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Cat GIF Critique

2013-04-26 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:13 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Projects, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Comedy & performance · tags: self promotion

Hank plays a mock-serious critic of cat GIFs, then says such a job would not beat his real one, because Nerdfighteria lets the brothers do different things every week with only the mandate to make good stuff.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank as a 'professional internet cat critic': Laser Wiggle Cat LOL, Big Butt Cat Stuck in Box, Breadface Cat, cat leap fails; it would be a good job

  • ★★ Hank says some days he just wants to be a professional internet cat critic, and reviews cat GIFs in mock-critical style. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ In mock-critic voice Hank praises Laser Wiggle Cat LOL's frame rate and tail, and calls Big Butt Cat Stuck in Box a crude setup by the cat's owner. (parody) — 00:00:00
  • ★ Hank says staged cat images like Big Butt Cat and Breadface Cat, while not truly abusive, make him feel guilty; cat leap fails are the cat's own doing. (playful) — 00:00:29
  • ★★ Hank says over-analyzing cats and being slightly witty would be a good job, but not as good as his actual job. (playful) — 00:00:58

00:01:23 — His actual job is better: VidCon planning 90 days out; Corey Vidal and Alex Carpenter filming the documentary I'm Vloggin' Here

  • ★★ Hank says his job gets intense in VidCon planning time, which is starting now, 90 days out. — 00:01:23 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank says Corey Vidal, Alex Carpenter and the Apprentice A team are in town filming their vlogging documentary I'm Vloggin' Here, which looks very good. (hedged) — 00:01:23

00:01:52 — Why cat critic is not his dream job: he likes doing different things every week; Nerdfighteria's mandate 'make good stuff'; gratitude for that freedom

  • ★★★ Hank says cat critic would not be his dream job: he likes doing different things every week, a tremendous luxury. — 00:01:52

  • ★★★ Hank says Nerdfighters expect nothing particular from the brothers except not making terrible content; their mandate seems to be 'make good stuff, we don't care what'. (hedged) — 00:01:52 · Nerdfighteria

    “The mandate appears to be, make good stuff, we don't care what.”

  • ★★ Hank says he is happy to work inside that constraint, thinks few creators get such freedom, and is very grateful. (hedged) — 00:01:52

00:02:21 — Cats are cute; thanks for watching his April daily vlogs; Lizzie Bennet Kickstarter passed by Zach Braff; sign-off as 'the master to your doctor'

  • ★ Hank loves cats and does not know how John lives without one: a cat is like a little living piece of art that is warm and soft. (playful) — 00:02:21
  • ★★ Hank thanks everyone who has been watching him vlog every day on Hank's channel. — 00:02:21 · hankschannel
  • ★★ Hank thanks backers of the Lizzie Bennet Kickstarter, the fifth top-funded film and video project ever; it was fourth that morning until Zach Braff's campaign. — 00:02:21 · Kickstarter
  • ★ Hank says he loves Scrubs and watches it when he feels down, so he would not have wanted to be displaced by anyone else. (playful) — 00:02:21

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In the description Hank thanks the cats and the people who filmed them, saying he would credit the original creators if there were any way to track them down. — video description

Humor (significant)

  • Hank analyzes Laser Wiggle Cat LOL's size, aspect ratio and frame rate like a film critic. — 00:00:00

    “But the artistry of this image is not truly apparent until you examine the tail.”

  • Hank feels guilty giggling at a staged Big Butt Cat in a box. — 00:00:29

    “Very similar to how I feel about the classic catploitation image Breadface Cat of 2009.”

  • Leaping cats that crash are responsible for their own disasters. — 00:00:58

    “Cats, of course, always emerge from these experiences unharmed, as they are apparently made of rubber.”

  • Signing off after John's video announcing his honorary doctorate. — 00:02:21

    “to get to be the master to your doctor”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: GIF

Also: People: Alex Carpenter · Corey Vidal · Zach Braff

Projects: hankschannel · VidCon

Works: Big Butt Cat Stuck in Box · Breadface Cat · Fwoomp That's a Beanbag · I'm Vloggin' Here · Laser Wiggle Cat LOL · Scrubs · The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Organizations: Apprentice A Productions · Kickstarter

Also centred on GIF: Animals Interrupt Sporting Events: A Critical Analysis · The Top 10 John Green GIFs

Later videos replying to this one

Part of an exchange of 4 videos, 2013-04-26 – 2013-05-17.