makestuff's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sinking a Soviet Sub]

This was very well put together, visually, sound-wise and the script. Kudos to the cast and composer, too. (I'll take Chris Hurn over Hans Zimmer or Junkie XL any day.) Bravo!

It's the kind of project that makes me wish I was part of it.

lewisroscoe82 responds:

Thanks so much for the kind words, Chris is awesome! :D

[RIP IT OUT]

This is very well put together, from the backgrounds and storytelling to the sound design.

AntonM responds:

cheers man :)

[ADD Ep. 1]

This piece is reminiscent of Terry Gilliam's animated interludes in the Monty Python episodes. I can segments working well in between longer, live-action skits.

(I like your morphing face logo, too.)

Bingleheimer responds:

<3 Yessssssssss. You win. That's what I was going for. He is a major influence of whacky absurdism as a creator.

(Thank you sir I appreciate it.)

[RubberOnionBattle Aug 2018]

I enjoyed the entries display and would gladly lend my voice to subsequent projects from any of the animators showcased.

My favorite was #10--the outcome took me completely by surprise and had me laughing aloud and applauding. Well played!

rubberonion responds:

always great to hear reactions like that! thanks for voting

[Food For Fraught]

Well done with the animation, music choices and the unexpected twists in the story.

RedMenace-96 responds:

Thanks!

[HESTIA Mission: A voyage to the Moon]

This piece was visually appealing and as informative as promised. I agree with another reviewer about the music, which as cliched and cheesy. I'd have preferred something jazzy--cool music to match the cool content. Also, if Falmouth University has a theatre department and acting students, it would have been better to cast one of them, instead of leaving one of the writer/animators to do the narration. I'd love to have narrated this, myself.

Otherwise, good job, and congrats on making the Daily Picks.

Epic-Dave responds:

Thanks for the feedback.
I'm not too sure if Falmouth Uni has a theatre department, I don't work there but I help run these STEAM animations. It would have been great to have included a theatre department, maybe in the future?

A second animation was made for the conference which can be viewed here:
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/712922

If you'd like to do a remix and include your own narration then please do let me know and I will send you the original files, I am happy for people to use these animations if they let me know beforehand.

Here's another link to some other animation that was made which may interest you
https://youtu.be/W1IMALXPppE?list=PLaqfIvgZlcuuGGFGq9Cs32CRgUulyIAry

[Escaping Emily]

Wow. This piece brought tears to this old cynic's eyes. Well done!

JoeliusNG responds:

Thanks for taking the time to watch it!

[Cafe Conspiracy]

This started out as meh, but once the guy got going with his spiel, it turned out to be hilarious. The writing is brilliant. The audio needs work, otherwise it would have gotten a higher rating.

pagetheatre responds:

Thanks! Trying to work on a less shitty audio setup.

[Toll of the Lost 1]

Bravo!!!! This is brilliantly executed in all aspects of production, visual, audio, storytelling and dialogue. Kudos to the cast and composer, too. Often there are decent productions that come up short in an area or two, but not this one. (Being persnickety about music, I greatly appreciate the score, which is a throwback to the classic adventure scores of John Williams, showing off a broad orchestral pallet and harmonic range, while too many other composers, these days, never venture beyond the home key.)

I look forward to seeing the next episode(s) and hope someday I can be a guest voice in one (or more) of them. Keep up the great work!

Xiphon responds:

I think there's definitely aspects of the work here that could use improvement, in some cases a lot of improvement, (I could fill a book with them to be honest). However, audio quality and performance is a thing that I feel is often overlooked in Internet based entertainment. Most people don't really take a lot of time and care to record in good recording spaces or practices, and it's just sort of accepted that way.

I remember doing a lot of voices for my own work long ago, and people complained about it. It's what pushed me to seek out help from real voice actors and the change in quality at the time was night and day. Just having a performance that made you feel something, was a concept I hadn't even considered, and ever since I've looked at the audio side of a production as it's own art form. Toll of the Lost certainly pushed my understanding of it even further.

On the matter of the score, there's not a lot I can personally say. It was mostly handled by Pierce, who I touched base with very frequently. He's a big fan of John Williams, but music production goes over my head. Outside of me wanting the show to have it's own identity and offering input on how I want scenes to feel, properly telling a story with music is something rather abstract to me. I know some of the technical basics, certainly enough to direct this, but I could never score something myself.

[ART & ANIMATION]

This is an engaging and heartening story--also a cautionary tale for those in the teaching profession. It's good that professor got sacked. I guess he never watched "Paprika" or "Patema Inverted," among many other masterpieces of Japanese anime that I categorize as art. They share vibrancy and meticulous attention to detail rivaling Japan's most celebrated "fine" artists. Pity that teacher failed to see the connection and further the artistic ambitions of an eager pupil.

Congrats to the author on getting back into one's true passion and sharing this story.

kingrab responds:

hey thanks for the supportive message. Really helps me out with the confidence thing :D. It is a shame a lot of teachers dont like Anime and such because there is some really good work out there. Spirited away? come on! its great!