AloneInTheDark's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Los Dias Sin Dias]

Wonderful

Another movie i have seen about 50 times and which i can probably still see another 50 times without getting bored.

Before i write my review i wanted to mention to u that i didnt mean to accuse you of stealing ideas in my other review for 'smiley fairy', but that i just wanted to tell u that the concept was very similar to 'smile' and that i think 'smile' was better in terms of depth and atmosphere. But even though i didnt really like smiley fairy too much, i simply adore this one.

I know you are from Russia and i wonder if you are friends with the other magnificent russian flash artist Kol. I see alot of resemblence in the overall style of the flashes. U both use flash in an optimal way. Los Dias Sin Dias (as with Pustota) feels kind of like a collage of different scenes that still manage to form one complete and very interesting flash together. The false perspectives and the work in 1 colour tone are also a thing the two flashes have in common.

The transitions between the environments and the semi-3d tween effects are really unique for this one though and give the thing its own identity.

The music in this movie worked really well and the scenes flow together greatly with it. I guess you imagined this flash while you listened to the music. The message was very true and completed the flash in the end. I guess u lost your love and im sorry for that. It's ironic how a tragic event can sometimes be the fundament of such a quality work.

Overall a magnificent piece. I really hope you will never stop making flash so you can keep inspiring people like me.

AloneInTheDArk

[dependency]

sorry for the misunderstanding.

i wrote a review for your movie war and i meant to give the overall score a 7 instead of a 0 lol. Sry for that one. Neway this was an excellent piece and deserves my 9

[War.]

U know....

I find your work a complete mystery Heretik. I really dont know what to think of you as an artist. When i saw this flash for the first time, i must say i was completely unimpressed by it. Simple drawings, simple concept, undetailed and this with only using 2 colours.

But that is exactley where the power of the flash lies. To show us how simple and childish war really is. Its very true, but as a flash i still feel there is something missing.

When i look at your other work it gets even more interesting. Your flash dependance was simply awesome, without a doubt. The same goes for the Nihil trailer. It seems like you really put time in those projects and the atmosphere and style is simply right. But when i see other work like 'the butterfly' and 'o fortuna' it is of such less quality. I dont know wether u are a great artist with your own unique visual style or if it all seems kinda the same to me.

Well that was all actually, i still really hope to see more from you in the future. Because wether i like your stuff at times or not, it is still highly original. And thats gotta count for something too right?

AloneInTheDark

[Salad Fingers Episode 5]

Getting better but far from there

Hmm, I never really understood what the great deal about Salad Fingers was. It seems to me that it is just about your average green bald guy trying to hard to be weird and creepy. Still, i must admit i liked this one better than the previous ones.

It was better because the sudden mood change, the better eye for detail (especially with the raven) and the new girl character made the thing more interesting than the previous episodes. Well a little bit, because the salad fingers episodes are still extremely pointless.....

Pointless in the sense that there is absolutely no goal/story or ambition in the entire flash series. The only thing that makes the series stand out is its unique style and voice acting. But ask yourself this: How much substance does each episode really have?
Because every episode is just a new situation without any motives. U can make 1000's of episodes like this one. Salad Fingers at the doctor, Salad Fingers in the forrest, Salad Fingers in the army.....

It is almost like those childrens books u use to learn how to read. Simple and without any development. Because even though Salad Fingers may be really weird, there is nothing more to him than that. And that is a pity.

AloneInTheDark

[Incompetent Chivalry]

Ye can animate allright

Thats certainly 1 thing uv really proven with this flash. So much frame by frame... and that within 5 weeks? Oh my. Well the characters werent super detailed but it is still amazing. The most impressive animated sequence was the one of the horse shadow running. I know how much of a pain in the ass it is to make something like that. Kudos!

Another impressive thing was that this was actually a story. No halfassed 10 second dialogue as an excuse to get to the fight scenes, but really detailed in every part. Thats something i really admire and spending time into these small aspects certainly help improve the overall quality.

What they unfortunately forgot to teach u at animating class is how to make a story appealing for a wider audience. Because i assume that is what u want to achieve eventually. All good creations start with an idea. This is the fundament of the movie. If it goes wrong here it doesnt matter how well the other aspects are worked out, it will still be mediocre. Dont get me wrong, the idea wasnt that bad here, but it was all pretty standard without surprises. Think more about the scenes/flow of the movie before u start actually animating it.

However the greatest dissapointment was that i didnt find the thing funny. It was all very clever, but just not that funny. And since this was a comedy and that is what a comedy is, i wasnt too entertained by it.

I think u passed ur animation class, since this thing was superbly animated, but i think u must study more in the story class. (is that even a class?)

Skruggs responds:

Though you have given the lowest score your review is the most valid. I agree with everything you are saying, except for maybe the humor bit. I guess its a matter of opinion. I know my story wasnt very refined, I just felt like getting something out there. And this era and idea has been pent up inside me for a while. As for the broader audience stuff, well this animation was me lashing out, if you look at my other stuff its all pretty tame and the sort of thing a kid or adult could watch.
The story is incredibly predictable, it is one of the most used plots ever, revenge flicks. Such as Kill Bill which probably inspired me. I am going to try and think up something new, with proper structure and take the time to do it.
As for story class I just finished childrens literature, I made a book in flash. It was great.

[a final date]

Funny how nobody gets it

Its always funny to see people writing reviews saying: 'I dont get it' or 'whats the point'. I get that alot too in the reviews from the people who watched my flashes. When they are just willing to put a little thought into the experience then they will see the thing isnt as complicated at all.

The idea was supersimple, a boy and a girl. The boy finds out he has little in common with the girl and decides to break up. We will see in the end that this was a good decision, since the 'colour' came back into his life...

A good concept/story does not make a good flash, many have already proven that. However, u managed to give the thing extra dimensions by the simple drawing style, the cool noir atmosphere and the superior music. I really loved it.

I love flash movies like these, where it isnt about the visuals and which still manage to grab the viewers attention and emotion. There arent too many of those here and i think we should be very thankful with the few honest and warm pieces here on newgrounds.

AloneInTheDark

[McMatrix]

Yes it is still possible....

Yes it is still possible to do a succesful matrix parody without getting lost into lame legendary frog jokes and tweened limbs. Thank u alot for making this.

Everything about this was original, clever and not to mention: very funny! So random yet every character seems at its right place. What an awesome piece of flash.

I love ur artwork alot. Refreshing and different. The detailness kind of reminds me of my own. You should definately try to perfect this style. It has alot of potential and it can be used on almost every mood/genre.

The sound simply matched and it was really cool to hear a matrix song i havent heard 100 times before. I can go on and on praising you, but you probably know yourself where your talents are, so im just gonna say:

Make more!

AloneInTheDark

[Move or Die!]

nice, but you got to put things in perspective

Yes it was a nice flash, with a very nice and original concept. Only i cant help but think that there was so much more potential to this thing. Ambitious projects need to be worked worked out well in order to become interesting. A great concept isnt enough. Especially since i saw that many people worked on this flash and it wasnt just done by a single person.

First of all the visuals didnt match the mood. The mood was kind of scary, but the characters looked like they came outa an southpark episode. This was a really bad choice, because not even once in this flash have i felt some form of suspense. Another great flaw in the visuals was that you didnt manage to portray the emotions well. When they first hit the dead man, i seriously doubt that anyone in the world would walk to the victim with a pokerface immediately discussing the options.

The sound was great and so was the voiceacting. The script was also pretty good and i think the strongest point of the flash is the two completely different identities the brother/sister have and the way that is worked out. The part where the guy in the truck came to 'help' could have been done better though.

Like i said earlier, great concept, nice sounds and atmosphere, but bad graphics. Plus the thing simply wasnt convincing enough. And that is the one point u can not fail on in a big project like this. one

[Angel B. Dean 03_03]

very professional

Yes, professional is the right word to describe the Angel B, Dean series. Where other flashes make pathetic attempts to mix life video footage with animation and fail miserably, u succeed in making something really coherent and visually impressive. The style along with the thought out plot is without a doubt the strongest point of the flash.
It's only too bad that not alot happened really. Even though this piece can be a missing link between the previous episode and the next one, we as spoiled newgrounds viewers, expect some sort of suspense/action.
Another minus in my eyes is that the realistic and cool drawing style, doesnt lend itself too much to be frame by framed, or even tweened. As a result, the thing looks more like a comic book, than as an animation involving 'real' with emotions. However, this can also be seen as an unique aspect of the series, so wether this is a good or negative point, i'll leave in the middle.
To conclude, i would like to make a comment on the nice blend of 3d effects with 2d drawings. Like, the real life camera footage, it makes the visual style very diverse and interesting to watch. Keep continuing this path and im sure that with each and every episode you release, the fan base will grow little by little. At least u can count me as 1 new fan to your work.

AloneInTheDark

hansdampf responds:

It's the filesize and me being so slow with my work, but you can peek into the upcoming act by following the link at the end. And yes you're right this is just a link for the final two episodes of this huge chapter, there will be much more action and also some nudity in the end. As you have already noticed, there is development, I do frame by frame and some tweening, but one image of one of the characters takes me up to two weeks (with breaks) I did the frame by frame animation in about a week with the quality being not as good as the stills though. I want to emphasise, that everything except the musik and the voices is my own creation, even the soundeffects were recorded or mixed by me. The photoshootings at night were done with a friend of mine, so nothing is ripped of, except the musik ;)

[The Prodigy - +Girls+]

Good, but

Good, but could have been better. I am a huge prodigy fan myself. I have all their cd's and been to a concert of theirs. Personally i thought their new cd (Or better: Liam's cd) 'Always outnumbered, never outgunned' was a bit dissapointing. Especially compared to 'Music for the Jilted Generation'. But on to the review.

Prodigy makes techno punk music. Raw beats, electronic sounds combined with distorted guitars. I think u did a good job visualising this style. Especially since it had the same 'retro' feel like always ountumbered.

The 3d effects worked well in the flash, even though the the first 20 seconds when the beat kicked in was animated best. Unfortunately u couldnt keep up this level of animating through the entire flash. The pace was excellent at start and it simply matched. Later on, some scenes were stretched out for too long.

But still the entire atmosphere was nice. And even though this wasnt their best song, u did a good job making a music video for it.

AloneInTheDark

Jynocide responds:

I couldn't agree more. Thanks for your advice and opinons, appreciated.