cloudandis's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Reward]

Mother. DUCKING. PERFECT.

I loved this film from the moment my eyes saw the beautiful lighting, the fading and smooth shades of color, and that amazing touch of sketched art mixed with that of a professional. The characters were not exactly proportional, but with the drawing style, they didn't really need to be.

Gosh dangit I wish this was extended a bit. The plot has indeed, been done before. But with the way this animation played out, it fit perfectly. The best part was that the characters didn't talk- as they didn't have to. You could develop their personalities in your mind based off of their movements and expressions, their demeanor and behaviors. And in the end, both of these characters teach a valuable moral through their story.

Sure, you could have the most beautiful art in the world. But that doesn't mean a thing if that art doesn't have meaning. And this my friend, has meaning.

[Dovahbear 3]

Dova bear, despite how serious this seems, is just so adorable. I can't help feeling sorry when he's going down the river with arrows, even though I don't know him very well. But he's the uplifting comedy in this serious atmosphere, and adds to it very well. However, if you're a first time watcher like me, for some stranger reason it's hard to get attached to them. If the episode had been longer ((although I know many artists have real life problems or not enough time or energy on their hands sometimes)) I would have known him enough to cry a bit. Lovely episode c: I'm definitely watching more.

[Generic Anime Episode #1]

Ahahaha~ oh I love the humor. It satirizes the pasts given to super heroes and their conflicts. And it keeps the replay button moving. And the lip sync with the voice actors wasn't too bad. But my problem with this was the animation in itself- it lacks construction. Most of the art seemed to be scribbled over and little effort was put into making the line art smooth. But the character designs show that you have an understanding of how to make a character look interesting, as well as fluid in an animation. Not taking advantage of that takes away a great deal of interest in what could have been a funny, yet intricate flash animation.

So we have your strengths, and where you need to work. but non the less, I enjoyed the video. keep at it!

[Paraphernalia]

Ahhhhh... I love your animation style. And I love how this story flows with it! However, I do wish the clip had been longer XD But it's like a clip that you would normally see during comercial time- those enjoyable snippets you never forget. Lovely animation.

[Kagemono: The Shadow Folk]

Awwwe.... I love this strip of film so much! But putting my personal feelings aside, I'll review it.

Personally, the animation style just... makes me want to smile. I mean, honestly, even though at times the line composition wasn't exactly smooth, it fit perfectly well with the style of the animation. I had a strange sense that it was a type of Asian animation style, from the way that the foxes colors were animated. tHey had a solid structure. ((and, you know, the language appearing in it.))

Right off of the bat I fel tlike I was watching one of those enjoyable short stories that used to appear on television. The ones with a meaning. And from what I can see, the moral of this story seems to be that you shouldn't judge things as soon as you see them. Once the fox saw the shadowy skeleton creature, it automatically presumed that its structure and colors meant it was a threat and thus untrustworthy. Thus, it runs off. However, after the strange dog creature ((from teh ears, I would assume it's a hyena or canine of some sorts in the wild)) kills the mouse and returns the fox's colors to it, the fox trusts it more and sees it as a friend rather than a predator.

What also caught my attention was the story and how it was depicted- I mean the animation was nearly flawless. Especially as the fox walked back and forth around the tree, investigating where the mouse was. However, during that scene something felt off. Maybe the background wasn't moving at the same speed as the rotating tree? I can't help but fill as if something more should have been done, to make it seem like it was moving. However, as an amateur animator, I also need to learn such skills. I rarely ever animate from anything other than a 2D perspective, and only produce animations on doink due to my lack of materials. In which case, I loved how the frames neatly came together. SO in a sense this was a learning experience just as much as it was a critical analysis.

Well done to you all, and I hope to see more!

[Oddball Omnibus (Ch 1-3)]

Lovely clip of film, and I truly wish it could have been longer. You did give it a good, open ending though. Well, Open if interpreted to be so. I honestly feel like I was watching something that could have made a great movie. I mean, it had a good amount of comedic relief to balance out the some-what grim story it seemed to be going for. However, I feel it lacked some explanation- like specifically a back story on the characters. What are time keepers exactly? Do they collect souls? ((as seen in a clip, someone might interpret that as them ripping out an organ rather than his soul.)) Why is the girl in the orphanage? ((was she abandoned, did her parents and relatives die, or did her relatives not have the ability to take her in? You know, the simple stuff. And one of the main character's connections to the dark looking little girl in purple at the orphanage. I mean, why would she be grinning if a staff member was getting on the red head about having her stereo blasting? Do they have some sort of connection?

However, I also see that these things could be very thoroughly explained if another film was made, which is why I say that that is a small detail that needs a bit of work added. It did have an attention grabbing plot, and a great deal of originality to it. I loved the lighting and the shading, as well as how well the medium and two shots were implemented when showing the characters. The line art did wonderfully as well. I enjoyed this, and personally hope to see more from you as well as the others who helped with the project. Lovely work all of you.

Kreid responds:

Aye, there's going to be 8 chapters, in that time I'm hoping to answer as many questions as I can

[test animation fight 1]

Interesting.... but a little boring without audio. I love how smooth the animation is, and I can tell you put effort into it. Keep goin'!

[Out of Order 1]

The animation was smooth, the colors, the lighting... epic. And whats more, an original concept for a story! I can't wait to see how much further this goes. I would have given it a five, had it not been for the audio quality. Some of the line art is a tad bit shaky too. Nice job!

kmau responds:

Glad you liked it!
The lineart could've been more polished, but I had a deadline and invested my leftover days in better sound design instead. Can you elaborate on the audio quality? It would really help to know what parts didn't sound so good.