Score: 9

"Just timebombs :)"

submission: glenn said

date: February 10, 2005

Man, i love your stuff. I really adore it. And im so glad that you arent dead. Your animations are one of the reasons i check out the portal every now and then.

I couldnt help but notice that this flash was alot different from the rest of your work. Usually it is very cinematic, with alot of attention going in the voiceacting and the virtual expressions of the characters. This was more artsy, but man, i loved it.

Ok, maybe my judgement is a little bit clouded here since i am such a big fan, but how come every time you make a flash you make subtle powerful statements that almost nobody else here can. Your flashwork is so humorous and light hearted while at the same time so gripping. Was this just a simple joke? a small story, an animation test or is it something much deeper. This is the question i have when i watch many of your flash movies and it is what makes you in my opinion, the best animator on newgrounds.

Even in terms of animating you improved alot. The animals moved really realistically and i was especially impressed by the way the birds came out of the plane. Even though your work isnt about sublime graphics, the style you developped fits so well with your music and ideas. The fact alone that you make your own music is fascinating alone.

Well, i am going to watch How It Will End now for the 30th time. I hope you will never stop animating flash. In the end, you are one of the few artists here who can put a smile on peoples faces without making corny and cliche jokes. And that is something very important in our lives.

:)

AloneInTheDark

Score: 5

"Didnt like it"

submission: X-Men: Death Becomes Them

date: February 10, 2005

As much as i used to like comic books and superhero movies, it pains me to say that this was quite bad. Seemed like such a good idea to make a parody of the x-men series, but the way you presented this thing is terrible.

I dont understand why so many comedy flashes use the infamous 'legendary frog' tweening animation style, since it has so many limitations. The only thing you can do by using this style is drawing your characters frontal while tweening their heads and arms. I mean, cmon, use a little bit more cinematical skill next time and choose the camera positions more wisely. What is even worse is that with a style like this i expect very good and well drawn art, since you dont have to draw different keyframes, but the art was really mediocre.

Other negative points about this flash are the length and the humor. What i did like was the voice acting though. It saved the flash a little.

A funny detail is how you drew the oldskool costume cyclops. At least as far as i know, cause i havent read the comic for ages. Anyway, this was my advise, i still hope to see more flash from you in the future though.

AITD

Score: 2

"Terrible"

submission: The True Super Mario 4

date: February 9, 2005

That was pretty bad. I dont know what you are trying to accomplish with this flash, but if it was supposed to be funny then i can tell you without hesitation that it wasnt.

What surprises me is that you put effort in the artwork but completely none in the story, script, voice acting or whatever. Maybe you think this is funny because it works for classics like Arfenhouse, but it certainly doesnt work here. This is nowhere near Arfenhouse. Well maybe there are a few out there who laugh when they hear words like fuck and ass without reason, but im getting pretty fed up with these mario parodies.

AITD

Score: 9

"So awesome"

submission: Captain Low-Rez Ep.1

date: February 8, 2005

I love this. I have seen it before somewhere on this site, but even better now it is in the portal :)

Sprite animation and stickfigures are usually poor excuses for people who cant really animate to make quick use of them in their lil flash. Sometimes however, it can be used in such a refreshing and original way that they arent unoriginal overused methods of animating at all, but really refreshing and awesome. Johnny Rocketfingers, The Mario Brothers and War for example are good examples of how well these minimalistic styles can work for the flash.

Cause of the simple pixel style the viewer can easily concentrate on the other aspects. The wacky storyline, the humor and the atmosphere were really good in this flash. I like artists who dont put all their focus on the visual side of the flash, but put more effort in the concept and idea. And those things came really out wonderful in Captain Low-Rez. A true NG cult classic :)

AITD

Score: 6

"lol!"

submission: Hair Cut

date: February 3, 2005

I swear, this is one of the most hilarious games i ever played. Haha, so original too. Really, keep up the good work.

- AloneInTheDark

Score: 9

"Return of the master"

submission: Polsupah

date: January 27, 2005

I cant believe you are back man. A new drawing style, colors, voice acting.... things we havent seen done before by your hand. The macabre creepy and the sick sense of humor is something we do know from you though :)

And it turned out beautifully man. From a distance the style might be a little bit similar to 'salad fingers' but in contrary to salad fingers this flash actually has something to say.

It's quite obvious how this flash was a parody on the western society and how we are driven mad as consumers to only consume more and more. The american bubblegum popmusic worked well on the background as a subtle hint also :)

All in all a very clever piece in which you can see the author spend alot of thought in the different aspects of the movie, like it should be. Sorry i didnt write a longer review, but i am kinda tired.

Adios

AloneInTheDark

Score: 5

"Average"

submission: One Love

date: January 22, 2005

Well i like the idea you came up with. At least you had a theme in mind and did not just animate randomness with 20 different people. The question here will still remain wether it was a good idea of having so many different people to do a part in this flash.

Maybe it was, because afterall that was your point. But unfortunately many of the artists didnt add anything to the quality of the flash. In collaborations like these you can really see which of the animators can actually animate. As i was impressed by Cycon's sequence. Other people who cant animate as good usually have talent in other areas like making comedy or whatever.

But this flash wasnt funny, so many of the artists couldnt add anything to the flash except for a simple drawn character consisting of a few lines and some tweened mouth movement. Whats even worse is that you didnt download a good version of the song and that it shocked at points... This in combination with the lack of backgrounds or any other form of atmosphere gave the thing some sort of amateuristic look.

Overall a good idea, but poorly executed.

AITD

Score: 6

"Just a suggestion"

submission: Story Tag 2b: Blown Away

date: January 20, 2005

It all pretty well thought out and the voice acting and music is of high quality too. One thing bothered me alot though.

And that was how you use the drawing tablet brush lines for the backgrounds and characters. This really gave the thing a sloppy look and took away alot from the smooth professional atmosphere. These type of lines work better for a more detailed background (i.e like in foamy or merry melony) than in a cartoony one.

I would suggest either to use the pen tool to make the thickness overall the same or by removing the outlines completely (like you did in a scene inside the castle) and only draw the character outlines with the pen tool. Really, it would look so much better this way.

AloneInTheDark

Score: 9

"Excellent"

submission: Crayon Bear

date: January 15, 2005

This was a very good piece. It started out a bit slow but after a while i got really involved in this. A very good example of how something can be beautiful without being too overly complicated.

The design of the bear was nice, but what was really amazing was the actual animation. The bear's emotions were really made clear with the subtle arm/head movements. Also the 'coming to life' of the different things he drew was very well done.

Another thing which helped creating the atmosphere was the sublime music. It fitted your clean style well and gave the thing the right serious tone.

But what really made me love this animation was the fact that i could identify myself so much with it. I animate alot also and i find myself pretty much like the blue bear, lol. I also draw all kinds of stuff and make them come alive in my mind. It was actually pretty touching to see this animation.

Well, keep up the good animation. I remember seeing another animation a while ago which was also pretty good. I think it was called something with 'hat'. Hope to see more from you in the future! Adios.

AloneInTheDark

Score: 8

"Heh, great job"

submission: The Performance Artist

date: January 1, 2005

Very nice job. This animation really fascinated me and i went to watch your other stuff including your website. Now that i know a little bit more about you it is easier to give this thing a review.

You really have something to say and you do this with a rich background, being an artist yourself for so many years. It's nice and refreshing to see a flash told from a mature perspective for a chance instead of by a 15 year old who feel like they have a solid opinion about a difficult topic like art, without having any good arguements.

I partly agree with you and i also dont see the beauty in a movie in which a 'superior' artist smacks itself on the head with a fish, which others see as a brilliant and powerful act. But thats kind of the point here i think. Art is about opinion. Thats the only thing certain about it. All the rest can be doubted and discussed. And even though you did a great job expressing your opinion, i dont think its wise to judge other people's interpretation of art so bluntly, no matter how bizarre.

The animation itself was very well done. Especially the first 5 seconds of the 2 people walking into the gallery was impressive. The drawings were good, but it was the animation which was excellent. Its not easy to realistically animate a man fainting after holding his breath or the movement of a dead fish being slapped. People should appreciate these details and not only desperately search for exciting fight scenes and such in a flash.

The voiceacting was also top notch. I saw you learned to set the sound to 'stream' to put it in sync with the video, in contrary to 'you get what you pay for', where the video was out of sync with the music.

But the most important fact is that i found the thing funny. And since this is a comedy, thats what counts. Especially the examples of the work of the bald artist and the final scene with the baby making art for the first time, heh. Plus it got your point across really well.

Anyway, like i said before, very refreshing to see something made from a person who understands the topic and theme he animates. I wonder what kind of original project you will come up next.

AloneInTheDark