So quite a few people here seemed to hate season 4 episode 8. Whilst I agree that it wasn't the best, Bryke gave us a pretty good reason for that on their offical tumblr;
In a couple hours the eighth chapter of Korra Book 4 will be released online, and I suppose, if you are none the wiser, a few minutos into it you will feel duped and yell at your screen, “Hey! This is a crummy clips episode!” And that is (almost) exactly what it is––except we all worked really hard to make sure at the very least it isn’t crummy. I’m here to explain why we ended up having to do one. Sometime around a ano and a half atrás we were similarly duped on a large scale. We got the news from the higher-ups that our Book 4 budget was getting slashed, almost to the tune of an entire episode’s budget. We had two options: 1) let go a significant number of crew members several weeks early, or 2) make a clips episode. We never considered the first option. We weren’t going to do that to our crew, and even if we were callous enough to do so, we never would have been able to finish the season without them. But having grown up on TV in the ’80s and ’90s, we all dread clips episodes, where characters sit around saying, “Remember that time when…” and leftover footage is reheated for no one’s enjoyment. Anyone who suffered through TNG’s “Shades of Gray” knows what I’m talking about.
animê fãs know this is a common occurrence in Japanese series as well. In fact, as Mike hung his head in disappointment at our fate, I remembered how one of my favorito animê series, Samurai Champloo, made what I thought was a really awesome and clever clips episode. They mixed about 5 minutos of new footage in with the old, and set up a context where the characters would be reflecting on past events while narrating over them, offering new insights or at least providing some humor. I pitched this angle to Mike and he agreed this was the best way to turn this big old limão into some lemonade.
Back on Avatar, we had something that functioned as a sort of clips episode, though it was all new animation and really hard to make, Episode 317, “The Ember Island Players.” Our heroes went to a play where they saw themselves and their tales performed por actors on stage. It was simultaneously a reckoning for the characters before they headed into the denouement, and a lighthearted romp where we got to poke fun at our own show before things got really serious in the remaining episodes. Korra’s “Remembrances” ended up serving the same function, albeit with old footage instead of a newly animated play. There is about 5 minutos of new footage, wonderfully animated por Studio Mir, and a bunch of funny and touching narration from the characters. There are also some fun chibi heads and other treats in there to spice up the old footage.
What started out as a reluctant chore ended up being a really fun episode to make, and in the end I truly amor it. Mike did an awesome job directing it and storyboarding all the chibi hilarity, as well as overseeing the wonderful script por Josh Hamilton, Katie Mattila, and Tim Hedrick. Joaquim Dos Santos, Ryu Ki Hyun, and Lauren Montgomery drew fantastic storyboards for the new footage (particularly Lauren’s insane Varrick posing). Lots of other folks worked their tails off on this one, namely Amaris Calvin, our animatics editor; Christie Tseng, our character designer who drew and colored all of the final chibi art; Matt Gadbois, our After Effects editor; and Chris Hink, our final picture editor. Last but not least, Aran Tanchum and Vinny Guisetti on foley, Benjamin Wynn on sound design, and a stellar new score with all your favorito hits por Jeremy Zuckerman. And plenty of other fine folks I’m forgetting!
So now you know what it is and why it happened. I hope you do end up enjoying it after all, especially as a last lighthearted, nostalgic romp before POOP. GETS. REAL. And then the series is done.
Love, Bryan
In all honestly I think what they did was rather respectable. I mean how many companies when faced with a budget slash resort to letting their employees go? A lot. I think it was great of them to sacrifice one episode instead of half their crew.
In a couple hours the eighth chapter of Korra Book 4 will be released online, and I suppose, if you are none the wiser, a few minutos into it you will feel duped and yell at your screen, “Hey! This is a crummy clips episode!” And that is (almost) exactly what it is––except we all worked really hard to make sure at the very least it isn’t crummy. I’m here to explain why we ended up having to do one. Sometime around a ano and a half atrás we were similarly duped on a large scale. We got the news from the higher-ups that our Book 4 budget was getting slashed, almost to the tune of an entire episode’s budget. We had two options: 1) let go a significant number of crew members several weeks early, or 2) make a clips episode. We never considered the first option. We weren’t going to do that to our crew, and even if we were callous enough to do so, we never would have been able to finish the season without them. But having grown up on TV in the ’80s and ’90s, we all dread clips episodes, where characters sit around saying, “Remember that time when…” and leftover footage is reheated for no one’s enjoyment. Anyone who suffered through TNG’s “Shades of Gray” knows what I’m talking about.
animê fãs know this is a common occurrence in Japanese series as well. In fact, as Mike hung his head in disappointment at our fate, I remembered how one of my favorito animê series, Samurai Champloo, made what I thought was a really awesome and clever clips episode. They mixed about 5 minutos of new footage in with the old, and set up a context where the characters would be reflecting on past events while narrating over them, offering new insights or at least providing some humor. I pitched this angle to Mike and he agreed this was the best way to turn this big old limão into some lemonade.
Back on Avatar, we had something that functioned as a sort of clips episode, though it was all new animation and really hard to make, Episode 317, “The Ember Island Players.” Our heroes went to a play where they saw themselves and their tales performed por actors on stage. It was simultaneously a reckoning for the characters before they headed into the denouement, and a lighthearted romp where we got to poke fun at our own show before things got really serious in the remaining episodes. Korra’s “Remembrances” ended up serving the same function, albeit with old footage instead of a newly animated play. There is about 5 minutos of new footage, wonderfully animated por Studio Mir, and a bunch of funny and touching narration from the characters. There are also some fun chibi heads and other treats in there to spice up the old footage.
What started out as a reluctant chore ended up being a really fun episode to make, and in the end I truly amor it. Mike did an awesome job directing it and storyboarding all the chibi hilarity, as well as overseeing the wonderful script por Josh Hamilton, Katie Mattila, and Tim Hedrick. Joaquim Dos Santos, Ryu Ki Hyun, and Lauren Montgomery drew fantastic storyboards for the new footage (particularly Lauren’s insane Varrick posing). Lots of other folks worked their tails off on this one, namely Amaris Calvin, our animatics editor; Christie Tseng, our character designer who drew and colored all of the final chibi art; Matt Gadbois, our After Effects editor; and Chris Hink, our final picture editor. Last but not least, Aran Tanchum and Vinny Guisetti on foley, Benjamin Wynn on sound design, and a stellar new score with all your favorito hits por Jeremy Zuckerman. And plenty of other fine folks I’m forgetting!
So now you know what it is and why it happened. I hope you do end up enjoying it after all, especially as a last lighthearted, nostalgic romp before POOP. GETS. REAL. And then the series is done.
Love, Bryan
In all honestly I think what they did was rather respectable. I mean how many companies when faced with a budget slash resort to letting their employees go? A lot. I think it was great of them to sacrifice one episode instead of half their crew.
Alright, so here's my thought on this week's episode.
It was DEFINITELY the best episode so far this season. Bolin finally not being a jerk, Korra not being rude all the time, and wow were there some great fight scenes! Bolin saved the president from Varrick, who almost kidnapped him and Unalaq defeated Korra's dad at the end of the episode. Team avatar is back, but of course not without Korra/Mako/Asami amor triângulo action. Korra doesn't remember the fight she had with Mako and still thinks that they're together, making Asami very mad. I guess we'll see what happens in Episode 12, which is coming up right now!
Thoughts?
It was DEFINITELY the best episode so far this season. Bolin finally not being a jerk, Korra not being rude all the time, and wow were there some great fight scenes! Bolin saved the president from Varrick, who almost kidnapped him and Unalaq defeated Korra's dad at the end of the episode. Team avatar is back, but of course not without Korra/Mako/Asami amor triângulo action. Korra doesn't remember the fight she had with Mako and still thinks that they're together, making Asami very mad. I guess we'll see what happens in Episode 12, which is coming up right now!
Thoughts?
