Corridor

Corridor Digital (simply Corridor or Node), is an American VFX studio and YouTube channel founded by Sam Gorski (born: ) and Niko Pueringer (born: ). They are known for creating live action skits and shorts but with professional visual and special effects. They also own multiple channels with a variety of content, such as reactions, vlogs, and let's plays.
==History==
Sam and Niko originally met in Junior High where they worked on several films together.https://www.presspubs.com/st_croix/news/article_d25cec95-d3de-5ec0-b3b5-cc8dfc6fb26e.html They would move to Los Angeles and form the studio and channel on May 17, 2010, where they made tutorials and small skits. Corridor Digital became hugely well known when they created the short, "The Glitch" on December 17, 2012. They soon partnered with multiple companies and have been featured in YouTube Rewind of 2013.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7jtC8vjXw8
On August 11, 2022, the Corridor Crew YouTube channel got hacked in which he turned into a crypto currency channel. Corridor attempted to contact YouTube to remove the hacker, but the channel got terminated due to violating community guidelines. Two days later, Corridor managed to recover their YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdELfn1WK0Q
==Members==
===Current Members===
*Sam Gorski (Co-Founder)
*Niko Pueringer (Co-Founder)
* Wren Weichman
*Jake Watson
*Matthew "Matt" Cairns
*Jordan Allen
*Jordan Coleman
*Peter France
*Nick Laurant
*Christian Fergerstrom
*Dean Hughes
===Former Members===
*Clinton "Clint" Joneshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMIVZ9bQ3uo
*David Carmichaelhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwYDlgqllpY
*Natalie Roman
==Content==
===Corridor===
====Rush====
Rush is an action mini series created in 2019. The series is primarily inspired by the Battlefield franchise. There were five episodes all released on December 21, 2019.
====RATED-R====
These are edits of classic family films if they were rated for more mature audiences. Most of the edits include gore, blood, violence, and more. There are only three videos on the Corridor channel which include edits of Home Alone, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Spider-Man. But there are other R-rated edits on the Corridor Crew channel.
=== Corridor Crew===
====The Corridor Crew====
This vlog series shows the members doing several challenges that have to do with VFX. This can usually be recreating a special effects shot from a film or show, or making the VFX better from media with poor effects. 
====VFX Artists React====
VFX Artists React has the members reacting to different kinds of computer animations. They can range from professional to unrealistic. The first episode was made on May 4, 2019 where they react to Game of Thrones, Dragonheart, Logan, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. There are also different variations of reactions, featuring reactions from animators, stuntmen, etc. There are over 49 episodes of the react series. 
====Wren's Workshop====
This show is hosted by Wren Weichman where he reveals what stuff would look like if brought to life with special effects. It can be something from a series or film, or questions and thoughts about real life.
===Corridor Cast===
Corridor own a separate YouTube channel where they host a podcast. They usually talk about multiple different topics like life stories, films, anime, etc. They also feature different guest stars and YouTubers.
===Node===
Corridor has an official gaming channel were the members set up LAN parties. They also do different challenges relating to video games such as building something in the video game or doing the actions in real life. They play a variety of different games such as Super Smash Bros, Among Us, Minecraft, etc.
==Controversies==
===Anime, Rock, Paper, Scissors===
On February 26, 2023, Corridor released the video "Anime, Rock, Paper, Scissors", which was made in live action while using an AI called Diffusion to replicate the anime style. However, they instead turned each image into a noise to reduce the amount of change and flickering in between frames. They've done this process earlier in the video "Spider-Man: EVERYONE’S HOME!".https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVT3WUa-48Y&t 
While some fans and animators have praised the video for its impressive AI and visual effects, some criticized Corridor for being poorly made, such as inconsistent eye colors and fingers. Some animators and fans also raised concern as this VFX technique could replace animators and artists with AI. Some have also criticized Corridor for not crediting the art style they're replicating, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, which multiple screenshots were taken as a reference for Diffusion. There was also criticism towards the name of their Corridor Crew video named "Did We Just Change Animation Forever", which some viewed as pretentious.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOwxXj1EIXM&t
In response, Niko made a pinned comment on the Corridor Crew video saying that it's not meant to be a replacement for artists, but instead be relied as a tool. He argues that it still takes a lot of time to create these videos, since they still use other methods to make it look better. Niko hopes that this tool makes it easier for independent filmmakers or studios to create and visualize their stories easily. Niko also assures fans that they're just experimenting with new technology and hopes people can ease into it.
On August 6, 2023, Corridor Crew released a video where they announced a sequel to Anime, Rock, Paper, Scissors and addressing the criticism towards their first video. They responded to the criticism of supposedly stealing images from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and decided to train the AI from an artist and their friend's art style to avoid flickering. Niko argues that art can still cause the audience to react no matter what tools or programs someone uses, hoping that their fans are satisfied with what they received. They would go on to show the process of how they create the video, delving into the writing, storyboarding, filming, and compositing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUFlOynaUyk
A week later, they released Anime, Rock, Paper, Scissors 2, which generally received a mixed response from fans. Some praised the video for the improved AI, cinematography, and choreography, others still criticized the awkward facial expressions and inconsistent flickering. Some fans also criticized the Corridor Crew videos for the pretentious title name and their insistence for showing the entire process for creating the video.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWZOEFvczzA&t 
===Fixing video game faces===
On October 4, 2023, Corridor Crew uploaded a video called "We try Putting Photoreal Faces in Video Games" (originally titled "We Fixed Faces in Video Games) where they used Stable Diffusion XL to clean up stiff and unrealistic faces as they've become infamous in gaming, such as Mass Effect Andromeda and Fallout. They also use Picsi AI in order to insert an AI image into a footage from games from older to newer games. They noticed that the faces became crisper and more detailed, though facial expressions were stiffer. They mainly saw this as the next best way to maximize time and to show better results.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7juJgPbQx8w&t
The video was heavily disliked by fans and game developers for attempting to "fix" a minor fault in games. Much of the criticism involves the newer faces being too crisp compared to the footage, facial expressions being stiffer, and removing details from the original characters. The Corridor Crew did seem to notice that the facial expressions were dulled down, but they were excited that it was more realistic and better for the future of game development, which drew in more criticism for their ego. Several game developers also criticized the video for mocking work and effort they did in those video games.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOfrPh3OndM&t=1418s 
==Channel milestones==
===Corridor=== 
*1 million subscribers: July 31, 2012
*2 million subscribers: June 4, 2013
*3 million subscribers: October 7, 2014
*4 million subscribers: September 5, 2016
*5 million subscribers: N/A
*6 million subscribers: N/A
*7 million subscribers: N/A
*8 million subscribers: February 7, 2019
*9 million subscribers: N/A
==Trivia== 
*They won the Streamy Awards for YouTube channel with best visual effects in 2017.https://www.streamys.org/nominees-winners/7th-annual-nominees/
*Combining all of the channels subscriber counts, they have over 16 million subscribers.
*Corridor Digital was involved with the production of the 2017 YouTube Red series, Lifeline.
*They partnered with companies such as Google, EA, Machine Zonehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB-3dVMkNWU, etc.
*Peter France developed a Super Smash Bros inspired video game with the Corridor crew called Super Smush Brethren.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6PJkseoziM
*They're known for starting offensive bowling animations in 2021 which spawned into NSFW bowling memes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXpETSoNWxY&t=1111s
==References==
Category:Film YouTubers
Category:Comedy YouTubers
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Category:Commentary YouTubers
Category:Gaming YouTubers
Category:Anime YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2006
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