Videogame Crosstalk Intro Animation

With a successful audio-only podcast, Anthony from Videogame Crosstalk was looking to get into video to expand their footprint. To do so, he knew he needed to use the musical sting that opens every podcast episode and pair it with an eye-catching animation to open his videos with.

I don’t do much with motion graphics, but I was happy to hear what Anthony was looking for to mark VGXT’s video debut, and considered it against what I knew I could do. “Sure,” I said, “let’s give this a shot, and if you don’t like it, then you don’t have to pay and I’ll recommend you to someone else.”

Fortunately, I think that the animation came out great. From his basic idea he had in his head through looking at the rest of the branding and pairing it with the music, we made a sick opener that we can both be proud of.

Look for it in front of VGXT’s first video on Destiny Lore, coming soon!

The Recap Promotional Video

When you put out anywhere up to a couple hours of content a week, the average viewer might not get the chance to watch all of it. One possible solution? A highlight reel of the best moments from each video of the week. And that’s exactly what Boter (uh, that’s me) did when he created The Recap.

This is a promotional video I created as Press Enter for a series I produce as Boter Bug, my personal YouTube persona. So, uh, I’m going to stop talking about myself in the third person from here on out.

The Recap has a few ingredients that make it work. 1: It’s short (2-4 minutes). 2: It keeps a regular schedule (so people know when to expect a new one). 3: It’s native to Facebook (so it auto-plays and is more easily shareable on the platform). 4: It’s funny (and more likely to get shared).

This video incorporates clips from the past three years of The Recap, showcasing its evolution and some of the best clips from its run so far. Enjoy!

Northshire Bookstore 2018 Holiday Promo

I love bookstores. Usually I beeline straight for the Sci-Fi section to see what new shenanigans my imagination can get up to. I especially love Northshire Bookstore, which has been open in Manchester, Vermont for over forty years, and in Saratoga Springs, New York for five. Huge selection, great atmosphere, and while I personally have nothing against Barnes and Noble, there’s something about shopping at a local store that completes the experience.

I was happy to produce this video for the Saratoga Springs location. Gathering footage, recording a voice-over, and picking up a couple extra shots is a simple but effective way to go about it, and the square format with subtitles is the perfect format for Facebook, where it needs to quickly grab the attention of someone scrolling with their feed who many not be watching it with audio. Enjoy!

Full disclosure: I’m a part-time employee of Northshire Bookstore.

Jaded Kickstarter Video and Advertisement

Getting a Kickstarter campaign ready to go live is no easy feat. There’s a lot to do and a lot to take care of. And sometimes you plan on doing something, but your planned launch date sneaks up on you before you’ve had a chance to act on it.

So it was that Jon Santana, writer and creator of the comic series JADED and the man behind Iron Age Productions, decided what he wanted to do for his video for the final issue and a hardcover collection of the series. A week and a half before his launch date.

We hunkered down, made a plan, and the Monday before the Thursday night launch I drove downstate to meet him at his apartment and film his interview. I set up as he finalized his script over a few slices of pizza, then we got cracking. The shoot went quick and painlessly, and he sent me home with a bunch of copies of the photo that would become the cover of Issue 6. More on that in a moment.

Taking the interview and combining it with the animated trailer that Jon had already produced proved simple and made the video that drives the Kickstarter page. This is a basic requirement and while simple, is necessary to get people interested in funding the project.

But the real fun came the next day, when I got to play with fire.

With ten 4×6 photographs and four 8x10s, I experimented with different way to get the paper to burn. Faster, slower, keeping the photo paper from just extinguishing itself. Eventually I got nice, clean, reproducible burns and created an ad for social media. This was entirely Jon’s idea and I was so happy to be able to pull it off!

Also there’s a charred rectangle on the floor of my garage, so that’s kinda cool too.

With these videos as well as all of the other effort that Jon put into JADED’s Kickstarter campaign, the project got 100% funded in just 48 hours! I’m excited for his success, excited to see the series get finished, and excited to hold the entire series in my hand in hardcover later this year.

JADED: A Complete Graphic Novel is still on Kickstarter and will finish its campaign on July 7th, so there’s still plenty of time to preorder your copy. Head on over and check it out!

Behind the Counter -Episode 14

Dave again takes a week off at a most inopportune time as I fill in and we talk about the new Wilton store, St. Jude PLAY LIVE, Fortnite, and far, far too much Gundam.

Are you interested in assisting Dave and me with fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Hospital? We’re participating in PLAY LIVE through the entire month of May 2018. You can donate directly here:

https://tiltify.com/@boter/boterbug-dam314-playlive/donate

Otherwise, you can watch our live streams at either of the following links:

https://twitch.tv/boterbug
https://twitch.tv/dam314

Behind the Counter – Episode 13

Dave returns and the crew over at Insane Games talks about their store, video games and WWE, and bring me on to talk about fundraising for St. Jude PLAY LIVE.

Are you interested in assisting Dave and me with fundraising for St. Jude Children’s Hospital? We’re participating in PLAY LIVE through the entire month of May 2018. You can donate directly here:

https://tiltify.com/@boter/boterbug-dam314-playlive/donate

Otherwise, you can watch our live streams at either of the following links:

https://twitch.tv/boterbug
https://twitch.tv/dam314

Behind The Counter – Episode 12

Behind The Counter returns from a couple weeks away to talk about conventions, movies, and Wrestlemania, plus regular features Stud or Dud? and What’s in Your Disc Tray?

Regular panelist Dave Mann was unable to make it to this episode’s taping, so once the topic of conversation turned to video games I hopped in as the fourth panelist. I always enjoy a chance to be on-screen with this group – and Tyler needed a bit of help from the anti-PlayStation crowd on this one!

Greentree Fiber Arts Promotional Video

Greentree Fiber Arts is an incredible art studio located at The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls, NY. I loved walking in there and seeing everything that Susan does with her medium! Here’s a small taste of some of the different things she creates with fabric and more; stay tuned to our page to see more videos coming soon to take a closer look at some of the incredible things you can find at Greentree.

You can learn more about Greentree over at http://greentreefiberarts.com.