Mightydein's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Why cats likes boxes?]

Very imaginative cartoon.

I love how you switched animation techniques to create two entirely different environments.

The world outside the box had very bland colors.

The world inside the box was more colorful and lively.

The backgrounds looked great.

I seen some lights and shadows in one background.

Some lights and shadows on the cat would look great too.

The character and backgrounds interact together.

The character would influence the shadows of the environment.

The environment influences the shading of your character too.

As your character moves in his environment.

The shadows also change depending on the direction of light.

Play around with your lighting, shadows and shading to create a more polished look.

I'm still learning about shading for my own drawings and wanted to share my limited knowledge.

This movie was very cool and an entertaining watch.

I love how your cat's animation poses move like an actual cat.

The first cat was obviously motion tweens; However, the poses looked great.

Actual cats have joints in their paws, legs, back and tail.

An actual cat can do a lot of poses.

I like how you animate your cats.

This was a very entertaining short experiment.

- Mightydein

[DO IT! Animation - Inspired by Shia LaBeoufs motivational speech]

Great poses and I love the expressive face on the character.

This cartoon was very humorous.

[Mr Rex: Episode 1 [Discovery]]

This cartoon was very entertaining and highly imaginative.

This movie has a very interesting premise.

I love the science fiction universe given to your dinosaur cartoon.

The great thing about science fiction is the ability to create entire worlds of new technology.

The movie was excellent; However, a bit more polishing to the graphics would earn you a surprisingly high score.

I like the multiple camera angles, The characters had expressive faces and I love the science fiction setting.

The graphics could use a bit more polishing.

Some of the angles looked a bit awkward.

It's sometimes difficult to draw things at different angles.

You should have some friends do a few dinosaur poses and take pictures.

Take pictures from multiple angles.

Use dinosaur toys as other possible reference materials too.

Acting out the poses will help with creating more polished looking poses.

Continue from where this episode left off.

I love your idea of presenting this cartoon as an adventure serial.

I enjoy watching serials because an on going story leaves more room for character development.

Serials leave room to explore other aspects of the overall story.

You picked a good way to present your series.

I look forward to future episodes and hopefully my advice helps with producing increasingly polished installments.

This was an enjoyable submission to watch.

- Mightydein

[Pony Talk]

I'm personally not a fan of any incarnation of My Little Pony.

I like how you drawn each pony in your own style instead copying the originals.

The pony characters have cute designs.

The movie itself is mostly a silly skit.

I wasn't expecting you to deviate away from Fay.

- Mightydein

willcamick responds:

There from a cartoon of a cartoon. This is just something I did on My netbook. Im not home at the moment so Im just doodling as I hang out in a hotel room. Ill be doing more fay when i get back.

[Yonder Ho! - Episode 10]

The video begins with a thunder-cats PSA about the dangers of alcohol.

The public service announcement was pretty funny in a very unintentional manner.

Your audio distortion effects for that skit were weird.

The beginning skit and some of the video footage could potentially get you into trouble for copyright reasons.

The actual video itself has plenty of animation without any need for filler.

A lot of these skirts take a lot of focus away from the overall story.

I would try producing an episode without those fake commercial bumpers.

I do like those mario paint commercial bumpers and a few of the animated skits are entertaining too.

I like a few of the backgrounds used for the Yonder Ho episode.

The character of Mint is beginning to develop more as a character.

I like how you explored, Jenemazzi's past experience of being bitten by a cat as a small child.

It's not really needed to explain why Jenemazzi hates cats.

I've known plenty of people that hate cats without an actual explanation.

I like Jenemazzi's nickname.

Perhaps, Pete's nickname for his sister could catch on.

I've sometimes gave other people nicknames and eventually other people use the nickname too.

The story still has plenty of room to explore more of mint's personality.

One of the major characters has died.

The next episode could explore the impact of this character's death.

What has changed and how does it impact your characters?

You can use that character's death to take the show into new directions.

The robots used during the battle could perhaps make a come back.

Are these robots sentient or cold machines?

Do the robots talk?

You could treat these robots like brand new characters.

This movie had a ridiculous number of characters without extra time for revealing information about each character.

The main protagonists are; Pete, Jenemazzi and The Fox.

The other secondary characters also place a major impact onto the plot.

The actions of the characters including the bit players seemed to have impact on the storyline.

I hope these future episodes continue to pickup from where the last episode left off.

I prefer the serialization style of presenting Yonder Ho episodes.

The show really picked up during the cat episodes.

If you return to using stand alone episodes be sure to keep a consistent continuity.

Each episode should impact the next even if the changes maybe small.

Sorry, I didn't write my review in a more timely manner.

I just had to think of new criticism without repeating stuff said in pervious reviews.

I hope to have succeeded.

- Mightydein

Bertn1991 responds:

Forgive me, but I have a lot to say...

I thought the ThunderCats bit was pretty funny. "Obey the code! Don't drink Alcohooool." The distorted audio is from it being recorded with a VCR. I spliced in footage of Dragon Ball Z when planet Namek exploded. People will watch it and think "Why did Lion-O destroy the world?"

I'm not concerned with copyright infringement. I know how to get around it so sites can't detect anything. I'm not sure if Newgrounds does anything like this, but YouTube will auto-detect copyrighted video and audio and they can outright ban you from the site. They're super strict and you can easily get in trouble if you don't know what you're doing. For songs, I change the pitch very slightly so YouTube can't detect it, and for video, I change the cropping and add odd filters. Nothing to be proud of, but I don't think it really matters all that much since there're so few people who watch the show. If the show was more popular, I'd probably be more careful.

Maybe all the skits and fake commercial take some focus away from the story, but I think they add a certain uniqueness to the show. I find randomness to be very funny, and you never know what to expect from the "commercial" breaks. I usually agree with you 100% on things, but I'm afraid the break segments are here to stay. And I'm glad you do enjoy the Mario Paint bumpers. Those are definitely here to stay!

I'm happy someone likes the backgrounds! Believe it or not, I sometimes spend hours working on them. It's a good time to listen to audiobooks.

I'm also glad you liked Mint's character. You don't see a lot of amputees in cartoons. She's gonna be in more episodes. But yeah, I'm glad you liked Mint. I was afraid how people would react to a little girl missing an arm. I think she's an interesting character. She's missing an arm, but she never lets it slow her down, and she still manages to knit. I don't know if you've ever tried to knit, but it's not easy. The fact that she does it with one hand is impressive. I actually did research to find out if it would even be possible. Anyway, really glad people are liking Mint's character. I would like to explore her a little more....Gee, that didn't come out right.

I thought it would be interesting to explore Jenemazzi's past. She hated cats because she was afraid of them. None of that was even in the script to be honest. And about her nickname, maybe it should catch on.

I've actually become super attached to the robots. I've been working on a short story about them. I might try to make a web comic. They are definitely sentient robots with colorful personalities. And yes, they do talk! They're definitely gonna make a come back someday. I might share the story about them in a forum when it's done. They're a group of mercenary robots who are occasionally the bad guys. Kinda different I think.

My goodness there are indeed a lot of characters. Most of them aren't even mentioned in the script. In fact, pretty much all of the cat's actions are completely unscripted. Having so many cats on screen made it difficult to animate. Mostly because my computer is ancient.

I'm very happy you like the characters for the most part. It means a lot. Having so many, it can be hard to explore each one though.

The next episode will be connected to previous episodes, but tell a completely new story. The show was suppose to be about Pete looking for his parents, but it doesn't really focus on that too much.

I liked that you called them "the cat episodes." That pretty much sums them up. I'm very glad you like them of course! They were by far the most difficult to make. The last three episodes took 6 months to complete. The first episode was made in 5 days. That's partly because I'm going to school now and I don't have as much time as I'd like to work on stuff. I'll admit, the show was pretty sub-par in the beginning, but I think it's getting better. It's become its own thing over time.

After making 10 episodes, I've learned quite a bit. I've made a lot of mistakes, and that's a good thing! I welcome criticism as long as it's thoughtful. I take notes and try to do better next time. I've still got a lot to learn, I've only been making cartoons, and drawing in general, for about 4 years now. I really appreciate you taking the time to write these reviews. They've been very helpful. Making cartoons is sorta what I'd like to do for a living.

Yes, I will make sure to keep a consistent continuity, but I'd also like to make a show that anyone can jump into and not be totally lost.

The last three episodes has had a huge impact on the show's world. Every cat in the world is giant and has pink eyes now (with a few exceptions.)

This is getting pretty long, so I'll wrap things up now. Thank you for watching all 10 episodes and reviewing each one. You're reviews are always well written and thoughtful. I hope you liked the reference I made to you in the last episode.

You are cool : )

[El Club del Random #5]

I don't understand the language used for this submission; However, a certain bit of extra humor may be lost in translation.

Your usage of subtitles to create an english translation was greatly appreciated.

I love how you used the subtitles to enhance gags.

This was a very silly cartoon.

I just have one area of criticism.

Your character designs for the two protagonists were heavily influenced by anime.

I'd be interested in seeing your own twist applied to the anime style.

Borrow from multiple sources of inspiration such as other cartoons, live action, ect.

Experiment with your drawings to create different sort of looks.

This movie was very random.

Might as well create a random drawing styles to go along with it.

Have fun creating your new movies and always try new things.

- Mightydein

[The Last Day at School]

I instantly knew your drawing style without checking your screen name for reference.

I noticed you are now experimenting with different color outlines for your drawings.

The characters eye shades changed very frequently.

A shift in eye shaped is very effective for conveyance of emotion.

The voice acting can be improved upon by getting more lost in the fantasy.

The drawing of the school house can be improved upon.

I assume you are a student.

The next time, You go to school.

Take out some art supplies and carefully observe the details of an actual school.

Buildings have a lot of interesting shapes in it's overall form.

Each school house has different kinda of building structures and there are different ways to draw any building.

Buildings can be difficult to draw correctly.

You could create many different backgrounds by exploring your school.

Explore your environments and draw what you see.

Reference material exists in the form of reality, other drawings, ect

No matter the selection used for reference material.

Take your time while observing your forms.

Treat certain drawings like a meal.

You eat a meal slowly to appreciate the textures and tastes.

Same rules apply whenever you want to create a more polished drawing.

Train yourself to develop thick skin because a lot of criticism can often be cruel.

Some critics can often be harsh enough to cause you actual stress.

Don't get discouraged since many of these critics can often be jerks.

Get your revenge against these critics by producing new work out of pure spite.

The best revenge is success.

Keep experimenting with your colored outlines, color selection and drawings.

Utilize observation more often for each drawing.

If you are really stuck than other artists may gladly provide assistance.

Do some collaboration with other animators as an opportunity for more practice.

I hope my advice helps you become more successful.

Keep making those new cartoons.

- Mightydein

LightningBolt13 responds:

Thank you, Mightydein. I'm always trying to improve.. And I do know that I need to start taking reference of my surroundings, reference makes everything look better!

[Daggett vs Scappy Doo]

The fight scene has plenty of variety in moves; However, the fight scene still needs more to it.

You don't normally think of character development within a fight scene but it is possible.

Personality traits can be revealed during a fight scene without uttering a word.

Personality traits can be revealed during a fight without uttering a single word.

How characters react during certain situations reveal a lot of information.

Different situations will crop up during a fight.

What is the source of animosity between Daggett and Scrappy Doo?

Adding a build up before the fight will allow room to establish the source of conflict.

The actual build up towards the fight adds extra entertainment value to any fight scene.

The build up towards the fight scene can add a lot of suspense.

You don't need a long build up towards the fight.

Think of the build up before each battle scene as an opening monologue.

The actual fight itself has plenty of moves and had an effective use of sound effects.

The actual sound effects could have been more original and tailor made.

Play around with the settings on an audio manipulation program to create original sound effects.

Have fun with creating your own original sound effects.

The poses were good for a first attempt; However, improvement can still be made.

You can exaggerate the movements a bit more during the battle scene.

Some squash and stretch would also create more lively fighting animations.

You got really sale the pain being felt during your battle.

The drawing style reminds of both Scooby-Doo and Angry beavers.

Try to put your own twist on these characters.

You can draw both characters in your own style and create a more visually interesting movie.

In summary; You need a build up before the fight, More exaggeration in the fighting poses and draw in your distinct drawing style.

You did a good first attempt and I hope my feedback helps.

- Mightydein

[Something Strange]

This cartoon was very visually interesting.

Your usage of three-dimensional computer generated backgrounds were an interesting decision.

I never seen a stick figure movie utilize such effects before.

The music choice for this submission has often be used in other cartoons.

Your selected song has long been established as cliché.

A more original song would have been a big improvement.

The more original song can potentially establish the same mood as the track used.

The track used did effectively establish the intended mood; However, My brain is not completely associating the music with your cartoon.

If I was to hear that song on it's own.

My mind would directly associate it with multiple sources.

A great music soundtrack not only sets the tone but also creates a recognizable voice.

Original music creates a calling card for your cartoon.

I still consider the music selection to be effective for the established mood.

Lets move onto the rest of this review.

I love the way your stick figure interacts with your three-dimensional environments.

The stick had a very cute design.

I like how you played around with the stick figures facial features.

The stick figure had some good poses near the top of the stairway.

I love the animation used for falling down the steps.

The falling animation moved like a tumble down the stairway.

I love how you used abstract visuals as a representation for pain.

The brief flashes on visual pain were a very effective.

The stick figures pained expression during the fall also sold the effect.

I like this submission.

You did a neat animation experiment.

- Mightydein

[Allen & Merve]

This cartoon looks a lot like animation recorded onto a VHS tape.

I usually find tracking errors and VHS artifacts to be very visually annoying.

Bad tracking can sometimes render the tape as unwatchable.

The VCR effects actually has the appearance of being VHS in origin.

Most simulated VHS effects use filters created in image manipulation programs.

The VHS tape illusion in other submissions don't look nearly as convincing.

Did you actually tape this animation on videotape?

Your effect on animation on VHS could be more polished by using other special effects too.

You could create animation in Mario Paint and record it onto a blank tape.

You could also create animation using a rostrum camera, film and different art supplies.

After the film is developed than the next step is transferring the footage to video.

Filming animation with a rostrum camera and transfer to VHS is a very expensive process.

You could also utilize your scanner, art supplies and image manipulation program to create traditional animation.

Edit the images together in a video editor.

You can than record the resulting animation on a VHS tape.

You can also create simulated VHS tape effects in an image manipulation program.

There are a lot of possibility with the VHS effect.

Some of my ideas might actually cost money to do.

I merely include these ideas to inspire your imagination to create inexpensive ways of creating cool animation effects.

Free is the optimal for your animation budget.

This submission was a very entertaining watch and was a pleasure to watch.

- Mightydein

Gerkinman responds:

Thanks for the thoughtful response! I actually did all the animation in flash and the VHS effects were created in After Effects with a mixture of post and real VHS footage used with different blending modes. I work as a visual effects artist so the effect only took a couple of hours. I am glad you found it convincing, that means I pulled it off! ^^