DocMonster's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Mutant Ninja Turtles EP01]

Speechless ...

This is a very well made and tight cartoon! Your character designs, animation and backgrounds show an exceptional level of artistic talent! The sound is top notch and the voice acting is well done! Your sense of timing and pace is second to none! Thank you for the 8+ minutes of entertainment! I eagerly look forward to the next episode! Best fo luck & cheers!

[Yoshi's island:randomnes]

Wonderfully Random!

That's some funny stuff! I've seen more than my share of random toons on NG and I usually don't give them a good score, but this one made me laugh not to mention the sprites were tight and the animation was smooth. Good job!

Niko responds:

well i can thank vgdc for most of the sprites.i made the bowser surprised one my self.i got the baddies from shyguy.
thanks for taken the time to review it and im glad you liked it.

[Trouble on Yoshi Island]

Good Stuff!

The sprites were nice and clean and the humour was there. You have an excellent sense of pace and you tell a good, concise story. If I had to make a suggestion for next time, it would be to replace the music with sound effects if file size is a serious issue.

I'm very impressed with how you've greatly improved your Flash skills and I look forward to seeing more from you! Good luck and cheers!

Cactusjuice responds:

Thanks Doc!the size wasn't a problem,it was getting teh osundst hat was hard,anyway good luc kwith your work as well.

[Pirates_Of_The_Caribbean1]

The Talent Is Definitely There

I thought the artwork was excellent! Capt. Jack Sparrow's cartoony design was spot on and your set pieces were natural and great to look at. You also have a great sense of keeping your animation simple, but effective.

The elements that really kill this toon are the lack of comedic timing, pacing and sound. The key to humour is timing and none of the comedy in this piece works because there's absolutely no sense of good timing. The bit with the trap door could have been funny if you pared it down by more than half of its running length. The pacing is awfully slow both in storytelling and animation. Things take far too long to happen. Sound effects either happened or they didn't and it's hard to understand why you chose to fill certain areas with sound and then leave others blank. Sound effects throughout (coconuts hitting the rock, trap door being opened, squirrel chittering, etc.) would have added a bit more depth. The music also cuts out at the end before the credits role. A fade would have been perfect.

By looking at your artwork, you've definitely got excellent design skills. Your work may benefit from a collaborative effort. Find someone who understands humour and pace and either a) have them teach you the finer points or b) work on the next project together. I wish you the best of luck on your next cartoon because you've got great potential!

[Megaman:Titanium Rhapsody]

E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T!!!

This has got to be THE most clever use of sprites and simply THE most clever project on NG! A truly impressive toon and all for under a meg! Awesome job!

[The Doeys]

Much More To Learn

PRELOADER & REPLAY - If you check NG or FlashKit.com, you'll find tutorials on how to make preloaders. This will load the movie and present the viewer with a play button when they're ready to view it. Flash toons that start automatically usually show the author's lack of Flash skill. Also, you need to add a stop action, stop all sound action and a replay button at the end of the project. Right now, it simply loops and the music overlaps itself.

SOUND - You need to learn how to reduce the size of your sound files since this cartoon should be nowhere near 3meg. Again, you can find tutorials on how to do this on NG or FlashKit.com. If you're going to use someone else's music, take the time to find out what it's called. It's not "Old Song", it's called "Flashdance...What a Feeling" from the "Flashdance" soundtrack. Finally, when picking music for a piece, it should somehow fit with the story and the action on the screen. The song you chose is all wrong for this piece.

Overall, this is a poor effort. Take the time to work on your animation and to learn a lot more about Flash. Best of luck on your next project! I look forward to great imporvements from you!

[Stikfas O]

Tips On Stop Motion

It's obvious you have the bare bone basics down, but your technique is too choppy. You're cutting straight to the key frames without using any inbetweens. Next time, try and film at least one motion between your key frames and it'll be a bit smoother. Good luck on your next project!

Static responds:

Ok!

[revolution trailer]

Tips

Your approach to creating a trailer is commendable. The music worked well with it and you had your fingertips on a pretty good visual idea, but its execution causes it to fall flat. It's a bit too wordy. Flash is more effective as a visual medium and trailers are supposed to cut to the chase enough to make the audience want to come back for the feature. This project plays as a synopsis rather than an enticing bit of storytelling. If you ever create another trailer, always keep in mind three things:

1) Make the audience eagerly wonder, "What happens next?"
2) Use a minimal amount of title cards reserving it only for the project's title and words or phrases that evoke anticipation.
3) Use thought provoking or senses shattering visuals.

You may want to rethink the name of your character. Though you may have never heard of it, Erik Larsen of Image comics created a cyborg soldier named Super Patriot who had his own comic books and was even made into an action figure by McFarlane Toys. A simple name change may keep people who are familiar with the character from thinking you're infringing on copyright and / or being unoriginal.

Overall, I think you have a pretty good sense of drama that is much better suited for a feature than a trailer. You also know how to pick music that fits a mood. I wish you luck on the series.

Damarus responds:

Thanks for the tips. I've never heard of the series you mentioned, but now that I have, I think I'll think of another name.

[MK- battle trailer-sonic]

Not Bad

You seem to have a solid grasp of synching music to the action. You did a great job with that! The art is good enough that it obviously represents the characters you're trying to portray. I knew who they all were without having to guess. My only suggestions are you polish your animation and work on your pacing. The animation was a little crude and clunky. There's nothing wrong with using motion tweens, but spicing it up with some more involved frame-by-frame makes for more interesting visuals. The pace is a little too slow.

Overall, this is a good and honest effort! I look forward to your next project! Cheers!

[Koopa's Collapse]

Good Cinematic Style

Though using sprites (that were ripped well!) that only offer a profile shot, this piece had a nice cinematic feel to it. The fades, the still shots and the slow pans made this a nice cut above most. The music was also an excellent touch. Well done!