randomencounters

REport: A Visit from Vanny!

Greetings, encounterers! As you may already know, we filmed our next musical (based on parts of FNAF: Security Breach) over the weekend! I know Gwen shared a few sneak peak images on her social medias, but here's your first complete look at the costumes/set for this project!

Filming went very smoothly, so now we're in the lovely post-production process. Though the musical won't be premiering until August 5th, Gwen's family is coming to visit that week and I'll be heading out of town for a week-long trip of my own, so we're trying to get as much as possible finished by August 3rd. Luckily, things on the post-prod side seem to be going rather smoothly as well! In fact, we even filmed a little TEASER video that'll go up soon to promote the musical, so stay tuned for that! With that said, it's time to get back to work!

...or maybe it's time for dinner? 😅

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: My Terrible Job

HeyJ, everyone! Thanks for your patience waiting on an update. I hope you’re all excited to see us back in production on something FNAF-related (even though this set certainly doesn’t appear very PizzaPlex inspired… 🤔)

We haven’t explicitly said this yet, but this music video WON’T close the door entirely on other sets, story elements, or characters from Security Breach. This musical barely scratches the surface of FNAF’s newest game, so there will be TONS to come back for in a future project, should we decide Montgomery Gator or Roxanne could use a song. 😉

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Overdue Updates

HeyJ, team! We’re back with a bit of an update… actually, a couple. As noted, some of the details are overdue, but I’m glad for the chance to keep you looped in. I know you’d probably like updates on more of FNAF‘s progress, and I assure you all, there WILL be some coming! 😅 Thank you for your continued support!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

Private Patreon Livestream Q&A

HeyJ, everybody! We haven't done something like this in a long time, but we'd like to offer an opportunity for our Patreon supporters of any tier to come participate in a live Q&A on Saturday, July 30th, starting at 5PM PT. Since this event is private, we will focus on more volatile questions than usual -- most specifically, our divide from former RE members Peter and Miss Bird, which our team and community deserves transparency about.

Since launching RE's TikTok account, we've seen a greater need for clarity. We hope this livestream will help provide valuable insight and answers.

Patreon backers who pledged prior to this announcement will receive a privately messaged URL allowing them to join the livestream on the 30th. Thanks for your support and patience; we're glad to have you here!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Will the real Isabelle please stand up?

HeyJ, everybody! Sorry for the lack of updates lately (but I hope you all had a nice holiday here in America, too!)

This video covers a few current things going on, but just to touch back on a bit I discuss at the end, we're re-examining our analytics daily trying to determine how YouTube has changed since our big crash at the end of 2020, dropping from over a million views per musical to a couple hundred thousand or less. 

One option we're considering is refocusing videos on trending games, which is unbelievably frustrating when there are so many GREAT games already out there to pick from! But if YouTube won't revise their system, we'd rather keep a community than lose it trying to work against the grain.

We're also returning behind the scenes content to RE Xtra, which didn't appear to improve things last year, but certainly UN-improved things as soon as we shut it down!

When all is said and done, though, we're really just here to make fun videos and catchy songs that improve our audience's day. We're grateful to have your help doing that, and even though there's a lot of 2022 left, I'd say we were already successful this year. :) High five!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Hey Gwen, Can You Fit in that Costume?

Howdy, doods! Just wanted to you give you all this REport before we head out for VidCon! While we're busy packing tonight, last night we were filming some final pickup shots so that we can send a rough cut over to NIS for approvals/notes. Here's hoping they don't want anything changed!

Also, as many of you have probably guessed, the animation of Singachu still isn't finished, and therefore won't be coming out this week. We're pretty sure this is the first time in RE history that we've ever gone TWO WHOLE MONTHS without a musical!

Those who got messaged about the trading cards for last month's perks will most likely get a similar message for this month (since no new musical = no new cards). Speaking of which, those rewards haven't been mailed out yet, but will go out as soon as we're back from VidCon!

On the bright side, though, you won't have to wait much longer for a new musical! DISGAEA 6 COMPLETE: The Musical will be premiering on July 1st! In the meantime, hope to see some of you at VidCon!

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: The DANCING KING!

HeyJ, team! Welcome to the set of our upcoming music video -- you know, that top secret sponsored one we've been putting together for MONTHS for the launch of DISGAEA 6: COMPLETE EDITION! Nate caught us all rehearsing a little dance routine that takes place toward the end, and even though we were definitely rough with our timing, I think it adds a lot of unexpected fun right at the finale. ^^

This is also probably your first look at the full cast, in costume! I'm not sure we announced it before, but that's our friend Justin La Torre as Zed in the red hoodie, and our new friend, Devyn, helping out behind the scenes. I even got a role in this project after all (which meant I got to dance, too!)

We also got official word that these songs will NOT be given permission to be sold or distributed, unfortunately, though the terms are incredibly vague about what we can do with the songs once all production (including promotion and behind the scenes content) is complete. For now, we've gotten the go-ahead to still record extended versions and offer them as YouTube uploads, so fans will be able to enjoy them over on RE Xtra. And of course, you guys here on our music tier will still receive mp3s of everything, since your Patreon pledges are considered donation-based production funding, rather than an exchange of goods directly. ;)

We'll share new updates of what else is in production shortly, but first, probably a REport or two from VidCon next week!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: A King in our Midst!

HeyJ, crew! We were visited by ROYALTY yesterday (no, not Mr. Meowse), and thought we’d share a couple minutes with you all. 😄 We’re closing in on our shooting date, so expect an on-set update pretty soon!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Ray’s Report?

HeyJ, crew. We wanted to drop you a line (our first of our 11th year online!) to show some of our progress on the forthcoming, ever-expanding Disgaea musical!

I also got an update from our Singachu animator that she’s officially on the final shot! As long as we have no changes to make, I think we might be launching it next week. 🙂 Thanks for your patience and support and we’ll be back with new updates soon!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Help! We Don’t Know How to Merch!

HeyJ, everybody. Can we ask your opinion real quick? Our merch site is almost ready, but we’re pretty torn about which photos to use.

We have a meeting with our Disgaea partners tomorrow, by the way, and will update you where it stands sometime after.

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: A Cast Read With No Cast?

HeyJ, team! I thought this was a little too cool not to run camera on. 😂 We don’t normally do cast reads (especially this late at night!), but since we’re sending over our full script and lyrics for approval tomorrow, I wanted to get a better sense of how it all fits and what we should edit down for the video.

There are five primary characters in this musical, by the way, so… we’re putting together five different songs! I think you’ll probably get to hear prototypes of a couple of them in the next REport. 😄 Thank you for supporting us while we get our ducks in a row for such a big endeavor!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Gwenperor's New Clothes

HeyJ, everyone. Never fear, the Gwenperor's clothes aren't imaginary -- just new.

We're working hard on this Disgaea musical, which is taking a little extra attention because it's turning out BIGGER than we'd intended (or... budgeted for...) We hope the extra effort creates some really fun results for you all, and the Disgaea community as well.

As an FYI, we still don't have a finished version of the Singachu animation -- those final scenes were a little more time-consuming than I think our animator planned for! We don't expect it to be ready before our birthday (June 7th), so sadly, it looks like we'll have formally failed to launch 12 new musicals following our ten year celebration. >_< Not for a lack of trying, though!

Stay tuned for more Disgaea, and possibly a tease of what we'll be working on later this summer.

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The ____’s Out of the Bag!

HeyJ, team! First, an apology: I didn’t cry NEARLY enough about our project delay in this video, so any apologies we made were essentially worthless. At least FAKE CRY, right? 😭

Anyway, yes, sadly, there won’t be a musical out this month after all. And to reiterate, not slamming together a replacement project was a choice based on YouTube’s system and how it can affect (or curse) latter uploads. Which I guess means we could’ve made a completely secret musical set privately for Patreon instead, but DANGIT, THESE THINGS TAKE A LOT OF WORK AND I’D LIKE THEM TO AT LEAST GET A THOUSAND VIEWS, OKAY? 😤

It’s also time to blow the lid off that top secret sponsored musical we’re making, and you’re all sworn to secrecy! 🤫 If you’re into super absurd tactical JRPGs with an anime-visual novel fusion, you may find this series right up your absurd alley. 🤩 But even if not, it’ll still be a fun project with familiar faces and fantastic music (hopefully!), so stay tuned for updates about everything under construction on RE!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: More Like SWINGachu, amirite? 😏

HeyJ, team! Thanks for being patient throughout another slooooow week — I think the next one will be a bit more exciting!

We have one more scene for this project still coming together (besides this live action sequence I referred to,) and I think it’ll come together great. 🙂 As for the other animations I mentioned, YES, one is our Animal Crossing Christmas song from 2020… 😂 Which lost its entire team in the home stretch, so with your support (and a bit of luck!), I’m going to see if we can hire Marline (the animator for this one, Watch Out, and Bendy and the Wolf) to finish it up for the holidays. We’ll let you know what happens with the others!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: What's the Deal with Poppy Playtime?

HeyJ, everyone! We promised a little explanation about our reluctance to make a Poppy Playtime musical and here it is. TL;DR, this is an old video dispute come back to haunt us, accompanied by a business track record that's strained and untrustworthy. Paired with our negative personal experience and relationships with some top members of Mob's team (which tracks with reports others have been making lately), it's seemed like a bad title to attach ourselves to. The game itself looks to be well-made and engaging, and we don't blame creators and streamers for getting involved.

We hope this helps clarify a few things without diving too far down an icky rabbit hole. Everyone's allowed to support what or who they like for whichever reasons they want, and ours is to keep a safe distance from Poppy Playtime.

Stay tuned for a music update soon for other projects in progress. Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Production Planning for May

HeyJ, everyone. We didn't update you last week because we weren't sure what we were working on exactly. We do now, though plans are always subject to change (especially if deadlines and due dates move). Our lunch meeting literally started with Sonic, ended with Worms, and we ultimately agreed it was time to allow for the possibility of missing a month, depending how everything ultimately lined up.

As to Poppy Playtime, we've wondered when it was time to speak up more officially, and it seems now could be an appropriate time. There will be plenty to say, so we'll give it its own REport later this week.

Thanks for sticking with us and I hope what we're making next will be a fun addition to the channel!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Taking a Break

HeyJ, team! We grabbed another opportunity to dive behind the scenes with you guys amidst one of our VFX shoots for Friday’s musical. Make what you will of it — it’s a weird bit, but all will be revealed Friday. 😎 Thanks for supporting the channel!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: A Mildly Late REport

Greetings, encounterers! This REport was originally supposed to be posted on Thursday, that way you could see it before the "Raven Brooks" teaser came out. Alas, it slipped our minds while we were busy all day editing said teaser. Nevertheless, it's here now and contains a few tidbits of information that pertain to more than just the teaser we released today. We hope you're looking forward to the new musical, which premieres in ONE WEEK (April 29th)!

Beard Salute!

~Nate

REport: Our Bakery is OPEN!

HeyJ, everyone! We still have a few more days of filming ahead of us, but here’s a fun surprise for old school Encounterers: we’ve pulled in Emily Brown (Pac-Man the Musical, Tetris the Musical, Huniepop) for our next project! She joins a cast of other past RE actors you’ve already seen: Nathan Hall (Favorite Fiends), Jordin Overton (My Date with Captain Falcon, Alola Form For Me), and of course, Jason Wells (Sonic the Hedgehog: The Musical Movie Trailer).

Thanks for helping us handle an ambitious musical with a sizable cast! Keep an eye out for another update in the next few days!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Nice ‘Stache, Dude!

HeyJ, team. It’s been an intense week, ending in an intense night (that went HOURS over schedule and still lost full scenes and recording sessions… 😣) Not exactly the plan we shot for, but the cast did an amazing job and were crazy good sports about it all. We’ll need to pick up the pieces once Easter is over (happy Easter, btw!) and probably pull some crazy strings to finish this… I think this video will be a good learning experience for me to remember some ideas are still out of reach, and that the extra work and creativity is better targeted on more feasible endeavors. 😭 I’ve never liked parameters, though, and going for a big, bombastic failure sounds more spectacular (and fun!) than pulling off a very safe, simple success. 🤔

Anyway, enough grumbling. This is taking more than we bargained for, but we’e glad to be adding it to the RE library with your help. We should have more to show you in a few days (not 8 like last time!)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Bird’s the Word

Or is it? Sorry, I’m not honestly sure at this stage… It’s been another nightmare week in another nightmare month of changes, cancellations, and scheduling problems, and it’s ONLY ONE WEEK IN! 🤯 Nothing sucks the fun out of YouTube like its own algorithmic demands… 😅 We’ll figure out our plan somehow — and, hey, look at that cool bird costume coming together! I bet we can make something pretty cool with that, right? 😁 Thanks for staying patient and always encouraging us (and I’m sorry we’ve needed so much of it this year!) This is definitely not always a happy or healthy work environment, and you’ve probably noticed that from past REports… but I still wouldn’t trade it for anything else (well… anything involving a bird costume, at least!)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Your Annual Seasonal Weirdness

HeyJ, crew! Here's what's happening at RE today! Never fear, for all the ambiguity, we'll get into the upcoming musical later in the video, too. Thanks for being part of our goofy projects!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Engineer Edit!

HeyJ, crew! Here’s a more in-depth view of the musical hitting YouTube this Friday. We hope it’s a fun ride and that you’re all looking forward to seeing the newest characters in action. 🙂 Catch you on Discord Friday!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Welcome to the 2Fort!

HeyJ, team! Or should I say… Team Fortress 2… 😏 Now that the news has been broken wide outside of Patreon, we’re excited to tell you a bit more about our cast, the premise (this one stars the Engineer!), and a couple other things still under construction behind the scenes! We’ll show off a bit of footage (and music!) in the next REport… 😁 Thanks for making this video possible!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: No More Monkeying Around!

HeyJ, everyone! Here's a new update -- we've changed ideas again and are pushing forward on something COMPLETELY different. I feel like that happens a lot around here... The whiplash is real, but at least it's a series we think deserves a little 10 year love from RE, and certainly our community might enjoy. Thanks for making it all possible (and stay tuned for more news about that, er, interesting costume...)

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Long-Awaited Update

It's been a hot minute, but we've finally got an update on what's been happening behind the scenes (in summary: plenty, but all of it far from concrete or even actionable). We're disappointed by slow progress and are sure you are, too, but thanks for your patience and we're hopeful that something will still click together in the coming days. I don't think we've "missed" a month on RE since 2017, and we'd prefer to keep that record going. Thanks for continuing to offer your support amidst an intense, challenging tenth year on YouTube!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: So About That Musical…

HeyJ, everyone! Here’s an update on our work (and my recent, numerous failures!)

Thanks for sticking with us and stay tuned for updates!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: The Challenge is ON!

HeyJ, everyone! Here's a short update for you of some new nonsense coming soon to Random Encounters!

We've got another REport heading your way tomorrow about the more *musical* stuff taking place here, so stay tuned and thanks for supporting Random Encounters!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: A Hodgepodge REport!

HeyJ guys, I kinda didn't plan this one out very well. But in true REport/AJ fashion, we rambled our way into a kindof legit REport. We'll think through a better update for you later this week! BTW, for Card-Carrying Encounterers, your cards have been shipped finally!

Beard Salute!
~AJ

REport: Meanwhile, Back in Los Angeles…

Oof! I forgot to upload this all week! 😭 Please don’t be mad at me! I swear, there wasn’t much to update you all on, and the teases for our next musical are still completely accurate/relevant! In fact, we can probably share something else cool about it in a few days. 🙂 Thanks for supporting Random Encounters and enjoy the beautiful SoCal weather! 😉

Beard Salute!
~AJ