Galneda's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[RAINBOWS!]

There are more links to your range of social media in the author's comments than there is content.

50% of the short is introduction.

The meat of the short is completely mute- no sound effects, no environmental ambiance. The bulk of the animation is taking a graphic and stretching it, be it a creature breathing or the "poking" motion. When the action takes place and it cuts to the reaction shot, it happens so quickly and ends so abruptly it doesn't give the audience much room to register what just happened.

The colors are nice, even if the character design is a little too cluttered and busy. I think you need to challenge yourself more as an animator to grow and learn to be more comfortable with techniques that make actions easier to read. I would also try to pay attention to the pacing of things you like to watch to learn a sense of timing, both comedic and dramatic pacing. Getting informed on when to linger on a shot, the beats between actions, and when to cut to a transition can only benefit you and strengthen you as an animator.

I recommend reading Richard Williams "Animator's Survival Kit." That pill of knowledge helped me mature as an artist and animator exponentially, and if you study it and practice the motions he teaches in that book (or DVD, video), you will level wayyyy up.

FoxMew4044 responds:

Look I'm studying as an animator and don't get me wrong I would love to get my hands on the book or the DVD but unfortunately I just can't afford it right now.

[unfinished : untitled (soon to be finished, soon to be named)]

Better than my first flash, that's for sure. The name of this submission reflexively made me ready to blam this thing to smithereens, but there's a lot of demonstrated skill in this thing. I can't wait to see how you shape up with more practice.

studioSTRICKEN responds:

Thank you very much. I'm new to all this and these are the first nice words I have received on this website, with the exception of my dad and aunt. I hope to create short animations with some sort of narratives in them, but here I decided to create an animation with flashy cuts and crap. this is no way near the end product, I'm hoping to make it at least a minute, it really is taking time though. Never the less, don't let it be said that I am not a man of my word, I'm on that animation, especially with that boost of confidence you have given me.

[Snails Don’t Meow]

Export setting / aspect ration mishap hurt this thing's score for me, but so did the audio balancing quality.

Generally characters are talking very low volumed, so it makes me turn up my speakers, and then they shout to even higher threshold's, which makes me turn it down, and then they're speaking low again- that's extremely annoying on its own, so, ignoring that this thing's been squished till it's a vertical tower of a cartoon, and even putting the sound issues aside, this could have been a sufficient standalone Spongebob Gag. But whoever edited the audio or exported the animation needs to learn from this.

Proof-watch your uploads in the future, listen for the balancing by turning down things that are too loud and turning up things that are too quiet, and you'll be golden.

foneycone responds:

Hello! Sorry about the aspect ratio, tried uploading the same file from my iPhone but clearly it messed with the aspect ratio and even some audio. Thanks for letting me know and giving some helpful criticism!

[c/o Flap Jackson]

Exceptional work was done to these sets, props, wardrobe and characters. The environment and lighting were superb! Really impressive work, and inspiring that claymation / stop-motion animation is still going strong here on NG. Knox, eat yer heart out.

What were some challenges you encountered when making this short? I would love to hear, read, or watch the process to make this piece. Easy five from me, this was so cool and well done.

JWLustig responds:

Thank you! The greatest challenges were probably the set and puppet making. And setting up that long scene between Flap and Charlie knowing I'd be animating for like 3 days, securing everything down and praying I wouldn't screw up. Part of the reason I do 2D animation instead these days!

[Sneak Bot 199X]

I love the idea of this robot, whose sole purpose is to be sneaky and by design he's clearly not. The voices were fine, and I loved the gags! SFX and music were on point as well.

What keeps this from getting a perfect score to me was pace. The world-building introductory text-crawl would only really be needed if you intended to expand upon this character and setting, but if this is a one-shot, is kinda unnecessary. The audience wouldn't think twice that, for whatever reason, they're sending this inept sneak-bot to save the president.

Also, what's up with this world's Colonel Campbell; maybe it's because he's an old white guy with white hair dressed in white, but I'm getting a serious Colonel Sanders vibe if we threw on a Daffy Duck sailor hat and slapped a Cyber eye-patch on him.

Some of the gags necessitated padding, like the slow trudge of the clunky tank treads, and slowly reversing, and that's totally fine but it helped provide the sense that the overall pace was kinda slowly trudging, there was nothing inherently quick to switch up the pace. With some minor tweaking into comedic timing, the jokes could punch more as well as quicken the pace of the overall short.

Having said all of that, I think you did great! Voted 5!

SuperPhil64 responds:

Hey thanks a bunch for the nice words and feedback! Storytelling and writing are two things i'm trying to improve so i will definitely keep this feedback in mind moving forward!

As for the Mission Command guy i tried to just make him look really goofy, figured a world with shitty robots would have shitty leaders. But who knows maybe he also has a chain of fried chicken restaurants?

[Hell of a Job]

All I had to do was type in "Employee of the Month" into NG's search bar...after the newgrounds submission web address, after portal, type /view/573327

Originally submitted in 2011, not long from when the audio portal submission that is the spine of this animation was done.

Some of us have seen it before. This definitely looks cleaner, it's more colorful and more complex...however, the framerate chops out when the camera tweens away, and I know its because of multiple different gradients being used. Every time they shift, each gradient needs to be re-rendered. Try to be careful not to clutter up a frame where there's a lot of dynamic movement and you have sophisticated elements at play, like gradients or big-files that are moving around; I lost framerate as well when the guy was torturing the soul. There could be ways around this, and it may be as simple as a tweak in the export settings.

BUT...take that criticism with a grain of salt; I'm not opposed to the idea that the chop in framerate may be my machine. It would do you well to research on the matter from your end of things, anyway. To experiment around, trial and error different settings outside of your comfort zone, and maybe test certain animations on a machine different from your own in the future. All a process to be done at some other time, but food for thought.

Great character designs, immersive environments/lighting, nice creative little touches of detail here and there...but with all due respect to Seymour and his voice clip, my memory is my own faulty critical bias that prevented me from giving this a full score. I crave something more original...but despite it all, the presentation was keen. I even enjoyed the interactive little buttons on the replay menu...its evident you have an eye for details.

Voted 5 because you deserve it for the amount of work you put into this. Good job! :D

Chelo-kun responds:

I am aware of the original animation on Newgrounds for the last two years while I was making this cartoon. But thank you for reminding me, just on the off chance that I might've forgotten where it came from.

I also hear ya on the lagging, please check it out on Youtube. It's much better to watch there.

As for your bias and cravings, I have no power over that. I'm afraid that's all on you. This cartoon was an experiment to see how far great art and animation by itself can go. The answer is: pretty far. The sound track was just a means to fill in the gap. But I've learned that there's more pieces to this puzzle that needs to be found. Now my technical skills are at it's best, I will go out and find my own voice and collaborate with others to make my next project into pure gold. It will be about two minutes with music and better voice acting, but you can bet to see the same, if not better, art and animation.

Thanks for the 5.

[On the John]

Great setup, smooth animation, and GREAT style btw...really efficient for animation and it looks good to the eye.

So...right, like I said, great setup. You're establishing a situation we can all relate to, one that had tons of different ways that it could go, and it was building to a punchline that unfortunately went nowhere.

The guy fidgeting with the door glumly says. "Oh, that was you? Sorry."
And our main guy just gives him an annoyed look, replying "...Yeah..."
.....lonnnng muffled sharting noise....

....ehh..."badum-tsh?" Is that the payoff? I mean, its a neat little short, but that ending kinda left me feeling a bit empty. It would've been funnier if the guy trying to get in was really pushy, and just drop-kicked the door, so we had this awkward and frantic sort of slapstick while these guys fought over who gets to shit on the throne.

But he just...he just sat there. There was a moment where he's just holding in the door handle, and then our main guy yells at this poor idiot...and that's it. Not a whole there.

You could've made the intruder a pervert.

You could've made the intruder an oblivious little boy, so he stupidly, stubbornly keeps trying for the door, and the main guy can't get too pissed at him because his father is this massive, angry looking dude just outside.

Hell, you could've made the intruder an old man, and the main guy has to waddle his way into the girls room, and MORE antics happen there and, look- the point I'm trying to make is ANYTHING could've worked to make this flash stand out more. Stick to our memories a little more solid and keep the laughs coming...everything up to that point was solid, and I really wanted to like the WHOLE flash. But I can't vote highly on it BECAUSE of the lackluster payoff.

Emrox responds:

Haha I totally see what you mean, dude. I've never been good at endings. To be honest, I changed the end maybe five times before I decided to just go with my gut and use the first idea. But maybe that was a bad choice- I dunno. Thanks for the in-depth review, though! It's awesome to see people taking time out of their day 'cause they genuinely want to help <3

[Gamer- Turbo]

Well...that was a helluva ride.

There's clearly a lot of time invested into the environments and elements all throughout the animation. There are several scenes that are just downright impressive in their craftsmanship; the pixelated shift in lighting as the woman approaches and looks out the blinds was some particularly compelling art...probably the entire thing's strongest moment, even above the rotating gem or the trippy...things.

There's such attention to detail attributed to her face, that its actually disproportionate with the rest of the submission...the male protagonist AND antagonist have, comparatively, blank and featureless faces, whereas the woman's face has nearly every surface defined by well-placed pixel-shading. Perhaps the men represent a blank-slate for us to project whoever into whoever, while the pixel beauty remains the prize and focus.

Having said that, the facial expressions and little nuances from the two male characters are, respectively, hilariously weird. At 1:15 when the protagonist gets his first close-up, looking up at the window and grinning, it was just kinda off in some weird way...the only natural reaction is to just kinda chuckle. But that's just peanuts compared to our villainous police officer...who, right from the get go, establishes himself as an overenthusiastic wannabe cop with nothing more than his body language as he strolls up to the car in his walk cycle.

Then, I get that he's supposed to be creepy...he totally is...but the way he wears that facial expression as he LEANS IN to the convertible at 2:07 caused me to burst out laughing. That laughter elongated as the "cop" gets RIGHT UP to the protagonists ear to whisper, I guess, to get out. Now all of a sudden its a comedy...and the negative thing about that is I'm not entirely sure if its supposed to be funny...but I'm laughing every time I see it.

There's something to be said about tone. What is the tone of this flash? What is your audience supposed to feel? This music...its retro in all of its splendor, harkens back memories of arcades and fun little games that we all enjoyed as children. Inspiring our inner child with what had been established as "COOL." I understand its purpose:

"Hell yeah...living in paradise out by the beach. Palm trees every where, livin' the good life. Take out the Ferrari, top down, feel the wind in my hair. Goin' FAST in my elite machine. Custom plates (GAMER) I know how to have fun too...got the girl of my dreams, going to pick her up at her giant mansion. Life kicks ass." Right?

All to the tune of this soundtrack thats just kinda there. If it were sex, its just a dead fish laying there and taking it, indifferent, but begrudgingly going with the motions. It ain't dynamic, and a problem with that is the animation has no choice but to use it as its tempo. So when it repeats, the scene repeats. We've already seen these shots...overhead of the Ferrari...front bumper close up...over the shoulder medium shot...over the shoulder establishing shot, focused rear-mirror/environment... "Well lets see it again, only this time the girl is with you."

At that point, I felt like my time was being wasted...and if it happened a third time, I probably would've closed it early...because, we get it. He's driving. He drives. She rides with him...that's all we know. If that's what these two do, why did she stare at him from her window for like, thirty seconds, awe-struck... was she SURPRISED that he was there? Is she going to invite him inside, or do they have this mutual agreement where he props up next to his Ferrari in the driveway for a few minutes while she stares out at him, mouth agape. What am I supposed to feel!? What is the tone?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, it just went into a dark comedy once the police officer strolls up with his best "Haters Gonna Hate" walk, LEANS IN and invades his personal space to tell him to step out of his vehicle. By this point, I'm still grinning as the cop is PUSHING his head down like he's trying to get a quick blow...and once again, the soundtrack disrupts the pace of whats going down. So now the cop is pulling out his gun, but she has to react slow to it, he has to draw the gun from his holster slowly, all because of the now predictable pace of the music that has honestly outstayed its welcome with its repetitiveness.

I would've been fine if the animation kept on being goofy. Eyeball of the Ferrari Gamer dude popped out, his head is spewin' pixel juice everywhere, and the antagonist has a facial expression like "U MAD?" and thats great, I would've been alright if the rest of the animation just followed this awful cop and the rest of his criminal shenanigans in this bright retro world. He even keeps up the goofiness right up to when he's getting Dragonball Z punched in the face and then shot. But shit gets weird, it looks interesting, but its fuckin' weird, and now I don't know what to feel anymore. The music is basically the same as its always been, therefore I now know what to expect from the pace, and neon skulls, glowing energy, three-eyed, what is...what is even happening, I don't know...it just made me not care anymore.

But it made me care enough to let you know that. THIS is whats going through my mind, and probably a lot of other minds when they watch this. There's clearly skill involved in the construction of this animation, but a lot of details fell short, were underdeveloped, and with the meaning or the tone or any kind of memorable impact lost on the viewer, so too will this animation be lost on our memories. You want people to remember your work, to remember what it made them feel or what thoughts it provoked.

What conversations could I have with people if I wanted to show them this. How would I describe it, and make them want to see it? What is the moral of this story, don't speed? Don't drop acid during a traffic stop? Never ever trust dudes in Ferraris? That's my review. I'm happy that you took the time to read it. I mean no disrespect, this wasn't an attack, but its my critique and take it for however you deem its worth. I, personally was impressed by a couple of visuals, I admire the time it took to finish and build this, but it was missing quite a lot. With that in mind, I look forward to what you'll do next because you totally have what it takes to make something badass. So do it!

spacefader responds:

Ha ha, wow, thanks for the extensive review. Yeah it's a mixed bag alright.

[The Crawler]

Very interesting, the hook is almost instant, and I'm mighty satisfied after watching it.

The animation is top-notch. Unabashed professional grade living art...the kind of stuff that as you're watching and you're engrossed with the story and the characters in it, my jaw just slacks open from the quality of their movements. The smooth seamlessness of the frame by frame is enough to drive me to study it and learn from it, because holy shit, I want to make something like that!

The still art, in all of its sophistication and details were wonderful as well. Every frame, it seemed, had evident hours devoted to it, and I loved it!

The voice acting was kinda lacking, though...both voice talents seemed like they were just reading a script. Not to mention the more forgivable sub-par recording quality, the main dialogue that set up the plot kinda took me out of the story a little bit. I wished it sounded better and I wished the voice actors were more believable as they spoke their lines...if that was up to par, this animation would be perfect to me.

That's the only thing I can really nitpick on. I loved the creature design, I loved the way everything moved. The way it was shot, the premise, I just love love love it. Going to bother some people by subjecting them to it. Please keep up the great work, and if you don't mind, I totally invite a conversation with you as to how it was made, how long did it take to make it, I wanna grill and prod your brain about this...it REALLY IS that fascinating to me. Great job, voted five, will remain in favorites forever.

SethBrady responds:

I'll be posting a How-to soon, keep your eyes open.

[A weary wanderer rests...]

Looks good! I'm looking forward to something more substantial added to this character.

I like the reflection of the fire in his eyes, I like the warmth of the lighting.

I don't like that the only ambient movement is subtle breathing, pipe-moving, and blinking. I wish he was doing something else that a normal person would do at a campfire.

...For example, its raining...is he cold? Is he trying to stay more dry? He's just kinda dead-eyed as he stares into the fire. Though I suppose that lends credit to the "Weary" in the title...

Also, I found myself staring at the smooth, undisturbed pillar of smoke coming off of his pipe. Not only did I begin thinking of the rain interfering with the bowl, but the smoke didn't look natural. It seemed completely undisturbed by the rain, and the solidity of the grey didn't seem right.

Might I recommend you kinda play a bit of a motion trick on us with the smoke. Instead of a pillar, think of the smoke as a tiny, white/gray flame flickering out like a tongue just inches out of the bowl...but only occasionally.

Look at tobacco pipes of similar nature and watch with great attention to detail on how that smoke reacts. The reality in how it behaves is a beauty that you can incorporate into future animations.

stoneseeker responds:

thanks for the thoughtful response and critique!
I didn't want to add any complicated animation to the character (like poking the fire) to keep it simple as possible. He is supposed to be a weathered "ranger" type, so I didn't want to show him vulnerable and shivering, just indifferent to the rain. Like he is doing the same ole thing as every night on his journey...
Your right about the smoke. I favored a more cartoony/stylized approach to it, rather than more realistic to try and match the exaggerated cartoon features of the character. Although the rain would cause the pipe bowl to "spit" and probably snuff it out, rain would not disturb the path of smoke, although wind would. I smoke my pipe a lot outdoors, which is a big part of the inspiration to this piece.
thanks again for giving me lots to consider!