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sirjeffofshort

14 Movie Reviews

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I know that feel bro. Haha, I actually was led here by your little blip at the bottom of the FP. I think a lot of us lately have gone from seeing our work get tens to hundreds of thousands of views to just a few hundred (although in my case it's probably just a matter in a decline in quality haha).

Anyways onto the actual review. This cartoon has a great style and aesthetic, and it is very well visualized and timed to the music. You tell a very visceral story and you are able to do so entirely with visuals, which as a director is very commendable. Your art style is very good as well, it feels loose and sketchy at times, but you play that to your advantage.

If I have one piece or constructive criticism it would be that you could take some steps to make the animation look a little less 'flash-ey". I'm not sure if you do already, but some surefire ways to make that happen is to bump your framerate up to 24FPS and animate on twos. That is to say that while the timeline runs at 24FPS each separate drawing will occupy 2 frames, this is pretty much how traditional animation has run since the inception of Disney (although anime has a slightly slower framerate as a result of poor budgets, but I don't know the numbers off the top of my head.) It doesn't seem like you do too much tweening except for camera movements and whatnot, but when you do always be sure to break the tween up into keyframes when done and then remove every other one (putting that animation on twos as well). Please forgive if I am quoting you common knowledge, as by looking at your stuff I can clearly see that you are a more naturally gifted animator than I, just figured I'd pass it along anyways.

As for why I gave you five stars while I still had "criticism," it's because I like to judge the cartoons I review on their on an individual basis based on their merit, potential and entertainment factor, so while there is always room to improve (in all instances) this one accomplished everything it set out to do admirably and was a very fun piece of work.

Noisy responds:

yup, the animation is on 24 fps for giving it smoothing, also i'm really happy that you taked the time for writing me all those words.

I'm glad that you liked it and i'll take that points on count.

thanks man ^^ and sorry if my english is a little bit crappy...

Fantastic work dude.

Of course the whole reason to watch this is for the incredible impressions, but with super clean artwork and animation on top of that it's a real treat of a video. Really great job.

smirkstudios responds:

Thanks, man! This is me running with what you've given me. The amazing Jeff Short of the Sketched series (and soon much more!!!) Big step for me.

**EDIT**
LOL thanks for the 10, even though I only used to give out nines when we met LOL Let it be known that I still always gave you 5's...

Envy...

I have it. I seriously wish I had the time and talent to make my work look this good. Fantastic job guys, especially in the department of making it look as un-flashey as possible. The animation couldn't be smoother and the story and voice acting are on the same level. All around great work.

Next time I see you...

I'm totally gonna high five the shit outa you haha.

Really really well done guys. The dialogue and acting in the beginning was some of the best you've ever done and the experimenting in art styles really worked for you. It was different yet very smooth both in line art and in animation. Not bad at all for under 2 days work.

Seriously can't wait to see what you put out in the future.

smirkstudios responds:

Thanks, Jeff! It's going to be little contests like this that really help me exercise my reaction time and ability to fulfill a deadline. This was a great warm up! I feel empowered.

You have a definitive way of drawing mouths.

That's what I will say... if in the future someone is making a documentary about your comedic genius and overwhelming success. They'd be like "What are your thoughts on this man who has been heralded as the icon of a generation, a comedic legend with no match." Then I would take an abnormally, probably uncomfortably, long pause and say "He... has a very definitive way of drawing mouths."

Of course they would try to steer the interview back on track and talk more about your work as a whole, but I'm much too clever for that and continue to answer each question with a random nonsequitur about mouths... then I would use that as an excuse to continue the interview on my terms and talk more about your mouth drawing abilities.

... my interview will not be included in the documentary... possibly in the special features.

P.S. The cartoon is pretty good too.

Jonnyethco responds:

Hahaha. Best. Review. Ever.

Another great short!

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.

oldlyshapedchris responds:

Haha its so awesome that sirjeffofshort gives me positive reviews :O

Hahaha. Great job!

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.

oldlyshapedchris responds:

Now that im over the shock that you reviewed this... thanks :)
And IM STILL SHOCKED XD

Wow dude, just wow.

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.

Surprisingly not too shabby.

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.

Your effort really shows.

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

Hedgepig responds:

Yeah sorry was pretty sure I did, I don't know sometimes my PM's just get all screwy. Hell chances are I just never clicked send haha.

Anyways I'm really glad you liked it, I wish I had something better on the way to show you but school has been on my rear like no other. Yay junior year. I know the Flash is relatively simple but I cannot wait to get in there and get better at this, hopefully you'll see something of mine with a green or blue bar around it in the new submissions portal. Doing the FBF wasn't all that bad because I enjoyed it, had it been a school project I would have hung myself. I did wind up getting that tablet to, Cintiq 12WX and I love it. As soon as I get Flash again I'll be back on here for sure and I'll be messaging you right away.

Congratulations on all your front pagers as well, I've been keeping up with the Sketched series and have been laughing the whole time.

Thanks for the review!
James

"Who died and made you king of the zombies?"

Age 40, Male

Writer/Producer

Los Angeles CA

Joined on 3/10/08

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