randomencounters

REport: The French Connection 🇫🇷

HeyJ, team! Thanks for waiting patiently for a new update from us. I admit, productivity’s dipped briefly to allow for a few personal things, but there’s still plenty of progress to share! We have a strong calendar ahead, including some more filming and plenty of music, and while VIRUS will not be quite as long as many of you may have hoped, I think it will still contain some big moments you didn’t expect, as well as a strong finish to our episodic releases. Almost there, everyone!!!

Thanks as always for your support! Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: A New CAMeo

HeyJ, Encounterers! This will be a light SPOILER REport for Friday's video. If you don't want to know anything -- even mild story beats or cast details -- skip over this until you can watch TAKING BACK FAZBEAR'S later this week.

For everyone ready to watch the update anyway, here's the context: the script flowed nicely from scene to scene on paper, but once we began editing the video footage -- and moving certain scenes to change the pace, add runtime, etc. -- we realized we'd left ourselves an awkward gap where NOTHING was able to happen until some characters finished one sequence and began their next. But because there was an implied passage of time, it felt lazy to "cut to black," insert "one hour later" text, or simply crossfade into another scene directly.

We're so grateful to Cam for driving all the way up from LA to shoot with us on short notice. He was a super good sport, and we've been meaning to work together on something since I appeared in his Assassin's Creed music video about 8 years ago. I think you'll enjoy his scene a lot... and hopefully the rest of the episode, too!

See you Friday with Freddy Fazbear and his friends! Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Long Lost REport

Let's be honest, there's probably a couple of these at this point... HeyJ, ya'll! We found some interesting files today while working on the edit, and it seemed to merit an update (especially since one of those files WAS an update!)

So far as CURRENT progress on Friday's episode... well... there's a lot to do, but we'll do it. The song's officially headed to streaming and stores, so there's no turning back now! But I think any illusions of a peaceful week, a little sleep, and a nice lead getting started on the last episode are all a bit out the window!

Thanks for your support and be ready for another update (a planned one!) shortly. We'll also carve out some time Friday evening to chat with you all on Discord after the premiere (the video launches at 5PM Pacific Time!)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Thanks For Helping Me! 👷

HeyJ, crew! Yes, you’re my crew today, and we have some import set (de)construction to attend to before Saturday’s shoot! I know the new set doesn’t look like much yet, but it’ll be great once we get lights, actors, and maybe a hint of fog in there~ 😙

Now that we’re one week from launch, I suppose we should gather some finished clips to show you from TAKING BACK FAZBEAR’S! The only problem is… uh… none of it is exactly 100% finished yet… 😅 We’ve started splitting attention onto the final episode, VIRUS, under the hope you won’t need to wait so long in between episodes. But don’t worry, we’re budgeting carefully to be sure none of the time we steal from FAZBEAR’S will delay or detract from its release next Friday. 🫡

That’s all for now. Thanks for supporting RE and we’ll see you Saturday for filming! 🎬

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: We Forgot About Bonnie!

HeyJ, everyone! The next episode of FNAF: The Musical is still underway, though there's a lot to do still... A lot's happened in the past week that slowed progress, unfortunately, but I don't think it'll keep us from launching on time still. We know it's been a long, slow month since Shadows of Agony debuted, and we appreciate you sticking with us while we get the last chapters together!

Hopefully you like what you hear from the upcoming musical number for Taking Back Fazbears -- it's a nice, nostalgic chance to highlight the Fazgang in a fun way before their careers on RE end.

I saw a rumor, by the way, that Patreon will be force-updating their payment schedule by year's end. I'll look into it more, but it may change how/when you're charged while supporting RE here. If we can get answers, I'll pass them along to you ASAP. Sorry in advance for the potential inconvenience... We'll all sort through their changes together (or abandon the platform for greener pastures if it's bad enough, perhaps!)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Missing FNAF Footage Revealed

HeyJ, squad! No doubt you’ve been curious to know more about that infamous scene we screwed up and had to reshoot… which we then lost all the footage for! 😂 You’ll get to see it up close in TAKING BACK FAZBEAR’S in a few weeks, but here’s a little early glimpse of what we had left to work with and how we’ve solved it. Thanks for supporting RE!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: Back With a BonBon!

HeyJ, ya'll! Just a quick update video featuring some of your little old furry friends. They're back out for a little filming -- nothing too advanced (hopefully...), but we're also moving into the sound and music portion of the next episode, which is looking good so far! Hopefully we'll get a nice jump on the final episode, VIRUS, if we can keep this pace up! I'll be out of town for several days later this month, though, so we'll keep you updated for sure. Happy Labor Day weekend and thanks for supporting RE all summer!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: This Is NOT The Wedding We Are Looking For...

HeyJ, everyone! This week hasn't gone according to plan whatsoever, but we're making the most of it and will have a healthier, more productive update for you next week! In the meanwhile, I'd like to say three more quick things:

1) I definitely got everyone else sick. 👍 Jokes aside, we're all hanging in there, maybe with a little more sleep and cough medicine than usual. I've already bounced (mostly) back, Nate's holding steady, and Gwen is a poor baby we need to bundle up with blankets and cookies. In other words, she's almost back to normal.

2) More birthday cards, art, and letters (and yes, even an extra shoe and belt for my new Enis doll!) have apparently poured in since last week. You guys are so incredibly sweet! I'm seriously touched by the kind messages I've gotten and am not exaggerating to say your thoughtful words and enthusiasm for RE have flipped many of my bad days into wonderful ones. Even when things go poorly or the deck seems stacked high against us, the RE community and its kindness has given all three of us the motivation to fight through to the next happy ending. Thank you for that.

3) Casey's officially married! W00T! (Do... do people still say that anymore...?) He and his wife have contributed to Random Encounters in various ways over the years, whether on-camera, behind the scenes, or through our private friendship together. Feel free to drop any well-wishes for them here and I'll forward them with my own note. ^^

Thank you for all your support and we hope this channel continues bringing you as much joy as you guys constantly bring to us. Looking forward to sharing something from TAKING BACK FAZBEAR'S soon!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Work Continues!

HeyJ, ya'll! It's so REFRESHING to update you IMMEDIATELY after dropping a big video! ALMOST AS REFRESHING AS A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP (which I promise I enjoyed last night!)

It was great catching up on Discord with you all after, and we've really enjoyed everyone's feedback/theories/utter confusion following the premiere of SHADOWS OF AGONY! For taking so much work (particularly at the very end!), we're absolutely delighted how much the community seems excited to see more!

Something we didn't mention in this REport but have talked about internally are the little social media puzzles leading up to this video. Those have gone over pretty well, so we're anticipating doing more of them. ^^ We may even look into overhauling our (mostly defunct) RE website for a couple larger games in the future, provided we can figure out enough coding to make them functional. ;) Thanks for participating in our weird little viral marketing schemes and stay tuned for some new ones!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Shadows of Agony is TOMORROW!

HeyJ, squad! First off, thank you all for the kind birthday wishes I’ve been getting! ☺️ It meant a lot to feel so loved, even though I haven’t had time to really celebrate this year. Thanks for making it special!

Secondly, sorry for messing up your bingo cards! 😛 REports get weird when they get late, but I wanted to share a final update before FNAF’s next episode lands!

Enjoy an early peek at one of the scenes (or don’t until Friday, if you prefer!) and I’m looking forward to beginning our third chapter with you. We’re officially halfway through our FNAF the Musical finale, ya’ll! 🔥

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: The Only Win Condition

HeyJ, everyone! Another late night REport coming at you from a sleepless production office... This week's been full of ups and downs, and we've been hesitant to share any updates because we weren't-- I mean, STILL AREN'T -- sure what to say about Shadows of Agony, other than our month-long standby: "It's coming in August!"

As of now, it has about 85% of its background music ready, 85% of its VFX completed, and 95% of its sound together. It also has 0% color correction, no Previously On/Next Time, and a true sound mix can't begin until next week. Ultimately, a Friday the 23rd launch is definitely possible still, but a 30th release would be beyond certain.

Isn't it strange that we can get this far into the project and still be unsure whether we're days from completion or weeks? Perhaps this is what a production coordinator is for! Anyway, thanks for supporting the channel, and we'll show a clip from Shadows of Agony in our next update! We hope you enjoy a particularly twisty, turny new chapter fast approaching!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Shady Bear Business!

HeyJ, team! Let me start by apologizing for the crazy color and lighting on this REport -- apparently I need to take camera clips into editing before uploading them (or at least on this occasion, I needed to!)

Let me also double down, unfortunately, on our rumored date for Shadows of Agony being ONLY A RUMOR! Since this REport, I've determined we still need some 12-ish minutes of background music written before this episode can premiere, and that's a ton of work... to say nothing about finalizing VFX, sound, and adding color correction! Sadly, this is the price of a small team -- every inch of this project will get dragged across the goal line by, essentially, one of the three Random Encounters people you've come to know/love/tolerate sparingly. Thanks for being patient and we'll update you with a confirmed deadline by the end of this week (along with a glimpse at the episode, perhaps!)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: NO MORE SCREENS!

HeyJ, team! Let's start with the good news: all those stacks of trading cards are currently in the mail, so if you supported us at a trading card tier back in June (forever ago!), your perks for that month are finally on the way! July's cards have been ordered, so we'll see about having those out shortly after they arrive here as well. ^^ Thanks for bearing with us!

Shadows of Agony has a LONG way to go still, unfortunately. Much as we'd like to be launching it immediately, we're hesitant to even announce a date still (beyond what we offered at the end of Dark Remains -- "August 2024.") We have a ton of VFX work to do for it, and probably a week and a half of sound and music to focus on after, but thankfully, what's there so far looks good! We've now crossed the one year mark from when some of these scenes were first filmed, which is pretty incredible -- we don't get to spend 12+ months building scenes, songs, and characters like this normally, and while it's been very rough to pull together, we've also enjoyed the opportunity to create something larger, and we couldn't do it without you. Thanks for being part of RE history!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: 80 FX Remain

HeyJ, crew! Got a little update for you from behind the scenes of Shadows of Agony… We actually have a little pick-up filming to do this week, so perhaps will grab a little REport footage then as well.

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: Shadows of Agony Sneak Peek

HeyJ, humans! Thanks for waiting on us to deliver an update -- we've been a little scrambled since last time, but the Shadows of Agony checklist grows shorter every day! We're excited to share a little of the footage, which may give you a taste of the story being told, so proceed past the onscreen warning at your own risk. ^^

This episode still needs its ending edited, plus VFX, SFX, music score, mixing, and color... So like six departments of work from 3-4 people, but it's otherwise still on target for an August release. 🙂 As mentioned in the video, the pacing in this episode will feel a little clunky, and we're considering sliding a scene or two from "Shadows of Agony" into September's "Taking Back Fazbear's" for the purpose of rebalancing. I think we'll watch what we've got later this week and make a final decision which storylines progress and which take a sidequest to a later episode! 😂

Thanks for supporting Random Encounters and particularly FNAF: The Musical. We're definitely hiding a couple secrets about this series still, but we see you as invaluable partners in producing it and want you to know how much we appreciate you being part of it. <3

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Who Sings Shadows of Agony???

⚠️ SLIGHT SPOILERS FOR SHADOWS OF AGONY IN THIS VIDEO! ⚠️

HeyJ, everyone! We thought we’d be back with an update sooner, but things snagged up pretty good partway through last week… It’s been resolved since, thankfully! We’re on track to be back to editing and VFX, which means we’ll have fun footage to share. We also have an itsy bitsy update from our Animal Crossing animators, which gives us hope for its future release again! 😄

One other note: trading cards will be shipping a bit late, given how many we’re scheduled to send this time. We’ll try to have them entirely shipped by the first week of August and keep you updated. 👍

Thank you for your support. We’re excited to prep the next chapter of FNAF: The Musical for you all. There’s some big surprises in store this time!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: Dawn of the Final Day

HeyJ, crew! We’re wrapping up the finishing touches for Friday’s launch of FNAF: DARK REMAINS and wanted to give you both a status update and a sneak peek at one of the scenes. 🙂 There will be plenty of warning beforehand for anyone avoiding seeing some of it early and no big spoilers shown.

We’ll be ready with the first update for SHADOWS OF AGONY next week. Congratulations, everyone! WE MADE IT. 🥳

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: THE ALIENS ARE HERE! 👽

HeyJ, team! Nate’s away this weekend, but Gwen and I are still hard at work preparing for DARK REMAINS’ release next Friday! It’s come so far… We hope you enjoy it a ton!

As a reminder, FNAF: Dark Remains will debut at 5PM Pacific (NOT noon!). We’ll be hopping into Discord for an hour or so after the premiere, and while spoilers will likely come up, we ask that you keep specifics vague enough that Encounterers who haven’t watched it yet can still enjoy some surprises. 🙂 Thanks for all your patience, cooperation, and support!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: Glitchwrapped!

HeyJ, ya’ll! Last REport was a bit of a doozy, so I’ve got some light, fun news this time: we’ve officially wrapped Glitchtrap actor Casey Dwyer at last! It was no small feat, either: Glitchtrap has an astonishing 30 pages of script throughout the final episodes — more once the song lyrics are all accounted for! For comparison, Freddy Fazbear and friends’ full storyline only requires 48 pages start to finish for all four of them! That’s not to say any of them need more content… If any more script pages get added, this won’t premiere until October! 🤣

(…though I DID add an unscripted line for Bonnie today…)

 Everything is moving along much more smoothly since the delay, so thank you again for allowing us that opportunity. 🙂 We’ll have another update you might enjoy this weekend!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: You Called It 🫣

HeyJ, friends! I guess you all know us well enough to not be surprised by this announcement, but we still wanted to provide you a little more context. This extra time will primarily translate to much better sound, particularly in regards to background music (we were preparing to leave many scenes without music in Friday’s cut, as well as very limited sound design and minimal color correction.)

Thanks for being great sports and feel free to voice your feedback. We shot for the moon on many occasions with this project, and we hope that REALLY shows on July 12th!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: The Ultimatum You Never Got

HeyJ, team! Whoo… it’s been intense lately! 🥵 We didn’t mean to keep you all in the dark (remains), but it’s been hard to decide what can be shared (both due to spoilers and scheduling.) This isn’t how we’d hoped to release the series, but with a ton of work and some properly-adjusted planning, I think everything’s still on track for our five-year-long return to FNAF next week. 😅 I’m so sorry the road’s been long and bumpy, but we’re glad you’ve stayed along for the ride (and regular monthly musicals will seem so simple again after all this!)

Stay tuned, our next REport will be with one of our Dark Remains cast members again!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: The Spreadsheet of DoOoOm! 😱

HeyJ, pals! Been a, uh… rough couple days since we last updated you… 😬 With a FNAF deadline breathing down our necks and THREE more episodes planned to come, we’re struggling a bit to stay above water, but we’re still on track for a very exciting summer regardless (just… maybe not at quite the pace we’d hoped!)

Lest you think we have no other projects in mind, we wanted to give you some early looks at what will become the NEW “Caper of the Bells” musical. 😅 Don’t expect to see much of it until after FNAF, though — or anything else, for that matter!

We’ll have more footage, effects, music, and bitter tears to share with you next week! 🤣 Thanks for bearing with us!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: ANOTHER Network?!

HeyJ, team! We’re in the midst of switching over to a new YouTube partner, which is generally stressful but also somewhat exciting! I know we swore off networks in the past, but this one is more music-oriented. In fact, they work with several of our friends/colleagues online. 🙂

We’ve also tested out the new printer and will be sending out future Patreon letters printed from it. I wonder if you’ll notice any difference? 🤔 We know you’re waiting for more video (and song) updates, and we’ll have one for you shortly!

Beard Salute!

~AJ

REport: Birthday & FNAF Incoming!

Greetings, encounterers! Our BIRTHDAY LIVESTREAM is less than 24 hours away, so here's us getting ready for it a few days ago! 😅 Also featured in this REport (and probably more interesting than livestreaming tech) is your first preview of one of the songs featured in our multiple FNAF episodes this summer! I won't spoil who sings it or which episode it's in, but give it a listen and let us know what you think! FNAF: Dark Remains is at long last on the horizon, but tomorrow... IT'S PARTY TIME! We hope to see all of you at our livestream!

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: FNAF is NEXT!

HeyJ, everyone! Sorry for the silence lately. We actually filmed this REport before all leaving on vacation (to multiple destinations, no less!), but I wanted to edit one or two misleading details out of this update before posting it. There's already enough screwy clues and half-truths about this project floating around without us accidentally causing a few more! 😂

We're examining the summer for the perfect FNAF release date still and will notify you as soon as we feel secure in announcing it. If I can find some fun VFX shots, sound/music moments, or reshoot opportunities to share, I'd love to start giving you more to see!

Thanks for your patience and support (and for watching That's Not My Neighbor a lot of times!). The next REport should be coming soon and will have something to share -- I promise!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

Patreon exclusive Discord chat after THAT'S NOT MY NEIGHBOR premiere!

HeyJ, everyone! Just letting you know that we'll be hopping onto our Patreon-exclusive voice server tomorrow after our new THAT'S NOT MY NEIGHBOR musical premieres! From roughly 12:30 - 1:30pm Pacific, we'll be hanging out on Discord to discuss the song, the game, and probably sketchy neighbors (or, like, shinty or something...)

Feel free to join us, even if just for a few minutes. ^^ And enjoy the musical tomorrow, which premieres at noon Pacific Time!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Remember When Malcolm Was Here?

Greetings, encounterers! Remember when Malcolm was here a few weeks ago? Well apparently we filmed this REport with him showing off the set after we filmed the recently released TEASER for That's Not My Neighbor: The Musical. Unfortunately, we completely forgot it even existed! At least it's here now for your enjoyment! 😅

Meanwhile, we're continuing to chug along on wrapping up the musical for its premiere THIS FRIDAY! Once it's done, the Summer of FNAF will be underway and all our time/attention will be devoted solely to finishing and releasing the long-awaited conclusion to our FNAF prequel series! Thanks again for all your support and we hope you're looking forward to what's to come!

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: This Costume is Ruined

HeyJ, everyone! Sorry for the sparse updates, but we're back with an update from filming the next Random Encounters musical, and we've even got a guest star or two! We drafted our friends David and Kaela King for our 'That's Not My Neighbor' musical, and they did an excellent job! We're excited to share their work, but you'll get a taste of the project shortly when our teaser trailer drops this week. ;)

This is also our FINAL MUSICAL before the Summer of FNAF begins! We hope fans are hyped and non-fans batten down the hatches, because there's about to be A LOT of musical, animatronic violence hitting the channel... After five years of waiting, I think we've earned a few nights at Freddy's!

That also, though, means we're within striking distance of finally -- for the first time in well over a year -- focusing entirely on monthly musicals again! We've had split attention for so long, it's pretty surreal considering life after FNAF, where we can pick a game and pair it with a song each month! Will we return to some Sonic or Pokemon finally? Scoop up a few hits we missed? Sink our teeth into some fresh, trending meat? Or carelessly dabble with another extended mega-musical series? The world's about to be our oyster, and we're STOKED! Thanks for supporting us along this wild ride and get ready for some doppleganger action when THAT'S NOT MY NEIGHBOR: THE MUSICAL launches later this month!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

FOR PATREON EYES ONLY: Yoga Challenge Judging

As promised, here's some short clips of our various yoga poses from this Friday's challenge video! Let us know in the comments below or send us a message here on Patreon telling us who YOU think performed each of the poses best! You'll be deciding who the ultimate winner is, so scrutinize each pose carefully! Now get judging!

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: Perfectly Normal Box of Hands

Greetings, encounterers! We've got a challenge video coming out this week, so here's a little behind the scenes of us filming it. Though, to be honest, it's after we filmed it and mostly involves me playing with a box of little fake hands. Keep your eyes peeled for another video tomorrow morning that features all of our yoga poses for you to judge!

Beard Salute!

~Nate