I had sung the praises quite vocally and publicly of the Super Mario Bros. movie when it released in theaters last year. I acknowledged it was imperfect, sure, but I didn’t spend a lot of time dwelling on this imperfections. I instead emphasized and even exaggerated the good qualities, decrying critics for either being out of touch or simply too biased in their tastes.

However, going back to its home video release, I couldn’t help but feel like there was something lacking. I often have podcasts or movies playing in the background while I complete work tasks, but some movies just do not carry as strongly when you lose the ability to focus on the visual element. When a film can only be carried by its script, you start to realize just how lacking that script may be.

Such was the case with the Super Mario Bros. movie. A lot of that joy was gone once the visual element was taken away.

When it comes to the actual production of this video, it was, in many ways, easier than usual. Editing video for film is always easier than games simply because there’s fewer video files to scrub through. With video games, you may end up scrubbing through several hours-long files just to find a ten-second clip relevant to what you’re discussing, a potentially time-consuming process when you’re discussing very specific concepts as I occasionally tend to.

However, it was also a bit more difficult due to the more “rushed” nature of the production. While I had started the script on the last day of December, my primary focus throughout January was finalizing the script on the second Year in Review video and releasing that before month’s end. With a desire to have at least one video per month, I accelerated the process to finalize the script for this analysis, which has resulted in some sections that I feel are weaker than others. I won’t go into them in detail, however.

I am technically in a better position with my script for my next video, an analysis of the video game Evil West. I am not finished it, mind, but certainly in a better position than I was with the script for the Super Mario Bros. movie. I also have all necessary footage recorded. It is possible I can do a better job spreading the editing of Evil West out throughout the month of March, but for the time being I will try my best to focus on quality than speed. Trying to release one video per month is quite ambitious for me. One video every other month would still be a suitable accomplishment.