Technical
I am not the type to watch speedpaint videos in my free-time, but I love to share my design & though process behind each project of mine when given the opportunity. Since I want to share my website design process alongside my storyline design process, I figured the Banal Archive directory is the most suitable place for this webpage.
Website
Starting with this website, I mostly designed it from scratch! Unlike previous websites of mine, which were modelled off of nixontapes.org, this website was made mostly by referring to the World Wide Web Consortium Standards for HTML 4.01 and CSS Level 2 as of 2008. Though there are several guides on HTML and CSS, htmlhelp.com assisted me in earlier projects of mine, I found the World Wide Web Consortium's Standards to be the best reference for this website. The Construction webpages were authored in NVu and ported to nekoweb, but I wound up doing most of the authoring with nekoweb's built-in web editor due to needing to monitor real-time updates to my stylesheet. While CaScadeS works well in creating a stylesheet, I had trouble accessing its source code for further modifications while remaining in NVu.
This website looks relatively boring due to my web design inspirations. Unlike other nekoweb users, which are inspired by personal Geocities and Neocities websites, my web design inspirations are late 1990s and 2000s College Professor webpages, especially Luke Nichter's nixontapes.org. With this website in particular, I was also inspired by the Official Webpage for Touhou Bougetsushou. I stick to design standards predating 2010 in an effort to make my website accessible and authentic.
If you have noticed elsewhere on this website, there are two different types of anchors! The red anchors are normal URLs, and the blue anchors are supplemental notes of mine. This design aspect was inspired by asa-turney's posts detailing the inspirations for her lyrics!
Initial Nixon Administration Power Reels and Wayward Apollo Log
As of June 2024, I am still working on the first entry in this series. If anything alters my design rationale during work on "13 May 1970" or after completing it, then I will update this section accordingly.
My first step is to create a Word document with the file name of the reel's month. Next, I insert a heading, assign a conversation number, and write out a brief synopsis of the conversation. From here, I can either immediately write out a draft of the dialogue, delay writing out the dialogue, or storyboard the conversation [as was the case with the First Conversation of "13 May 1970"]. Upon completing a conversation, I share it with one of my Internet Friends over Private Message to receive feedback before moving to the next conversation. I generally do not write detailed descriptions regarding actions occurring as the conversation progresses; I can formulate a sequence within my mind more often than not. The most I write regarding the layout of the conversation is an introductory paragraph.
I generally hesitate to make complete scripts for future reels; I do not want to write something that signficantly departs from the Nixon White House Taping System. However, if I think of an appropriate conversation, I allow myself to jot down those conversation for future reels.
Once I complete a script, I commence making frames for the dialogue I devised. When making frames, I first draw the linework for the persons within the frame alongside any significant objects. With these frames, I draw a new frame each time the proverbial camera shifts away from the subject. With respect to portraying motion, I alternate between building on each frame within a sequence and drafitng key-frames & in-between frames. I tend not to portray excessive motion due to the long run-time of a given reel. Once I made these ruidmentary black-and-white frames, I intend to go back to correct any egregious frames, place these frames within the context of a background, and make any necessary further adjustments. Unlike with frames, I intend on reusing background whenever appropriate. Finally, once the background and foreground are up-to-par, I intend on adding colour. I wait until the very end to add colour due to my drawing programme of choice: Windows XP's Version of Microsoft Paint. While adjusting worrisome linework is easy when only one colour is present, it becomes much more difficult to adjust linework after applying colours.
Windows XP's version of MSPaint is my go-to paint program for 4.75 years as of June 2024. While it does not have layers, it does allow for a plethora of simultaneous instances. It allows me to copy-and-paste sections of a work into another instance without contributing to my undo number. I can reintroduce segments that faded into the background and superimpose my foreground onto a background thanks to this version of MSPaint not exhausting my memory or CPU. At the same time, I do not have to deal with the residue left behind by anti-aliased brushes or other intricate features common in other paint programs.
I work on each frame and the video concurrently. I first import a portion of the dialogue into the video project and adjust the time each dialogue remains on screen according to the time it takes me to read through it twice. I then insert my black-and-white frame before moving to the next portion. I introduce music early into the project, namely arranges of Touhou Project tracks. The music also informs more precise timing within a given conversation, alongside a precise frame-count. I also include necessary sound and visual effects, though these are rare.
I use a fairly basic version of AviUTL for my videos. It does not have all the filter effects advertised within the Extra Pack, but it has an English patch, advanced editing, two MP4 export plugins, and an MP4 import plugin. If you want to adjust the video directly, I recommend downloading my version of AviUTL; other versions of AviUTL available online, except for the Extra Pack, may not have the necessary plugins or language patches. In structuring my video within AviUTL, the audio takes up the first row. This is due to AviUTL positioning lower-number/higher rows behind higher-number/lower rows. The frames take up the next two rows; telephone conversations and certain transitions require a second row handling the supplemental frame. Any effects, be they sound or visual, occupy the fourth and fifth rows. Finally, dialogue occupies any subsequent rows.
I consider a video to be complete once I establish the precise timing of the dialogue, incorporate coloured frames with backgrounds, and have an appropriate credit sequence & opening. Both the credit sequence and the opening are made entirely with text elements.
I noticed my ability to work on a long-form video is encumbered by offline obligations, so I intend on taking a different approach to Nixon Administration Power Reel at the point the White House Taping System is introduced. 13 May 1970 and another Reel will follow the format I outlined above, as will Wayward Apollo Log, but I doubt I will keep up with this format for every Formal Nixon Administration Power Reel Chronology.