The-Swain's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[penndragon]

Tricky fun, and I liked it, too.

Haha, was that Frou Frou? Were you trying to slip a Frou Frou song by us? You rascal, you.

Not sure what all the combat was about, but sometimes you just have to fight a big dragon in some clouds. Yet I have this suspicion that you're a mouse-user, not a tablet-user, and if that's the case, then let me express my awe. Ok, I'm done expressing, but mouse use is still no easy task. If that's not the case, then you've still got a pretty original style that goes past simple anime.

My only advice would be to animate a few more of the "motionless" characters - don't reserve your talent just for the flashy combat! If you want to really pull people in, make them feel like everyone, not just the person throwing punches, is an important part of your world. Maybe a head-tilt here or a spin-around there; have them put their whole bodies into it instead of just animating a single part of the body (such as an arm) that is itself attached to a still image. Now, I'm not saying that you should fill the cartoon with immobile characters who just shift in place the whole time, but an hour or two of work on this can bring an already colorful world into absolute life.

-Swain

spacejelly responds:

yeah i use a mouse, she be a cruel mistress, but i cant get used to wacoms for drawing. maybe for painting though, sometimes i get tired of hearing myself click.
i dig what your saying about characters, its true, i could have put more life in the other characters. lots of times i'll see potential, and just do the bare minimum amount of work, you know? but i'll take that to heart, thanks.

-Gen

[Geek Test]

Haha, I liked it.

I admit that I didn't expect much when I saw only a white background at the onset. Then I began to fear that this was a loud-noise-while-something-jumps-at-the-screen Flash after the narrator asked me to stare at the red dot. I'm happy that it turned out to be better than that. Points for the trailing line with that cow comment.

On top of that, even though the recording quality was just a little below par, I still thought pretty highly of your voice acting. There was something subtly charming about it. Assuming, of course, that this isn't totally how you speak on a day-to-day basis, you were consistent with the character and didn't seem to waver.

I'm gonna have a look at your other cartoons now. Thanks for the laugh!

-Swain

Utterly-Moot responds:

:O... The_Swain enjoyed my animation! I'm honored!

[In Memory Of Elle]

Touching message, but mediocre Flash.

Don't get me wrong, I can see some talent in the animation regardless. It was smooth (minus the blatant transitions between each animation without any blending whatsoever). In fact, I think you did an overall good job, but I don't agree with giving out awesome scores for sympathy alone. I hope that everything turns out well for those who loved your friend, but my advice here is that you take your obvious talent and use it to create an engaging cartoon that draws people in of its own merit.

I'm probably just bitter because I'm so sick of hearing Gary Jules's ripoff of Tears for Fears in every emotionally-oriented cartoon. It was fun for a while, but it's been drawn out past its shelf life. I'd suggest a rarer song next time.

Good luck!
-Swain

Doodlebuggy responds:

*shrugs* it was her favorite song.

[Bens Journey Through Life]

Haha, I couldn't get over the Sims music.

But the setup was pretty interesting. I like a film about time, be it a quick run-through or a time-traveling marathon. The future portion seemed out out place - not bad, just out of place - but there's no doubt that you meant it that way.

All in all, I hope you ace the assignment. Bravo!

-Swain

[rtil's trad animation '06]

Bravo, and a sympathetic nod (for all the work).

I try to fbf as much of my flash cartoons as I can stomach, but really, I'm not an animator. I'm a storyteller. I'm still in the midst of animating right now, and just seeing the amount of work you've done here makes me cringe. I can imagine the long months that you describe.

Also, I'm pleased with your choice of audio for the dialogue test. Strange pick, but anything from Back to the Future is still golden in my book.

-Swain

xtil responds:

Saying you're not an animator when you make flash cartoons doesn't make any sense. A story can be told through animation and animation alone, and no matter what you do, your story will depend on your animation. There's no escaping it.

People talk about animation like it's magic - well you know what, it isn't. Anyone can learn how to animate. And saying you can't animate is a cheap cop-out.

If seeing this makes you cringe, then you're probably better off writing books. If you don't enjoy animating, you're not going to get better at it. But if somebody wants to learn how to animate, they can do it.

[Summer Passed Out]

A worthy few seconds of cartoon.

Summer Moved On has been one of my favorite '80s songs for some time now, and I knew the exact moment of the song you were talking about when I read your description. I'm not sure how I ran across this submission, but I'm glad I did. I was hoping to find a way to put this song into a future flash cartoon of mine, so let's you and I cross our fingers for it :)

-Swain

Gaizka responds:

Thanks, man. I'm glad you like the film and everything, but Summer Moved On was released in 2001, it's not from the eighties.

TYPO'D?! Or LIES?!

[Primal War 07]

Still enjoyed it.

Good work on the backgrounds this time around. Just that little added flare with the yellow glowing over-exposure really brings the viewer a step further into your world. On the downside, the light didn't really cast its color upon the characters or objects, so it kinda felt like they were dancing in front of a big bluescreen.

Looking forward to knowing the rest of the story!

-Swain

[Confession]

Strange effect.

Jesus, and I was enjoying this Grilled Stuffed Burrito, too. Now I'm depressed and I don't think I feel like finishing it. For making me sad, I have given you a score of 4. Don't spend it all in one place.

-Swain

[Intriguinglies]

This cartoon is my new mistress.

I admit that I don't know what I see in it, but I see something. It's one of those cartoons that you have to watch a second time just to be sure that you've actually watched it before at all. It was for me, anyway. I really thought the voice acting for the shopkeeper was perfect for the character, and the creep factor was very high without being too deliberate.

If you make another one, I'll buy you a beer.

-Swain

[TMNT: REBEL 3]

What a delicious treat

Haha, I still don't understand.

-Swain