Nofienet's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Kattwerp!]

While I liked the video and the characters overall, I will say I disagree with what seems to be the lesson at the end. While doing something solely for the love of it, learning not to lose heart by comparing yourself to others, and finding that both of these things can bring a unique quality to one's work is something I can agree with, I do think it under emphasizes the value of self improvement and the value of critique.

I think the issue is that Kattwerp doesn't just love doing art, but performing that art for a crowd, meaning they're asking for participation in their art without consideration for whether or not that participation is an enjoyable experience to the participants. Additionally, upon learning the crowd dislikes their music, they don't resolve to improve at their craft, to push through their rough edges, but rather to declare themselves great as is, reject outside criticism, and continue on as normal. This might have even been fine when on their own, but having the audience suddenly enjoy the same product they previously despised feels off.

Again, I liked the video as a form of entertainment, and there are worthwhile lessons to be found in it, but I think it falters on the landing.

foneycone responds:

This is a very thoughtful critique! I appreciate anyone engaging with this beyond the surface level and attempting to have a sincere conversation about it.

I think that's a totally valid point, once you share art with the world, the artist does so with the implication that their work is open to interpretation and criticism. In that sense, the audience does become part of the work in regards to its performance.

My thinking was that, to have Kattwerp hammer away at her skills over a week, come back and kick ass, would be predictable and sort of unrealistic. I think her skills still being rough around the edges allows a sense of realism and endearing quality to her dedication. My message was to come to terms with what you love about your craft first and foremost, and as you push yourself forward, you will naturally improve. There is always more to learn.

I think by bearing it all, embracing your dedication and passion so openly is the first step towards that relationship with the crowd. Before you can build that relationship with the audience, you must find what about that work you love in yourself first. As great as it'd be to buckle down and grind away until perfection, there is no perfection. To dilute yourself into attempting to achieve perfection is a disservice to yourself AND the craft.

In that sense, I believe the best that artists can hope for is to communicate their thoughts, feelings, message as clearly and authentically as possible. Finding your voice, going all in on that, and discovering what your endgame here is. Only then can you truly engage with outside opinion in relation to yourself and your work. I hope I was able to articulate myself here. If this was a full on feature, I'd love to dive even deeper into this philosophy. There's only so much you can cram into a couple minutes, and I'm pretty proud of what I was able to communicate given the circumstances.

I appreciate your feedback, makes for great conversation!

[The Adventure Begins]

Seems like you've struck a good balance in production value and have kept the animation at the forefront. Good use of audio as well.

That said, once the duo from the beginning went to meet everyone else, it definitely felt like visual overload. Not only was this expansive cast of new characters all drawn in slightly different ways and styles, but introducing them all at the same time made it difficult to tell what the viewer's eye was meant to be drawn to. This meant I missed a lot of these various gags, and while I can pause and go back, that interrupts the flow of the video.

TsumiBro responds:

Well said criticism. Y'know I was also thinking about all these flaws while working on this project in Drawpile Like how the one scene where they are sitting, there's more people on one side than the other so it throws off the balance and etc.... It sure was challenging from the beginning using a program that is not animation friendly. Still was fun while it lasted.

[The House Inside Her Head]

A wonderful, fully realized animation with an appealing, Burton-esque style and lively characters. Exactly what I like to see here.

P.S. Had a little difficulty making out the dialogue. Mind letting me know provided people aren't worried about spoilers in the review section?

AntonM responds:

Thanks! The dialogue is obscured with a bunch of effects. For the main line at the end, you have to do 'something' to the audio to understand it :)