23:32*
Like I don't regret that too much, but I'm glad that I'm through that now where I just
*23:34*
I I don't care so much about like what people think of me.
*23:38*
I just want to try and put my best foot forward.
*23:42*
But uh yeah, but back then it was it was really trying to craft things
*23:45*
in a way that made me look intelligent.
*23:50*
Uh but then I as I kind of worked through that a little bit and and I was looking at Zelda, I got really drawn to
*23:52*
m challenging myself is like okay how do I like how do I move an audience?
*24:00*
What what what does a a story or like a video need where I can take an audience on a
*24:05*
journey.
*24:10*
And I think I started to be more interested in that part of storytelling.
*24:11*
Um and so I th I think it's hard to pin good blood down when uh it has shifted and moved so much over the the last ten years of like
*24:15*
the the crafts I'm using to to build something.
*24:25*
Um but I but I would say definitely now I'm what gets me more excited is like
*24:28*
a really interesting unexplored idea and then how to craft that in a really engaging interesting way um and if it has those components then then I'm happy
*24:35*
It sounds like you're driven by curiosity, right?
*24:49*
I think that's like the key thing in research is I mean you could just look up X thing on Wikipedia.
*24:54*
But the you actually wrote I remember you wr you wrote this in your behind the scenes little post about the questions no one the question no one asks Shigeru.
*25:02*
Mimoto at the top.
*25:11*
I it just just came to me.
*25:12*
Uh if you're reading this and you're probably someone who likes behind the scenes content, welcome.
*25:14*
You're just like me.
*25:18*
Um in that hello, that's me.
*25:19*
I I write these same sort of posts for each one of my bigger
*25:21*
videos or our projects.
*25:25*
Like I love the providing some form of context for how things were made.
*25:26*
And I feel like it's good to also reflect back on your own creative process and then you carry that stuff forward and
*25:30*
learn from your mistakes or anything like that.
*25:38*
But when I I don't know what I guess it's hard to pin down.
*25:40*
I guess it's the answer is just curiosity to answer my question, but
*25:48*
It's just like How do you sit there and you're looking at you're reading stuff?
*25:50*
Let's let's use Metal Gear.
*25:58*
You did Metal Gear Legend and it was like a a 13-14 minute
*26:00*
video about some of the historical context surrounding the Metal Gear series, like the real-world history.
*26:03*
Now you're doing a Metal Gear Untold, which from the trailer sounds more focused on Kojima.
*26:10*
Uh I imagine there's some sort of crossover here of like you were s in the pool of Metal Gear research and then something
*26:16*
There was more to tell there.
*26:25*
It seemed clearly you're making a video about it.
*26:27*
So how does that I don't know, how do you grab onto that?
*26:29*
What what keeps you there?
*26:33*
What pulls you into that?
*26:34*
Yeah.
*26:36*
Yeah.
*26:36*
That's cool.
*26:37*
I
*26:38*
One of the uh and and this still kind of connects to the point that I was talking about before was what interests me.
*26:40*
Uh wh when I so when I first started making YouTube stuff for the Escapist and and Second Win
*26:47*
And we tried we tried out what it would look like making faster, smaller content.
*26:53*
So uh when second win started up, I every two weeks I had I tried
*27:00*
to come out with a new good blood video for that channel.
*27:05*
What I found, I appreciated that time, that was really, really difficult.
*27:10*
for me um to r research, write, produce, animate, edit, do the voiceover for a video all by myself in two weeks.
*27:15*
And also hit that that quality and that thought provokingness.
*27:24*
of what I want to do was such a punish.
*27:30*
It was it was days and nights nonstop for like two months.
*27:35*
But I I ended up uh coming to the team and and saying, hey guys, I I can't
*27:39*
Keep this up.
*27:43*
Um, I'm actually not interested, and and this was a realization for me was I'm not interested in just creating content for the sake of like just putting something out.
*27:44*
uh where my heart is and what uh where I want to spend my time is creating
*27:54*
good s good stuff.
*28:01*
Yeah.
*28:03*
Cre creating creating work, creating stories where we can reflect a little bit.
*28:03*
We we're pushing the envelope.
*28:09*
We're c we're we're
*28:10*
uh planting new seeds in the minds of audiences, we're looking at human the human condition.
*28:12*
We're we're exploring patterns and mythologies and stories and um we're learning about ourselves as a species.
*28:17*
through this stuff.
*28:24*
And I and I think we can do that through games as well, contrary to popular belief.
*28:24*
But uh and so that that was um
*28:31*
Out of that conversation with the team was me saying, Hey, I actually love like developing experiences more than just content.
*28:35*
Um and they were like, Yeah, cool.
*28:45*
Well, do you want to do um like the
*28:46*
Metal Gear stuff again.
*28:48*
I was like, yeah, sick.
*28:50*
So I've been I've I've been on this for the last um couple of months.
*28:51*
And it's uh
*28:57*
Yeah, and and it took everything that I had researched before and everything I I had uncovered about Metal Gear and looking at Kajima.
*28:59*
and more about his story.
*29:08*
Um and this is the thing too, like the more you dig into it the and the more you know research that you do, the the more little nuggets nuggets you find.
*29:09*
You start to see the patterns.
*29:17*
And that's is something I'm especially interested in.
*29:19*
is is other creatives, directors and seeing their creative journey and uh, you know, you could probably relate Mac, but like
*29:22*
Like as a videographer and a creator yourself, you you can see creators in a different way than I think some other audience groups can.
*29:29*
Uh as far as I know the struggles that you would be going through to write and develop a story with a through line, uh, from cutscenes to dialogue to action to whatever.
*29:38*
Um, that stuff really interests me.
*29:49*
So all to say that now this this next video that I've been working on on Metal Gear is like definitely my biggest video.
*29:52*
It's like it's almost an hour of just really taking a tour through Kojima's work and exploring his his trauma and how he poured his trauma into his stories.
*30:01*
Um
*30:14*
So yeah, I hope that answers your question.
*30:16*
But yeah, it was definitely like a a journey realizing like what I actually appreciate about
*30:18*
Creating stuff.
*30:25*
I feel like every project has that in some way of like sometimes it starts out as like, oh this would be an interesting thing, let's dig it.
*30:26*
into it.
*30:34*
And then you start digging and you just kinda keep shoveling things out and you're like, oh and then there's like you said, a nugget or a treasure down there that you never knew.
*30:34*
was gonna be there to begin with.
*30:44*
And that's where that's where your story or the the the thing you want to share comes from.
*30:45*
It's like, oh
*30:52*
Could you bel can you believe that this was out here this whole time and no one knew?
*30:53*
Yeah.
*30:57*
Or no one talked about it.
*30:57*
Man, that that gets me going.
*30:59*
I think uh uncovering or like bringing to the audience
*31:02*
S some new thought, you know, some some new thing, or maybe expanding on an idea, so even with the my latest k uh shiger mimoto video
*31:07*
There's this one little nugget that's that's been there for 40 years that I feel like no one at least I haven't seen anyone really dig into to the depth that I would feel satisfied researching.
*31:18*
Um
*31:31*
And so I was like, screw it, I'm just gonna do it.
*31:32*
So then I d oh but man, like that that that too was like a punish to research because it was
*31:34*
It's Shigeru Mimoto and Hideo Kojima, th all the good stuff is in Japanese.
*31:41*
Yeah.
*31:47*
So it's like so I'll I'll find something.
*31:47*
Usually my pro s process is like I I'll find like an interview or I'll even order a magazine.
*31:50*
Not knowing if there's good stuff in there.
*31:56*
I'll get the magazine and take some screenshots, do like a Google translate and see if there's anything interesting.
*31:58*
And then I'll get it properly translated from some friends that I have.
*32:04*
And in the end, there might not even be anything to use.
*32:08*
You know, like it's just that process over and over.
*32:10*
There's like a kind of a
*32:15*
Like a high low, like a thrill.
*32:17*
I mean we talked about this last time, like the thrill of the hunt.
*32:20*
It's like, will this be the piece?
*32:22*
And d I mean, it's kinda like outer wild.
*32:24*
It's like
*32:27*
Like, well is going here gonna bring information forward to continue solving puzzles?
*32:28*
The highs, the lows.
*32:34*
It all comes back to outer wounds, I guess.
*32:36*
I'm I'm like I'm a little curious about the decision or uh the mentality behind
*32:41*
Branding it as good blood everywhere it's gone.
*32:49*
Like at the Escapist, the little good blood, what is the little character there?
*32:52*
He looks like a little forest creature.
*32:56*
Yeah, I I think I just call 'em like a forest sprite.
*32:59*
Okay.
*33:02*
Like for a sprite.
*33:02*
Something something that feels mythological, mystical, uh magical.
*33:03*
Yeah.
*33:10*
So, you know, he his little swirl pop-up and the same thing over on Second Wind.
*33:11*
Like, it's not just a an escapist or second wind project.
*33:16*
It is
*33:20*
It is good blood, like stamped.
*33:20*
Well, yeah, what's the decision there?
*33:23*
But then Hyrule Journals is Hyrule Journals, but that's as you put it again
*33:25*
to the Zelda community.
*33:30*
So like what's the thought behind that?
*33:31*
Yeah, I um I th that was a challenge because I feel so close to good blood that I don't want to just
*33:34*
for lack of a better word word, like whore the name out.
*33:43*
Um to just just for the sake of it might get clicks or something.
*33:47*
something.
*33:52*
Um so it was agreed to to make it good blood.
*33:52*
And I think on their end, uh when they first hired me was well let's hire good blood and have the good blood name.
*33:56*
on some of our content to draw more more eyes to the channel, right?
*34:02*
Um and but then it was we've part of the conversation we had um even when I was making that short form content
*34:06*
uh really quickly was feeling really unsatisfied and really uh not wanting to put my brand on it because I was
*34:15*
wasn't satisfied with it.
*34:23*
So part of the conversation I was like, hey, can I can I not put my good blood branding on this?
*34:24*
Can we change the name to something
*34:30*
else.
*34:31*
Originally I had like maybe Storycraft or something.
*34:32*
I even did some diff some more branding for this new name.
*34:35*
Um just because I wasn't satisfied, but we ended up going with like, okay, let's just let's just do some long form
*34:38*
um content instead.
*34:45*
So I feel really I feel a lot better about what I've been producing, ev even though it's been it's such a big project.
*34:47*
Um
*34:55*
Um it's I feel a lot better about bringing this kind of experience to to audiences.
*34:55*
uh rather than just like I just I can I put it like I I don't wanna make junk food.
*35:04*
I wanna I wanna make like a really good meal.
*35:09*
Uh I I don't wanna just like be giving people fries and even though it's delicious.
*35:11*
for in the moment.
*35:16*
Yeah, sometimes fries are delicious.
*35:17*
Nothing against fries.
*35:20*
But like I I I want to make you know I've been
*35:23*
Spending so long so many years trying to perfect these meals, the these uh working with these ingredients to create a delicious meal that that uh people
*35:27*
will remember.
*35:39*
I don't want to just jump then to making fast junk food stuff out of packets content.
*35:40*
Um so I feel really good about this this
*35:47*
next one it's really long really thought provoking hopefully and and that's the other thing about YouTube is like hopefully it t it clicks ho oh hopefully it it gets seen.
*35:49*
Um otherwise it's like four months for no for no reason.
*35:59*
For for a delicious meal that no one tastes, you know.
*36:02*
Right.
*36:06*
That's actually um
*36:06*
How do what's your perspective on like the sheer volume over at Second Wind?
*36:08*
Like they're cranking out stuff every day, uh, it seems and so like things just naturally get pushed down.
*36:13*
And you're of course in the YouTube space playing with that algorithm, I'm sure the Metal Gear video will pop on some level.
*36:20*
It's Metal Gear.
*36:26*
Um, and it it is you, quite frankly.
*36:28*
Like you have a re you know
*36:30*
know a reputation of this bar of quality and things.
*36:32*
So like I'm sure it will resonate on a on a level, but like it will get pushed down, you know.
*36:35*
In two weeks.
*36:41*
Yeah.
*36:43*
What do how do you uh the meal gets pushed down?
*36:44*
I don't know.
*36:48*
How do Yeah, yeah, yeah.
*36:48*
No, exactly like I don't you know.
*36:50*
Yeah.
*36:52*
I i I think it is hard, especially when, say for my own channel, I'll create a video and it it'll be at the top of the list.
*36:54*
for two years.
*37:03*
You know.
*37:12*
And I think like over on my channel is like hopefully what people are getting are just are the meals, th the delicious, tasty chef meals.
*37:13*
Um and I think second win too
*37:21*
Yeah, dude, there are there are some really good things about what Second Wind is doing, I think.
*37:27*
There's a big it feels like such a community.
*37:33*
over there.
*37:36*
And I think community is the point.
*37:37*
Um and so you've got community, you've got patrons um who have access to special content, and then you've just got daily videos coming out, whether it's a review, whether it's Yahtzee doing it
*37:39*
thing.
*37:50*
But I feel like it's just keeping people in the house.
*37:51*
Keeping keep keeping everyone in the house um where conversations are still going, everyone's having drinks in the corner, or playing pool over at the pool.
*37:55*
table.
*38:05*
Um it feels like uh actually I think I think th something we did talk about at Second Wind when I was asking questions was like I think it is supposed to feel like a pub.
*38:05*
You know it's supposed to feel like
*38:16*
Like the place you come you come to for a drink that feels like your second home.
*38:18*
That feels like uh like a safe place.
*38:22*
And so s so I think that's what second wind is.
*38:26*
Uh it's a more of a community-driven thing rather than a
*38:28*
a specific creator uh driven thing, which then kind of brings up the friction where where I come in where my stuff is very creator.
*38:31*
heavy where where it's just me one person creating a a really big thing for to bring to the pub
*38:42*
And I I sometimes I feel like there's some friction there that doesn't quite work.
*38:50*
Um But I like that we're experimenting.
*38:54*
You know, I like that there's like an experimental thing.
*38:57*
about it is like is this gonna work plus like maybe it's fun everyone in the pub every two months some big random dinosaur smashes through the building
*38:59*
And that's kind of interesting, and everyone talks about it for for the next couple of weeks.
*39:09*
Maybe that's what good blood is, the big dinosaur with these big 50-hour-long videos in a sea of five to ten minute content.
*39:14*
Yeah, so you've you've touched on something real there.
*39:23*
Like there is definitely a friction that I've been trying to figure out um where where do I fit into into the grand scheme of things.
*39:26*
Um
*39:32*
Um yeah.
*39:33*
I was just watching I don't know if you're familiar with this, uh his name's Matt, but his channel's name is I Finished a Video Game.
*39:35*
And he does these
*39:43*
up to eight hour I mean these are like four to eight hour retrospectives of a series and he will play every video game in a in a series.
*39:46*
Uh he just finished one on X-Men.
*39:56*
All these X-Men games
*39:58*
games and it's great.
*39:59*
Six hours or whatever.
*40:00*
That's like my cooking dinner companion, you know?
*40:01*
Um but he just talked about he also does these like bot
*40:04*
uh post release uh deep dive videos and just kind of like digest the whole process.
*40:09*
But he talked about how he's like
*40:16*
And he he was um he's been fighting cancer, so like that was also a part of it, but it he has these huge gaps between his videos.
*40:18*
Um and the algorithm has like, you know, doesn't like that, so to speak.
*40:25*
speak.
*40:31*
And so he's trying to figure out how he can put out shorter things, shorter being an hour or two for him.
*40:32*
That still has the I finished a video game quality, but is engaging and keeps the consistency up.
*40:41*
And so consistency is not a problem at second wind in the sense of just output, but it's how do I he's trying to figure out how do I
*40:49*
I don't know.
*41:00*
He's like the inverse of what you were doing.
*41:01*
You were putting out more rapid Good Blood videos, but that didn't feel you there were the French fries.
*41:02*
And he's like, I need to put some fries out a little bit
*41:10*
I it feels like this tension between a creative individual who wants to make something that they're just they put everything into.
*41:13*
And I also gotta get paid type, you know.
*41:24*
For him, that's his job, and uh obviously for you as well, this is your type of job.
*41:29*
So it's
*41:33*
That's a struggle, man.
*41:35*
I don't know as a as a creative.
*41:36*
It I don't even know if there's a question there.
*41:38*
That's just a s that's tough.
*41:41*
Well I to be honest, I I reckon that's a problem that we've been
*41:44*
dealing with for centuries.
*41:48*
How does an artist get paid?
*41:51*
Um Yeah.
*41:54*
And I I don't mean to call myself an artist, that's for someone
*41:56*
else to to do but I'll call you an artist.
*41:58*
There you go.
*42:01*
But but but I but I think when when you're trying to create at least a at least a creative person.
*42:02*
I feel like that's all that's always been the struggle.
*42:08*
Um so it w inside Second Wind, as I've been building out this this longer video, I still do
*42:11*
editing and all I've I've done all their branding.
*42:17*
So like I th there are there are other things that I contribute to.
*42:20*
But but it is hard though.
*42:24*
And I think as someone who is such a people pleaser
*42:26*
I do worry about what it looks like f from the other side of this big production that I'm doing where
*42:30*
I will just go hide in my hole for a week or two with no report.
*42:39*
Uh because I'm working so hard on this thing.
*42:44*
I'm doing the voiceover and the editing and the animation and the design.
*42:47*
sign and um I I start to feel guilty about not looking like I'm working on on anything especially because we're a team.
*42:50*
right.
*42:58*
Yeah.
*42:58*
Um so that's the other that's the other tension part of it.
*42:59*
Um but but I do pop out and I'll do design work and I'm doing all that stuff.
*43:02*
for them.
*43:06*
So it does balance out, but there definitely is that feeling of like, I'm getting paid, but no one's heard anything from me for a week or two.
*43:07*
Um
*43:16*
So it's yeah, it's hard.
*43:17*
And and I think too that the l the landscape's changing where to be
*43:19*
On one hand, you can be a creator full-time now.
*43:27*
You know, like with with the introduction of the internet and social media, there are creatives that are doing this.
*43:31*
Full time.
*43:37*
Like and they're making a living from this.
*43:38*
The other side of it are the creators who don't want to, for lack of a better word, sell out and be a content creator.
*43:41*
They just want to be an artist.
*43:49*
artist.
*43:50*
You know, and I think that's a tension we're dealing with now where okay to be a successful artist you kind of need to be a content creator as well.
*43:51*
You need to be doing your daily posts and
*43:58*
your updates and have a social media presence and all that stuff.
*44:00*
I I I hate that stuff.
*44:04*
I Me too.
*44:05*
I that's just not me as a person.
*44:07*
I really suck at it.
*44:08*
I feel like it lessens the integrity of what I am creating.
*44:10*
Um and again, it it's fast food.
*44:15*
It's fast food versus the chef's meal.
*44:18*
It's exactly the same thing.
*44:20*
Yeah.
*44:21*
I I think one day I woke up and realized like all the opinions and things that I had tweeted out over the years.
*44:22*
I was like, that is
*44:31*
hundreds of longer, richer, more thought out blog posts.
*44:33*
And like and I was just giving that away.
*44:38*
for free, so to speak, or trying to pursue some sort of social media presence to like, you know, boost a number here or put a pot, you know, raise a podcast.
*44:41*
subscription up there.
*44:52*
I've like, I've never made a cent.
*44:53*
Well technically, I think earlier in YouTube I have like $70, but at the time Google only paid out every hundred.
*44:55*
So I like never actually got
*45:03*
paid out but I've never made a cent, you know, this type of stuff.
*45:04*
And it's like and but the the the social media of like I you know I'm I'm off Twitter in that sense
*45:08*
of like I'm not out in there posting, I don't I'm not scrolling anymore.
*45:18*
That was a early having a kid decision.
*45:22*
Was like, I don't want her to grow up with me doing, you know, scrolling all the time.
*45:25*
Um but you know, it's that dopamine hit in our brains and it's Yeah.
*45:30*
But I don't I don't like the social media or the YouTube shorts like to
*45:36*
you know push out I don't know.
*45:41*
It's it's too much for me.
*45:44*
Well I I think what it is uh my my my own uh my own feelings on this
*45:46*
Uh and something that I'll be thinking about and might be still a bit underdeveloped, but it uh I feel like when it comes to knowledge, we have never been as knowledgeable as we are now.
*45:55*
When it comes
*46:06*
comes to knowing about skills, other cultures, people's problems, uh whatever.
*46:07*
We're knowledged up, but but I think we might be the less w the the least wise.
*46:17*
When it comes to having real experiences, reflecting on things, uh re reflecting on an experience where we learn from that, or uh reflecting on s something that someone has told us.
*46:25*
us which was what w used to happen twenty years ago.
*46:38*
Like the only knowledge that we had was through the people around us, right?
*46:41*
Before the internet came and we could look up the answers to every question.
*46:45*
Um and so w when I'm scrolling, I feel like I'm getting more knowledge, but not more wise.
*46:50*
And I feel very incomplete.
*46:58*
I feel very dissatisfied with
*47:01*
my scrolling um because it's just it's just brain rot knowledge that I don't need you know like I I don't need to know about this guy's
*47:03*
like gross fungus toenail or like I don't know, just just stuff I don't need to know about.
*47:15*
Like I I I I think on one hand it's it's good to be more knowledgeable about the world.
*47:21*
And I I think one of the good things about it is like
*47:25*
We're becoming hopefully more tolerant because we're seeing more people's experiences of what it's like to live as them.
*47:28*
That's good.
*47:36*
But we're not experiencing them.
*47:37*
We're not having real conversations in real life.
*47:39*
with those people.
*47:41*
So I'm I'm going uh I'm diverging a bit here, but all all to say like when it comes to social media going off what you said, like I feel less satisfied now because I just see I see the hole that I that I'm left with of like
*47:42*
Like, I'm just no more wiser.
*47:55*
I I'm no more better as a as a human being.
*47:57*
Yeah, it's not fun.
*48:00*
When you sit and think about it.
*48:02*
But sometimes I guess if you just sit there and eat the fries and don't think about what's in them, maybe
*48:03*
Maybe you'll walk away with something.
*48:08*
I don't know.
*48:11*
Um to kind of like key in on the production thing, one of the parts of your projects I find so interesting is
*48:12*
Is how long this research process and production cycle takes.
*48:22*
You I think talked about the Hakoniwa video taking a couple years.
*48:26*
I think it even was originally a Hyrule Journals
*48:33*
video before it it elevated to good blood main channel status.
*48:35*
Um I think I don't know how long Ocarino got a war was.
*48:40*
Like there they're there long production cycles as my
*48:44*
point, how do you stay engaged with that?
*48:47*
Like at some point you have to cut off the research, you gotta write, edit, and produce the whole thing.
*48:49*
How how do you stay engaged over this these long periods of time?
*48:54*
Oh dude, your questions are so good.
*48:59*
Uh because they're exactly things that I've be trying to work
*49:02*
Work out as well.
*49:06*
Uh how do I stay engaged?
*49:07*
I you know what it is?
*49:10*
It it's um I need to honor the past version of myself that
*49:11*
that poured blood and sweat out for this video.
*49:20*
So like I'll get to say like the the the research and that part's really exciting the research and the writing and I'll have a script that's like 90% done.
*49:24*
I'll start the production
*49:33*
which isn't as interesting um because it definitely gets to the point where I've been listening to because I do the voiceover I'll be listening to myself
*49:34*
for months.
*49:44*
You know, like it's I'm listening to the same sentence for months, uh, as I try and craft this full thing.
*49:45*
And I think the only way that I can get to the end is being like, I can't trip at the finish line now.
*49:52*
Like I need to just
*49:57*
brute force this last bit or like um and so it's it's it is painful that there's a painful part to it uh and especially my brain uh as I grow and I learn more about myself I become way more detached
*49:58*
when I just feel like I don't believe in something or I'm just not interested.
*50:12*
And after the research and the writing process, I'm not that interested.
*50:16*
anymore.
*50:20*
I I've I've done the learning.
*50:21*
I've sucked out all I can from from this thing from all the research and and like trying to find my thesis.
*50:22*
I I've done the part that I kind of set out to do but now
*50:29*
To make it all worth it and also the desire to share it with people.
*50:33*
I need to now make a video about it.
*50:37*
And now I I need to s record my voiceover.
*50:39*
I need to start collecting footage and s begin the design process.
*50:41*
Um and so like it definitely gets to the point where it's like the only thing pushing me through is trying to uh honor past Jarved's hard work.
*50:45*
I like that.
*51:00*
I've never I've never thought of past me like that before because I'd I'll get the same way where it's like this
*51:00*
The research part is the fun part.
*51:08*
But then you have to make the thing.
*51:12*
And sometimes that's not fun.
*51:14*
And like I have a uh I was
*51:17*
I guess back in twenty twenty, yeah, right before Last of Us Part Two came out, I wrote this huge history basically on the game's development.
*51:20*
It was it's basically the naughty naughty dog's history during the PS
*51:28*
for so like their whole chronicle the whole thing some like 18,000 words and I probably should have made it a video because I feel like
*51:31*
You can't get people to read 18,000 words, but you can probably get them to watch a hour and a half YouTube video.
*51:43*
But I've thought about I poured a lot into that.
*51:50*
And
*51:54*
And then obviously that was before the game came out, right?
*51:54*
And so since part two came out, a lot has happened.
*51:58*
Uh both at the studio, the franchise, and then just socially with the game as well, as you've talked.
*52:01*
talked about.
*52:07*
And sometimes I think like, I need to go back and apply what I've learned and observed now to go but then I think about going back into that.
*52:09*
I'm like, that doesn't sound fun.
*52:19*
Yeah.
*52:22*
But I did do the work.
*52:23*
You know, there's more work at more research work, which would would be fun, but it's it's the thinking of
*52:27*
doing it all again.
*52:33*
But maybe I need to honor past Max more than think about what would be comfortable here now or just sitting on
*52:34*
There's a lot.
*52:44*
Yeah, and it's prob probably a balance of like the the only way my my latest um the question no one asks me a murder
*52:45*
video.
*52:54*
The only reason that came out was I still I really did believe what I would what I was presenting was new.
*52:55*
Um, you know, I look looking at my Google Docs, I've got a few hundred half-written things there.
*53:03*
You know, like just little ideas or little bits that I think are interesting.
*53:10*
Um
*53:15*
And and almost completely finished essays, but the content, the thing I'm talking about isn't as
*53:16*
exciting and so I think it's that heart like the a little bit of a balance between I still believe in what I'm saying and also honoring
*53:24*
all the hard work that I've done.
*53:33*
I think if it has those two components, then it's worth pursuing.
*53:34*
Mm-hmm.
*53:39*
I like that.
*53:40*
That's a good way to think about it.
*53:41*
You you had a stream recently, which I watched.
*53:44*
Uh I went back and watched the replay.
*53:47*
I w couldn't catch it at the time.
*53:49*
It was it was live or whatever.
*53:51*
But you were doing a little bit of your title intro.
*53:52*
I think it's
*53:55*
the title intro is early on in the video for the Metal Gear one.
*53:56*
And you talked about how you at least said at one point, I guess around eight
*54:00*
18 minutes and 17 seconds, according to my notes.
*54:05*
Uh you said, My joy and my priority is good production.
*54:07*
And like you hold on to those details and you're
*54:11*
I mean, throughout that particular stream you're like lining things up with this snake uh graphic you have and the the smoke, which did look really good by the way.
*54:15*
The smoke was pretty dope.
*54:23*
What is it about those details in that good production
*54:25*
That like even though the per the production may not be where you're pulling out, you know, it's not as thrilling as the research part, but you still are wholly dedicated to delivering
*54:28*
like a very polished product.
*54:41*
What what is it about those details that like you hold on to and compels you?
*54:45*
I I think big pic big picture it's what I think is memorable
*54:54*
And I think what the kind of content that stays with people is two things.
*55:02*
a story and artistic artistic integrity.
*55:11*
And that that's kind of again I
*55:17*
I'm I'm I'm I'm being throwing a lot of kind of new ideas that I myself have been having at you.
*55:20*
But another recent concept that's been in my mind
*55:25*
is I think we are are drawn to artistic integrity.
*55:30*
Um where clearly there's been some thought put into this.
*55:36*
And so if there's thought put into this
*55:39*
I'm more likely to trust this story.
*55:41*
I I think I'm more likely to trust where the creator wants to go with this.
*55:44*
And I think there's something there around um
*55:48*
Uh again it's like going back to our metaphor of the the chef's meal, it's like what does it look like on the plate?
*55:52*
It could taste freaking delicious, like the best thing you've ever had, but if it looks like sh you you're not you're not gonna want to eat it.
*55:59*
And so I think again it's just honoring the journey and honoring the meal, uh presenting it visually as something that looks appealing.
*56:07*
And something that might uh the audience or the person tasting it might think about later in a couple of weeks' time.
*56:17*
Um
*56:25*
Yeah.
*56:26*
That's so that that's really it.
*56:27*
So it's uh is I think I I enjoy that part of production as well as like what's something that's
*56:29*
Uh visually interesting and maybe unique to look at.
*56:35*
Something that when people think of that video, they're gonna think of that visual.
*56:39*
Um
*56:43*
And something that feels trustworthy.
*56:44*
What is the You've talked about it throughout this this episode.
*56:47*
You know, you're the guy, you're writing, you're producing, you're designing.
*56:52*
you're editing uh one man show ostensibly.
*56:55*
The design part.
*57:00*
I it's like I I think I I think that there's a saying that's roughly like this, like you know
*57:02*
You don't people don't like have good design until they go out and and learn about good design.
*57:09*
Like the hotel we just stayed at, for example.
*57:14*
I walked in and the first thing I noticed was that the wallpaper didn't line up.
*57:17*
Like they just
*57:21*
Mismatch wallpaper.
*57:22*
And then the the bedside lamps.
*57:23*
There was no switch anywhere.
*57:26*
I could not find a switch.
*57:28*
And then as we're checking out, like we're leaving, I like put my hand on it to unplug, because it had a USB port, unplug a cable.
*57:30*
And when I touched the base, the light turned on.
*57:39*
Cause it was like somehow touch sensitive.
*57:42*
I was supposed to infer that.
*57:44*
Like that's bad design.
*57:45*
Now in a video, it's you know, you could do
*57:48*
Windows Movie Maker style wipes or or whatever and and maybe if use those effectively.
*57:52*
They it can't it can look good.
*57:57*
I mean they're Windows Movie Maker wipes for a reason.
*57:59*
Star Wars uses them.
*58:02*
Where do you draw I guess design?
*58:03*
It's just years of learning and observing design and then what to apply.
*58:05*
It's just I guess it's just you
*58:10*
you acquire it over the years, right?
*58:12*
Yeah.
*58:15*
Yeah.
*58:16*
This is a this might be a great way to bring things full circle a little bit talking
*58:18*
about social media was I f I follow a lot of artists.
*58:24*
Uh so if you looked at what a Java algorithm looks like
*58:30*
It's skateboarding and like design or like uh or little animations, after effects, whatever.
*58:33*
And so I think I I I bookmarked them.
*58:42*
And so I think from a knowledge point I have been collecting quite a lot.
*58:44*
But where it changes is when I again do the wisdom thing where then I appl try to apply it to what I've learned to something and that's where the real wisdom
*58:51*
Because some some things just don't work.
*59:00*
Like I these two cool ideas that I saw, they don't work together.
*59:02*
Um and so I think it has been just years of of just
*59:06*
Just trial and error.
*59:09*
Like I I'm completely self-taught, which I think has slowed me down to some degree.
*59:11*
Um, but but but I think too, and I was reading this book, what was it?
*59:16*
Um
*59:20*
It was the author of Moby Dick.
*59:21*
He uh hang on, what's it uh Herman Melville.
*59:24*
The author of Moby Dick, I was reading the first like kind of uh introduction to his work, and I connected so much with his journey because he dropped out of school really early.
*59:29*
And he never went to university.
*59:43*
He was a sailor.
*59:44*
But he just started writing his experiences being a sailor.
*59:46*
And they turned into novels.
*59:51*
And the first few were okay because they were m like really sexy novels.
*59:54*
And everyone wanted to read about his like sexual escapades.
*59:58*
And so they sold really well, but then he read Shakespeare and he was like, holy sh, this is friggin' amazing.
*01:00:02*
Like, uh I can't believe I've never discovered Shakespeare before.
*01:00:08*
And that really impacted his work and his way of viewing the world and writing.
*01:00:12*
Um and so I think it just came down to experience.
*01:00:16*
But but one thing that I loved about
*01:00:20*
the the writer's description of Herman Melville's journey was he was he's he stud he studied at the universe of life.
*01:00:23*
And I was like, oh, I love that.
*01:00:32*
Like and and I think that's been my journey too.
*01:00:34*
Like of just being I I sometimes I think it's good if you're not trained, if you if you don't have someone training you in the ways of design.
*01:00:36*
design because then I think sometimes you're locked to the skills that you got passed down to you.
*01:00:44*
But if if you teach yourself, there there are no boundaries.
*01:00:51*
There there's no rule sets in place.
*01:00:54*
And so I think that's been really good for my journey, even though it's been slower, is to try all these different things.
*01:00:56*
And I still don't think I'm very good, but like I think I I think I'm getting there.
*01:01:02*
You're very good.
*01:01:08*
You I mean to uh more full circle stuff, like your obviously your work has inspired mine on some level.
*01:01:09*
I made I've made three video essays is what you'd call them this
*01:01:16*
year.
*01:01:21*
Goal was just to make one.
*01:01:22*
I've made three now.
*01:01:23*
But the first one I definitely wanted like an homage.
*01:01:24*
And I have this I talked about uh basically my guide writing work with
*01:01:26*
And I did a bunch of I've worked for IGN on guides and stuff, which is talk about the churn of content, right?
*01:01:33*
Like you've gotta it's gotta be up.
*01:01:38*
But I did some work on Breath of the Wild and
*01:01:41*
Before the internet figured out what the reward was for collecting 900 Korok seeds, I was assigned to like start and categorizing the hunt.
*01:01:44*
And so I wanted to basically show that journey of hundred and fifty Korak seeds before I got reassigned to something else.
*01:01:52*
And like in the game, you could do the time.
*01:02:03*
laps.
*01:02:06*
I'm like, that's whatever.
*01:02:06*
It's cool, but it's not.
*01:02:09*
I was like, how do I make this more visually interesting and bring it in?
*01:02:11*
And I grabbed my map from the guide, like the whole map of Hyrule, and it actually has marked on it the Korok seeds.
*01:02:17*
And so I watched
*01:02:25*
Watched my replay, was like, this is the time, this is where I was, and then I bought little posty sticket notes.
*01:02:27*
little arrows and I did an over the head table shot.
*01:02:35*
Very very job.
*01:02:39*
It was like it's not as a n a pretty a table, but
*01:02:41*
It'll work.
*01:02:44*
And and then I time-lapse myself sticking all hundred or whatever things and fit that in where it needed to be.
*01:02:45*
in the video.
*01:02:52*
So like, you know, that was just I've watched I don't know what your videos with the table, whatever.
*01:02:53*
That's just been sitting in the back of my mind, right?
*01:02:59*
Like that's something I've grabbed to and it's like, how do I incorporate something like that?
*01:03:02*
So more lessons from the the University of Life, as it were, in video making.
*01:03:07*
But uh I don't use After Effects.
*01:03:14*
I haven't used After Effects in a long time, so I'm not gonna be making any 3D snakes anytime soon
*01:03:16*
Yeah, right, right.
*01:03:21*
Dude, I loved your map video.
*01:03:22*
Yeah.
*01:03:24*
Thank you.
*01:03:25*
Yeah, it was it was wonderful.
*01:03:26*
I it it really um so I one of my things and again going back to like an unf
*01:03:27*
finished idea was I had I got about halfway through um doing a playthrough of Tears of the Kingdom where I didn't look at the map and I couldn't fast track
*01:03:34*
So it was just all about learning, uh learning the world, but I had a physical map and I would write physically
*01:03:46*
the locations, the names of the these places.
*01:03:55*
And I loved it, man.
*01:03:57*
I loved that journey when I was doing it because I I saw so many new things compared to my previous playthrough I where I was just fast traveling.
*01:03:58*
And and I rem remember more.
*01:04:09*
And I think there's something to do with memory as far as when you're we're when you're
*01:04:11*
Or uh forced uh I I won't diverge too much, but like uh I won't go into memory.
*01:04:15*
Um but uh but uh but um
*01:04:22*
Like it like yeah, my desire for maps, like I love collecting video game maps, and then you shared that video gate that video with me of your map making, I was like, this is
*01:04:28*
I felt a bit of jealousy because I was like, I wanna make this thing.
*01:04:37*
Like, I want to do a video about maps and uh like video game maps and the importance of physical maps.
*01:04:41*
Maps and stuff and the the suggestion of the adventure, all that stuff.
*01:04:46*
So man, I loved it.
*01:04:51*
I love that video.
*01:04:52*
Maps are maps are the best.
*01:04:53*
Just I actually got to a point trying to solve a puzzle in Outer Wild.
*01:04:56*
I was like, I have to recreate their little mind map.
*01:05:00*
I'm like, I have to write it down myself because I just can't figure this piece out.
*01:05:03*
Uh
*01:05:08*
Um I don't think it led to a solution, but I at least felt a little better.
*01:05:09*
I was like, at least I'm doing something.
*01:05:13*
Uh yeah.
*01:05:15*
It's yeah, I love that kind of stuff though.
*01:05:16*
And doing guide work, you're you're writing notes and maps and stuff down
*01:05:19*
So you're pretty much a cartographer.
*01:05:26*
Essentially, yeah.
*01:05:28*
Especially now.
*01:05:29*
I think IGN has like full interactive maps now.
*01:05:31*
It's like it's truly a
*01:05:33*
An online thing.
*01:05:35*
I want to do one more question, I think, before we wrap up.
*01:05:37*
And it's I guess it kind of ties in.
*01:05:40*
Maybe a little university of life kind of.
*01:05:43*
stuff.
*01:05:45*
Like you said before, the good blood stuff isn't the only thing you're doing over at second when you're you're editing other things for them or participating in like more group videos or things.
*01:05:46*
like that, what what have you.
*01:05:55*
But recently you guys have done a series called The Archive.
*01:05:56*
It's Marty Sleva.
*01:06:00*
And you, as far as I can tell, is is that the team
*01:06:02*
there for the archive.
*01:06:05*
Great videos.
*01:06:06*
They're totally styled like those old VHS tapes, deep dives, old video game.
*01:06:07*
What are you pulling in from those into good blood?
*01:06:15*
Because obviously like you're doing the editing production side of thing.
*01:06:19*
Marty, I believe, is doing the writing and obviously
*01:06:22*
the narration and stuff.
*01:06:25*
What do you get out of that type of project where it is kind of just the production side of things?
*01:06:27*
But I guess you're learning, right?
*01:06:32*
Whatever Marty's bringing to the table.
*01:06:34*
Which is interesting so far.
*01:06:36*
What and then obviously the style.
*01:06:38*
Like you've you're capturing an era of like VHS tape, MTV style stuff.
*01:06:40*
What is what's that like for you?
*01:06:47*
Yeah, that's really fun.
*01:06:50*
It it uh so so that that show is a retro retro show.
*01:06:52*
It's it's it's dedicated to exploring
*01:06:57*
the some retro games that might not be as appreciated.
*01:07:00*
And so I the the idea for the design uh was
*01:07:07*
to pull from and I started doing a little some research and looking at old videos from like old G4, like old broadcast shows.
*01:07:12*
And and and
*01:07:19*
really trying to to examine the speed and the pacing and and how they would cut things.
*01:07:20*
So that was fun to research that and and pull from that from that a little bit.
*01:07:28*
I think from what I get out of it, it it's obviously the knowledge of these games that I knew nothing about.
*01:07:32*
that Marty is writing about.
*01:07:37*
Like I didn't I did I'd heard of Mega Man Legends, but I didn't know what it was.
*01:07:38*
And then he did this these deep dives into the the production surrounding that stuff.
*01:07:42*
Um
*01:07:47*
I I'm not sure if I take anything away as far as production.
*01:07:50*
I think I'm just kind of pouring what I already know into that show, just in in it in a different style.
*01:07:54*
um trying to em emulate something that had has come before, which is kind of fun because it's fun doing that because there's so many references.
*01:07:59*
So you don't have to just come up with something from scratch.
*01:08:08*
There are so many VODs of G4
*01:08:11*
and um electronic playground, all that stuff online that you can just watch and and get a vibe for.
*01:08:13*
So yeah, but it's good fun.
*01:08:20*
Like that there that they feel like holidays a little bit, just because it's
*01:08:22*
Just I I don't have to do the narration, I don't have to do the writing, I just do the production stuff.
*01:08:26*
It's really fun.
*01:08:31*
They they are fun videos.
*01:08:33*
I enjoy watching them so far.
*01:08:35*
I look forward to
*01:08:36*
future ones should they be there.
*01:08:38*
They're cool things, man.
*01:08:40*
Well, thank you so much, Javid.
*01:08:42*
I think that'll do it for us today.
*01:08:44*
Uh but thanks for coming back to the show.
*01:08:46*
This has been a lot of fun to like dig into the the
*01:08:48*
psyche of the creative mind and uh figure this all out because it's it's an internal struggle I suppose we're just cursed.
*01:08:51*
Creatives are cursed.
*01:09:00*
I suppose.
*01:09:02*
Sure.
*01:09:03*
Yeah.
*01:09:04*
Uh thank you, man.
*01:09:04*
Appreciate it.
*01:09:05*
Always love coming on.
*01:09:06*
Yeah, this is a blast.
*01:09:07*
Um folks can find you online.
*01:09:08*
Are you still on Twitter?
*01:09:11*
Is that is Twitter still
*01:09:12*
Do people still love Twitter?
*01:09:13*
Twitter.
*01:09:15*
Yeah, backslash Javid LSteret and then Good Blood on YouTube and Second Wind stuff came with that.
*01:09:16*
Alright, there will be links to all of that.
*01:09:23*
And the Patreons for all of those as well down in the show notes.
*01:09:26*
Uh if you'd like to see the links about anything we talked about, you could check out your show notes and your podcast player or ahead over to maxfrequency.
*01:09:30*
com
*01:09:36*
net forward slash mfp dash forty three kind of rhymes.
*01:09:36*
Um as for me you can check out all my writing over at maxfrequency.
*01:09:41*
net or uh here in the podcast feed you got the other show chapter select the retro
*01:09:45*
Perspective podcast that bounces back and forth between a series exploring its evolution design and legacy and over on YouTube where I have some videos
*01:09:50*
every now and then going up all the time.
*01:09:59*
Who knows, whatever.
*01:10:01*
You can check that out too.
*01:10:02*
But thank you all so much for listening.
*01:10:04*
Until next time.
*01:10:06*
Adios.
*01:10:07*