00:00
00:00
View Profile ThaScientist

57 Movie Reviews

19 w/ Responses

You could be better at visual exposition.

Maybe there ought to be a special trailer portal where trailers can be submitted seperately from games and movies. Anyway, your trailer gets the job of publicity done, but it doesn't stand on its own as something interesting to watch. Conceptually it is very simple, without much visual exposition. All that you tell us is that an ICBM incineerates a city as a cloaked figure watches.

It would be more effective if you explored more angles and showed more dynamic movement. There is a fine line between creating suspense and simply compensating for lack of animation experience, and it looks like the latter. Take inspiration from Fallen Angel, a tried and true apocalypse story, even if you can't yet animate like that. An animator's job is to make things move. Even if you have the right music, the right text, you need to do your part of the project.

Okay, but uses beginner's tricks.

I suggest you just learn to animate better so you don't have to use tricks like obscuring the action and showing only the sound which btray your fear of animating complex motions. I think you should do what Jazza did with the Paladin series and improve your animating technique from one flash to the next. You can either create low quality flash on a fast schedule or invest the time to make it visually beautiful.

You manage to tell your story pretty well for someone with either less animating ability or work input. You can take that either as an insult or as a compliment. Using photograpphic backgrounds that are just put through a filter is a major cheappskate thing to do in my opinion, and it will always contrast unfavorably with your animated figures in both detail and lighting. I strongly suggest you learn to make your own backgrounds.

I only bothered to look at Shell 5 after seeing this. Your story seems pretty generic for an anime-style flash, but it's not bad. Voice acting is just okay.

cris17 responds:

um just to clear it up, im doing it in the fashion i chose >.> im not trying to keep up with some other hightop flash artist. im doing my own thing and im not going to be changing this style anytime soon so if it bugs you sorry but it aint changing. and also try flash.....try animating then come back read your review and you can see that your.........just not really considering how hard it really is.

Inferno + Mario Bros = Neat-o

I think it's pretty neat that you did Dante's Inferno. Funny, as we speak I'm doing homework on it. Isn't that weird? Anyway, it simplifies things, but you admit that. Toad's voice is kind of annoying, and it is a little slow paced. Animation isn't stellar. I aslo think your exposition would have benefited from perhaps Toad/Virgil showing Mario/Dante a map of Hell at the beginning. For those who haven't read it, it may be challenging to grasp. Other than that, it's pretty good. I did like the toaster at the end.

As a plot point, I think you should have started the toon where Dante began it, with him being lost in the woods and confronted by the three beasts. Toad would just tell Mario that Peach...er...I mean Beatrice sent him without you actually having to depict it.

Go ahead and read it the book for yourself. I'm loving it. Try the John Ciardi translation.

Emotionally, it's a winner.

The animation of this flash is not it's strong point, as there isn't a whole lot of movement going on and the shapes of the characters are very simple. It suffers from a lack of in-between movement. Since you did the lighting and smoke effects so well, it's a shame your characters aren't more defined. I do appreciate that you hand-drew all of this, and I'm sure you'll only get better. Some of your images did have a kind of simple iconic power that made them really work, and though you skimped on the details you colored it really well.

The plot was really simple, but it gave the fight the emotional content it needed not to be just another anime fight scene. The most important thing was the raw emotion it communicated. the selection of "When Angels Fly Away" by Cold really works for it, and the story of a hero who pays for arrogance by losing someone he loves is compelling. I actually felt something while watching this, which can't be said for every flash.

It's not one of the best short movies I've seen, but I think you deserve the daily third place award for your efforts. If you can top this, I think you'll be a contender. Though I won't give you more than a seven, please know that I really respect you and this movie.

If it makes you feel any better.

Your opinions are correct in my view. All kinds of crap passes the judgment process, and good stuff is underappreciated and hard to find. The problem is the fact that the judgment process is democratic in the sense of being a mobocracy. Of course, the reason is that there is no other way. If you can suggest an alternate voting system that would also be free and not require a panel, be my guest. Also, as for the review crew picks, this is not a site founded on artistic pretensions. It is honestly and unashamedly a place for cock jokes to be enshrined in the culture. You can find art here, but there is no way I can see to make newgrounds a purist domain.

I am going to blam this of course; This flash does not do anything to aleviate the problem. If you're giving up on newgrounds, you don't have to put up with it. I don't know your motives or your feelings, and so I can't judge you. You sound like you could be a good guy who appreciates art, or something like it. To make a long story short, my friendly advice is to either find a constructive course of action or change your expectations. Peace.

A very Noir Christmas.

I give you props for originality and being able to articulate your complaints against convention eloquently and with style, as it seems an overwhelming majority of whining artists cannot.

Black and white can be visually arresting if done correctly. It's even better if something like blood is bright red and stands out. I think you are definitely channeling film Noir, from the color scheme to the hard-boiled character type to the voiceover narration.

Mechanically, it worked well, but there were problematic plot devices. I doubt that many stores are completely deserted on any night. I don't think that any mortal man can take a bullet to the torso without a vest and get up, much less fight and then walk away. He should have called 911 for himself! (don't tell me he was wearing a vest, he's a theif, not a secret agent)

The story was very simple, but that's not a problem on newgrounds. It was unpretentious and to the point. I think it really articulates very well the disparity between the commercialized facade that people have saddled christmas with and what it really can be. Your main character is a cynical guy, and he clearly doesn't have any moral scruples about his practice (burglary), but he has the uncommon courage to really stick his neck out for somebody in need. I think that's what we need more of.

knobbywood responds:

very well put. it brings a smile to my face knowing that someone understood where i was coming from. As for taking the bullet:) I like to make my characters normal but with larger than life characteristics. He'll be fine...

Didn't win me over, visually or emotionally

I'll be harsh and deadpan here, let me say first I respect you.

There's no question you have fundamental skill; my criticism is looking at your artistic expression and how you could make it better. The animation was done smoothly, but I felt it lacked character and uniqueness. You seem to not have devoloped a distinctive style, and from differences in the look and feel throughout the animation it seems you cannot make up your mind. Your characters are a problem. Rather than individualized or archetypal, they were generic. I can't identify with your capped protagonist, and you need work with getting your characters to express emotion. Also the "my girlfriend left me" tagline is misleading, because taken with the fantasy world element it seems more about an adventure than a personal crisis. It's not what I was expecting, and it didn't impress me.

I think you spent time on this and you are probably a person who cares about your work. That's good. I think you need to go back to the drawing board and think about what you really want to create. There are also some essential skills you can improve on. Please read, and if you have any objections, comments, or want to explain anything please respond.

Good animation, but I find it tasteless

You have excellent manga-style animation technique, but I simply do not like your jokes about suicide. The slapstick humor was not remarkably funny even when the weight of subject matter is not taken into account. I'm not telling you you're a bad artist, or a bad person, I just don't like it. It's a frivolous way to use your good technique.

I think certain other people would be more offended by the flippancy with which you portray suicide scenarios. Also, that serious sequence at the end in which the girl dies is so incongruous with the rest of it. If I had to choose, I's say build an animation around the serious one and depict the tragedy of self-injury and suicide rather than use it for out-of-place humor. Either that or--much easier--choose a subject that's not so darn sensitive and gloomy if you're gonna make it comedic. You can take it any way you want, but I've just told you how I feel.

Shows potential, but lacks skill.

It was okay for the most part, but the motions were way too jerky and it was very simple. Your guys did'nt move in a well synchronized and natura; way in reaction to eachother. Also, it was almost unforgivablke how you showed the evil guy hold the bazooka backwards. He fired it almost like a giant pistol, showing you frankly need to learn more about weapons.

Animated well, but convoluted in Narrative.

Your art is great; the main problem is how convoluted the plot is. Your narrative is non-linear, which is fine if you do it right, but there was no particular order to your flashbacks and they were messy. The flashbacks were too much narration and not enough exposition of the more subtle kind.

The events are improbable, and time period seems undecided. How do you have Nazis existing in the same universe as supersoldiers wielding 21st century assault rifles, and why would two bounty hunter detectives from Nevada of all places be the ones to capture a mad scientist from Germany?

Also, while you explain the origin of the mad scientist and the woman who commands his forces, you give no explanation for the mouth guy or "pie bastard"--not even an improbability drive or plot device.

Also, it would have been nice to see some more spectacular fight sequences.

I'm an out-of-practice drawer, passable photo-manipulator, untested writer, and can compose a tune to save my life. I don't know how to animate. I dabble in many things and have yet to get really good at any one. Here's to self-improvement.

Age 33, Male

College Student

MA

Joined on 6/11/08

Level:
20
Exp Points:
4,110 / 4,440
Exp Rank:
12,279
Vote Power:
6.16 votes
Rank:
Police Sergeant
Global Rank:
7,965
Blams:
514
Saves:
644
B/P Bonus:
12%
Whistle:
Bronze
Medals:
74