The Making of Snakecharmer

The Song, The Rapper, The Cartoon!

PART 3: THE CARTOON!

Listen to Snakecharmer on Spotify!

So, 2020 rolled, we all know how that went. I was depressed. Everyone was. I was out of a job, not seeing anything concrete in the future. But I kept myself busy making music. And mostly just studying online. After releasing my two albums, I felt like I needed to do more than the music I made. Initially my plan for Slackerman was to make multi-media projects to go along with it. I wanted to make animation for a whole album, but I realised how daunting and ambitious that task is for one man to do.

Some time, in 2020, Jeff also disappeared from the Discord. He was also struggling from some personal issues. But I pressed on while he was away... and slowly slogged my way through to complete some artwork. This is where I saw the true value of the save button.

At some point, early 2021, we were able to connect again. In my research phase, I realised and noticed that Anime is kind of like the "in" thing nowadays. The thing is, even if I wanted to do anime, I cannot do it alone. I have to think practical. I mean I can draw, but GAWD, I can barely complete a face. After watching a lot of animation. I came up with the most practical solution to my problem...

"...there was even a time during the 1970's, where they controlled almost 80% of children's programming..."

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons were notorious for recycled frames.

But then again I thought...

"No one has done it, the art style is stylish, recycled frames are funny!"

When people zig, you zag.

So, I rolled with that and went to work!

Some fine, ultra-rough story boarding skillz on display here...

I already have an idea in my head of how the visuals will look like. Plus I was too lazy to detail these things...

I made all of these digitally as I didn't want to go through the process of hand drawing them and connecting a scanner and retracing them on Illustrator. Plus, who am I kidding? All of these are already out there if you look hard enough online...

Don't hate. Tracing is a legit creative process...

A painful, yet very rewarding process...

This is quite possibly, one of the most painful things to make... took me at least two weeks to complete. I had to give myself frequent breaks in between, but I also learned a lot from listening to a lot of podcasts while doing it.

Basically the idea was, as long as I can make enough moving frames that can progress and tell the story, and make them look dynamic enough, I think I am good... so I animated like there was no tomorrow. Cut sections of the scenes and sequences based on TDJ's lyrics. I also did them in sprints. I had 2 and 3 day sprints, once I get tired, I would take a break until I shake off the dread of going through them again. More process results below...

Because we are hilarious!

Just wanted to give a little shout out to my IMF Fam!

Some more frames from the video itself...

TDJ's pupils are dilated from the Peyote. Wild night.

This promo art was made by a very good friend of mine. Check out his Instagram! Ryo Furball loves taking photos of toys! I did the coloring.

What happened next? A burned hard drive and a swanky, and snazzy music video. Unfortunately nearing the end of the process, my hard drive burned out. I can still access some of the raw files, but there were some that was also damaged. For the ones I can access, I have to be careful not to save them, otherwise they will be written to a bad sector of the drive. And so... Did it shot me and TDJ to stardom? HELL NO! Did we get a record deal? HELL NAAAWWWSSS! But was it worth it? HELLS TO THE YEEEAAAHSSS!!! It was a fun project with a ton of challenges and it was really damn exhausting. But I was able to complete my goal of making my own animated music video. How long did it take me to complete these? By my estimation, combining all the hours, maybe a little around 4 months. There were a lot of frequent breaks in between. There were times when it was physically and mentally taxing that I have to question my sanity. Will there be another one? Of course! When? That I don't know... But there are some things on the pipeline that I need to wrap up definitely. One more thing... I am currently busy working for an advertising agency. And TDJ also got his certification, and is probably busy as well. But of course... this is not the end for our virtual adventures.

We will definitely make more. But until then, make sure to stay tooned for... Another Day, Slackerman

Check out Part 1 of this blog post here

Check out Part 2 of this blog post here

Watch the music video in it's entirety here:

I write these kind blog posts just so I can share what I have learned throughout my creative journey. I hope you find them informative, inspiring and useful.