Macromedia Flash exploited to the maximum
People often think of me as a 'serious' or 'artistic' animator. Whatever that may mean, it seems that their prejudgement is i can not enjoy the mainstream popular stuff on newgrounds.
This is true to some extent. Most flash movies on newgrounds are, in my opinion, overrated and can not seem to escape the average clichematic concept of a videogame parody or madness clone. Which doesnt mean that there arent some popular series here that actually deserve the recognisition and manage to show the true creativity of the artist behind it.
Xombie is without a doubt an example of this category. I have been following the series ever since episode 2 arrived on newgrounds and it kept me in suspense every single episode. Making a series is 1 thing. Developping an original story, creating the characters, finding the appropriate sounds and voice actors, setting out the direction, compose the individual scenes to a whole and animating the entire thing is another. Xombie simply seems to handle all the aspects with the care and experience only a professional posseses.
Every episode adds something new to the series as a whole and every episode shows us time after time how much time went into the creating process of this series. It seems like you already figured out the entire plotline before even making episode 1 and that you clearly know the direction the ship should sail. Unlike many other series, on which the sequels usually are nothing more but cheap creations with the sole goal to surpass the success of the original.
The visual style of the Xombie series is excellent. I know that much of it is motion tween based, but any good artist knows that it doesnt matter what material or technique you use to convince the viewer, as long as it fits with the ideas you as an artist have. If its tween, then so be it, if it are carbon figures cut out and pasted over jpegs, then thats fine also. As long as the technique connects with the ideas of the artist, then its all good. Narrow minded animators who expect every good flash to contain a hundred of scenes frame by framed, well lets just say i pity their opinions.
The choise of music is excellent. At first i thought you had people who composed it for you, but after seeing the credits i understood that it were soundtracks from video games. Its amazing how well it worked with the episode and once again it shows your understanding of reaching the hearts of the viewers with the right material.
I am aware that there are some 'animators' who like to give you a hard time. People, who hate your work because the story might be cheap, because the tweened animation is incompetent and because your dog Cerebus looks a bit like another cartoon dog Balto. These people, who in general havent accomplished anything impressive themselves, are simply jealous. And even though they are entitled to their opinions, they should ask themselves which other artist managed to win daily feature, weekly users choice AND review crew pick with EVERY single flash released. They should ask themselves what other animator has the talent to soley animate for a living and they should ask themselves what other animator has a DVD in the making. Thats right, no one on newgrounds except James Farr.
To conclude, i would simply say to keep up the good work. There isnt much advise i can give you except some fan praising. Its an honor to see this kind of quality work for free, every time again.
AITD