Score: 6

"Meh"

submission: Children's Lit. HW

date: October 21, 2009

Well, it's not a piece that's going to convince me to get a copy of Bridge to Terabithia and read it cover to cover - I think I've advanced a little beyond reading books of that type, to be honest. I'm not ruling it out completely, but that might have to wait until I'm a father :P

I think that you need to get the voice overs sorted - the sound itself, I'm not too bothered about, because you did a decent enough job of getting the points across, but making me mess with the volume control like I had to wasn't on. You need to get the record volume sorted - I can voice act if you need stuff like this. I know that I'm overdue your FNP sounds, but I'm waiting on the new microphone, so that I can do the pieces justice.

If it's going to be that quiet, then have such loud music / sound effects, perhaps you need to give it a go with subtitles?

I'd have expected more depth from a book review as well. Google can help there, as you can look into what professional critics look for in a text when they review it.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 8

"Wish you'd done it all"

submission: Dani California Typo

date: October 19, 2009

A very nice start to the piece and Kinetic Typography certainly does work for this particular song, as the lyrics can be difficult to understand at times. If you fancy making a video for Throw Away Your Television, I've actually done a script for that, so let me know...

It's a very simple colour scheme and one that works quite effectively through the piece. If you could perhaps throw in a different background colour when you get to the chorus, that's a way to take it forward, since the song itself changes, while the words in your animation remain quite samey. Subtle changes are the way to go forward with this piece, for sure.

If this is a school project, it shows that you're learning some pretty useful techniques. Good job :)

[Review Request Club]

Score: 8

"Addictive, but annoying"

submission: T E T R I S ' D: The Game

date: October 18, 2009

It's not a bad game and I look forward to when you can get Medals uploaded to this game,a s that will make it even more addictive. I think that you've got a good system built here that certainly compliments your idea of the cartoon series and just gets even more people into the state of wanting that type of cartoon.

Some of the game setup is a little ambiguous, as I was trying to climb up the walls and when I reached the top, I was still crushed, or "tetris'd" by blocks adjacent to my position, which was a little annoying to say the least. I'm thoroughly addicted, so I kept coming back for more though.

Keep it coming and I look forward to seeing the piece with medals available to one and all.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 9

"A good romp"

submission: Crush the Castle: PP

date: October 17, 2009

While this pack has some very good destructive qualities - the new ammunition is much appreciated just to finish off the last of the medals - there are still a few issues with the actual physics of the game.

I'd have to say that the components of the castles could do with suffering damage when they get hit by the projectiles and of course when a person gets hit by the flying debris or projectiles, they are more likely to be reduced to a bloody smear on the ground, especially if they are being landed on by some massive girders that people incorporate into the sturdier castles that appear here.

Perhaps a second version of the original game is called for - turn based strategy that involves attacking castles, which try to defend themselves - force the kings to surrender without killing them, by wiping out their troops or destroying key parts of the castles, for example.

Also, if you had it in the turn based format, you could come up with things like opposing kings deciding to attack your lands and even offering you handsome rewards to switch allegiances throughout? These are a few bits and pieces to think of when you consider that the game can become so much more with relatively little effort.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 10

"Absolutely Awesome"

submission: Pursuit of the Falcon

date: October 16, 2009

Wow, what a great piece of animation - you've captured the entire setup of the whole Star Wars saga within the piece. I love the drawing style for everyone, how it makes them seem really detailed, even though the characters themselves look quite simple, when I sit back and think about it - almost akin to those drawn by LegendaryFrog.

I'd say that you need to get some work from the voice acting side of things - While Chewbacca was spot on, you needed a little more work with regards to the voices of C-3PO and Leia, while Han at times sounds more like Lando Calrissian, especially in the early going, when his voice is higher pitched, due to the running repairs that he's having to make.

I'm not sure about all of the spins that the Falcon and the Tie-Fighters pull off during their part in the beginning - it's flashy, but does every ship need to do exactly the same manoeuvre? Perhaps varying it will make it seem a little more natural. Besides, flashy stuff like that kind of undoes the Family Guy joke "Boy, he knows some moves!" gag, when the Falcon lists slightly to the left. I know it's been and gone, but you might want to make other parts of Star Wars, who knows?

[Review Request Club]

Score: 8

"Great little piece"

submission: Fun With Vampires

date: October 16, 2009

A wonderful little piece, where the Van Helsing style character gets a chance to prove himself. All of those long, cold nights have certainly paid off, as he gets the kill in one shot and no amount of sex or drinking could persuade him that choosing hanging around in cold, dark cemeteries would be better than getting laid once in a while :P

I think that it could have done with some mist for "atmosphere", since you've given the piece a good amount of good sound effects, good jokes and a nice looking drawing style. It could be improved by zooming in a little and using a smaller drawing tool just to get the detail more crisp, but there isn't a great deal you can do without jumping up to the level of buying a tablet, I'm afraid.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 8

"Oh, just a dream."

submission: Jim and Pals Shorts: Ep 7

date: October 16, 2009

A very nice little piece, that incorporates a wonderful piece of music and a very good quality animation into a well finished piece, with a well devised looking joke, great delivery and usual sense of humour from Jimtopia.

I love the way that the hand becomes the focus of the joke - very few animations would actually be able to pull something like this off, as it's a great call on your own animation style that I absolutely love.

I think that it could have used a few extra sound effects at the start - perhaps Jim whistling a merry little tune, the sound of footsteps and the unmistakeable 'squelch' of the gum getting stuck to the foot.

With the way that you've come on with your animation skills over the years, you've got a bright future, so I'll look forward to seeing more of your productions over your time here.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 9

"Very interesting short"

submission: APA TU?! (what is that?!)

date: October 14, 2009

Though this piece was woefully short, it was certainly a good piece of animation blended very nicely into the realm of reality that looks wonderful. I like the way that the thing jumps out from behind the screen, but I think I would have preferred if it jumped out of the computer screen - the little details make all of a difference, after all.

While it is simple and effective in the animation and delivery, it could have been made with an English dub to it - if you're good enough to translate it to English, without the issues of lip-sync to hold you back, you could have just done the English voices. Perhaps it was the character talking, but something should be done to show him talking, though I think that part of that was subjective - refering to the character in the 3rd person.

I look forward to more of your works.

[Review Request Club]

Score: 9

"Great Improvement!"

submission: Cosmic Crush 2

date: October 14, 2009

I love the way that this game looks - you've given it a nice feel and the graphics are nicely balanced with the gameplay aspect of it. Perhaps a tutorial level would help, especially if people get stuck in the gravity wells near the larger planets available on the levels.

I'd suggest a "galaxy builder" style of game, with a time limit and the chance to build a number of planets with the required statistics - barren rock, fertile planet, gas giant, etc. You would be able to select the number of satellites and progress from there - you've got a lot of potential, considering things like random orbits of things like asteroids, so give it a go.

I love this game and can see a lot more of my spare time being taken up playing this piece!

[Review Request Club]

Score: 9

"Really good"

submission: Ruptured

date: October 12, 2009

While I couldn't find the Easter Egg, this was a really good piece. I love the pace of the music and the way that it all seems to flow around that. I love the way that you've written a plot that seems to have that intensity to match the pace, while also having a little intrigue mixed in.

Certainly an interesting animation / drawing style, but you've got a nice way of patching it all together and making things look good. Of all of the things that you could do to make this better (Not many at all, if I'm honest), I'd have concentrated on making the yellow guy walk better when he went into the casino. It looked like he was goose-stepping, which didn't look like your intention, so giving something else as the basis for that will help it to look better.

I love the facial expressions and the way the bag starts to float as the Nitrous engages. A little touch that does so much. Perhaps you could have done a little more with scenery passing by the windows, for example, but it's not something that too many people will pay attention to and lambaste you for.

A great piece and I certainly look forward to seeing more of your works :)

[Review Request Club]