My Girls Made Some Videos...

OK I know this is the photo thread but my girls are of the TikTok generation and they only ever look at pictures that move 😪.

I have 3 YouTube channels and I posted my first video back in 2012. I was always way too scared to "broadcast myself" until becoming a teacher gave me the confidence to perform in public. I restarted my first channel in the modern era when a colleague asked me to edit one of their videos. While I was teaching I also tasked my students with making vlogs. They absolutely loved producing them, and of course it was tremendous fun watching them in class.

I've kind of abandoned the idea of making money from YouTube and now do it for a bit of fun and to keep myself busy. Social media, marketing and video production are all very transferable skills and a good fit with my day job as a software developer. As you get older you'll also realise that keeping busy is important for good mental health. I don't ever see myself retiring.

For video production I mostly use ShotCut. It's free and is reasonably easy to use. It is stable and surprisingly powerful, but I normally have to do a bit of Googling before using a new technique (i.e. spinning Reimu). I also occasionally use Davinci Resolve but it needs a beast of a machine to run on and is eyewateringly complex.

Everything is filmed using my very old Canon EOS digital SLR. I should probably switch to using my phone, but the EOS lens I use is a near pro-quality classic.

Lighting is really important in video, and I have 4 SmallRig doll-sized studio lights sourced from Amazon.

Music and sound effects are a mixture of what's in the YouTube library plus some AI voices, home made sound effects and voices. Electronics frequently feature and they're borrowed from my much more successful nerdy tech channel.

YouTube is brutally tough. Audiences ("the algorithm" people speak of) are fickle and demanding. But it is fun seeing views take off like a rocket, and of course heartbreaking when a video you've spent a couple of days creating gets less than 100 views.

Towa and I started our doll channel during the depths of the 2nd covid lockdown. I was out of work and we lived in a crummy apartment but we were blessed with great lighting and of course Towa *is* stunningly photogenic.

I started making regular unboxings but now realise the vinyl doll niche has a comparatively small audience.

Moving forward we're going to focus much more on everyday life from the perspective of dolls. I find it ironic that our most popular video from the initial batch is Towa's dressup in a super hot bikini. There's much more to explore in the parallels between doll and human life.

Here's what the girls have created so far...

 

When I first acquired Towa we spent many an evening together watching those brilliant Darling Dolls videos starring Miku and Mirai. I don't know what happened but this channel rebranded and the series is no more.

This video was an attempt to replicate the kind of stuff Miku and Mirai were up to.

Lessons learnt:

• I'd probably have more mainstream success if I switched to using Barbie dolls.
• There's no real story hook. When I taught essay writing I was always going on about the need for a hook.
• The EOS can be tricky to focus. It's also the first gen digital EOS that had a video recording function.

Trivia:

• Uzuki drinking Pepsi was intended to become a recurring theme.
• In-joke about fist hands. It's also becoming a recurring theme.
• The Volks miniature cooking sets are probably the best accessories I have ever bought.
• Yoru does of course play tennis irl.
• Spoiling your dinner has always been a family in-joke. I don't think it has ever actually happened in 5 generations of our family.
• Misaki is... mischievous. This will become a recurring theme.
• I got into vinyl dolls because I wanted a Miku. The irony is I still don't have a Miku. Stand-in is Kirika Towa Alma and her sister Kazuha (N25 Miku), until Miku NT arrives.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Xiongmao

With Iori's Missing Rabbit I spent much more time on the script. This video took an unbelieveable amount of time to create, and the girls were very upset when it bombed at the box office.

Trivia:

• The praying mantis featured in the video has now died, god rest her fly munching soul.
• The My Dear Vampire set is a surprisingly good fit on DDP Iori. She wears it in the Kyun Kyun video.
• The DD sized Clannad Dangos will be back... as soon as we find wigs for Kotomi, Tomoyo and gang.
• Brown the bear has an even more interesting life story than Towa has.
• I don't know if I've posted photos of Hana on the forum before. She's a DD-H-21 semi-white and the long lost sister of naughty minx Misaki.

 

Miku's Accident tells the story of what happened when I left the house and they were left alone with the rotating unboxings platform.

Miku's Accident also bombed at the box office. Consoling distraught starlets is a big part of my day.

We blew most of the effects budget on shooting Reimu into orbit, so that will probably be the final big feature for a while.

Trivia:

• It's a long term plan to acquire the figure versions of our doll family, starting with Uzuki.
• If anyone likes figures, the Miku sitting on the fridge is called Art by Lack. The fridge (and contents) are Pureneemo sized. I was lucky to get this figure as an unwanted pre-order. It's extremely rare in the UK. Sakura Miku is just a noodle stopper, but again Sakura Miku is hugely popular. Due to some weird fallings over, the girls reckon this particular Miku is haunted.
• Asuna is always cosplaying as somebody other than Asuna Yuuki, mostly because she has PTSD and has blocked out all memory of ever being Titania. She's currently Yumeko Jabami.
• A family member (human not doll) currently has their arm in a sling. This is not the first time I have created a fictional work that appears to foreshadow events in the real world.

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Xiongmao

Wow, what a turnaround. After several flops, Dollywood Studios is busier than ever with no less than a dozen features in production to show the growing audience.

Towa is hoping of substantial success which may even get the finances on an even keel after the heavy investment in aspiring starlets over the past year.

Ironically it appears to be Figma Miku and not the vinyl crew who may go on to steal the limelight in '24 🙄.

Here's their latest production. This is of course Kizuna not Miku but she really rocks that Ribbon Girl outfit.

 

On 9/24/2023 at 6:04 PM, Xiongmao said:

When I first acquired Towa we spent many an evening together watching those brilliant Darling Dolls videos starring Miku and Mirai. I don't know what happened but this channel rebranded and the series is no more.

This video was an attempt to replicate the kind of stuff Miku and Mirai were up to.

Lessons learnt:

• I'd probably have more mainstream success if I switched to using Barbie dolls.
• There's no real story hook. When I taught essay writing I was always going on about the need for a hook.
• The EOS can be tricky to focus. It's also the first gen digital EOS that had a video recording function.

Trivia:

• Uzuki drinking Pepsi was intended to become a recurring theme.
• In-joke about fist hands. It's also becoming a recurring theme.
• The Volks miniature cooking sets are probably the best accessories I have ever bought.
• Yoru does of course play tennis irl.
• Spoiling your dinner has always been a family in-joke. I don't think it has ever actually happened in 5 generations of our family.
• Misaki is... mischievous. This will become a recurring theme.
• I got into vinyl dolls because I wanted a Miku. The irony is I still don't have a Miku. Stand-in is Kirika Towa Alma and her sister Kazuha (N25 Miku), until Miku NT arrives.

 

 

XD bwaahahahaa! This was awesome, frickin loved it. 

The girls made a new video. They are determined to smash past the subscriber count on my own channel.

Thanks to the very large number of views on our Shorts we've really focused in on what viewers want. This video has our fastest pacing ever.

Trivia:

• The shot of the sunset over Tokyo was shot on my first visit to Tokyo back in 2007.
• There's extensive use of hot swappable DD hands.
• Reimu Hakurei has a short cameo appearance. She will shortly be starring in our most ambitious production so far.
• Kaito is currently in storage, but this is the second video featuring just his arm.

 

Fastest game of hide and seek confirmed xD

The girls are back, and thanks to a few tips from @Tierparkzone this one's footage looks much better than our previous movies.

They must be doing something right as their subscriber count is up 72% since I started this thread 😵. We've really switched focus from vinyl dolls (relatively obscure topic) to mainstream anime and wacky stuff. Now they're going all out on the video production because they want to race my other channel (nerd related) to be the first to 1000 subscribers. Also they're slightly miffed that their channel's second ever video to exceed 10,000 views is one featuring Figma Miku, and not any of themselves.

As to this particular video, Towa had the idea for this one after watching some absurd travel advice for travellers intending to travel to Japan. It's in the video if you want to know what they recommended.

Kizuna is this video's "Miku", but at least now we have a genuine Rin. The general feedback from non-doll owners is that many viewers didn't know Vocaloid dolls were a thing.

Incidentally for anyone with a DD or SmD, many of the travel related items the girls are carrying/wearing in this video are Our Generation doll accessories. They're widely available on eBay and some toy stores but just be aware some of the stuff isn't the right size. The travel accessories are absolutely perfect for 1:3 vinyl dolls though. I have my eye on the hospital bed set, but (i) I don't know if it fits DD and (ii) second hand Our Generation stuff is very popular where I am and some auctions are total clickwars.

 

xD I love these.

I can share the youtube links in some of my discord servers if you like? Things have their way of getting about.

On 11/8/2023 at 11:39 AM, Tigger said:

xD I love these.

I can share the youtube links in some of my discord servers if you like? Things have their way of getting about.

That's very kind of you. Actually Towa and the gang are on a bit of a roll. We filmed something very special for our 250 subscriber milestone video, but we've already blown past 250 😁.

I think this may be the first ever anime doll music video, although another tribe of dolls may have made one before we did. It's not my music of course, but we shot all of the video footage featured. There are many subtle anime show references in there.

Of course those in the know will realise none of the Mikus featured are Miku but at least the Kagamines are the real deal.

 

My tribe remade the classic Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen lamb sauce meme. Kirika is hoping we find a Miku NT so she can quit being Miku and wear her own outfit. The Kagamines are of course themselves.

If you're interested in the thumbnail props, Len is holding a bottle of something (plum wine?) that came with the Touhou Project accessories set. It was in horrible condition when it arrived but isn't too bad now. Miku's leek is from one of the Volks cooking sets. I'm so glad I bought a couple of these as they're our most used props. Rin is holding the chopping board from the same set. The ramen bowls are keyrings from AliExpress.

Interesting factoid: the DDf3 pair have much tighter joints than the older body - Kirika has very little strength in her elbows these days.

I need to wash Kirika's Miku outfit as I think the hairpins stained the jacket. The hairpins are very delicate now. I guess the outfit itself is super rare.

Oh and Len's flies are open... I wish Volks had used a better fastener 😪.

 

I recently stumbled upon your channel, and I have to say i find it pretty edgy and funny. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it's something I never expected a DD channel to be. What are your influences?

On 11/29/2023 at 6:11 AM, puxlavoix said:

I recently stumbled upon your channel, and I have to say i find it pretty edgy and funny. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it's something I never expected a DD channel to be. What are your influences?

When I first got Towa we both spent the long lockdown evenings watching that Darling Dolls channel (the one that featured SmartDoll Mirai and Snow Miku). My favourite one was when Mirai switches the labels on the presents so she gets the kitties and not the puppies.

I guess growing up in the UK we had some amazing puppetry/stop motion TV shows, including Mr Benn, Ivor the Engine, the Clangers, Trumpton, Chigley and of course Bagpuss.

Towa and I did start the channel back in early 2021 but the potential audience for unboxings/dressups of vinyl dolls is really small. Our big break came when a stupid little video of Kirika sweeping the kitchen floor received 1.2K views in a couple of days. Thus the rebrand was born.

Below is a new video that kind of just steals a popular theme from human vloggers. Stuff has gotten a lot more sophisticated since we switched from our ancient Canon EOS 550D to a Sony ZV-E10 (the bloggers' favourite). The best feature of the ZV-E10 is being able to take slow motion at 100 frames per second. Hence Dangos falling on Kazuha's head and stuff being thrown into the trash looks really awesome.

We've also switched from ShotCut to CapCut and now have a dedicated doll film studio in our wardrobe. CapCut is amazing. I'm just stunned at how far my video production has come since I started making videos for my online business back in 2018.

After I've written all that though, the girls are very miffed that Figma Miku has far and away the most views. Well apart from Towa in a micro bikini. It is just crazy how many views that one has received.

There will be a lot more of Evil Rin and and Frieren in future videos.