This was lovely and warm. May you come to carry yourself through filmmaking with the fearlessness you had in marching band. You shared your humanity here and that's brave. Thank Daniel

"To the people I don't know. Why are you watching this?" I've followed Joel Haver for a while, and I thought his Oscar project last year was pretty cool. I watched all his videos about it throughout the year and I watched his awards ceremony thing, but, for whatever reason, I just...Never got around to actually watching any of the movies. This time around I thought I'd try to do better. So here I am. But why your movie? Well, when Joel was making his movie this year, you asked a question on the stream and he answered it with "make one anyway". Later on I was watching Joel's "people are so dang creative" video and I saw a comment you made and I thought "Hey, I remember that guy. Turns out he took Joel's advice. I guess I should check it out". And, well, here I am.

One of my favorites so far from this year. Really engaging/relatable anecdotes regarding drumming and musicmaking (former band kid here), but also not afraid to get vulnerable about art for art's sake balancing out against the "performances" we sometimes put on for ourselves or others just to get through certain moments. If this film is any indicator, whatever you decide to create (be it for yourself or the public), I have no doubt that it will be inspired, genuine, and great. All the best!

the frustration of trying to express an idea into a microphone and it just not working and giving up is so good. that's a super relatable emotion words can't describe lol

DANIEL!!! I guess I could just text you but I'll leave this comment instead. I started absolutely geeking out when you mentioned Inside Voices and showed the artwork! And what you said about me and my band was very heartwarming. It's funny, cause although Inside Voices was short-lived, it will always be an important part of my past because it was my first band! And I can't thank you enough for being a part of that! In a strange roundabout way, I probably wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now without our goofy little jam sessions in your basement all those years ago! You're the man, Daniel!! Great video, really really insightful stuff :)

I watched your soap movie last year and subscribed. I'm happy to see you making another movie this year and I like what you said in your comments encouraging other people to make movies too. On the one hand, there may be too many movies being made because we don't have enough time to watch them all. But when you consider how great it feels to make and finish a movie more people deserve to experience that feeling. It's wonderful. Thanks for making and sharing and inspiring. Daniel.

Really liked this one. It reminded me of how I felt back in the day. Going to college studying music, wanting to create, and being wildly conflicted about the whole thing. I was especially moved by you pouring your heart into making a movie that you never released. I quite understand. After 4 years of prime music education I went on to do other things. Ended up working as what’s best described as a psychiatric nurse. Started with drug addicts, then worked at a psychiatric ward and later in a hospital cardiology ward and so on. And after 20 + years of death, laughter, misery and challenge its really put things into perspective. I’ve completely let go of all dreams of making it in the musicbiz. Got a family I love dearly. Trying to be a good father and, to the extent I can, do important work. But then, I have also during those 20+ years written and recorded about 10 albums including 3 highly thought through story driven musicals. I’ve written two books and loads of poetry. A few short films too. And I have, with very few exceptions, never released anything. Maybe I’ll regret not exposing the world to my creations more, but then. Maybe not. Either way; I understand.

I watched it together with my boyfriend after watching Joel Haver's award show. I think it was the opening shot that convinced us to watch further. Beautiful composition and lighting! However messy your basement may be, it looks very atmospheric and nice in your film. I like quiet films like this, so no, not everyone always wants something quick and funny :) It was also relatable to me what you say about putting things out there, I've been writing a blog for a long time but haven't got the courage to put my name on it. Thank you for sharing this film with us and I wish you all the best!

The story about you making a movie and not releasing it was great. Sometimes we just need to make things for ourselves and that's enough.

Your voice is very calming

My dear nephew, it’s a joy to watch the evolution of your creativity, and determination. I am humbled by your talent and honesty. This film touched my heart. Love a life long fan, Aunt Deb ❤

34:11 The comparison between the Inside Voices sign and the silence, then frustration... Art You made a beautiful telling of your life's story in this film. I wish you luck in film school. That ending gave me Whiplash. 😏See what I did there? I had to say it.

Listen. I'm not saying this just to suck up because I followed the guy that shines the spotlight on you, I say this as a fellow marching band guy who relates to a lot of the things that you've said, and just as a person in general. What you've done here is self-expression in the form of art, and I greatly appreciate it. It made me feel a lot of feelings. Nostalgia, sadness, commiseration, joy, regret, and I think that those are the feelings that you were trying to portray if I may be so bold... So, I think you did a great job man. Thank you for putting your heart and your life experience out there. I think the world would be a much better place if more people did this kind of thing and I'm grateful that Joel encourages it, but I'm even more grateful that people like you decide to go this route with the challenge. Much love to you, from a 33 year old former baritone player, crappy garage band guitarist, and someone who DID play actual (bad) shows with a (terrible )band that didn't go anywhere, your friend Jacob. Have a wonderful day, please 💜🙂

Love the choice of 'performed by' in the end credits really encapsulates what I felt like you were trying to say in this, really see Bo Burnham's Inside influence on this project, and the framing of the more cinematic shots was really well done stellar work there. I liked what you said about making a film just for you, not all art has to be shared the best art is personal and if you don't want to put it out there then nothing should compel you to. I know that life can become sort of a slog from time to time, I know that feeling all too well, but you'll get through it man there are always better days and times ahead of you in spite of the monotony you're experiencing now and if it offers you any solace just remember you're building toward something. Always keep that in mind. I'm excited to see what a project with more time invested would look like for you and I hope you have a great experience with film school. I checked out your entry from last year too and had a good time with that really reminded me of the time I spent hanging out with people from college. All the best buddy!

This is such a vibe. Almost feel like I'm just having a conversation with a friend (even though it's one-way haha). I hope you pursue this artistic medium, you're great at it :)

I love this performance! Great shots, and great story-telling. I've never gotten much stage fright either, although it is very strange performing for people you can't see. Performing for a camera to post on UKposts almost reminds me of the blind auditions they have you do in orchestra, where the judges sit behind a screen to avoid bias based on anything but playing. You can't see or talk to them and you don't know who they are or how many, but you can hear their pencils and papers rustling in between excerpts. It's the most nerve-wracking thing ever! It would be so cool for UKposts to have a visual of how many viewers a video has, cause like you said 100 views is a crazy amount of people although that's considered to be a low number online. Anyways, I wish you joy and fulfillment in film-making and hope that college gets better!

Hey man, I remember you from last year! Soap Night was one of my favourites that I saw. I'm glad to see you back this year, and I really appreciate the video diary approach that you have taken this time around. I can relate to you, and I always admire people who are able to be publicly vulnerable like this. I think it takes a lot of courage. Also, I think you've got a really great sense for cinematography, I just love the way you make things look. I'm also a fellow drummer lol, but not the marching band kind, just the regular rock drummer kind. Idk, I guess I just want to let you know that even though I don't know you, I feel a sort of kinship with you, and I appreciate you sharing yourself with the world. This has made me feel less alone.

Wow, this is such a turn from soap night, but I found myself hanging off your words. the end really hit me when you were talking about your film that you teased. it's hard to put parts of yourself out there for 500 people to see, but its oh so worth it. I for one look forward to the chance of seeing it, but I also want you to know that it's okay to keep art to yourself, it's not just about expression to others, sometimes it's just for letting yourself know how you're doing. keep it up Daniel. Good luck in film school, I can't wait to see where it takes you. with Admiration, Sheriff Deputy.

Bravo! Bellisimo! Beautiful! I totally relate to what you're talking about, supposedly being an artist but being terrified to show my true self to people. I'm a musician and I've had this big lofty vision to make 3 albums but caring about what people would think of me has been my biggest hinderance. This looks damn good for 3 hours too! The lighting, multiple camera angles, coming up with a fake standup bit on the fly, It looks great! I don't know what else the Penn State Film School could teach you. I also performed at my elementary school's talent show - I pogo sticked to the YMCA song; I basically just did normal pogoing for the entire thing but when they sang YMCA I did the YMCA arm movements with my pogo stick between my knees. The funny thing about it is that I stole that idea whole-cloth from a kid who did the exact same thing 2 years earlier! I should of been more creative, but oh well, I was like 9. My little brother also did YMCA on the pogo stick 2 years after me, so I guess it became a tradition.

I absolutely loved this film. Something about conversational tones just draw me in. I love that you weren't afraid to get a little personal :)

I've enjoyed watching the return entries! Seems like a lot of us chose to do something WAY different than their first go. This was a fun little convo dude.

Totally relatable, love the honesty. So crazy how you can be alone with a camera and still experience a world of anxiety. I'm here for the UKposts auditorium audience feature!

As a fellow Daniel, with anxiety, who is into film-making; this is wonderful and hugely inspiring. Absolutely got yourself a subscriber and look forward to catching up on your other content. - Daniel, from Scotland, a non-drummer

A really great visual quality to this. The camera angles are all very cinematic and look great during the opening drumming segment, and it's cool how you keep the video fresh by changing up where you are when you're talking, and even in those shots you'll keep it interesting by walking back and forth across the screen. I also appreciate your use of sound in this, like how you added in the sound of the crowd at a few key moments and the light hum in the beginning. Your occasional cutting to your watching and judging your recordings of yourself is interesting and parallels emotionally what it's like to watch a recording of your own performance. Your way of storytelling and just having a conversation with the viewer in this is really natural and feels engaging. You talk about feeling nervous, and I completely understand that feeling, but you managed to work through it in this and tell good stories. I completely relate to being in my own head while talking to people, I tend to have a lot of social anxiety, and I have a lot of trouble opening up to people as well. Being vulnerable just feels so... vulnerable. I love how this Oscar challenge has encouraged a lot of people to tell stories about themselves, because otherwise we wouldn't have the chance to hear these stories. It's okay to make something personal and to never release it. Making art can be cathartic, and other people don't need to be a part of that process. I also think it's possible that others who may be experiencing similar emotions or experiences would probably get a lot out of seeing that art, but it's completely up to you whether you release it or not. Just never let insecurity hold you back from putting your art out there. All art has value in one way or another. I thought the ending of this was a great way to wrap things up. Also, realizing that you made "Soap Night" last year was quite a revelation, as that was one of the films I watched from last year's challenge when I was trying to watch and comment on everyone's movie (I ended up only getting about 60 in or so). I thought that movie was really well-done, too. If you're going to school for film, I think you definitely have a good start on things. You know what you're doing. Great work! Thank you for sharing

I used to drum. I still do, but I used to, too.

Enjoyed this a lot, thank you for making it. Hope school is going well this year man!

I've been thinking about this anxiety around making things a lot recently. I used to make things a lot when I was younger. And I thought your comparison to playing on stage and not being nervous and your nerves about this was interesting. I think the difference is you can see the people you're playing for, and that feels safer. You may get hit or booed but you can see it coming. With putting something on the internet, it's the lack of feedback is terrifying. 500 people see something of yours, and you only hear from 10 of them. Did the other 490 people hate it? You can never really know. It's hard to move past that feeling

Came here from Joel Haver’s awards ceremony. Congratulations on the spotlight! You deserve it, this is such an intimate film that looks really good for something made in three hours. The lighting really gives the feeling of being trapped in the spotlight, but also the sense that there is darkness lurking just outside the frame.

Thanks, fellow human

Dude you edited this FAST

I watched this movie with my partner so that's two people for one view :).