Remember when Mel Brooks made a movie that lampooned The Producers who found a loophole in the investment scheme that made it so that a flop made more money than a hit? I remember when that was a joke.
The Producers was that musical. Mel brooks wrote it. He was satirizing/critiquing the broadway system and had the plot point of a producer selling shares in a planned-to-fail musical. Sorry. Just wanted to clarify that. Brooks wasn’t lampooning the producers, he wrote it. And the movie adaption too, I think.
It's not just Hollywood, gaming has these same issues. The rage baiting in particular. Here's to hoping we'll see something get better one of these days. Media preservation is another important aspect I agree with.
Id say books and comics for the win but i know people have their reservations. Not everyone is a fan of male writers writing female characters unrealistically for example. I wonder how the tabletop and card game industry is doing.
That's so interesting, I've never seen it in gaming as rage bait, my perspective is that the target audience is teenagers and 18-25, so the satirical edge lord shit is just their target audience. But maybe I'm wrong
games at least have the safe heaven of indie developers and just bein more accessible to publish games through steam or itchio Films and TV you need privileges to actually reach audiences or work a thousand times harder through far more limited methods to even reach anyone at all.
the access to making videogames and publishing them on the market is way easier in the gaming world, not saying making a game is easier than a movie, nor that a movie is more complicated than a game, both are extremely hard stuff to pull off well, but the line of entry is way lower for gaming, allowing for the making of indie games, the closest thing you got to that in holywood is youtubers lol. And barely anyone tries to make full on movies in youtube anyways.
This is partly why I'm so excited for the new Wallace & Gromit movie. It's just hard to take cost saving shortcuts when you're making a Stop Motion film where every ~3 seconds of usable footage is a day's work at minimum. You don't do that kind of shit if you don't love the fuck out of it, and that kind of shit doesn't get funded to get released on some stupidly short deadline. Basically, Stop Motion is resistant to the time pressures of a big budget production.
I agree with you. It's really sad to me that there are "people" defending this soulless live action prequel to the 2019 Lion King film, as if the last decade of soulless live action remakes were just a fluke.
@@DecoderWalrus I despise the 2019 version, but tbh, I'm not entirely offended by the existence of Mufasa 2024. It is a corporate prequel to a terrible live action remake, but unlike 2019, it's coming up with own story and can't rely on making a worse version of songs, writing and visuals people love already. It has to be more creative inherently, which isn't saying a lot, but it's something. Plus Barry Jenkins making it could lead to something slightly bareable. I'm still not gonna see it and hope nobody sees it either since Disney will learn the worst lessons from its success even if it's good, but at least it's less creatively bankrupt, even if slightly.
@@DecoderWalrus I never said it would be, and I think there's no chance it could. But a great filmmaker working on a terrible project would likely make something less bad than a mid filmmaker doing the same, even if they're both just doing it for the check
And those who unironically think those animators deserve to be replaced and such... Ya have no clue now many ignorantly think every creative skilled person like them or comic artists are unbearable and deserve to be replaced by AI, or lose their jobs and the industry melt over the garbage produced.
I work in animation, and this is 100% spot on. I hate this cultural war and scapegoating. We are consistently exploited and must deal with short and tight deadlines, poor working conditions, etc. There was no difference before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns regarding how much was 'outsourced' overseas. The one exception is the streaming services outside Hollywood, like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. When it comes to the phases of development of projects, you have pre-production, production, and post-production. The traditional Hollywood studios have always, going back to the 60s, outsourced both production and post-production jobs. Netflix started to change that by outsourcing more pre-production jobs overseas, including writing, storyboarding, visual development, and design. Before that, most 'creative' film production jobs were mainly kept within the United States, and all the technical jobs were outsourced. This started to change as the tech companies had more of a slice of the pie within the entertainment industry. This comes from someone who is an 'overseas' worker from Canada. The solution is to form collective worker solidarity outside of craft and internationally. Labor unions constrained to craft will always have limitations, and the conclusions and solutions you propose can lead to worse outcomes. The tech industry further fractured it, funneling creators into its independent platforms and creating a system of gig workers. Think about Uber drivers; technically, they are 'independent contractors,' but they are bound by the app and algorithm and exploited by it because they have fewer legal protections as workers this way. We are moving into a new phase of capitalist exploitation where people are being pushed out of contractual work agreements. Instead, we are considered gig workers and independent contractors bound by the rules of algorithms.
Man - it is super refreshing to see someone put effort in to their animated avatar. So many big channels use it as a shortcut and have like a dozen poses at best. Bro here’s got unique posing, facial expressions, and lip-sync! Video is great and I love the work put in to your presentation style.
Sometimes I wish they would get around to passing the "copyright clause restoration act" which is essentially shortening the duration of copyright, making works from the 70s onwards become public domain so that all the major studios would lose their "exploitation nostalgia" or at least the exclusivity of them earlier than ever just to hit them hard. to make them understand that they do not own these IPs forever
Yeah after 50 years, it belongs to the people (who still want it lol)... but in a capitalist system, I don't see how they could even let art and culture reign over profit.
@@pysq8 Curiously, on the public domain reddit we talk about how the long duration of copyright sometimes kills the oldest IPs since, when they are not successful, they are put under lock and key for such long periods of time that they make the general public forget them and since they did not become public domain in a time where there were still fans of these, they create this effect where people have no interest in using them because they see them as too outdated and the truth is that there are few characters from more than 95 years ago that have remained relevant or that have fandoms that have the interest of creating things with them when they become "heritage of humanity" literally the IPs are burned to oblivion in the current model and it is worth mentioning the number of problems that have arisen in the preservation of media due to their long duration of copyright
@@gundradestroyer4480 very interesting! I love that people are discussing such matters. I have a bit of an indigenous mindset, and don't think things can really be owned much... especially stories (even rhythms). And I know there's "nothing new under the sun." I find it interesting how people from across the world who've never crossed paths have filed the same invention patents on the same day. To whom do ideas "belong"? Most of The Bible "characters", especially the bloodline of Christ, the apostles and the prophets--all have pretty relatable stories. Someone pointed out how it's possible to almost play out many of the characters' lessons in your own life, which is pretty cool but intense. Whatever more you have on the subject of IPs, I'd likely be interested to read.
It's not a single political party that does this; both sides of the spectrum are deeply involved, and have been since the 70's; they both bow to money. Disney (among other big influential companies) support both Democrats and Republicans, because when you play to win, you play both sides. And so long as the "poors" are distracted and at each others throats, the rich will continue to get richer with little to no worry about the repercussions of their actions. Edit: I should have clarified, I was talking about the rebranding of "woke."
Finally someone explaining how things are clearly without pointing out that it's all "tHe MeSsAgE" fault. They never cared about representation, they never cared about the customers. They only want your money, and for that they need your costant attention.
I think this video reaches farther than you realize. As a musician, music has been so utterly commodified that making a livable wage as a musician in the 2020s (especially with AI music tools) has become next to impossible for essentially any musician. If you live in an area with no live scene, you basically have no chance of succeeding, and even less if you do anything that isn’t punk or metal.
The good news is, they will never make a live action treasure planet, atlantis, or emporeres new groove. The movies were not profitable during their initial release, so Disney doesn't even remember they exist.
The “The Wizards Behind the Curtain “ segment reminds me so much of that UHC CEOs assassination and how all of the hatred is going towards that one deceased executive rather than all of them. Hopefully at least class consciousness happens from this event in history.
The damnedest thing about that to me is that shareholder meeting still went on that day he died. The company didn't even spare a day out of respect for the dead.
Welcome to Late Stage Capitalism. You don't need to make a quality product at an affordable price; you only need to be the least worst quality at a mind-numbing, but reachable cost.
Labor unions promised to be the solution to corporate greed. Now labor unions are part of the problem. You need not believe that since at least the Thirties the labor unions crawled in bed with the corporate bosses and the political elite--and the worker got the short end of the stick. The sinking ship with no lifeboats was demonstrated during the writers and animators strike--and just like the great Disney Studios strike of 1941, the more things changed the more they stayed the same. The major change was that the number of bosses changed. Go to the Mob Museum and then research how the Mob took over Hollywood. Al Capone wasn't the only crook using creative bookkeeping. The cast of Gilligan's Island (and other television series) were cheated out of their residuals. The process has been on-going for over a century. The corruption is more deeply entrenched than the Maginot Line. It's not just money--it's power. Money is necessary for power, but without power you don't keep your money. With power, the money keeps on rolling in.
Creepiest thing, I think internet discourse resulted in even the grouchiest fans not really respecting subjective opinions, including their own? Like they dont have the confidence to say 'this thing i usually like? didnt like that Last One, it was weird' anymore. Everything is a mechanical dissertation to prove themselves factually right(tm) about the topic. It feels like a weird misplaced obsessive loyalty in the thing you like that you gotta come up with some MYSTErIOUS reason why it didnt work out from time to time (up to and including conspiracies about its production) instead of just Things Dont Work Out Sometimes.
Subjective and objective criticism of art can sit comfortably next to one another but I don't think most people really know how to analyze media that way. Its a skill in itself to be able to distinguish what you feel about a work and what you can make objective analysis of in a work. Maybe most people just get too emotionally attached to stuff to tell the difference or accept something is or isn't as good as their heart says it is.
People attach themselves to things, like it almost takes over that tribal part of the mind, and it's incredibly hard to disassociate from your group. Whatever it is, it becomes like a part of yourself & your identity, so anything 'threatening' it is treated like it's threatening you, existentially. Flight or fight responses are triggered
I've been wondering where we realistically go from here because unlike the major studio decline in the 60s, there isn't something like the New Hollywood movement on the horizon to bail the industry out.
@@kayc7442 Yeah I mean part of the decline of the golden age system was the 1948 Supreme Court ruling against the vertical integration that the studios were doing at the time. Honestly you could argue something like Netflix often being the producer, distributor, and exhibitor of a lot of its content falls under the same thing as those old studios did.
@@artirony410 You could add that the attempt to kill the Star System in the past decade has harmed attendance rates in the theater but that is more of a structural issue. Also there is the issue of venture capitalism running entertainment in general as it kills creativity. Then you have the issue where studio execs are too reliant on technology and are forgetting what makes entertainment appealing to the public in the first place Unfortunately there are several issues happening that is coming to a crossroads that would require a serious crash to correct.
Hurray for private equity ruining the entertainment industry across the board and for ruining things that shouldn't be industrial like Healthcare, childcare, food, housing, etc 😃
Well the main issue I believe with “woke” is that it gets conflated with people in the industry who don’t give things proper execution, mainly pushing characters that aren’t actually popular and they seem to lack the initiative to write these characters and themes properly because we have some stuff out there with gay and female characters that do well with telling compelling stories For example: Marvel, Dc etc and then there’s the context It’s literally a case by case basis depending on show and the execution along with replacing established characters in their established mythos Hollywood tries to take the easy way especially since they’ve relied heavily on sequels and remakes
Hollywood used to be so much better at figuring out how to create an appealing visual aesthetic for each project. We used to see all sorts of different creatures, unique worlds, fever dreams, macabre things, oddities. We used to embrace these things. Now there's this weird fixation on a sort of bland realism? We need to bring back the days when we used to use all sorts of different techniques for VFX's, bring back animation. I swear Hollywood is Physically incapable of making nice movies anymore. I miss the Era of creativity, or animation, when things made us utilize our intelligence. Kids cartoons used to respect our intelligence more than Hollywood does now. They used to be able to create animated Artistic depictions that showed the Human condition and that can connect us on a deeper level. It didn't matter what kind of character they were or creature or species they were. I don't understand who can enjoy these modern live action movies. Filled with so much disconnected CGI. Cheap cop out writing, acting, storytelling that is treating our entire audience like they are 2 yr olds that just need a pair of shiney keys waved in front of them for entertainment... it's a very bland & soulless way to entertain... I can't stand what has happened to American media... It's an absolute shame that our entertainment industry & our creativity as a whole is now a complete shell of what it once was during the 90's & 00's. It's pathetic that all of this has become the norm now. We are seeing Hollywood destroying everything we once loved (How about Hollywood actually listens to feedback?) I wish this wasn't real. I am ashamed and disappointed with how psychotic the entertainment industry has become... It really is such a shame
Digital and 4k just looks different, too. Film had kind of an inherent dreamy quality to it that kept that audience at a nice, safe distance from what was happening on screen. It felt real enough, but also a bit fuzzy like a memory.
This is the first of your videos I came across and I’m really impressed! not only is it a really interesting video essay, your visual style is really good too! especially your character and the text compositions :))
Great video! You did a great job exploring the issues with the industry in a holistic way, and the presentation is fun and engaging! Also, fantastic thumbnail.
34:21 There was a recent EmpLemon video that somewhat irritated me about the current, uncreative era of Hollywood we're living in. It was a 40 minute video about how the industry is relying too much on nostalgia and is eating itself to death. The arguments and examples were not wrong by any means, but using your platform for a 40 minute rant about the reoccuring issues in modern blockbuster franchises everyone has heard a million times before felt like a waste of his reach. He briefly addressed the fact that creative and worthwhile art was being made in lower budget and indie spaces at the beginning of the video, but said he wanted to focus on talking about the issue itself, hardly highlighting how people can give their attention to original and creative films instead of wasting time on the highly marketed mainstream fair. Your video and especially your statement at 34:21 is exactly what I think an audience Emp's size should be watching instead: actually discussing the systematic reasons for this swamp of an era and how we play into it in ways many of us aren't aware of. One of the reasons why Hollywood is mostly mediocre now is because they've trained an audience for a decade to only go out to the threatre for established names and the highest budget blockbusters. The mid-budget feature used to be where dramas and more creatively ambitious projects would be made, but they've dwindled since movies can't rely on making profits through physical sales anymore, making the box office king, leading to studios playing it safer to compete with the internet. Those types of creative films are relegated to lower-mid or just low budget film, so encouraging people to check out those projects instead will allow creative cinema to grow, eventually showing studios that throwing all their money into expensive, audience tested projects isn't the wave, and that using the budget of one mega blockbuster on some mid budget to low budget films would be better for everyone.
To be fair and to play devil’s advocate, there used to be even smaller reference pools before the internet was launched, especially in the golden age of Hollywood where there used to be less visible distinctiveness than even today.
Well it could be worse, it could be the emp video where he just repeats the two decades old bullsh that jar jar binks actually is the reason star wars fell and that George Lucas was never a good director hahaha... ha...
Oh man, thank you for explaining that hollywood isn't 'woke.' hollywood is one of The most inequitable places on earth i've Never understood how someone could reach the conclusion 'they' [executives, advertisers, large conglomerates in general] really care about any kind of real world issue. individuals and smaller companies sure maybe, but once they get big enough that all flies out the window.
@@sssspider It's used as a way for conservatives to claim that they're the victims of a society that's progressive, when in reality they couldn't be any less. When 50% of the voting population hear "woke", they don't think "Oh corporations are exploiting progressive ideals to make a profit," they think "All these wokies are infecting our media with woke stuff to promote their political agenda" That's why i hate the internet centrist. They're just people who like to go around telling everyone they're stupid for fighting each other and how "they're just enjoying watching these idiots squabble." All they want is self validation, to be told that their beliefs are correct. They'd rather argue about how their definition of "woke" is correct rather than realizing nobody else uses that definition.
18:48 YOOOO! I never see this scene referenced, I always thought I was the only who referenced it. Everyone remembers the "big" scenes with Luke and company, no one remembers all the great moments with the "little guys" who make up the 2 sides. A pretty good analogy for the subject of this video. This scene lives rent free in my head, i think about it often. My friends just think I'm weird when I say, out loud, "intensify the forward batteries, I dont want anything to get through." Or just "Intensity forward firepower!"
The last movie I remember seeing in theaters is minions(2015). The last holywood movie I remember watching online is star wars 7 (did not finish it). (2016) Not going to pretend it was intentional, but I’m glad I don’t feed this machine. I only watch YT and anime now (also independent artists sometimes) Sad to say that YT is only getting worse over time, but your video was very good, subbed.
Well said and hopefully this message will reach those it needs to... True quality entertainment is just about totally lost, because those who are at the top of the industry are not concerned with quality. Remember, that Art is the soul of humanity brought forth into a medium and presented to the audience, it transcends the creator and becomes a part of the world. This isn't woke nonsense... everyone agreed to this statement before, but somehow a great many of us have been conditioned to think of art as just entertainment. The people who truly have power in society are not interested in thoughtful art that moves people, they want meaningless shite that leaves us all exactly where we started, because that's the world they thrive in.
Hey man, i really enjoy your animations and i genuinely appreciate your deeper dive into this stuff behind the usual "culture war" bs. Heres to hoping you have a long an fruitful career in spite of all the garbage happening around us
Dope video, super informative and engaging! I really think the future of media/entertainment is going to be independent grass roots collectives. Like even a quick glance at how GOOD hobbyists animators have gotten, let alone folks who have made it a career, cuz of advances in tech and practice suggests to me that there’s a promising future for people run studios as long as resources are gathered and directed effectively.
Buddy, this is a great video. Im a dyed in the wool Marxist and in my amateur opinion I think you have a great grip on your critique of post-capitalist social production. I live in a pretty conservative place, and I’ve been trying for years to tell the conservatives that I talk to that they have absolutely nothing to fear, Hollywood ain’t woke. Ha ha. I’m glad to see you put it in black and white. Marketing is post-ideological. Most “art” nowadays is post ideological. So when a corporate entity says they support LGBTQ+ and or POC issues, what they mean is that they support it as far as it raises the return on their investment. The only little critique I would raise with what I’ve heard so far is this: if we know that Disney, marvel, Sony, etc are only in it for the bucks, can we call what they do art at all? No disrespect, they prob have artists in their employ, but what comes out? The end product? It’s commodity entertainment. It is an interchangeable part in the social machine. I’m subscribed now man, thanks.
Duuuuude new favorite channel just dropped!! Seriously love your format and your writing and imo you're spot on about where the industry is at rn. Wrapped up my first movie contract in June and many of my coworkers were former Pixar and Blue Sky artists with ten or twenty years in animation. They all got laid off, and only a select few have found industry work since then. As a junior artist I can understand why getting the first few gigs could be tricky, but when animators who are Oscar nominees/winners are getting shut out it's clear we can't ignore the problem any longer. We need alternative distribution options for animation and we need em NOW.
New subscriber here bro! Im highly inpressed! And all truth said. On another note. Could you please, recommend some animating programs that I can draw and bring my characters to life?
Great video, and this is exactly why these millionaire and *billionaire* executives are investing TONS of money into AI now. They genuinely want to just press a single button to make movies instead of paying actors, writers, and creatives. And a BIG thank you for that short snippet of the history of "woke". Too many times have I seen conservatives use "woke" incorrectly and try to redefine it as akin to "SJW".
You telling me nobody wants a live action remake of the Goofy Movie with Tom Holland and The Rock???
Okay but would The Rock be Goofy, Pete, or Powerline?
The actual actors or the AI doubles?
@@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm You just help answer my question. Actual Holland as Max, Actual Rock as Goofy and AI Rock as Pete and Powerline
I made a fake article screenshot of a live action goofy movie remake sent it to a discord server and sat back and watched the chaos 💀
Don't give the jackals any ideas. Lord...
Remember when Mel Brooks made a movie that lampooned The Producers who found a loophole in the investment scheme that made it so that a flop made more money than a hit?
I remember when that was a joke.
Good to know if you ask me.
A joke? It never was.
*cough* Batgirl
The Producers was that musical. Mel brooks wrote it. He was satirizing/critiquing the broadway system and had the plot point of a producer selling shares in a planned-to-fail musical. Sorry. Just wanted to clarify that. Brooks wasn’t lampooning the producers, he wrote it. And the movie adaption too, I think.
It's not just Hollywood, gaming has these same issues. The rage baiting in particular. Here's to hoping we'll see something get better one of these days. Media preservation is another important aspect I agree with.
Id say books and comics for the win but i know people have their reservations. Not everyone is a fan of male writers writing female characters unrealistically for example. I wonder how the tabletop and card game industry is doing.
That's so interesting, I've never seen it in gaming as rage bait, my perspective is that the target audience is teenagers and 18-25, so the satirical edge lord shit is just their target audience. But maybe I'm wrong
games at least have the safe heaven of indie developers and just bein more accessible to publish games through steam or itchio
Films and TV you need privileges to actually reach audiences or work a thousand times harder through far more limited methods to even reach anyone at all.
Everything has the same issues, a ceo was murdered recently because of it. There is a parasite class.
the access to making videogames and publishing them on the market is way easier in the gaming world, not saying making a game is easier than a movie, nor that a movie is more complicated than a game, both are extremely hard stuff to pull off well, but the line of entry is way lower for gaming, allowing for the making of indie games, the closest thing you got to that in holywood is youtubers lol. And barely anyone tries to make full on movies in youtube anyways.
It doesn’t just feel like they’re appealing to nostalgia, it feels like they’re appealing to brand awareness.
In the "brands of a lifestyle" sense?
"as a lifestyle"✊🤬
Reminds me of TH-cam downgraded its own quality to appeal its advertisers.
My roommate thinks Hollywood is "woke" but he only brings up actors and maybe directors, never mentions the executives.
well first did u mention to him what woke actually means
Maybe you could mention the executives. Be more engaging, start a conversation. Maybe your roommate'll catch on.
@surelychordophonic Did try. He doesn't really care.
@@wydmatt7294woke means your an identity based communist
@@Beelzeboogie Tell him they're all Jews.
That's the only language he'll understand.
This is partly why I'm so excited for the new Wallace & Gromit movie. It's just hard to take cost saving shortcuts when you're making a Stop Motion film where every ~3 seconds of usable footage is a day's work at minimum. You don't do that kind of shit if you don't love the fuck out of it, and that kind of shit doesn't get funded to get released on some stupidly short deadline. Basically, Stop Motion is resistant to the time pressures of a big budget production.
When is the new Wallace & Gromit movie coming out anyway?
@@thardump859 December 25th
@@thardump859Christmas day in the U.K. January 3th in the U.S.
You are describing extreme sensitivity to time pressure - not resistance.
makes sense, i love guillermo del toro's Pinocchio, i recommend the watch!
I agree with you. It's really sad to me that there are "people" defending this soulless live action prequel to the 2019 Lion King film, as if the last decade of soulless live action remakes were just a fluke.
those defending the debasement and rape of art don't even register as human to me. a flea has more humanity than your typical shill.
@@DecoderWalrus I despise the 2019 version, but tbh, I'm not entirely offended by the existence of Mufasa 2024. It is a corporate prequel to a terrible live action remake, but unlike 2019, it's coming up with own story and can't rely on making a worse version of songs, writing and visuals people love already. It has to be more creative inherently, which isn't saying a lot, but it's something. Plus Barry Jenkins making it could lead to something slightly bareable.
I'm still not gonna see it and hope nobody sees it either since Disney will learn the worst lessons from its success even if it's good, but at least it's less creatively bankrupt, even if slightly.
@@IAMA1 Ok. Faint praise, but ok. Moonlight is an amazing film. For some reason I don't expect Mufasa to reach the same level of quality.
@@DecoderWalrus I never said it would be, and I think there's no chance it could. But a great filmmaker working on a terrible project would likely make something less bad than a mid filmmaker doing the same, even if they're both just doing it for the check
@@IAMA1 I would never accuse you of saying Mufasa is an amazing film. I'm not a monster.
Hollywood CEOs on their way to crush the dreams of animators just to satisfy their greedy desires:
If an animator one day looks up to The Adjustor….
It's CEO season
I'll call Luigi
@@ducestat06savage99based
And those who unironically think those animators deserve to be replaced and such...
Ya have no clue now many ignorantly think every creative skilled person like them or comic artists are unbearable and deserve to be replaced by AI, or lose their jobs and the industry melt over the garbage produced.
I work in animation, and this is 100% spot on. I hate this cultural war and scapegoating. We are consistently exploited and must deal with short and tight deadlines, poor working conditions, etc. There was no difference before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdowns regarding how much was 'outsourced' overseas. The one exception is the streaming services outside Hollywood, like Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. When it comes to the phases of development of projects, you have pre-production, production, and post-production. The traditional Hollywood studios have always, going back to the 60s, outsourced both production and post-production jobs. Netflix started to change that by outsourcing more pre-production jobs overseas, including writing, storyboarding, visual development, and design. Before that, most 'creative' film production jobs were mainly kept within the United States, and all the technical jobs were outsourced. This started to change as the tech companies had more of a slice of the pie within the entertainment industry. This comes from someone who is an 'overseas' worker from Canada.
The solution is to form collective worker solidarity outside of craft and internationally. Labor unions constrained to craft will always have limitations, and the conclusions and solutions you propose can lead to worse outcomes. The tech industry further fractured it, funneling creators into its independent platforms and creating a system of gig workers. Think about Uber drivers; technically, they are 'independent contractors,' but they are bound by the app and algorithm and exploited by it because they have fewer legal protections as workers this way. We are moving into a new phase of capitalist exploitation where people are being pushed out of contractual work agreements. Instead, we are considered gig workers and independent contractors bound by the rules of algorithms.
How did you get into animation
Man - it is super refreshing to see someone put effort in to their animated avatar. So many big channels use it as a shortcut and have like a dozen poses at best. Bro here’s got unique posing, facial expressions, and lip-sync!
Video is great and I love the work put in to your presentation style.
Sometimes I wish they would get around to passing the "copyright clause restoration act" which is essentially shortening the duration of copyright, making works from the 70s onwards become public domain so that all the major studios would lose their "exploitation nostalgia" or at least the exclusivity of them earlier than ever just to hit them hard.
to make them understand that they do not own these IPs forever
Yeah after 50 years, it belongs to the people (who still want it lol)... but in a capitalist system, I don't see how they could even let art and culture reign over profit.
@@pysq8 Curiously, on the public domain reddit we talk about how the long duration of copyright sometimes kills the oldest IPs since, when they are not successful, they are put under lock and key for such long periods of time that they make the general public forget them and since they did not become public domain in a time where there were still fans of these, they create this effect where people have no interest in using them because they see them as too outdated and the truth is that there are few characters from more than 95 years ago that have remained relevant or that have fandoms that have the interest of creating things with them when they become "heritage of humanity"
literally the IPs are burned to oblivion in the current model and it is worth mentioning the number of problems that have arisen in the preservation of media due to their long duration of copyright
@@gundradestroyer4480 very interesting! I love that people are discussing such matters.
I have a bit of an indigenous mindset, and don't think things can really be owned much... especially stories (even rhythms). And I know there's "nothing new under the sun."
I find it interesting how people from across the world who've never crossed paths have filed the same invention patents on the same day. To whom do ideas "belong"?
Most of The Bible "characters", especially the bloodline of Christ, the apostles and the prophets--all have pretty relatable stories. Someone pointed out how it's possible to almost play out many of the characters' lessons in your own life, which is pretty cool but intense.
Whatever more you have on the subject of IPs, I'd likely be interested to read.
"...you're taking them to Applebeeeees!"
I've never seen one of your videos before but this made me laugh so hard I'm instantly a fan.
It's not a single political party that does this; both sides of the spectrum are deeply involved, and have been since the 70's; they both bow to money. Disney (among other big influential companies) support both Democrats and Republicans, because when you play to win, you play both sides. And so long as the "poors" are distracted and at each others throats, the rich will continue to get richer with little to no worry about the repercussions of their actions.
Edit: I should have clarified, I was talking about the rebranding of "woke."
nah they support woke so thats rad left not right
there’s not*
@@mscapeh4451 they only support it along an identity politics axis though, and that's out of strategic motives not idealistic ones
Wrong @@epicparkourdewd
@@mscapeh4451 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no
Finally someone explaining how things are clearly without pointing out that it's all "tHe MeSsAgE" fault. They never cared about representation, they never cared about the customers. They only want your money, and for that they need your costant attention.
how i hate "film" youtubers always talking about "the message" wtf is that supposed to mean?
@@zkme2734shii they don't even know what "the message" is
@@zkme2734 "get angry at this, leave comments saying how much you agree with me, rake in engagement"
I think this video reaches farther than you realize. As a musician, music has been so utterly commodified that making a livable wage as a musician in the 2020s (especially with AI music tools) has become next to impossible for essentially any musician. If you live in an area with no live scene, you basically have no chance of succeeding, and even less if you do anything that isn’t punk or metal.
The good news is, they will never make a live action treasure planet, atlantis, or emporeres new groove. The movies were not profitable during their initial release, so Disney doesn't even remember they exist.
Or the black cauldron
The “The Wizards Behind the Curtain “ segment reminds me so much of that UHC CEOs assassination and how all of the hatred is going towards that one deceased executive rather than all of them.
Hopefully at least class consciousness happens from this event in history.
The damnedest thing about that to me is that shareholder meeting still went on that day he died. The company didn't even spare a day out of respect for the dead.
@@redsgrave2003they sure didn’t. Members of c suite don’t even like each other.
Welcome to Late Stage Capitalism. You don't need to make a quality product at an affordable price; you only need to be the least worst quality at a mind-numbing, but reachable cost.
Labor unions promised to be the solution to corporate greed. Now labor unions are part of the problem. You need not believe that since at least the Thirties the labor unions crawled in bed with the corporate bosses and the political elite--and the worker got the short end of the stick.
The sinking ship with no lifeboats was demonstrated during the writers and animators strike--and just like the great Disney Studios strike of 1941, the more things changed the more they stayed the same. The major change was that the number of bosses changed. Go to the Mob Museum and then research how the Mob took over Hollywood. Al Capone wasn't the only crook using creative bookkeeping. The cast of Gilligan's Island (and other television series) were cheated out of their residuals. The process has been on-going for over a century. The corruption is more deeply entrenched than the Maginot Line.
It's not just money--it's power. Money is necessary for power, but without power you don't keep your money. With power, the money keeps on rolling in.
The thumbnail wins the internet.
Creepiest thing, I think internet discourse resulted in even the grouchiest fans not really respecting subjective opinions, including their own? Like they dont have the confidence to say 'this thing i usually like? didnt like that Last One, it was weird' anymore. Everything is a mechanical dissertation to prove themselves factually right(tm) about the topic. It feels like a weird misplaced obsessive loyalty in the thing you like that you gotta come up with some MYSTErIOUS reason why it didnt work out from time to time (up to and including conspiracies about its production) instead of just Things Dont Work Out Sometimes.
Subjective and objective criticism of art can sit comfortably next to one another but I don't think most people really know how to analyze media that way. Its a skill in itself to be able to distinguish what you feel about a work and what you can make objective analysis of in a work. Maybe most people just get too emotionally attached to stuff to tell the difference or accept something is or isn't as good as their heart says it is.
People attach themselves to things, like it almost takes over that tribal part of the mind, and it's incredibly hard to disassociate from your group. Whatever it is, it becomes like a part of yourself & your identity, so anything 'threatening' it is treated like it's threatening you, existentially. Flight or fight responses are triggered
Bro your videos and points are so good. Keep it up
I've been wondering where we realistically go from here because unlike the major studio decline in the 60s, there isn't something like the New Hollywood movement on the horizon to bail the industry out.
The government will have to get back to breaking up monopolies and oligopolies
@@kayc7442 Yeah I mean part of the decline of the golden age system was the 1948 Supreme Court ruling against the vertical integration that the studios were doing at the time. Honestly you could argue something like Netflix often being the producer, distributor, and exhibitor of a lot of its content falls under the same thing as those old studios did.
@@artirony410 You could add that the attempt to kill the Star System in the past decade has harmed attendance rates in the theater but that is more of a structural issue.
Also there is the issue of venture capitalism running entertainment in general as it kills creativity.
Then you have the issue where studio execs are too reliant on technology and are forgetting what makes entertainment appealing to the public in the first place
Unfortunately there are several issues happening that is coming to a crossroads that would require a serious crash to correct.
If you look at the origin of Hollyweird and movie studios, it was built on an immoral house of sand, and sealed its destiny thusly.
We return to our old home turf, we return to Newgrounds.
Great job with this one
🫡
Bro hit EVERY KEY POINT!! Please keep it all up dawg
If Hollywood would be an object it would be a slot machine. It's all about your odds.
Hurray for private equity ruining the entertainment industry across the board and for ruining things that shouldn't be industrial like Healthcare, childcare, food, housing, etc 😃
Wow. I’m blown away by this video. Not only is this extremely well written but I dig the animation.
Well the main issue I believe with “woke” is that it gets conflated with people in the industry who don’t give things proper execution, mainly pushing characters that aren’t actually popular and they seem to lack the initiative to write these characters and themes properly because we have some stuff out there with gay and female characters that do well with telling compelling stories
For example: Marvel, Dc etc and then there’s the context
It’s literally a case by case basis depending on show and the execution along with replacing established characters in their established mythos
Hollywood tries to take the easy way especially since they’ve relied heavily on sequels and remakes
This video is really, really good. Instant sub, can’t wait to see your channel grow
Hollywood used to be so much better at figuring out how to create an appealing visual aesthetic for each project. We used to see all sorts of different creatures, unique worlds, fever dreams, macabre things, oddities. We used to embrace these things. Now there's this weird fixation on a sort of bland realism? We need to bring back the days when we used to use all sorts of different techniques for VFX's, bring back animation.
I swear Hollywood is Physically incapable of making nice movies anymore. I miss the Era of creativity, or animation, when things made us utilize our intelligence. Kids cartoons used to respect our intelligence more than Hollywood does now. They used to be able to create animated Artistic depictions that showed the Human condition and that can connect us on a deeper level. It didn't matter what kind of character they were or creature or species they were. I don't understand who can enjoy these modern live action movies. Filled with so much disconnected CGI. Cheap cop out writing, acting, storytelling that is treating our entire audience like they are 2 yr olds that just need a pair of shiney keys waved in front of them for entertainment... it's a very bland & soulless way to entertain...
I can't stand what has happened to American media... It's an absolute shame that our entertainment industry & our creativity as a whole is now a complete shell of what it once was during the 90's & 00's.
It's pathetic that all of this has become the norm now. We are seeing Hollywood destroying everything we once loved (How about Hollywood actually listens to feedback?) I wish this wasn't real. I am ashamed and disappointed with how psychotic the entertainment industry has become... It really is such a shame
Digital and 4k just looks different, too. Film had kind of an inherent dreamy quality to it that kept that audience at a nice, safe distance from what was happening on screen. It felt real enough, but also a bit fuzzy like a memory.
This is the first of your videos I came across and I’m really impressed! not only is it a really interesting video essay, your visual style is really good too! especially your character and the text compositions :))
This animated avatar design and aesthetic approach is sick. Love your editing and script.
Your labor is invaluable.
Thx g
Yo this is so sick, love the animation on this, good shit man
Great video! You did a great job exploring the issues with the industry in a holistic way, and the presentation is fun and engaging! Also, fantastic thumbnail.
Very well put, nothing to add here. Just a much deserved congratulation and kudos for a very well-crafted video
I find it hilarious that Illumination may very well be the savior and/or the last bastion of the American Animation Industry.
This man has managed to nail EVERY single gripe I have with modern Hollywood in a little over a half-and-hour. Thank you.
34:21 There was a recent EmpLemon video that somewhat irritated me about the current, uncreative era of Hollywood we're living in. It was a 40 minute video about how the industry is relying too much on nostalgia and is eating itself to death. The arguments and examples were not wrong by any means, but using your platform for a 40 minute rant about the reoccuring issues in modern blockbuster franchises everyone has heard a million times before felt like a waste of his reach. He briefly addressed the fact that creative and worthwhile art was being made in lower budget and indie spaces at the beginning of the video, but said he wanted to focus on talking about the issue itself, hardly highlighting how people can give their attention to original and creative films instead of wasting time on the highly marketed mainstream fair.
Your video and especially your statement at 34:21 is exactly what I think an audience Emp's size should be watching instead: actually discussing the systematic reasons for this swamp of an era and how we play into it in ways many of us aren't aware of.
One of the reasons why Hollywood is mostly mediocre now is because they've trained an audience for a decade to only go out to the threatre for established names and the highest budget blockbusters. The mid-budget feature used to be where dramas and more creatively ambitious projects would be made, but they've dwindled since movies can't rely on making profits through physical sales anymore, making the box office king, leading to studios playing it safer to compete with the internet. Those types of creative films are relegated to lower-mid or just low budget film, so encouraging people to check out those projects instead will allow creative cinema to grow, eventually showing studios that throwing all their money into expensive, audience tested projects isn't the wave, and that using the budget of one mega blockbuster on some mid budget to low budget films would be better for everyone.
To be fair and to play devil’s advocate, there used to be even smaller reference pools before the internet was launched, especially in the golden age of Hollywood where there used to be less visible distinctiveness than even today.
Well it could be worse, it could be the emp video where he just repeats the two decades old bullsh that jar jar binks actually is the reason star wars fell and that George Lucas was never a good director hahaha... ha...
I strongly believe Golden age of Disney :2D hand written animation will revive someday.
That thumbnail goes hard, I want it on a t-shirt
you sorta just appeared on my recommended, i love the video and animation, keep it up!
Glad I found this channel. Much love brother 🙏🏾
How am I only finding you now? This is fantastic.
Oh man, thank you for explaining that hollywood isn't 'woke.' hollywood is one of The most inequitable places on earth i've Never understood how someone could reach the conclusion 'they' [executives, advertisers, large conglomerates in general] really care about any kind of real world issue. individuals and smaller companies sure maybe, but once they get big enough that all flies out the window.
My homie the kind of performative progressive virtue-signaling that corporations engage in is the *epitome* of “woke”.
@@sssspideru still don’t get it but ok
Wrong @@sssspider
@@sssspider It's used as a way for conservatives to claim that they're the victims of a society that's progressive, when in reality they couldn't be any less. When 50% of the voting population hear "woke", they don't think "Oh corporations are exploiting progressive ideals to make a profit," they think "All these wokies are infecting our media with woke stuff to promote their political agenda"
That's why i hate the internet centrist. They're just people who like to go around telling everyone they're stupid for fighting each other and how "they're just enjoying watching these idiots squabble." All they want is self validation, to be told that their beliefs are correct. They'd rather argue about how their definition of "woke" is correct rather than realizing nobody else uses that definition.
This video is incredibly well-made. Subscribed
18:48 YOOOO! I never see this scene referenced, I always thought I was the only who referenced it. Everyone remembers the "big" scenes with Luke and company, no one remembers all the great moments with the "little guys" who make up the 2 sides. A pretty good analogy for the subject of this video.
This scene lives rent free in my head, i think about it often. My friends just think I'm weird when I say, out loud, "intensify the forward batteries, I dont want anything to get through." Or just "Intensity forward firepower!"
the bullet points of this can be applied to the current state of literally every major industry, especially in the US
Bro where has this channel BEEN!? How have I only just found this now?
Man's talking straight facts for 38 minutes
What i wouldnt give for them to do another theatrical run of treasure planet... great video!!!
I like that you're character is animated instead of snapping to keywords with no lip sync
Don't forget about our good friends at Blackrock funding many things ! (and buying all the houses 💀😂)
Blackrock =Maui Blast Dew
I LOVE INDIE ANIMATION
Disney right now: we are going to lose so much money
i just discovered your channel its good your so underated
Excellent work deconstructing this whole mess.
Also, Quiet Curves and Move Me spotted
Let's goooo new pillboy
Edit: also I only know my Ridge Racer 4, a tracklist would be appreciated pretty please 🥺
I lot of his music comes from playstation jungle dnb. There's a lot lf them by Camaz
Damn man. You deserve a eay bigger subscription count. Hope this will be the year for you
The music that you’re using ROCKS!!!!!
Thank god, the final phase, I can’t wait to get this boss fight over with and move on…
1:47 in and yup new subscriber. love your channel already
The last movie I remember seeing in theaters is minions(2015).
The last holywood movie I remember watching online is star wars 7 (did not finish it). (2016)
Not going to pretend it was intentional, but I’m glad I don’t feed this machine.
I only watch YT and anime now (also independent artists sometimes)
Sad to say that YT is only getting worse over time, but your video was very good, subbed.
I am blown away you lipsynced an entire video essay. Incredible work!👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥
This is the best worded and put together video on the subject.
Well said and hopefully this message will reach those it needs to... True quality entertainment is just about totally lost, because those who are at the top of the industry are not concerned with quality. Remember, that Art is the soul of humanity brought forth into a medium and presented to the audience, it transcends the creator and becomes a part of the world. This isn't woke nonsense... everyone agreed to this statement before, but somehow a great many of us have been conditioned to think of art as just entertainment. The people who truly have power in society are not interested in thoughtful art that moves people, they want meaningless shite that leaves us all exactly where we started, because that's the world they thrive in.
This feels exactly like an educational video, and I love it!
Pillboy be keepin shit too real, I always need more
Hey man, i really enjoy your animations and i genuinely appreciate your deeper dive into this stuff behind the usual "culture war" bs. Heres to hoping you have a long an fruitful career in spite of all the garbage happening around us
someone pls protect this guy, he's being too real and we can't afford to lose him. literally and figuratively
Hollywood is dead. Indie Studios are the future.
Only if we support them.
People still depend on these big corporations for it.
@JustSteve85
Quitter talk imo.
@JustSteve85
Oh yes, like I'm delusional.
Least I'm trying to keep myself going, you sound like you want to just give up on life to me.
@@JustSteve85 working on my fundementals art wise, atm materials.
Lava, wood, that stuff.
@JustSteve85 definetly what I'm trying to do.
Besides fills the void for me as it is.
I can’t believe the entire town of Hollywood is dead.
Dope video, super informative and engaging! I really think the future of media/entertainment is going to be independent grass roots collectives. Like even a quick glance at how GOOD hobbyists animators have gotten, let alone folks who have made it a career, cuz of advances in tech and practice suggests to me that there’s a promising future for people run studios as long as resources are gathered and directed effectively.
This one deserves to go viral.
That thumbnail slaps
Excellent video! Posting so the algorithm notices you.
I like your background music. It reminds me of Capcom or Bandai. Where can I get your Playlist?
Whats that jammin track you got playing around 5:16
Sounds like some kind of Jungle Ambient track. Zorrovian has a lot of mixes that might scratch your itch for this kind of music.
Found it! Took a little digging but it is Ulysees by Shogun (aka Artemis, I knew it sounded like Artemis, but I was looking under the wrong alias).
Great video man you got a new sub because of it keep up the awesome work
I peep the R4 music in the background 🥹
I ain’t ever been this early to something in my life
Oh the irony of live action mufasa as an ad during the video…
Buddy, this is a great video. Im a dyed in the wool Marxist and in my amateur opinion I think you have a great grip on your critique of post-capitalist social production.
I live in a pretty conservative place, and I’ve been trying for years to tell the conservatives that I talk to that they have absolutely nothing to fear, Hollywood ain’t woke. Ha ha. I’m glad to see you put it in black and white.
Marketing is post-ideological. Most “art” nowadays is post ideological. So when a corporate entity says they support LGBTQ+ and or POC issues, what they mean is that they support it as far as it raises the return on their investment.
The only little critique I would raise with what I’ve heard so far is this: if we know that Disney, marvel, Sony, etc are only in it for the bucks, can we call what they do art at all? No disrespect, they prob have artists in their employ, but what comes out? The end product? It’s commodity entertainment. It is an interchangeable part in the social machine.
I’m subscribed now man, thanks.
you remind me a lot of F.D. Signifier, I'll keep an eye out for more of your content
Duuuuude new favorite channel just dropped!! Seriously love your format and your writing and imo you're spot on about where the industry is at rn. Wrapped up my first movie contract in June and many of my coworkers were former Pixar and Blue Sky artists with ten or twenty years in animation. They all got laid off, and only a select few have found industry work since then. As a junior artist I can understand why getting the first few gigs could be tricky, but when animators who are Oscar nominees/winners are getting shut out it's clear we can't ignore the problem any longer. We need alternative distribution options for animation and we need em NOW.
This is the best video I've seen on the issue. We need class consciousness. We need total foundational change.
Thank you for explaining to folks how the Hollywood machine works. This video needs more views.
Your content has been peak, subscribing
How curious and well made!
This video rips. Subscribed. Hard.
1:00 Hell nah
Thanks dude. Appreciate the video.
Another amazing video, very well done bro
High effort well made video 💯
This video is Absolute Cinema
New subscriber here bro! Im highly inpressed! And all truth said.
On another note. Could you please, recommend some animating programs that I can draw and bring my characters to life?
Great video, and this is exactly why these millionaire and *billionaire* executives are investing TONS of money into AI now. They genuinely want to just press a single button to make movies instead of paying actors, writers, and creatives. And a BIG thank you for that short snippet of the history of "woke". Too many times have I seen conservatives use "woke" incorrectly and try to redefine it as akin to "SJW".
That thumbnail made me feel a certain way
Live action Toy Story going to call it now!
My ears perked up when Ulysses came on, I see u…