A [TWITTER DM] Conversation With Artist DeAngelo Edwards of "Hats Off Media"
ScreenTime, Animation, YouTube Algorithms, 90s Cartoons, Color, Mood, & Atmosphere
A [BLANK] Conversation With… is an interview series where guests engage in a three-day conversation via their preferred mode of text-based communication, with no commitments to the length or frequency of their responses.
By subscribing to this newsletter, you’ve probably seen this cartoon image of myself quite a bit:
Maybe you’ve even wondered about who drew it?
Well, the short and sweet interview that you’re about to read answers just that.
DeAngelo Edwards is a talented artist, character designer, animator and writer with an exciting new series in development called ScreenTime. If you have nostalgia for 90s cartoons like Daria and Downtown, you’ll immediately feel at home with this teaser:
I discovered DeAngelo’s work during the process of developing a cartoon of my own. And falling into the wormhole of his Hats Off Media YouTube channel (along with the channels of creators in his friend circle like ToonrificTariq, Mann of 1000 Thoughts and Johnny 2 Cellos) taught me that there is still space for popular, thoughtful, sharp-witted criticism on the internet.
So, when the opportunity came for me to chip in some money to support ScreenTime in exchange for a DeAngelo-original cartoon version of myself, I couldn’t resist! [You can also help DeAngelo fulfill his vision for ScreenTime by donating here.]
And I was equally excited to chat with him via direct message on Twitter (otherwise known as ‘X’) for three days at the end of November to learn a little more about his process, thoughts on the industry, and goals for the years ahead.
Enjoy!
TABLE OF CONVERSATION:
Flash Animation, ScreenTime, & MTV’s Downtown
Colors, Mood, & Atmosphere
Industry Shifts, Goals, & YouTube Humor
Note: Since Tim is based in New York, each DM is timestamped in Eastern Standard Time. However, certain reactions like “Twitter ❤️s “ exist out of time. We have no way of retrospectively knowing exactly when those buttons were pressed. There have been minor adjustments of the text for clarity.
DAY 1 (Monday 11-27-2023)
Tim Barnes: (12:17PM) Hello! Welcome to the interview. I love your YouTube videos, and fell into the wormhole of channels like yours when I was working on a cartoon of my own. As someone who started out in the live action space it was daunting yet inspiring to see how much animation criticism was on the internet. Daunting only because it seemed like there were so many ways to get things wrong for fans of animation. But inspiring in the sense that so many of the deep dives and reviews that I discovered were helmed by Black creatives like yourself. What prompted you to launch Hats Off Media? DeAngelo Edwards: (5:41PM) Oh, I had started because I wanted a way to show off my art, while talking about and changing people's minds about stuff I love. I've been watching YouTube since the website started and I always wanted to make videos for it. I started off as a kid making little flash animations, let's plays, and game review videos, but nothing ever really stuck. Then I decided to try to review stuff seriously, and while I talk about whatever I want, my channel focuses on animation mostly. People have always found me funny, so I decided to try and use it, if anything just to get more eyes on my art. Eventually as I continued to post, I got noticed by some bigger people and they pulled me into their friend group, and we've done a lot of cool things together, and their some of the best friends I've ever had. I really started working hard during the pandemic, and now it's basically my job, (though I need to post more) Tim: (5:52PM) It seems like that directly ties into your new project, ScreenTime. I love the previews because they feel current while also throwing back to 90s cartoons like ‘MTV’s Downtown’ that took a more risks and had a bit more heart. What are some of the biggest influences on your art style?
MTV’S Downtown, Episode 01: Sin Bin (1999)
DAY 2 (Tuesday 11-28-2023)
DeAngelo: (10:29AM) You nailed it with Downtown! I take a lot of influence from the late 90s and early 2000s era of adult animation. Stuff like Clerks, Daria, and other stuff. The big two are definitely Mission Hill and Downtown though. [Tim gives this an Twitter "🔥"] (10:30AM) There was always something about the way those shows handled mood and colors that really resonated with me. And now that I'm older, they have the kind of adults that I want to follow in a show. Plus I always loved how they handled their background. Just as important, if not more than the character designs. Atmosphere is my fav [Tim gives this an Twitter "❤️"] Tim: (10:39AM) What made you start to take drawing and animation seriously as a career goal? It’s one of those spaces that I think everyone fantasizes about to some degree, but few understand how much tedious, detailed work is involved. I’m also curious — what’s your relationship with the “churn” of creating “YouTube” content? From afar it seems like you and peers like Mann of 1000 Thoughts, ToonrificTariq, etc. have found a genuine balance of doing what you truly want while meeting algorithmic demands.
Carl, The SIMPSONS and Black Identity by ToonrificTariq (2023)
DAY 3 (Wednesday 11-29-2023)
DeAngelo: (10:15AM) I've always been into animation. I grew up on cartoons, watching Cartoon Network and Kids WB. (10:24AM) It's just one of those things I never grew out of. I went to school hoping to make video games, but I didn't get excepted into the program. So I switched to animation to learn the basics. I've drawn since I was a kid, but I had fallen off of it for a while. But going to school for it really opened my eyes to the medium, not just consuming it, but creating it. Even though my favorite medium is comics (I love how just one person can tell a story without having to spend a ton of money) I majored in character design, since that really is my favorite part, but in school I also learned how to animate, and use editing programs, which helped with youtube down the line. As for the churn, it's a little complicated. I do YouTube as a full time job, and when the videos do really well, it feels awesome! But it takes a lot of time to make a video, especially mine, since I put a ton of work into the style of mine. It's a real time investment, and sometimes it doesn't always pay off. I've had videos that took me a month to make do terribly, and that's when you really wanna quit. But since you mentioned Mann and Tariq, the reason I think I made it so far is because I made such good friends that do the same thing as me. We give each other advice and help, and they're the only reason I'm still doing YouTube. It also helps that even when I'm trying to please the algorithm, I never talk about something I don't want to. That's just a fast track to burnout, and the less of that the better. Tim: (10:43AM) With so many fast industry shifts, are your larger goals network/TV oriented, or do you hope that the spaces you're carving out online will become more reliable? It's great that you have friends who balance out some of the unease associated with being an internet creator. But I think we share the same nostalgia for time slots and channels. Would you rather FaceTime be a hit YouTube sensation that gets millions of views with each upload under your ownership, or that it (or another project of yours) goes on to a channel like Adult Swim (and by proxy, whatever Max is becoming)? DeAngelo: (10:50AM) Well, my larger goals are to own my company, producing animation, comics, video games and the like. I've always had a dream to make it so anyone can get a job in the art industry, no matter where they live. Especially in America, everything is so concentrated in like 2-3 very expensive areas, and not everyone can afford to move their whole life just for a chance at a job. But that's a long ways off. As for me joining the industry, I wouldn't mind doing it, but with how things have been going, I'd rather just be independent. If I can make enough to live decently and pay the people I need to pay, I'll be happy. I would love to have ScreenTime on Adult Swim, it's one of the few channels/blocks left on TV that I still have an interest in. I want it to be a short and sweet series, probably no more than two seasons, so that I wouldn't mind being on TV, if only for the vibes and the chance to get some cool bumpers made. Going forward though, I wanna see how far I can get by just building a community. Tim: (10:53AM) Those are incredible goals! Warning: you're DMing someone who knows very little about video games. That being said, what are some of your favorites? And are there any threads from those games that connect to your art/writing style? DeAngelo: (10:57AM) My absolute favorite game is Yakuza 0. I love serious, yet silly stories, and the Yakuza franchise has that in spades. Some of my other favorites are the Kingdom Hearts series, Sonic, and Binding of Issac. I'm not really sure how much games influence my writing. I like stories in games, but I'm mostly there for the gameplay. Unless I'm playing an rpg, then it's 50/50. Most of my writing style comes from all the comics and manga I read, and all my favorite showsger last night. Tim: (11:06AM) That brings me to another thing. The older I get, the more I regret being a one of those high schoolers who sort of made fun of “anime kids.” But it all stemmed from me not knowing much about it beyond Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! (If those even count) and in complete ignorance of the fact that anime influenced some of my favorite films. It feels like the work you’re doing and the general respect anime is getting these days is the ultimate revenge of the nerds so to speak. Does that correlate with anything in your life? What was your experience in middle and high school? (12:08PM) Also, this is the last day of the interview so hopefully it doesn’t end of this weird question of mine as a cliffhanger, but if it does — I’d love to chat again in a different format sometime! DeAngelo: (8:58PM) Oh, sorry. Lot of stuff going on. I'm glad anime is given more respect these days. I think people who want to get into animation should watch as much animation from different places as they can. I watch stuff from France, China, the UK, you name it. It really helps you get a feel for the medium as a whole. As for my experience in high school, I was never really bullied for liking anime really. I guess I got off lucky. Still bullied, but it happens to everyone. It was more so annoying when everyone is asking you to draw them Tim: (9:10PM) No worries! I can only imagine how busy you are these days. Speaking of drawings of people—is there a reason you have a drawing of yourself in your videos instead of live footage? It seems to be the norm for animation review/criticism videos, but I wonder if there’s a practical reason behind it. Perhaps it’s easier for the edit? (9:23PM) Lastly, if there’s time, I’d love to know a bit about some of the comedic nuances of your work. I find myself laughing out loud at many points of your videos and there is a very specific thing at play that I haven’t been able to pin down. It seems to connect with funny internet flash cartoons, where you’re going for a laugh knowing the audience is likely one person watching alone in a room. I suppose my question is, how do you KNOW the jokes will land? Is there ever any worry? Or does it go back to the tried and tire standard of just knowing that it’s funny to yourself? DeAngelo: (11:31PM) Oh! The reason I use an avatar is just because it's simple. It's also a nice way to make a cool iconic mascot for the channel. It's also helpful since I don't always have to be camera ready all the time. And also, thanks! I'm glad my jokes land for you. I honestly just make jokes that make me laugh., and it's always fun to see how people react to my jokes. I have a very particular sense of humor, so as long as I'm laughing, I think people will too
END OF INTERVIEW
Did you enjoy this conversation? Let me know what you think in the comments. Anyone you think I should interview in the future? You guessed it — leave a suggestion in the comments!
Be on the look out for a new interview with comedian Melody Kamali soon!
