Score: 9

"Another great short!"

submission: The Big Heads Episode 2

date: March 16, 2009

Man, I wish I had half your talent when I was your age, haha. Seriously.

Very funny short. Random, but not too much so. The voice acting really complimented the style. The difference in mic quality was blatant but it didn't distract too much as a whole, it's more or less just something to work on over time.

I know I read someone in a review suggesting you look into them, but I would honestly stay away from any digital voice alteration or filters. Your voice does sound a bit young, but I think that is all a part of what makes this thing funny. Your voice has a lot of character and personality and that can be lost in digital filters.

Again, funny stuff. I'll be looking out for the next one.

Score: 9

"Hahaha. Great job!"

submission: The big heads episode 1

date: March 5, 2009

Dude, that was hilarious. The art and direction fit the short perfectly and the exaggerated expressions and movement were fantastic. My only suggestion would be to experiment with different camera angles, it just keeps a scene moving and helps with comedic timing.

It just goes to show you that a funny person with good timing can make almost anything funny, even two guys in a cave talking about being in a cave.

On an unrelated note, your voice sounds a lot like my younger brother, seriously, for a second I was like "Did he start an account and start animating?" Similar comedic styles too.

Seriously can't wait for more. Keep me posted.

Score: 10

"Wow dude, just wow."

submission: Saturday Morning Watchmen

date: March 4, 2009

I can't believe how incredibly accurate your Saturday morning cartoon portrayal was. To be honest at first I was kinda "Meh" on the idea, I mean I get it but I just wasn't enthused... then I clicked play and... I take it all back.

That was an absolutely fantastic portrayal of Saturday morning cartoon culture right down to the sound mix and dumbing down of complex characters to make them kid friendly. Very well done.

I can't really comment much on the writing/voice acting (which at least I would consider my forte) as it was only the opening credits, but in all honesty none of that really matters in this flash.

Very well done man.

Score: 7

"We're in your loader!"

submission: Newgrounds in a Nutshell!

date: February 18, 2009

Haha, after watching this a second time I noticed my groups series "Sketched" is in the portal on your load screen. I just thought that was kinda funny.

Anyways, your animation was all together not too bad at all. It was quick paced and just about as long as it needed to be. I can't really comment on the writing as there wasn't much to speak of, but I think that fit this cartoon just fine. The jokes were short and punchy and it cut together well. Your animation skills are certainly on par and kept the short a delight to watch.

You do have to watch out with this sort of thing because it can get kinda old quick, but I don't think that is the case here. The quick pacing and short length are perfectly fitting.

For what it is and what it was meant to be I say well done, you hit the nail on the head. I certainly look forward to seeing more animation from you in the future.

Score: 7

"Surprisingly not too shabby."

submission: LEFT4LOL

date: February 15, 2009

I honestly did not expect to like this as much as I did. It was quite obvious that you put a lot of effort into this short and your jokes were well thought out regardless whether or not they are exactly how they happen in the game (but overall why would you ever expect them to be as this is a parody which by definition amplifies flaw for comedic effect). The joke about shooting teammates in particular got a genuine laugh out of me.

I won't pick apart the animation as you obviously have a firm grasp on what you are doing, and you did put a lot of effort into it. As a personal preference I think the line art was a bit too smooth, I know that sounds a bit odd but allow me to explain. When you use the pencil and shape tool to create line art it creates a very computerized atmosphere in which it is hard to get a personal feel for your artistic style. It is obvious that you are very talented and have an eye for how things should look, but there reaches a point where computer assisted artwork is more of a crutch than a tool. Again, however, this is merely a personal preference and I would never mark you down for this.

Most of the places that I thought could use a little improvement was in the timing and pacing. As I mentioned earlier, the jokes were well thought out, but many times they didn't seem natural. I'm not sure if that lies within the voice acting or the editing, but the timing just seemed a bit off.

As for the voice acting itself, it did seem a bit stale and over rehearsed. Again, one may read that and say "Whaaat?" but when you over rehearse dialogue it lacks a certain amount of conversational flow and it seems more like the actors are reading lines rather than interacting with one another. A good way to work around this in editing is to "L cut" dialogue and have some characters begin speaking over another character, because in reality people do not always stand around and wait for their turn to speak.

I know after hearing point out the things they didn't like in your movie it is hard to believe, but allow me to reiterate that I DID enjoy this short, and it is obvious you put a lot of effort into it. It is just these few minor things that I believe keeps it from reaching an overall professional tier in quality.

Score: 8

"Your effort really shows."

submission: Hedgepig's First

date: January 26, 2009

Not a bad start at all man. Why didn't you tell me you posted? Haha.

As I said, the effort in this really shows, the frame by frame looks awesome and I can't imagine having to draw all of that without a tablet.

This is surely a leap beyond most of the "my first flash" submissions you see out there, and I can only imagine you going up from here. Great work.

-Jeff

Score: 10

"There are people who haven't seen ghostbusters?"

submission: Renegade Awesome Episode1

date: January 16, 2009

I'm not going to dwell on it because I wanted to review the animation, but seriously? I've seen a few reviews from people who haven't seen ghostbusters... how does such a thing happen?

AAaaanyways. I completely loved this animation, it had a great snyde wit about it and a really funny commentary in general about the internet's surge in bloggers and video bloggers who feel a compulsive need to review mass media on which their opinions have no effect. That's why people should stick to newgrounds, where your reviews are SEEN by the people who MADE the movie. Say WHAT?

Anyways (again) the animation was smooth and the voice acting and script were superb. There was a good amount of effort that shows in the drawings and inclusion of special effects in this cartoon, all of which really helped in bringing this animation ahead of the fold when it comes to the 'paper doll' style. I personally would prefer vector drawings, but I would never mark you down for soemething that is a personal preference.

Once again, great job and I'm sorry for the odd review... I had a packet of fruit snacks for lunch and now I'm hyper.

Score: 9

"Well played sir."

submission: Santa's Last Stop

date: December 18, 2008

You really have an aptitude for making high quality shorts. It can be rare to see submissions in a portal environment that have worthwhile animation, writing, and acting, but you pulled it off nicely.

There is a very distinct level of professionalism in your animations and I think that definitely makes you someone to keep an eye out for in the future.

Score: 9

"Great short."

submission: Merry Ricksmas 2

date: December 18, 2008

As promised, here is my review... This is a very quality short and it really shows you have talent in animation, from the use of well placed camera angles to the overall smooth flow of action.

The story and premise itself was good. It was a fun and new take on the tried and true "guy-X saves Christmas" storyline with some good pop culture (the grinch) and social references mixed in.

As you mentioned, the voice acting could use work, but all in all it wasn't terrible. The acting itself was actually alright, but moreso the recording quality leaves something to be desired. This did prove to be a factor, but not so much so that it ruined the overall short.

As far as artwork go, you show a good knowledge of perspective, proportion, and flow as well as excelent color and shading ability. I personally am not a fan of using such thin line art, but that may be in part because the thinner your line the more glaring any minor misstep in your art will show.

Again, this was a great short, and it showed that you are definitely a person to keep an eye on for more content in the future.

Score: 7

"Caught another glitch. Fun game though."

submission: Co-operation

date: October 7, 2008

This is a really fun concept that is easy to grasp and easy to play. Now I just think you need tweak a few things to make it a little more playable.

A major problem I had, (and I realize that I can't blame you for this) is that I kept intuitively wanting to use 'shift' to switch guys rather than 'space' and I kept on restarting the level instead. I do think you should make the level reset button a little less accessable (like the R key for instance) that way it is less likely for someone to accidentally restart the level and in their frustration just quit the game.

My penchant for accidental level restarting however did cause me to find a few glitches in the game. For instance whenever I accidentally restarted a leveI I noticed that all of the coins re-appear AND I keep the coins I had already collected, meaning I could get an infinite ammount of them in almost any level.

A major problem though was found in the tutorial level when I got one of my men up to the flag and went to switch to the other to bring him up. Of course I had actually hit the restart button (being the haphazard player of games that I am) and found a glitch of major proportions. It seems my characters were floating in the air above their start point cycling through every character animation. Aparently this proved too much for my work computer (which admittedly isn't the greatest) and crashed my browser.

Glitches alone however, do not necessarially kill a game. This is a very fun game and is worth playing, however I do think you should work on improving the fluidity of the game. I am by no means a programmer and may not be able to put this in the proper terms, however I will use for an example the 'boost' used throughout the game. The only way the boost works is if you are stopped, facing the ledge you wish to ascend, and then you jump while holding forward. This is perfectly fine, however it does begin to feel a bit stiff. You are not able to run and jump into the boost, and if you are accidentally facing the wrong way you cannot turn and grab the ledge. Having to go through the rigid action of stopping, boosting, and climbing every time (even though it only takes seconds) does break up the flow. Take a look at the early videogame successes (mario, sonic, etc.) and you realize they are based on fluidity and speed whereas the failures (elevator action, E.T. ) were blocky and slow.

As I said before, it IS a good game, and I did have fun playing, I just think a bit of improvement could make it a classic.