AloneInTheDark's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Asilos Magdalena]

Really enjoyed it

I admit that i didn't expect the movie to be very interesting after i read the entire 'small boy, hope, depression' description. But now that i have seen it i must say i really enjoyed it.

The thing that i immediately liked was the visual style of the movie. Simple and effective, drawn in a children's book style that works really well. Just enough detail to keep the shots interesting, but without any unnecessary information that might distract from the story. The design of the kid was a little weird.. somehow he looked more like a senile old man to me, but since the entire movie was a little weird it somehow worked well.

I like the dreamy part and the surreal atmosphere of the unconscious part. I'm not sure if there is any symbolism in the drawings used, nor do i understand why the kid loved that world so much, but i really like the concept.

Last but not least was the magnificent soundtrack. I imagine it would be a bit strange for a someone who speaks spanish to watch this movie, since the song about prostitution has nothing to do with the movie, but frankly who cares. It's commendable enough that you thought up your own story and didn't literally animate the lyrics of some song.

I hope to see more of your work in the future. I'll add this one to my favs so i can check out from time to time if you have anything new!

AITD

solidblur responds:

Thanks for taking the time of day to write such a long review. The part about boy/old man made me laugh. I guess he does look a bit weird. But I'll take that as a compliment! And you can't go wrong with The Mars Volta.

[Hard Boiled Egg]

'Already been done, already been done, already..'

I love that part in the movie. It's the sort of criticism that a lot of artists get when they strive to complete an original concept and thus very recognizable.

What i find interesting and somewhat ironic is that the animations/movies where you show your critical take on the opinion/influence of art teachers and critics are among the best ones you've done. Like your other movie 'emulation' you made a very direct and effective movie that manages to take a subtle piss with the so called intellectual opinion on art.

What i like about this movie is that you made a great visualization of the different stages that give shape to the formation of an idea and then rewind the process after the motivation has been destroyed by people who give the usual criticism. What i do not like so much is the conclusion of the movie. You seem to take their criticism for granted and start completely over from scratch, making something entirely different. Oftentimes it is more interesting to adjust your initial idea and improve on some of the aspects of the given critique rather than making something new and custom tailored for that will satisfy the critics. Or: to make the train go into a new direction and change it's destination, but to not completely change the means of transportation (to put it in a metaphor like the one used in the movie, lol). This is my take on the situation though so i can't really hold that against the movie.

The filmed scenes were beautifully incorporated with the entire movie and the special effects were very nice. I wasn't too fond of the voice-acting, because it sounded a bit too played out and acted. A more neutral tone would have worked better.

Anyway I'm glad that you are still making these shorts (unlike me) and it's good to see that you are improving a lot from when i first saw your stuff. Keep it up!

AITD

Fierras responds:

I asked about you to Andie two days ago. It really seems like you vanished from the face of the world (wide web).

well this is the story of how an idea can be derailed based on my own experience. Iit's true that I started over, but that's not always the case. I think it's important to listen to others opinion and do something with it. In my case I started over because they said my 16min animation wasn't gonna get done by the end of the schoolyear. I didn't want to believe it at first but it was true. Even with all the help that I was currently getting, the animation wouldn't get finished.
And this is just one of the problems that can cause a project to be put aside.

When I was making hard boiled egg, there were things that they thought should be changed. like the 'it's already been done' for example. I totally disagreed because this kind of critic it's something that we all not just hear about our own work ,but sometimes feel ourselves when watching other peoples work.

I'm glad I got the hear from you again. It's been too long.
Take care mistor alone in the dark.

[Leftovers]

Best of 2007

We have a saying in hollland that goes like 'The one's dead is the other's bread'. I guess it sums up the concept of this film very nicely.

Big ambitions, different plans, fallen dreams, making compromises... This movie has it all. Everything packed in a flash animation that consists out of 1 background and very little sound effects. Yet there is still enough detail in the animation to keep the viewer entertained for the entire 6 minutes and the content goes deeper than a 2 hour hollywood movie.

The balance between humor and drama is perfect and each follows up in a really subtle way after the other. It's really interesting to see how each of the characters have their own views on how to handle the situation and how every time the dream gets brutally disrupted by other characters, forcing them to compromise. I like how there isn't a moral and how the viewer gets left with the question 'what was the use of it all?' The strength of this short lies in the fact that it manages to bring a comedic note to these seemingly serious questions with trivial actions from the wonderfully drawn characters.

Highly inspirational and as you said in your comments, this is really festival material. I'm sure it will win alot of prizes. With this you have set the bar for yourself really high though and I'm eagerly awaiting to see what you can come up with next.

AITD

FREELENS responds:

wow, thanks!

[:the Composer:]

I can tell why people love it

To start with the positive, i really liked the way you drew and animated the flash. It is a step up compared to paladin and your style starts to feel look pretty professional. The way the strokes were drawn and the good tweening even reminded me of Xombie and that is a big compliment. A few parts were still a bit awkward though, with the arguing silhouettes of the parents looking more like stick figures rather than real proportionate people, or the tiny cars next to the sidewalk.

Since so many people love this flash for it's serious message and content, i thought i'd write a review for it from a slightly other perspective. To be honest, i didn't think it was that special or profound, especially since there are a huge number of cliche scenes and shallow characters that ask a bit too explicit for the viewer's pity. Arguing parents, loner boy with talent, Rise/Fall and a simple moral is not something we haven't seen a lot before. The thing that annoyed me the most though is how there is never really any development and how each scene just passes to reveal the disney ending.

Like the 9/11 flash 'i miss you daddy' that everyone loves, it is a bit too melodramatic and in your face. In my experience, younger people are easily affected by this type of imagery, while adults like to form their own judgement about what's happening and who deserves pity and who doesn't. A good dramatic short contains characters that have weaknesses as well as strengths and that don't drown in self pity, but gradually conquer the viewers hearts while the movie passes. A good recent example is the brilliant movie Babel, with awesome deep characters that we can both love and hate at the same time.

Like i said, this is my take on the flash and the drama genre in general. It is by no means more true or false than the ones of the people who love it, but perhaps you can experiment/do something with it in one of your future films.

AITD

Jazza responds:

thanx. BUUUT it is very difficult to do so within the average time frame of a flash animation made for the internet (4-6 mins) and i didnt make this animation to please people, i made it to vent things that were going on in my life, and express how i feel on certain issues.

[5 Busy Shapes]

Pretty good

I've always admired your work. It's alot different than mine, but the fun and passion you put in your pieces really projects back to the viewers.

The reason i think you are a great artist is because you don't have any remarkable animating talent in the traditional sense, but you compensate that completely with the creativite mind you posses. Your work is rotoscoped, claymated, drawn or photographed and all these different techniques make your portfolio very rich. It's awesome how you create your own music and the way you synchronise it with the animation. I always have the feeling that i watched something complete and cool in alot of aspects after seeing one of your animations, instead of the disappointed feeling i have when i see another one of the well drawn but empty content animations. Fuck drawing perfect walk cycles and godly explosions when most animators can't even come up with a solid basic idea or concept to use these in.

I think you can still improve alot on the technical aspects, such as the way you model your clay characters or draw the environments, but all these things will come naturally in time and practise. Keep on making these original pieces! They are really inspirational.

AITD

Dustball responds:

Thanks for the thoughtful review! I agree with you completely, and I've never really considered myself a great animator. I certainly wouldn't win an "animate some kick-ass frame by frame stuff!" contest like Synj or Gel would, so I try to just be creative and come up with interesting things to see and hear. As far as this particular animation goes, keep in mind we literally made this in February, 1997, and gel and I both cringe at the bad quality of the models and animation. I would love to see what kind of claymation we could come up with now!!

[Star Wars: Old Wounds]

very decent

While i was watching this animation, i felt as if i saw something in this similar style before. And when i saw the other submissions you made, i recognised your name from the batman flash movies i have seen.

Which can be considered a good thing. You definitely improved on the graphics, everything was very clean and not a single annoying flaw in the backgrounds or character design. Still, I would have made the character outlines a bit thicker, to seperate them more from the background. The detailed way you drew them, makes them pleasant for the eye, but now they arent really animatable. It's not really noticable in the still conversation shots, but once the fighting started, it felt more like a tweened comic book rather than an animation.

I guess that is where you got most of your inspiration from. There are so many similarities with your movies as with the classic comics and superhero cartoons (specifically, the batman series) on tv. Not only in content, but also in the way you aproach the dialogue and the way the story evolves. I find this a bit of a pity, it makes it all very predictable. Almost a bit corny. It takes alot of time to develop an own vision though (in some cases it never even comes), I even think that having this own vision is ultimately what every artist aspires.

When i look at the thing as a whole i have to give you alot of kudos for the effort you've put into it and the serious way you handled it all. Small details like the credits in the same font as the star wars movies and the original soundtracks were fantastic. The comic sans font, took a bit away from the seriousness though, at first i even thought it was going to be a comedy. But fortunately the right atmosphere found its place a bit later on.

Like i said, my biggest gripe is that you lack a bit of obstinacy. The way you aproached it, is as the way cartoon network would aproach it in order to make it an enjoyable, safe, but shallow series. Try to not let the work from the professionals be an example of work that can be imitated, but let it serve as inspiration that will help you give your own unique twist to things.

AITD

Gus-Saldanha responds:

Thanx. Your profile is very rich, u got several awards. Thanx for taking time to build such a big and clear constructive critic of my work. Ill consider your words for next time.

["Dare"]

Lol

Well i had quite a good laugh while watching this movie. At first i thought this was a comedy, until i read in your comments that its supposed to be a serious toon.
The most hilarious part was when the guy suddenly started throwing big macs to homeless afro american children. Almost as amusing as the part where he got friends with the dangerous gang by giving them coca cola. When i saw the scene with the bible in it, i was hoping he was going to put on a soldier uniform and kick muslim iraqi ass with an m4 in his left hand and the bible in his right, but unfortunately i wasnt that lucky. It would have made this animation alot greater though.

AITD

squeakytoad responds:

Oh, so no points for humor? Heh.
Well, I guess I can't please everybody.

[Warrior Boarder 3]

Haha

That was fuckin hilarious man.

The entire time while i was watching this movie i felt like i was watching a movie such as XXX (the Vin Diesel one, not the Jenna Jameson one). The action was just as fast, the main character just as muscular and the plot just as good... *ahem*

Anyway I think that when someone is making a short action animation, it is better to make something like this and really focus on the action instead of trying to cram some semi clever pretentious plot in it. I even found some sequences pretty clever. Like you were making fun with the cliches in the hollywood movies by very much exaggerating them. Meh that may just be me.

I would only suggest to improve a little bit on the character drawings and such, since it was a lil rough around the edges, but the animating itself was really well done. Maybe you drew it all with the mouse and thats why it looked a bit rough, but on the other hand it did fit the xtremeness of the flash.

Keep it up

AITD

SolidSacketh responds:

Thanks for the pretty decent review. Yeah I usually use a mouse to draw, which makes me insane I know, but I like the effect it gives my work. I will try to get better if I make another one.

[Blockhead: Episode 6]

I think I am missing something

I dont know why everyone is so enthousiastic about this series. Its not really well visualised and i really dont think its funny at all. Just some smilie with a body doing dorky stuff.
Well at least the humor isnt built around some popular video game or whatever so i give you kudos for that. In fact i like the concept of the guy having another person in his head interacting with blockhead. Its just poorly executed in my opinion.
The dialogue isnt really clever or anything and neither is the entire presentation of the thing. I am not saying you should draw extremely impressive backgrounds and make great animation, but just add some cool details to it or something. I even got annoyed by the voice acting of blockhead, even though the voice acting of his mind is done pretty well.
But like i said, the concept is original and i really see you put alot of effort in these, so keep it up!

AITD

The-Swain responds:

That's alright, it's not for everyone. I've said before that I never expected the cartoon to appeal to so many people, but I'm just glad that it has. To date, no one has created "art" that every person without exception can enjoy. I guess the game is that you work hard ant then take what you can get, huh?

(Shhh, and don't tell anyone, but I think that all these other voters are crrrrazy! KJHSGLKJSH!!!111)

[Only Superhuman]

Hey!

Ouch, i must have really hit a sensitive spot with my last review eh. Though I admit I was thorougly entertained by your response..

Anyway, I wont make this review a bashing but ill keep it honest. What i want to say about our previous disagreement is that you really should learn to take some crit or you'll never get far. Like i said, your response was funny, but it didnt deepen out one single point I mentioned (unoriginality by literally animating song, making the animation unimportant), to convince me otherwise. I dont know wether this was the case because there simply wasnt a well thought out response to them or if you were cooking in anger.
You are right at one thing though. My first flash movie Short Skirt Long Jacket is indeed a poorly constructed flash.
I made the same mistake by just making drawings to what i heard from the music, in the pace of the rythm of the song. Kinda like you still do with 3 years of experience under your belt.

So I went to check your profile to search for a movie i might enjoy (had to search long) but then i remember this one. The reason this is better than most of your other stuff is because you came up with your own concept for this. The music doesnt dictate the piece, but is only on the background to support the animation. The idea behind the animation was even clever at points and the humor subtle. Even though the drawings and color palette are still subpar, they did fit the atmosphere.

But hey this is written by a person who doesnt fall for the most simple and obvious funnyness imaginable in a flash movie. When something is funny it doesnt make it a good movie per instant. Just as the case is with drama or action. There has to be some sort of cleverness and originality in it in order for it to become good. Qualities that this particular toon has but which i cant find in the rest of your work.

AITD

TmsT responds:

Yep, I was making fun of your review to entertain the people who brought it to my attention. But you've still missed that fact that the overall story arc of behind the animation Geeks In Love (you, know the green guys, cupid, the assimilation, etc.) was not in the lyrics. I don't see the point in animating simply word-for-word without adding something extra, like a story or uniting visual theme. Anybody could do that. It looks to me like you're trying hard not to see the originality because I used so many references to other people's things. I'd like you to watch it a few more times, since I did add those other things for people who just aren't content to sit and watch an animation that stops and wonders where it is every time the singer stops providing the animator with words. ;)