Video Project 1 (2018): School's Out. Spring. I set expectations of myself to the lowest possible and let it snowball from there. Mostly alone in this one, though all characters
make at least brief appearances. Internet video styles like slideshows, collection presentations, media fan commentaries and reviews, vlogs, and parkour compilations.
Video Project 2 (2018): Back to School. Summer. Documentary. Everyone's characters are explored, except Reilly's, who tragically passes away from a fall. Even a year after, high
school is fresh on the minds of the boys as they seek to forge a better path onwards. Matthew vehicles this best, William remains realistic, Jackson pretends nothing is wrong,
and I stand by the sidelines because all I care about is art (but not really). Shiny water.
Video Project 3 (2019): Winter Slush Tunnel Puddle. School and work life during the winter depression, new lows reached. Feature-length exploration through my conversations with
others, along with a Halloween special before (and within) the feature presentation wherein Reilly is revived through evil ritual. With William walking to work, Matthew at the
theatre arcade in the daytime, and Jackson at the coffee shop in the nighttime. Alone in my room, collecting sky waves, reviewing slushies, basking in the false cyan and yellow
of the screen. The characters wield cameras a last time to make their final movie together. A plotless theme-based narrative. Nothing is learned; just kidding. I simultaneously made
a demo for album 5 which acted as a sort of accompaniment piece to this, but it's currently unavailable.
Video Project 4 (2022): The Band. Mostly filmed summer 2019. Fourth wall established. The length of a season of a webseries. Self-reflection; notable events of improvised performances,
representation a hall of mirrors. Absurd buddy comedy; the experience of suburban friendship in eternally recreational parklife. Our band, Two Cats, prepares for battle, doing various
activities together. Is our coalescence fruitless or unhatched? Meanwhile, William stops by before leaving again for military college and Matt and Reilly, relatively unburdened, play a
game and wander the streets. Some of the making of Two Cats' Theatre is featured under altered pretense.
Music videos
Two Cats — We Missed Feist (2018): Filmed summer 2017 with Jackson's phone. Like the album it's from. We were originally going to use a picture of the double building behind the
basketball court for the album cover, but I decided against it because I figured we had enough pictures of buildings for covers already. None of his dancing was done to the music,
but a lot of it happened to coincide nicely. Just his luck!
Summer Song (2018): A summer's day out with William. Although only one of the songs, it figures imagery from all over Daytime Moon. It ended up being its representative music
video. I see it as a mixture of past and present; you wouldn't have seen me back in the day committing such vices as drinking coffee or smoking candy cigarettes. And eating
them, no less!
Two Cats — Melon Trees (2018): Jackson filmed this by himself in his basement + room a year after we made the album. I didn't ask him to. I think he was testing out an editing
software on his phone; he made a music video for his song, "Hercules", with it, from footage of us walking to the old theatre some night later, but lost it when he deleted the
video files from his camera roll.
Two Cats Halloween Special (2019): Curated to the theme of Halloween, music videos of four songs off the grey side of Two Cats' Theatre, Halloween 2017 (extra guitar version),
Graveyard (alternate recording), Funeral, and Twin Drill Disruptors (early version). Filmed October 28th and 30th.
Two Cats — I Always Face Death in the Wintertime (2020): Filmed late winter 2019 after the final scene of Video Project 3. It was very cold outside. The song's setting is the city
at winter's peak rather than the park nearing spring; but that was when I wrote and recorded the bridge arrangements, while watching Revolutionary Girl Utena. The animated rose
frame resource is by DeviantArt user KayinNasaki.
yodudle and SwaggyHajj — Bon McDonald Freestyle / Digital Demon Mind Dungeon (2021): SwaggyHajj and I were discussing one of our favourite videos, Moi j'aime McDonald, and other
Québecois art referring to the popular fastfood chain, and so I made this song with him to procrastinate working on my final exam projects. As for the instrumental side B: I had
also been watching Marsh's videos overviewing early Megami Tensei media to procrastinate, and I had paused one for a while on a frame of the demon Horkos; it was messing with my
mind for some reason, something about its design. According to the game's online wiki, he is "a personification of a curse that will befall anyone who swears a false oath". That
night I took a quick nap sleep-deprived and having drank a lot of coffee and entered a sort of dark mental dungeon. According to the game's online wiki, Hesiod stated "the fifth
of the month was especially dangerous as being the day on which [Horkos] was born". I had this nap on the night of the 4th of December, so it might've been the 5th; I'm unsure.
Sampled audio and background art from Nicolas Mercier. Clown art from CDR.
Cloud Nine Revolutionary Group — Ready to Go (2021): Filmed August 2020. Matt recorded our one-on-one matches under the newly-formed SwaggyHajj Basketball Association. I repurposed
the footage into a highlight reel in the arc of a tournament.
Cloud Nine Revolutionary Group — Garden Adventures (2022): Filmed July 2021. Two Cats at play in the forest, park, and streets. We couldn't explore the forest too long because our
cameramen kept complaining about the rampant bugs.
Tape Crew — Anthem (2023): Introducing Tape Crew. Street video at a surreal park by a gothic church, around Halloween, containing
threatening violent ideation, flickering horror imagery, and unlawful procurement methods. This video's description announced that the
release of the album the song's from was to be six days after its own. This crew must have lofty origins on account of all the gold they're hoarding; pop diffusion!
Tape Crew — Obsolete (2023): The Tape Crew perform in their hideout (The VHS Room), showing a hint of just how high the collection stacks in remarkable variety.
Occasional trips to space. Rocking out with style in your face, boasting and fortifying their conditions, the den becomes bouncy. Surely they've secured their
relevance.
A word from Eman, the bard: "Anthem felt like I was being put under a spell, some kind of zombification. It felt kind of like a lost Twilight Zone
episode. Obsolete's got a more cozy feeling, like you're sitting in a dimly lit basement watching cartoon reruns with a bowl of chips in the evening. If the
videos were in 4D, I imagine you'd smell the faint scent of mothballs and cigarette smoke."
Tape Crew — Rat Pack (2023): Out in the wilderness, shot on the fly, gone fly fishin' with a six-pack, the Rat Pack strikes back swankily.
Tape Crew Anthem (Smackardly Good Version) (2023): A remix by Cameron of the initial three "On the Avenue" music videos for the Smackardly Good version of Anthem
by Thomas, including outtakes, mirroring, distortion, colour-shifting, and new graphics. Special bonus content.
Jackie H. — Initiation Rituals (2024): An open invitation to begin Miracle Star. The underlying pressures of monotony, alien and rigid, are interrupted by brisk jolts and culminate
to a piston shadow dance assessment.
Jackie H. — So Help Me God, I'm Just a Child (2025): Filmed in a Chinese botanical garden in Montreal. How those new-age American egos go in a frenzy. A plea of a world full of
children and a lonely pause for tea.
Jackson's Video Garden Adventure, Episode 0 ~ The Ad (2020): The pilot of the video branch of Jackson's Garden Adventure. A quiet, yet adventurous young man attempts to sell one of
his homegrown plants to his webcam.
Jackson's Video Garden Adventure, Episode 1 ~ Forest (2021): Foraging in a forest. Fool's first excursion into bloomed wildlife. Will he preserve his vision under nature's danger?
Prior to filming, we discussed the show's premise in depth and encountered a garden snake.
Jackson's Video Garden Adventure, Episode 2 ~ Stittsville (2021): A visit to a community garden sparks an idea. Aspiring sun king, hoping to plant seeds and flourish communally,
faces uncaring and bigoted opposition. A more ambitious project with an extended cast.
Jackson's Video Garden Adventure, Episode 3 ~ Pumpkin Patch (2021): Jackson tackles the problem with pumpkins. A simpler episode directly celebrating Halloween. The wind does not
blow in his favour. Defeated hero.
Jackson's Video Garden Adventure, Episode 4 ~ The Book (2022): Jackson attempts to write a book which reveals the truths of the forest to humanity. More object encounters during his
residency at the forest. William guides a study of book formats at the library. The scholar's recording of knowledge.
Notescast
Notescast, Episode 0: The Genesis (2019): Recorded July 2019. A modern dance for your consideration. Amazing. We organize episode 1. No one but me knew they were being recorded.
They were just acting like that normally.
Notescast, Episode 1: Mistakes (2019): Recorded July 2019. Conceived as a podcast formatted to guide more creative conversations. Botched performance of composition, failed
transmission of vision. Entertainment of righteousness. Discovery of fun with other people, as opposed to hell (judgement).
SwaggyHajj
Season 1 (2016-2018) of SwaggyHajj, the show, mostly takes place over the course of our senior year of high school. A creative outlet for Matt during the worst year of his
academic career, future uncertain. Us and other classmates are featured throughout. Earlier episodes especially reference the popular YouTube culture of the time. Later
episodes become longer and more self-referential as Hajj's mind, story, and universe begin to reveal themselves.
THE COOLEST FLIP PRANK OF ALL TIME GONE SEXUAL GONE WRONG BEST PRANKS 2017 (2016): S1E01. For attention, SwaggyHajj performs a dangerous self-destructive trick. This must've been
filmed during the eleventh grade. Featuring Reilly, me, and some random overlaid voice. We used to compete to see who could kick off their shoes the farthest, jump the farthest,
and do the coolest trick from those swings.
Hajj Notes: One of the two videos that was shared to the 16/17 Seniors group on Facebook by Daniel and Ben. Received good reception from some, but the post was later
taken down as the moderators believed the boys who posted it were making fun of me. I never thought that was the case, but the more I think about it the more skeptical I become...
CRAZIEST STORY EVER - Best Prank 2016 - (LeafyIsHere Roast) (2016): S1E02. To satirize the videos of LeafyIsHere, SwaggyHajj shares an unbelievable story from his youth.
Hajj Notes: Not a real story btw, my mother has never gone to prison and is very nice. She saw the video and confronted me on it, she was kinda sad as she thought it was
what I "truly thought of her". I had to explain her the irony. She is now alright with it. Shout out MOMMA
SUPER AWESOME SKATEBOARD TRICKS (Kid totally wiped out!) (2016): S1E03. SwaggyHajj reviews his old skateboard. Featuring Mateusz and William as judgemental boys. With an early shot
of him atop the park roof for the end slate.
Hajj Notes: I am a much better skater now. I would shred yo ass!! Shout out Chad Muska!!!1!
Keemstar's Bliss (2016): S1E04. A blissful moment of pure YouTube energy for SwaggyHajj. Using the famous controversial clip of the popular YouTube video-maker Keemstar which
launched his career.
Top 10 Best Games of 2016 (2016): S1E05. SwaggyHajj lists the best video games of the year. A tribute to the videos of videogamedunkey.
BIGGEST PILE OF LEAVES EVER (Guinness Book of World Records) (2016): S1E06. SwaggyHajj performs another crazy stunt into the self-proclaimed "biggest pile of leaves ever". Guinness
has yet to dispute the claim. A fan favourite since its release. Featuring Reilly and my thumb. Currently his most viewed video with 300+ views and counting.
Hajj Notes: Still cannot believe the crucial mistake that Jacob made on that day. Jacob claims it is funny and adds to the irony, but I just believe it takes the viewer
out of the Hajj reality. But oh well. Also the 2nd video that was shared to the 16/17 Seniors Facebook Group.
A Special Message from Drake (2016): S1E07. SwaggyHajj presents a message from his fan, Drake. This was made during Halloween. Featuring Reilly and other classmates.
Hajj Notes: Some of the boys in the video pushed me to film it, as the Hajj name was beginning to grow, and I earned new fans; either true supporters or ironic followers.
Where's the Proof? (2016): S1E08. Two white men have a debate about recent news. This marked a departure into longer, more self-referential videos. Featuring William, and
Mateusz as a tree. There was a guy in our grade who would always debate people and ask, "Where's the proof?" against any claim made.
All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey - SwaggyHajj Cover (2016): S1E09. Christmas special. SwaggyHajj's take on Mariah's modern classic Christmas song. Matt came up with
this idea while we were talking in French class and I encouraged him to pursue it since it made me laugh.
How to Deal with School (2017): S1E10. SwaggyHajj offers tips to students dreading returning to school after winter break. The video ends with Hajj truly not caring about school.
I support this as anti-school propaganda.
SwaggyHajj Dies on Birthday (2017): S1E11. SwaggyHajj, excited to celebrate his birthday, is once again disrupted by the horrors of school. Matt ended up passing that math class
with the lowest possible acceptable score. This episode seems to show themes of his birthday constantly being overshadowed by bigger problems, where he is unable to truly enjoy
the day.
Alcohol gets SwaggyHajj Killed (2017): S1E12. Season finale. SwaggyHajj delivers a public service announcement on the dangers of alcohol before running into serious trouble with
the CIA. The first appearance of Bodybuilder James.
Hajj Notes: Idea for this video came from when Annie (my biggest female SwaggyHajj fan) and I were having an exchange on the SwaggyHajj Fan Club Facebook Group where she
spoke about her love for alcohol. I, SwaggyHajj (avid hater of alcohol), attempted to sway her to stop drinking but she wouldn't budge. That's when the episode began production.
HOD: Compton Stories (2017): S1E13. School project special, a bonus episode in the SwaggyHajj lore. A parody of the classic novel, Heart of Darkness set in Compton. Starring
Jackson and me and featuring a photo of Matt and Reilly in the intro. We had to get creative with costume designs. I got confused and delivered my line like an Italian gangster.
Hajj Notes: Not only was this video done last minute for my English class, it also added to the SwaggyHajj lore/universe implying that Hajj was hiding from BBJ (since
it had been a while since he'd released the alcohol video). Got a 81 on the project and for some reason its my mom's favorite video.
hajj.found.mp4 (2018): S1E14. Epilogue to the first season. Bodybuilder James reports security footage of SwaggyHajj escaped to Alaska. What's to become of him? Filmed many months
after the last episode. Matt was planning on starting work on the second season a lot sooner, but general complications and business prevented him from doing so.
Steph and Pranav's Wedding Documentary (2024): A vlog/documentary hybrid following the days surrounding Steph and Pranav's wedding with SwaggyHajj-inspired
comedy. A gift to my sister and her husband and the capturing of a moment my family will remember forever. Just a boy with a camera and a vision. -Matthew
Let's Plays
Let's Play Chibi Knight (2012): The summer of seventh grade, I began a Let's Play channel,
nicknaming myself Jace. Unfortunately, I permanently deleted my first Let's Plays of Bobby's Adventure, Heaven or Hell, and Boss Slayer (in which I frequently spoke about the
tastiness of the Fruitopia I was drinking). This is really my third multipart one. Chibi Knight was a cute action RPG with a multisectioned world that was fun to explore, appealing to me
well as a wide-eyed boy.
Other Let's Plays and Stuff (2012-2014): A playlist of all my one-off middle
school videos. In the first update video, I present some of the gifts I received for my thirteenth birthday in a slideshow. In the second, I announce that I received a capture
card over footage of Banjo-Kazooie I recorded with it.
My channel trailer was well-received by my friends. When I got an allergy attack and one accompanied me to recover at his house close to the school, he rewatched it
with me. Some of my friends made channels for videos of video games too, and we would have discussions about them together. One of them, who'd showed me the program I used to
record mine, planned on making videos with Happy Wheels, a Flash game very popular among our age group at the time I judged to be overly so. I made a parody Let's Play of
its most popular level for April Fool's Day.
I played the first Monster Basement game to celebrate Halloween 2012 and the second for Halloween 2013. They were my favourite Flash horror games. I had fond memories of
playing them and others in elementary school with my friends and getting scared. Once during after-school day care, we snuck up to the library to play some all around the one
computer there, without supervision. We played many other free online games too. One of said childhood friends, Julien, plays an old favourite with me, a Bomberman clone titled
Playing with Fire 2.
Let's Play Red Beard | The Golden Catz, my final video of this era, marked a transition into greater artfulness and middle adolescence. Featuring the instrumental Where
Are My Cheerios coupled with an opening cinematic.
Let's Play Stick RPG (2012): I didn't complete my playthrough of this game
because I felt that it was too repetitive. To my confusion, this series attracted the most views. The city street life gamified, more mature but crass, excited us as kids playing
it in the computer lab after school. As older kids, we set up a make-pretend drug shop in the cramped playstructure house (with a small metallic slide attached) and sold the
closest-looking equivalents to popular drugs, according to our inexperienced conceptions, of the nearby natural resources (e.g. grass as weed, sand as cocaine; there were more,
but I forget) to the younger kids in exchange for rocks as currency.
Let's Play Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (2012-2014): I didn't
complete my playthrough of this game because I couldn't get my recording set-up to work with my new computer. I used Pinnacle Studio and Windows Movie Maker until it randomly
stopped functioning, then Sony Vegas 10. In my childhood, I replayed its final levels in a fort built like a small low blanket-roofed home in my basement. I took this series more
seriously playing a privately fond, longer, big-budget game.
Let's Play Skullface (2013): A straightforward action platformer of which
I recorded a complete playthrough in a sitting.
Trunkl Plays Territory War (2020): Recorded March 2020. William plays Territory War by AfroNinja as Matthew and I watch. A view of historical wars spanning time. The
conversational war between us three. War and histories of our characters (and Newgrounds).
SwaggyHajj Plays Final Fantasy X (2024): Matt streams Final Fantasy X on Twitch
while interacting with other C9 members in chats.
Hajj Notes: First memory I have of playing it was some time between 2013-2015. I remember because it was my birthday and it was a snow day. My sisters
had brought me a cupcake while I was playing in the basement. I remember starting it up but dropping it because I was bored by the intro maybe a few months prior.
I intermittently played it throughout middle school/high school while eventually getting stuck on the penultimate boss. I didn't have enough of a specific potion
and the nearest shop was so far away so I just gave up. Inshallah we don't do that again. We have unfinished business.