HeyJ, duders! We are HECKA SLAMMED tonight, finalizing nearly 200 shots and their backgrounds for tomorrow’s musical. 🥵 The amazing seesaw of Getting Ahead, Falling Behind has kept us on our toes all week, but the finish line’s in sight anyway.
We wish we could be sitting on finished videos several days ahead of schedule, but the best ways to accomplish that would be to either set more cushy deadlines (HA), or to scale down projects and especially the complicated bits (DOUBLE HA!) We could also secretly finish a video and hold it for weeks to give ourselves a buffer, but… we don’t like holding projects that could be posted, since we lose some passion for them once we’re distracted with the next video.
Anyway, the numbers indicate about 50 more shots to go, and then a last sound mix and run through of the edit. I have a couple things to record still as well, and I’m afraid the credits music I had planned won’t get added, since I haven’t been able to sit down and write it. 😥 Ahh, the life of Random Encounters!
Thank you for helping us produce this one — it’s going to be a lot of fun! Almost as much fun as Liar’s Bar will be next month! 😉
Long live the speakers! 🥳 HeyJ, ya’ll! Just a quick update to say post-prod’s in full swing for Slay the Princess, and although we have plenty of shots to iron out, it’s been coming together smoother than we anticipated. The song is fully finished as well (and you miiiight want to avoid listening to it early, if you care about story spoilers from the video!)
Thanks for supporting RE and get ready for progress to begin on LIAR’S BAR, as soon as we’ve slain the princess this Friday. We’re excited to be back jumping genres again and hope the whiplash provides a fresh and fun experience Encounterers haven’t felt in a hot minute.
HeyJ, team! Filming is NEARLY wrapped -- we've got a pick-up shot or two, but it's almost all sound and VFX from here! It hasn't been an easy week, but we're pleased with how it's coming together... and, hopefully as of Friday, you will be, too!
You'll only be hearing about SLAY THE PRINCESS a few more times here on Patreon, so don't get too comfy! It's time to move forward with April's musical next... but we'll need to make a quick pitstop for April Fool's (naturally~~!) Thanks for supporting RE and we can't wait to reveal everything that went into this production. I think it qualifies as "a doozy!"
HeyJ, team! Don’t worry, no big boo-boos on this occasion — just an ache or two we’ll walk off in the morning! 😂 Progress on SLAY THE PRINCESS is hard-fought, but moving forward. We expect to begin a cut tomorrow. Will there be enough time to have it ready for next Friday? 🤔 That’s the million dollar question, I guess! 😅
Thanks for backing RE and stick around for another on-set update shortly — filming is almost over!
HeyJ, team! Here’s an update from our first night on set (or lack thereof) for filming SLAY THE PRINCESS: THE MUSICAL! It didn’t go entirely according to plan, but it’s still progress and some fun footage. I think there’s even wilder shots ahead…
We’re still deciding whether the finished song will be a 7 and a half minute opus of singing and story, an equally long track with vocals broken up by music-only moments and interludes, or a shaved down edit that keeps the vocal parts rolling without breaks. Feel free to weigh in — there’s probably no right answer, but everyone’s entitled to their preference. 🙂
Thank you for being part of this (and other projects.) We’re lucky to have both the freedom and support that you allow us, and it’s resulted in a lot of very memorable video game musicals over the years. I think this will be one of them!
HeyJ, crew! Wow, we're SO CLOSE to rolling on the next musical -- a couple days (and some green screen repairs) are all the stand between us and our first footage from SLAY THE PRINCESS: THE MUSICAL.
Oh, and that ruffle on Gwen's dress. And my costume, too. And a demo track, and probably some other things.
Okay, so it's a little tighter than I'd like to admit. BUT, it's coming together, and we think it'll be a very cool addition to the RE collection, whether you're familiar with the game or not. It also clears the path for April's musical to begin production, of which casting is already underway. We'll announce it and confirm its stars next week, once filming's wrapped on Slay the Princess!
Thank you for contributing to Random Encounters. We can't pull together these productions without your support!
HeyJ, team! It seemed high time for a costume test... and I'm kind of glad we finally checked some of this stuff out, because we may need a modification or two to pull a sharp key on a few shots... 😵💫 Better to fix it now than later!
Hopefully we'll be ready to shoot some scenes by the end of the week, though we may need to storyboard this one out a bit first. We've also discussed adjusting our green screen, since it STRUGGLED with a few simple Mita Mita moments... The room we're using, unfortunately, may not bounce light as effectively as our past spaces did, which means our lights aren't doing as good a job as anticipated. 🤔 Once I'm finished with my songwriting hat, I'll switch to cinematography mode and sort that out.
Speaking of which, stay tuned! The music is close to fully written, and the lyrics are only a few stanzas behind (minus some rewrites I've been hoping to make...) Maybe we can give you a live sample (or at least a bad demo track) to hear next time? There's also April's musical fast approaching, AND an April Fool's video to lock in... I wish we could move onto them already, but that would require cutting and running on SLAY THE PRINCESS... and, as you all know, I get very attached to seeing these things through with as high quality as possible (except Hungry Lamu 😛). I hope the extra attention we're investing into this musical makes it a very worthy addition to the RE collection -- or maybe even a Battle Royale contender! 😏
Thank you for supporting RE! We really do appreciate the help, and this channel may have run out of gas months (or even years) ago without your support. Imagine how many musicals would be missing from YouTube without you... as well as a few dorky YouTubers!
HeyJ, team! This REport's got it all -- a bit of music, a bit of costuming, a bit of the P'nelope... Nothing but 15 jam-packed minutes of exceptional RE updates!
Okay, that's a lie. We lost a file someplace and took forever finding it. But never fear, your first glimpses of SLAY THE PRINCESS: THE MUSICAL are here!
I expect you'll be seeing more costuming shortly, so stick around! We've also been chatting a bit more about this year's Battle Royale, the RE birthday party (14 YEARS OLD!), and those REplayed livestreams we keep offhandedly mentioning -- if only each day was a few hours longer!
Thanks for supporting the channel and we look forward to sharing our newest progress with you as SLAY THE PRINCESS shapes up. Beard Salute! ~AJ
HeyJ, squad! We had a bit of a scramble over the past few days and thought it was a good time to give another short update on MITA MITA: A MISIDE SONG. No big emergencies, thankfully, and we're putting finishing touches on it all now. I think your last REport about it will be up tomorrow.
As always, I hope nothing we said in this will "poison the well," so to speak, about enjoying the musical. The danger of behind-the-scenes stories (especially very frank ones!) is that the experience or immersion might be spoiled, and we do our best to keep RE an uplifting escape for everyone, not a slog of production problems. Probably some of you would prefer to be privy to every stressful calamity possible! 😂
I'm happy to confirm, though, that Hala was a champ and had no issue with this change (thankfully!) We're both down for a different project later, so hopefully you'll get a better chance to hear her voice down the road (though very good ears may still pick her out in the chorus sections of this musical!)
Thanks for supporting the channel and we hope you're looking forward to Mita Mita's debut. Can't wait to SLAY THE PRINCESS with you all for March!
HeyJ, team! One last on-set update from MISIDE THE MUSICAL (aka "Mita Mita!") before it launches this week. Of course, there's lots of VFX work still to do, as well as sound, subtitling, and a final mix, so we'll be busy every day and have a bit more to share before Friday.
I know we killed the Patreon voice chat perk officially, but since it's our first new musical in a long time -- and we haven't reinstated monthly live chats elsewhere (yet) -- I figured I'd pop up in the Patreon Voice server for an hour or so shortly after the premiere. J-just don't get used to it, baka! It- It's not like I like you guys or something! 😡
Thanks for backing the channel and prepare to dive into SLAY THE PRINCESS with us shortly! We may even start teasing the rest of Spring's lineup... assuming we don't get (Mi)side-tracked again...
HeyJ, team! A SUPER QUICK lil' REport for you today, since we're in the midst of (post) production, but I couldn't glam up like this without at least filming an update. 💅 Here's a peek at some of the items hidden on set for our upcoming MiSide musical -- did you notice any other familiar items we failed to mention?
Enjoy the teaser and sit tight -- we'll share some of the song and/or edit next!
HeyJ, team! MAAAAN, does it feel good to be uploading a REport filmed from any set but a FNAF one! 😂 I know we've griped about and given FNAF a hard time over and over, but I hope it's obvious that we were EXTREMELY passionate about making it. Now, though, all that time and attention has left us with a LOT of buzz for something new, and MiSide is definitely delivering a fun change of pace!
By the way, there are plenty of lurkers here on Patreon who keep an eye out for info, but aren't ready or able to support the channel. That's fine, and we'd like to occasionally give them something cool as well... but we'll probably be censoring some REport titles moving forward, just to keep some secrets exclusive to you all. 😉
Thank you for supporting RE. There was a (very brief, not very serious) discussion about sponsorships this week, and what a privilege it is to not be beholden to Crunchy Roll ads or the like in our musicals, and that's because our sponsor... is YOU! Having our community keep RE's projects fresh and free from sales pitches is such a wonderful thing, and it really wouldn't be possible without your generosity. Thank you for improving the Random Encounters experience, for both us and our fandom.
Oh, and Happy Birthday, Katie! Sorry for singing off-key from everyone! 🤦
HeyJ, team! This is our longest REport in a while... I guess we had a lot of updates to make! We also love sharing our excitement, though, and hopefully the combination of props, performers, and music get you all jazzed for MiSide the Musical as well (Title not confirmed!)
Thanks for funding our musicals, and we're grateful to be releasing our first of the year shortly. There's still a ton to do, but it feels delightful to see a new (not FNAF) project coming together, and we're stoked to get a jump on March's musical in only a couple weeks. There's already more to share about it, but I think we'll focus on making MiSide first!
HeyJ, team! WOW... I know we're called 'Random Encounters,' but the wild whiplash we've had lately is even more random feeling than usual! For all the progress and projects we've discussed heading into, we ended up changing gears again for an entirely different musical, one that I think will be a welcome change and a fun vibe to begin 2025 with. Just give us a few minutes while RandomEncounters.exe is rebooting -- we're going to have a fun year together, while filling out that missing SEASON 13 album fans still haven't gotten. (Don't remind them of the FNAF Remix album, I have enough on my plate right now)
Thanks for supporting us and our extended break post-FNAF. We're hyped to have a full calendar of musicals ahead, including some classics. We'll have music and more to share next time!
Greetings, encounterers! We just finished filming our acceptance speeches for a few of the RE Awards and decided it was a good time to update y'all on some of the plans we have in motion regarding upcoming musicals! Also, don't forget that the tier perks have changed, so make sure you're on the one you want to be on before the month ends and payments are processed! Stay tuned for more musical news coming soon!
HeyJ, squad! Nothing major to REport today (though we might have some big updates soon...) We thought it'd be fun, though, to share our RE Awards Show fits a little early, along with a glimpse at this year's set. Thanks for voting, by the way -- some categories were a little lopsided, but others were a great surprise, and we're looking forward to celebrating the results with you soon!
If you're part of our trading card tiers, by the way, we just shipped today (including the promo card!) We hope you'll stick around, because there's a few new musicals in the works!
HeyJ, squad! Just a quick lil’ update today about the happenings here at RE. Nothing major, but a slice of our day (and a whole bunch of bingo squares…)
Thanks for your support and stick around for your first peek behind the scenes of our Liar’s Bar musical!
HeyJ, team! Nope, not getting rid of us yet. 😇 But we’re going over our content strategies for the year and RE Xtra’s role is a bit in limbo. I really like having a “bonus channel” for off-the-wall or secretive stuff (like the old Tattle Box videos!), but we also miss the reliability of RE being a one-stop shop for ALL the content. Part of our identity always felt wrapped around the challenges of production — HOW are we making each musical, and WHAT goes into them behind the scenes — so recovering that goofy, DIY flavor feels important in separating Random Encounters from the myriad other nerdcore and gaming music channels.
We hope the changes coming to Patreon make being here and feeling involved even easier. Thanks for your kind feedback after the previous Discord changes. We’re already appreciating the expanded freedom in setting that space free (or at least, rehoming it solidly with its mods and community!) We’ll probably shuffle sone of our other social media sites as the year continues, but not without a good plan in place first.
HeyJ, everyone! Happy New Year! Let's kick it off with MICROPHONE PROBLEMS! (don't worry, that's top of my 2025 list to replace...)
The second big elephant in the room is Discord, which is indeed going unofficial February 1st. Here's a paraphrase of how this affects you:
-No (official) Patreon-exclusive server to chat in -$1 tier will no longer include a Discord role -No (official) post-musical voice chats -Less RE presence on Discord in general
We understand. That's paradoxically only bad news for you, and mostly good news for us. On our end, it's fewer places to check in, fewer people to keep up with, fewer minutes to log, and less pressure to face. I promise, we DO like you guys, as well as following your conversations and relationships. We just can't prioritize it the way a chat/instant messaging platform is designed for, and we hope you understand. Please enjoy it -- it's transferring to great hands.
On the flipside, this may be a key moment to depart our Patreon for some of you, and we get that. We recognize that our decision will lower Patreon's value, and that some of you can't justify sticking around without it (much like when we discontinued REplayed shout-outs, or Patreon Gaming sessions before that, or even private video calls before that.)
If that's the case, then thank you still for being part of RE. It was good to have you here, and we hope you'll continue to enjoy the content free on YouTube. We'll still be here making it, and we'll feel fortunate to do so.
If you plan to stay, we're so grateful for your kindness and generosity. As I noted, this isn't the first time you've probably lost something cool on Patreon, but we hope you've seen your support generate some super cool videos and really fun songs since you joined. Patreon Encounterers get in on the ground floor of each musical, and help turn them into a finished product people around the world can enjoy. If you're here, you're an important part of the RE ecosystem, and we hope we can convey that without a dedicated Discord perk.
Thanks for your support and feedback, as always. Stay tuned for musical news! Beard Salute! ~AJ
HeyJ, pals! Congratulations on finishing what may go down as the hardest year in RE history together. We pulled off some HUGE things, none of which would have been possible without your support. 🥰
Most importantly, though: we’ve earned our way back from the brink of insanity and are clear for a NORMAL YEAR OF RANDOM ENCOUNTERS! Whew… some of you have never even experienced one of those! 😂 Trust me, they’re a ton of fun (especially when a string of great games get launched!)
If you supported RE for the ENTIRE YEAR (January - December of 2024), we have a little gift that will be coming your way shortly. 😉 Happy Holidays to you all and thank you for making our most Impossible Project possible! We can’t begin to say how excited we are for a year of fresh musicals!
HeyJ, everyone! What a WEIRD day it's been -- or, rather, several weird, unending days with fitful naps scattered between!
Let's get the obvious out of the way: we promised a FNAF Musical movie today, and there isn't one anywhere to be seen still.
The good news is, the movie is done. It's watchable. It's even GOOD (IMHO~). But it's also biiiiiiiiiiig. Too big, in fact, to save onto my Mac Studio without offlining a ton of production files we hadn't planned to dispense with. We're actively handling that now, but unfortunately, uploading a 1 hour and 37 minute movie to YouTube will probably take much longer than anticipated as well, particularly since the file needs to be "processed" on their end before it can launch.
So it looks like we'll move forward with our livestream tonight (more flexibly), and we'll also Tetris our way to a full, finished copy of the movie to set uploading for a 12PM Saturday special deluxe premiere. Those interested in still seeing it tonight, however, can grab some popcorn and catch it during our livestream, which will coincidentally also be OUR first full group watch-through as well. So, in a way.... there will be TWO official premieres (though tonight's is a bit like a test screening, since it won't be public quite yet.)
This is your final FIRST NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S REport. I planned to write something flowery to thank you all and celebrate this monumental accomplishment, but I think I'll quote a beloved character instead: "Congratulations! It looks like you guys managed to survive five nights at Freddy's! That's pretty awesome!"
HeyJ, team! Running into a lot of tech issues here (who would have imagined using up all our computers' storage and processing power would lead to poor performance? :P), but the movie is becoming a lot of fun anyway. As long as we can overcome computer issues and get the files onto YouTube (by Friday), this nearly two-year adventure (putting it kindly) is coming to a fantastic close!
Assuming we aren't railroaded at the finish line, we're expecting to do an hour-long livestream leading up to the premiere. I wish we could show more of this already, but I think we're finally into territory where it'll just be nicer to see these scenes alongside everyone else. :) But we'll probably keep finding new behind-the-scenes stuff to share with you once the massive archiving/clean-up effort begins!
Thanks for your patience and wish us luck this week. Beard Salute! ~AJ
HeyJ, fellow earthlings! Let's get this out of the way: this REport has FNAF spoilers about a certain Evil Dirtbag's missing hands, so if you don't want to spoil any secrets by seeing some movie magic in action, bypass this video entirely.
I'd love to take a moment and also thank you for the so many, so very kind things you shared with us since our last update. We don't mean to burden you beyond what you already handle in your own lives, but your supportive messages and words never fail to give us renewed morale.
One other thing we don't touch on in the video (and aren't ready to make a full-fledged announcement about yet, either) is that a few things will be changing in 2025, including one of our Patreon perks. We're hopeful that, after two long years of irregular RE uploads and some very split attention, we'll be able to use 2025 as a solid reset for both our brand and our community. Perhaps this is the end of an era, and the start of a fresh one?
Don't worry, RE's not going anywhere. We're already discussing what costumes, sets, and props to begin ordering over the holidays for our first musical back in action! You'll be the first to know when those start to arrive, by the way~
Thanks again for keeping RE online through some of our hardest moments. This movie is ought to be a tremendous feather in every one of your caps -- what we've done together is pretty insane, and we're so excited to share it with you!
HeyJ, team. Some of you are probably annoyed with us tonight, especially if you were set to see FIRST NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S on the 13th and are now changing plans.
You guys see a glimpse behind the scenes, but far from everything, and almost always sanitized (yeah, kinda scary when that sinks in!) One such conversation happened two nights ago, which ended with two of us crying in the kitchen — not because the work was too hard or that we didn’t think it’d be ready by the 13th, but because *we’ve been dreading what will happen to this movie.*
I’ve put my heart and soul, and an unhealthy amount of my very identity, into this series. And watching each episode underperform catastrophically has had a pretty severe impact on all three of us (but… most of all, me.)
Realizing YouTube is already primed with the perfect executioner for my biggest, most beloved pet project left me in a very bad spot. Bad enough that we had real discussions about me not being present to see its launch, or its inevitable failure in YouTube’s system.
I don’t think changing its date will magically make it succeed. But I do have a sense of hope for it, now that it won’t directly face one of the most dominating channels of the entire platform. Call me a coward, a shrewd businessman, or anything you like really — I flinched, and I feel BETTER.
We like RE to be a place of enjoyment and escape, so bringing these things up — even to you folks — feels out of place, and a little like betraying our brand. But this is also our livelihood, and sometimes even our health, intertwined into a happy-go-lucky product. Thank you for generously supporting us on so many levels, and allowing us some capacity to layer in our fears and struggles, too.
We look forward to striking a balance with you in discussing this project once it’s out, in a way that’s both brutally honest but also emphatically celebratory. ☺️
HeyJ, ya’ll! Happy Thanksgiving and Season’s Greetings to each of you. 🙂 Not our most productive week, but not without progress, either, especially from a planning standpoint. There’s several cool bits coming together still, some of which we’ll maybe share over the next week. We appreciate your patience and support and look forward to presenting the truly final FNAF Musical product this month.
HeyJ, team! A little new FNAF info today, though nothing particularly spoiler-y. Nevertheless, skip 60 seconds ahead of that moment if you’re wildly cautious. 😇
Kinda crazy how all these spoiler-adjacent REports will be coming to a close soon! Some of you have never even experienced RE’s Patreon page without FNAF dominating it… 🤯 It may be a bit if an awkward adjustment (for all of us!) when the updates go back to covering something new every month! 😂
Thanks again and we hope you’re looking forward to helping us conclude FNAF: The Musical. Beard Salute!
HeyJ, everyone! This REport will finally shed some light on non-FNAF progress, although we get into a little information about First Nights at Freddy's toward the end. I don't think it's a spoiler, so much as a production/logistics concern that I know many of you have debated, and it seemed better to set the record straight now. Besides, what's the point of supporting RE if we keep everything a secret, even from you? 😉
I want to stress again that we may not see 'Caper of the Bells' until 2025. Personally, given our repeated struggles with this video, I'd honestly expect that. But it's hard not to feel a little hopeful we could release it sooner, and we'd enjoy end-capping 2024 with something besides Five Nights at Freddy's to transition back to classic, month-to-month mystery musicals!
Thank you for being there for us and making these projects (big and small) possible. We benefit from getting a super cool, creative career and lots of neat perks. Our community benefits from getting something fun, uplifting, and even inspiring that helps them through hard days. You're all directly responsible, and we appreciate your impact. ❤️
HeyJ, everyone! Yikes, we left you hanging a little longer than anticipated! While we were out of town filming in Las Vegas, we filmed a short update... and then promptly forgot about it in the commotion of getting home, electing a president, and turning Gwen a year older (on the other end of the country, no less!)
Unfortunately, some of the stuff we're working on at this point is... pretty secretive. We know you already got some surprises from "VIRUS," but there's somehow STILL more going on that we'd kind of hate to ruin for you a month early. Needless to say, Nate's been editing lots of scenes, I'm working on some songs, and we have at least one more short shoot to do with a few VFX. December's closing in fast, but I think we can pull this off!
We also have a few animation updates! I'll save them for a separate REport, but the important thing is, we've been in active communication with our (third) Caper of the Bells team, and they're moving things ahead. It's almost a little alien to be working on the side again on something non-Freddy Fazbear related!
Thanks for all your support, as well as your patience. We should be following up briefly with another REport (from home this time.) Beard Salute!
HeyJ, crew! Had a fun little opportunity to share our experiment with some AI tools Adobe's been rolling out and thought we'd share it with you. No, we aren't utilizing this (or any other) AI feature, nor would we vouch for it (especially if you can... y'know... just film enough to edit with, or revise your cut appropriately!)
I think you've all caught on by now, but just a secret heads up... Don't expect a full ending to our FNAF series this Friday. 😅 Think of 'Virus' as the parallel to FNAF: The Musical's Night 5 -- with a much better song, IMO!
We'll see (some of) you Friday around 5:30PM Pacific Time on Discord. Beard Salute! ~AJ
HeyJ, pals! Just a cute lil' 20 minute update from your friends at Random Encounters. 😇 Patreon is making some silly tweaks that hopefully won't change life on your end (or ours), but it seemed well past time to mention them just in case. On the content front, we've got a guest star or two we're still waiting on footage from, and another shoot approaching in early November. We've also got sound, music, and VFX coming together quickly, though we can't share most of that without some significant spoilers... Thank you for supporting RE and we're so excited to wrap this monster of a project up and see where RE will head next!
