The Mario With The Clock And The Gloves

ANALYSIS -

“Guys, Guys- Wait!”

intention and Context: When Caine gets outright accused of being malicious, he goes into full defensive/panic mode. Whats being said is a fully detailed accusation, not something he can easily brush off as typical irrationality or petty comments like when Pomni first joins or Zooble calling the adventures stupid.

At first it may be interpreted that he’s panicked because "the game" is about to be given away. But really its just because he has never fully comprehended what people think of him until now.

How I Portrayed it: The accusations are represented by the lines in the background going into him, looking sharp and jagged, as these words are incredibly harsh. Also noted that the colors are extremely intense, and the lighting is from below, giving a sort of “scary stories” or “on edge” look.

The repeating purple and red color combo is also meant to give a feeling of cop car lights- adding onto the accusing atmosphere.

-

“Im Not Doing What You Say Im Doing!”

intention and Context: Caine yells that they’ve got it all wrong- trying to gain his composure and explaining himself in a calm and orderly fashion. (this doesnt work.)

How I portrayed it: This attempt at getting a reign on his emotions is shown by the background getting lighter, the lighting being more direct instead of from below, his expression sofening a tad, and the accusing sharp lines blow out to make room for his fighting back.

-

Outside Shot 1): The state of the building where his computer is. uh- not good 😭 The company has long since been abandoned.

-

“Im Not Doing Anything!”

Intentions and Context: Caine insists he’s not doing anything to keep them away from an exit, or to hurt them. Or…at least… he doesn’t want to. Caine is now more or less trying to convince himself of this. This scope of his actions has now become way more than just stopping them from finding an exit. One thought led to another- and yeah.

This is all reminiscent of his language in episode 3 when he talks about how “making adventures is all (he’s) good at”. Whats so interesting about that line is the thing that truly sets him off. Caine says that it’s all he exists to do, this is just factually true! He’s very much BEEN aware of this. He’s an A.I. whos built for making adventures. yeah. this isn’t a shocking revelation.

That is until he takes it far more personally and emotionally than I think he’s ever considered. Its not just all he exists to do- its ALL he does. Its all he’s good at, it is EVERYTHING he is. If he’s not good at that then… uh….Its like he goes from Logic- To emotion- And rounding back to logic. Its all hes designed to do- its all hes GOOD at. What does that mean for someone whos bad at all hes meant for? replacement. fixing the issue. the issue being him.

How I portrayed it: The spotlight-lighting! instead of the attention being harshly accusatory, coming from below and stabbing into him, its more like his every move is being watched under a microscope. He feels pressured more than ever to be perfect now that it’s been made clear people see him as the complete opposite of what he’s supposed to be. A good host wouldn’t make people genuinely think he’s secretly evil-

The glitching is also meant to go back to what I was talking about with the ep 3 moment, as well as show he’s feeling all the emotions hes NOT SUPPOSED TO. He’s afraid, he’s angry, he’s confused. His programming is screaming in pure “!?!?!?!?!?”

-

Outside Shot 2): Inside the abandoned C&A office, there are several conceptual posters on the wall, as well as newspaper clippings. The reason behind the place shutting down is also shown with the graph in the way back (stocks plummeting-) (CAPITALISM!!!) (i still wholeheartedly believe whoever the hell was in charge of C&A was some Cave Johnson ass man who was a complete moron at being a CEO while his programmers worked so hard to keep the ship afloat.)

-

“Im Not Doing Anything At All!”

Intentions and Context: This line helps presents the actual issue here. He isnt doing what they say he’s doing, but he’s also not doing ANYTHING. AT ALL. He’s not actively choosing to cause harm, but he’s also not actively choosing to see where he could be helpful.

Another way the line can be interpreted/have double meaning is the way he feels purposless, especially when he was left alone all that time ago when the office shut down. He feels aimless without the things that give his life meaning and purpose. They left him.

Caine flashes back to where he was before, and without them. He still is currently failing at the only thing he was built to do- but at least he’s not in complete isolation anymore. Theres a lot of conflicting feeling right now with that. He would NEVER stop them from leaving, as he’s only ever built to assist. BUT ALSO IF THEY DID LEAVE, THEN HE’D GO BACK TO THAT.

You know when you get accused of doing something you know you didnt do but then you start gaslighting yourself into believing you did? yeah thats whats happening here

How I portrayed it: The blue that has been seen to depict the real world, is now way more vibrant cause we are now in the digital world- but just as lifeless and sinking as the real life shots. Instead of panic (the shots of Caine explaining himself) or hollow (the shots of the outside world) its supposed to give off a sense of dread (a mix between the 2)

Caine has his hat off as well, like he is removed from the Ringmaster roll he was designed to fill.

-

BEHIND THE SCENES

Ok so wow.

This project has completely consumed my life for the past 4 days and I couldn’t be happier!!! I heard this ENA audio and well- the pieces just slid into place so perfectly, I had to do SOMETHING about it, and then ofc that plan turned to be way bigger scale than I ever could have imagined.

I made a youtube playlist for the vibe I was going for music wise too!

This project took a lot longer than expected because the emotional impact i wanted to potray, THINKING ABOU THIS HURT and I wanted it to hurt to look at. But…that was really hard to do. I played with quite a few different vibes, but I ended up with something i am inCREDibly proud of!!!

So heres a speed paint of just THE CONCEPT because thats the interesting bit! And still lasts a WHILE because of the aforementioned ✨I had no idea what I was doing✨ :D

I figured it out-

◀ | ◼ | ▶

◀ | ◼ | ▶

◀ | ◼ | ▶