Alter-native's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Animation for a friend (starring Kumiko from Hibike! Euphonium)]

Short, Simple, Yet the Best of Both Worlds..

There may be no sound in this animation, but I do love how you applied western style squash and stretch to an anime/manga design. That’s fresh. I’ve seen this character before. I think she’s from an anime about high school girls in an orchestra club. What’s it called?
Regardless I’ll be rewatching this.

[Cuphead Song!]

First, the Positives:

I can recognize all the locations and characters on screen from Cuphead. They are least drawn well enough to be recognizable.

Also that chiptune music is pretty awesome. Sounds like Tim Follins.

Now The Negatives:

While the artwork does represent cuphead, it needs work on some fundamentals. Golden Age cartoon art is actually quite well constructed with it's inky rubber hose people and bouncy vibrancy with characters always bouncing to some kind of beat, despite some simplistic aspects. Here, every thing seems to be a little stiff. I have I hard time at this kind of stuff too, adding a realistic sense of weight and proportion to objects. There's other little details missing too.

The animation is kind of lack luster, and there's not enough action. Cuphead is the only character I see in this animation. When I think of cuphead, I usually think of him zipping about, somersaulting over projectiles and and zapping enemies with the rapid snapping of his fingers.

And finally the autotune. Every true and professional musician I know advises against autotune, because it is not a good substitute for vocal due to a lackluster singing ability. It can only cover it up so much. You should practice your own vocal talent with rehearsals to make sure you hit each note, pitch, tone, and key. I also noticed the lyrics don't quite fit the music because there's either not enough words to hit each note in a melodic measure, or the words are not spaced out enough to fill the measure.

I know there are some software out there that can help.

I used to use a software called "Singing Coach." It's 19.99 on amazon. I suggest it because it is a little like a toned down version of Kareoke Revolution, and it's cheap readily available. There's also "Singing Method" which is more expensive, but might be better.

Back in the day, I used to play Kareoke Revolution on the Ps2, that helped me sing a little better(I used sing really terribly, now, I'm not that good, but definitely better than as a child). A more current game called "Rock Band" has a vocal mode where you can sing a song and you are scored based on performance.

SuperLucas responds:

Dude, I'm just a boy that wants to do animation for fun. People expect kids to be talented but not too talented.

['La Yema']

This Delightful Short Reminded Me of a George Carlin Routine:

"How come when it's a human being, they call it an abortion, but when it's a chicken, it's called an omelette?

Are we so much better than chickens?

When did that happen?

Name 6 ways we are better than chickens.
...

See? No one can do it.
Know why? Because chickens are decent people.

You don't see chickens hanging around in drug gangs.
You don't see chickens strapping a guy to a chair and hooking his nuts to a car battery.
And when's the last time you heard a chicken coming home from work to beat the shit out of his hen?

'Doesn't happen.
Want to know why?
Because chickens are decent people."

[first animation by using grease pencil in blender 2.80]

Gosh This Looks Good.

It's like I'm watching the rough animation for a real television anime. I guess the only thing I can criticize about it is that 1. It's just a test and thus obviously unfinished and 2. The background needs more work though rough of the soccer net is off to a good start.

pushpendrasingh2719 responds:

yaa I am just testing blender grease pencil. next, I will remembering your advice.

[SLIPSTREAM - ANIMATED SHORT]

The Finishing Line

I do have some mixed feelings on the character designs, which I feel are crude, angular, inconsistent, imitations of anime designs, but though they lack qualities from professional manga art, but they are surprisingly animated very well. Everything is at least animated well in this short with a smooth framerate and proper use of light and shadow. The CGI is actually quite good and on model. And everything else such as the rain and lighting effects are incredibly top notch.

It almost reminds me of Initial D, except with Formula 1 style racing cars instead of ricer mod Hondas and Civics.

AshIshaq responds:

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely agree with the inconsistency of the character designs.

[Dance with me]

The Animation Layout Is Quite Good.

With some cleanup here and there, this could easily be a celluloid style animation too.

[Gamers and Cryptocurrency Miners]

Interesting Story Chap.

But the real question is, why is your avatar wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and dressed up like Liquid Chris?

[A turtle in peril]

That Turtle...

He stares into my soul. He knows me.

[Song in the Sky]

It's Like Neon Genesis Evangelion meets Crimson Skies.

Picture dieselpunk aircraft dogfighting with a massive terrifying eldritch terror. Very intense. Production values are pretty top notch. Animation style is reminiscent of something like Foster's Home, with motion tweens and a "cut paper" appearance for character design theory, but the tone is much darker. There seems to be deeper story underneath it all. Good luck on the next entry.

[Pop Team Epic but it's a Flash from 2005]

Pop Team Assasin!

As fan of Pop Team Epic, and a lurker since 2005, I can say this short really hit me in all the right places.

I remember Assasin and Joe Cartoon flashes where the gimmick was pressing buttons so that some authors made up OC can stab or punch a celebrity. It was pretty quirky, so something like Pop Team Epic, an anime comedy that's like Eric Andre meets Warioware on steroids, would fit right with the quirky oddball atmosphere that Newgrounds held back when it was dingy backwater site and less politically correct ( the "0" on the Vote Bar now says "Blam this plz" instead of "Blam this piece of Crap!" because we don't want people's feelings hurt apparently).

I kinda wish I made my start back then when standards were low enough.