So Okay Here's the Thing

BTS trivia: shot composition and the secret Austen

Added 2024-06-21 17:22:22 +0000 UTC

So, when I animate my D&D shorts, I do them all in one long shot, as pictured, with various shenanigans and tomfoolery going on to make it look like different angles, and then I put the long shot into a composition and move the camera around.

Thing is, it would be a headache to remake this whole shot every time, and it would be a messy to have to keep updating a template file, so I usually just start by copying out from an older one to make each short. So, like, if I'm doing a short featuring Austen and Tony, I'll find an old short with Austen and Tony, make a copy, then change the outfits and audio and do all the new animation and stuff.

It's all about efficiency, basically. My animation isn't innovative but on god it is fast.

However, sometimes (such as in today's upcoming short), the old short I'm copying the file from might have, let's say, only two characters, and the file I'm copying out had three. In cases like this, you get a funny event that nobody but me (and now you) has to think about:

[Image ID: A shot similar to the first image, but featuring June and Austen instead of Austen and Tony. end ID]

This short is entirely a conversation between June and the DM.

Austen does not speak.

Austen does not appear.

For the entire short, Austen is sitting just off-screen, not moving, and looking mildly confused.

Secret Austen.

Anyway, this happens all the time. Weird thing is that it's usually Trish.

[Image ID: Two shots, each similar to the first image, but featuring Vinnie and Nelson respectively on the left of each, and Trish on the right. end ID]

And sometimes it's just a ghost.

[Image ID: A shot similar to the first image, but featuring Trish on the left and nobody on the right. There's a shadow on the ground where a person would be standing. end ID]

Hope you enjoyed reading about the various secret Austens and Trishes hiding just outside the view of the camera in your favourite shorts.

Until next time, remember, Trish is always there, just barely past the edge of your vision!

— MMS