The Disappearing Act 😶🌫️
Call it “The Michael Reeves Effect”
Neighbors,
How are you gearing up for Turkey Day next week?
I’m prepping for a couple Friendsgivings with my go-to: homemade, Baked Barbeque Bacon Mac and Cheese—or, as I like to call it, a full plate of B.B.B.M.C.
Before the festivities begin in earnest, however, we have a fresh helping of Neighborhood Watch reviews to serve you this week. Read on for my thoughts on Henry Kidman’s latest adventure—and stick around for ‘Offline,’ where Moy takes the reins.
— NGL
P.S. Last blog, we dove deep on creators, third spaces, and the battle for the living room. You can read it here.
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A little behind-the-scenes look at my process: For most cover stories, I hop on a video call with the subject before meeting them in person.
It’s a great way to get to know them, as well as ask the background questions. That way, when I, say, arrived at Maya Higa’s animal sanctuary in September, we hit the ground running.
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Video: ‘I 3D printed this MOVIE CAMERA from scratch’ (2025)
Creator: Henry Kidman
Runtime: 24m 2s
Review by: Nathan Graber-Lipperman
There’s a certain level of reverence held for creators who can disappear for an entire year…and come back with a banger.
Researchers and academics around the world who study this subject extensively call it “Pulling A Michael Reeves.” It’s a rare phenomenon similar to the Northern Lights, except instead of viewing the physical manifestation of charged particles from the sun colliding with gas atoms, our colorful spectacle revolves around a youngish, nerdy creator building something from scratch—and documenting their odyssey along the way.
Henry Kidman is one of these creators, and he’s sustained a cult audience while uploading just four videos since 2021. “Somehow bro has put out only 3 full length videos on YouTube and all 3 are the most memorable videos I have seen on any platform,” one top comment reads on Henry’s latest installment, “I 3D printed this MOVIE CAMERA from scratch.”
(To his credit, Henry seems to be leaning into the narrative. This video dropped October 22; his last upload was exactly three hundred and sixty-five days earlier, on October 23, 2024.)
What he lacks in frequency he makes up for in substance, packing a unique blend of challenge videos, camera nerd breakdowns, and crafty DIY journeys. All rolled into one, twentyish-minute story.
Upon first watch, I did not feel like that package was for me. We open his latest upload on a sunset, with a tuxedo-clad waiter serving Henry a meal in the middle of an open field. “Hey YouTube,” he says, before diving into his latest objective:
“If you wish to create a video from scratch, you must first invent the camera.”
From there, things ramp up dramatically. Henry explains the difference between film and digital cameras, including a somewhat-useful metaphor depicting how film actually works; begins hacking his way to his prototype camera; tests it; iterates; and tests it some more.
And then…it kinda just ends.
As a viewer, I was left a little unsatisfied. I didn’t really think the explainer portions resonated enough to make me feel like I was following along. While I don’t really have access to a 3D printer (or time), the innocent (and ignorant) belief that I could maybe, someday, make a camera from scratch, too, is vital to a great DIY video—no matter how wide the disbelief bridge’s suspension cables run.
Still, there was a silver lining: Henry is pretty dang funny, and he’ll move heaven and earth to commit to the bit. Towards the beginning, he pokes fun at early twentieth century designers for taking so long to invent the modern film camera. “They could have just used a 3D-printed sprocket,” he quips. The first thing he shoots on his camera prototype is an ill-fated backflip. Another visual sequence includes Henry casually opening his human-sized to-do list—written on a scroll—by way of a real bulldozer.
The creator’s effort earned my rewatch. So the next day, I opened up the video again…and realized I completely missed the twist, revealed during the last several minutes of the video
I won’t spoil it here, but the twist changes the entire meaning of the video dramatically. And it made me realize that throughout Henry hadn’t been spending his time away from YouTube solely building a film camera from scratch. He was building the very foundation of the video itself, and bringing us along for the ride.
As a piece of education, sure, it falls a bit short. But as an act of intricately-crafted world-building, the video succeeded.
And that right there is a feat worth waiting a year for.
Nate’s Score: 4 / 5
Dedicated to the books, music, movies, and physical media that played a meaningful role in stopping our scroll.
Review by: Moy Zhong
Album: The Art of Loving (2025)
Artist: Olivia Dean
Runtime: 34m 23s
You’ve probably already heard a song—at least snippets—from Olivia Dean’s breakout album The Art of Loving. Whether it be “Man I Need,” “Nice To Each Other,” or any of the B-sides, Olivia Dean’s voice is full of warmth and playful earnestness.
It feels like the chords she chooses envelope a room in a velvety soft glow, but that doesn’t mean her lyricism lacks bite. The cherry on top is that her visual direction is pure class. I’m not surprised she was schoolmates with RAYE, another vocal and songwriting powerhouse.
Even if you can’t hit the notes like Dean, I highly recommend adding a song or two to your karaoke roster (especially to sing along with girlfriends). Add her to my girl crush list.
Moy’s Score: 4.06 / 5 🌷
Invention: A humidifier (1926)
Creator: Max Katzman
Seattle is back to being dark by five p.m., my socks are never not-a-little-damp, and I’m taking two Vitamin D3 pills every nigh1 to cope with the loss of summer. And our heater is back on.
But the cost of staying warm (besides the bill) is that I become a shriveled prune from the inside out with every breath of dry, hot air I take. That is…until I got a humidifier.
If you’re also at the crossroads of shivering outside or staying in and experiencing mild mummification, I suggest staying in and blasting some water vapor. Save yourself from an unnecessary nosebleed.
But I am docking points because when my humidifier runs out of water, it’ll beep to no end. It’s a nuisance in the mornings if we don’t fill it enough before bed. (Still love you, boo!)
Moy’s Score: 3.68 / 5 ♨️
Thanks for reading! Shoot us a reply, comment, or DM if anything resonated with you in particular—we respond to them all.
…I actually forgot them the past two nights lol