Galneda's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[Undead Future]

Awful. I take dumps with more depth than this lazy flash exercise. Three tweens and a few transitions does not make for an animation...with a STUNNING 19 seconds of run-time....what did you expect people to say about this?

Give us more, buddy. Exert effort and challenge yourself.

Nermetro responds:

I was going to make up for its lack of detail with uploading 3-4 minute versions of it. But I understand what you mean.

[Extraneous]

This is fantastic, and more views will never be enough.

I DETEST cookie-cutter rap. The overproduced, under-written schlock that dominates the radio HAS ALWAYS given hip hop a bad, bad rep...but thanks to a few friends, I realize there's always an exception to the rule with underground content. In time, I even began growing fond of really intelligent rap.

It's about structure, it's about pace. It's about ACTUALLY having something to talk about. It's about having a vocabulary that expands beyond mindless expletives.

On that note, THIS SHIT HITS ALL OF THAT.

The sample/backing track is really cool, very classy, and it never gets annoying. Vocals are balanced well so neither the music or the vocals drown out one another. Full score on audio.

I suppose my only criticism on the animation is the frame-rate. Take that with a grain of salt, though, because it's STILL fantastic. It's lively, it's groovy, it takes us places. A subtle Pico reference here, and I think my favorite moment was the Astronaut helmet that left a contrail of Gold Foil texture...that looked really cool! Incorporating more textures like that in the future could really lend strength to this style...Why paint a street grey when you could have a good lookin' cement texture? But like a spice, I suppose "Everything in Moderation" takes priority.

I can't blame ya for the re-use of animation on the chorus, because as a whole, this music video must've been a heavy work-load, but in the future, it would only add strength for you to mix it up a little.

I could nit-pick all day ("If you look for it, you'll find it") and nothing will distract me from the craftsmanship that was put into this as a whole. You deserve views, you deserve recognition, and thank you for showing us your work! Keep it up, keep it creative, keep it classy. Easy Five and Fav!

KartuneHustla responds:

Wow thank you for the thorough write up! Really appreciate the kind words. I plan to work more with those textures.

[Fiery Christmas]

Merry Christmas to you too! This was a great little short, and a pleasant early christmas present. Thanks for this!

Doubling as an e-card, I may spam a few people I know with this link over the Necronomicon of Faces.

I'm really hyped to see you're still submitting content! You're one of my biggest inspirations (and yet, I've never played around with Toon Boom) Got any original projects on the way or continuations of Bitey in development?

chluaid responds:

Thanks for spamming it to friends! I made it like an e-card for that purpose :D
Re my future stuff, I'm working on a Bitey game which has now been a brutal 2 years in development. Progress is slow but steady. Updates on my site from time to time.

[Dooumb]

Rotoscoping beauty! The animation was really whacky and enjoyable, it was a fun little romp. Keep the roroscoping practice up, because your style blended PERFECTLY with the model actors. I'd love to see what you're capable of with a project that has solid writing. Not to denounce the enjoyability of this short animation, it was indeed very simple...that was it's purpose and it fulfilled it greatly, I'm just saying it's a little lacking in content. Focus more on that content in the future so you're progressively improving, and we'll all have a five waiting; this thing got our attention! Five'd and Adding you.

Saminat responds:

Thanks! Don't worry though, my writing skills are getting better and better, and you shall have your 5 quality content soon!

[The Emperor's Pilot v2]

There's much I like about the song.

The idea behind the song and what you were going for is awesome, and I liked it's structure a lot.

Mattresses or closets work significantly better for soundproofing on a budget, though I only noticed background noises right after the solo...of which, could use some tightening up, and the solo itself ended with, err, little finesse.

There also must've been something slightly off with the timing as you layered the different takes, because there's this weird staggard effect going on through MOST of the song. Where a split second after one strum, there's instantly another, so there's this weird copy-cat echo effect going on...it would overall SEEM much stronger if it was one punchy note...though I can empathize that would be difficult to do because of the song's tempo, it's what NEEDS to be done for the song to be better.

It needs bass. TASTEFUL bass, that's supporting the guitars, not mimicking them.

It needs drums. GREAT drums. None of that auto-tempo, machine drum crap either...somebody who knows what they're doing, or at least faking it enough to sound great...like In Flame's drummer, just doing the bare minimum of heavy (lol)

I guess it would need vocals, but not death metal growling/pig-squeeling/incoherent bullshit...it needs something powerful, with lyrics that tell the story of the fearless, dedicated pilot, honor bound to guide his machine to victory beyond death, devoted to his leader. If I were more confident in my singing ability, I would totally audition.

It's also in my firm opinion that the song needs to start off smoother...with class...KEEP the segment in the beginning as it's building, but start it off slower, with class...your music is telling a story. He's not launching in any particular hurry off of those wood-decked aircraft carriers...he has thoughts of his family back home...the serene beauty of Japan...the looming threat of American invasion onto that beauty...and DESPITE the fear, DESPITE the possibility of a fiery death, screaming through the skies in air overwhelmed with flak and bullets, he'll do what he needs to do...maybe, this one last time. Starting it off with beauty and grace would make this segment you have here MUCH, much more powerful.

Lastly, as I listen to this again, clean up and work on that solo. Make sure you don't have too much going on, and don't be afraid to sloooowww dowwwwnn the supportive riffs behind the solo, so it's not "JUNJUNNAJUNJUNNAJUNJUNJ-J-JUN" CONSTANTLY in the background. Break it up! Think of the emotions behind it. :D

Visually, we got nothing, and that admittedly hurt it's score. What saved it, actually, is moreso the song's potential. I think you're onto something here...it's just an early draft of something greater to come.

Fived to Save, you must perfect this!

RPRMT0054611 responds:

i'm copying and pasting your comment on my notebook. haha! your intro idea has much weight; i like it.

[Purged]

Gushing with Character

For starters, I was blown away by the dramatic interpretation of the Newgrounds logo. That looks fantastic!

Hania once again proves to be a brilliant composer. She's improved since Tarboy, and she effectively contributed providing a wonderful atmosphere to this animation. (reads author comments) ...Err...well, me personally, I like this soundtrack better :P

The overall texture, atmosphere of the entire animation was most appealing. It was very broody, but it looked great doing it. However, it was SO broody, and so focused on the visuals that it left something to be desired in the content...

From the very beginning we're trying to understand what's going on. I have no problem with there being no dialogue, as long as what's happening is clear. Here, we don't know the significance of him turning down food, or what the apple is supposed to represent. We don't know who these three Mummy Witches are, and we don't know why he got shot out of an earthbound cannon. Nothing is clear. We don't know what this character did to deserve this, we don't know what his conflict is other than trying to get this unexplained, unestablished ring off his neck, and we don't know what he's walking towards. We don't know who or what or why he was snatched back up into the heavens, and I'm simply left to just throw my hands up and say "Whatever. It looked better than anything I could ever draw. Five!"

Where is the story? It certainly looked beautiful, but why are these things happening to....who are these people again? Where or...huh? BEAUTIFUL, yes...phenomenal animation set to phenomenal music, without a doubt.....but....What?

I don't mind that there's no dialogue, it doesn't need it. This is art in itself, and it's done to the specifications of what you were emoting THROUGH your art. At that level, it's wonderful. But at another level, there's a lot to be desired through this because I want to see where it could go. If you're not going to use any voices, grunts and cry-overs could still be welcome...even for dramatic breaths, or struggling against the pull from the sky.

The menu has smooth transitions all throughout. The music uninterrupted in the background is an underappreciated blessing (friggin' DVD's with a buttload of funding don't even have that) and the menu loop looks and sounds wonderful and mystical. Actually, that would be a pretty good word to describe the project...it's very mystical and unearthly.

It's mystical how SMOOTH some of the face animations were. You would be doing me a huge service by at least pointing out what software you used for those morphing head turns, as I'm about to take After Effects over the summer semester. (Hell, I still have to even mess around with Premier. I have so much to learn.)

You're a master at your craft, clearly. I always look forward to hearing when you got something new coming up, in fact I came from your news blog posted on the front page. Keep up the great work! This was a very juicy, very artistic and creative demonstration of your abilities, as well as Hania's ability to accentuate on an atmosphere. Once again, while I don't mind the lack of dialogue, the lack of clarity in the story is what keeps it from getting a 10. Everything else is top-notch, as far as I'm concerned.

Great job! And if you could answer my feeble software questions, you'd be a much appreciated hero. :D

JamesLee responds:

Thanks for your in depth review! The morphing effects were created in After Effects, though early on I was experimenting with a software called Fantamorph, which worked quite well with similar results. :)

[Pelican!? - Home life]

lmfao!

These Pelican!? shorts get better and better after each one. It'll be interesting to see how the hell that bird is going to top this.

I like how they both turned, acknowledged him, and the little bastard went in for one last hump before high-tailing it! You drew her out to be pretty hot looking, his expression at the end was priceless. Though I suppose it was an intentional part of his character design, my eye was drawn/distracted towards that bit of hair that moves as he blinks.

It makes me wonder who's blood that belonged to at the end...but, eh, fuckit...the bird's a bastard. Loved this! Voted 5.

Neo-uk responds:

Glad you liked it, matey. I have so many half-finished ones and this was one of them I decided to finish now that I have nothing else to do.

Thanks for the review!!

[C. Crashing Corn Boss]

Aww, I loved the ending drawing. :3

You're definitely improving! It's hard not to notice your animations; you're almost becoming a regularly featured animator on the front page.

Immediately the first thing I noticed was the improved shading. When that first knight walked out from the corn field to signal the others to follow, it looked incredible. The fight scene was engaging, though you could tell you weren't too caring of the superb shading and lighting effects on our heroes as you were in the beginning. It's understandable; after every intense frame-by-frame scene I do, you can notice the dip in time spent on the animation immediately after it...lol, so it's a common problem, if you were fretting about it, don't.

Congratulations on your first Weekly award! I think 2011 might be a prosperous year for you as a learning animator! :D Don't be afraid to experiment a little more in your future animations...you can't reach new boundaries until you push yourself into them, or just dive into it.

The sound effects were well chosen, I especially liked the sturdy "clank" after the Red Knight dropped his weapon from the first hit. Using traditional CC music has always been a good call.

I remember the corn boss being a pain in the ass to fight, I can't wait to see what boss you cover next! Again, experiment! You've got amazing potential, and it's already evident you've come a long way, so keep up the good work and keep pushing yourself!

Voted 5!

alfa995 responds:

Thank you so much for the review! I hope I can get my first daily 1st award next year, I'll put much more effort in my next C. Crashing flash (I made a news post about it, if you want to see it), I still have lots to learn, but I'm sure I will achieve a lot if I work hard :)
(Congratulations for your first weekly award on Repercussions of Evil, I watched it a few days ago and I really liked it)

[Yule of Krills]

I have a very serious question!

First off, I've always been a fan of your colorful, smoothly animated, creatively DARK style. Love this shit, love you, I get excited whenever I see anything "Catoble" up.

This is no exception! If anything, I'm noticing more complex things thrown into the mix, which is why I gotta ask.

How do you get the animation to continue going within the restrictions of the thought bubble as it condenses? Like, the Dad is drifting back, and the thought bubble forms OVER him, while the animation continues within the thought bubble. Same thing as the bubble focuses over the Dad's head being axed in the other thought bubble. Is that a masking property? Your Christmas Present to me would be taking a few minutes out of your time to enlighten me :D

I love watching how you make their mouths move. Like I said or implied, I always enjoy your style. Keep up the great work! Voted 5!

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011 to you! :D

Catoblepas responds:

Second most oldest trick in da book. It's just a moving, bubble shaped hole in the bg wall.