Butzbo's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[voicemail]

I think you had a pretty interesting approach on the theme, as you mention it, most submissions were short 'adventures', so this one was pretty unique in that sense. The style was pretty unique aswell. and actually a lot different from your last year submissions.
Good job!
(by the way, looking forward to that PS-animation post!)

[Morohing Test]

For a short test, I must say this was brilliantly animated!
The movement of your blob-character was particularly smooth. I've made some stomption myself (if you have some free time, I uploaded a short called 'Quaraquol' on 2010) and I can tell it takes A LONG time to get a 'smooth' looking result!
(I guess you may have heard of this, but hopefully can eventually erase the 'machine'; I've seen people doing it in a very efficient way with a 'mask' layer on After Effects).

DocJoshimitsu responds:

... this was just a test so I didn't want to do the extra work and erase the rig... also the camera moved slightly

[Most Ghost]

Superb work!
The animation was smooth and I really liked the particular color pallete you used here, pretty unique and suitable for the theme.
One little thing I could add Is that I liked a lot of the "acting" of the characters, specially the multiple gestures, but sometimes I found them a bit too 'subtle' in some actions that could have been slightly 'sharper' for more emphasis.
Being a 'casual' harmonica player I can also say that this is a somehow accurate representation of how annoyed can someone get when someone else is just playing random notes for a while, Heh.

[Pinched]

Superb!
The sequence with the doctor checking the "states" of the transformation-disease was particularly well-timed, and pretty funny with the little twist it had!
Heh, the second time watching it it makes you wonder if the first lobster had a similar backstory!

[Narcissus]

I actually found it pretty amusing. mostly because of the absurdity of the situation; it's just some dude who is for some reason able to live underwater, and wants to pass the time with some good old tic-tac-toe. We can't tell if he's actually trapped, or if he has any other reason to be there, and I think that's part of the fun.
And I definitively agree with the visual bits of it; while you don't use outlines at all, the shapes still manage to have some sort of 'volume' and contrast which works pretty well.
good work!

[Sarcastic Walk Collab]

Coolibert walk-cycling molecules!
Looking at this collection of walking experiments just makes me wish I had made something a bit more bizarre. OH well, next time i guess.
The one that wasn't made by clubpenguin300 was a nice ending to the cycle.

Pahgawk responds:

Funny story there. I made that as the default icon while I was testing the menu, and we figured we should keep it in, as a tribute to clubpenguin300, who is the best animator of all time. Unfortunately he didn't accept his invitation to this collab.

[The Swell Endeavor]

Superb work man!
One of my favourites of this round, and also one of the most fitting interpretation of Step's track.
I think one of the greatest things here is how you use 'animation smears' between movements, it makes everything really flexible and fluent.
Since it's a review, a little feedback I can think of (pretty small, actually) is that some objects (like the pillars of light, those with a gradient) look a little "bland" (/not too 'deadly') in comparison with the rest of the objects in the animation, maybe they aren't as sharp/contrasted as they could be to look more integrated.
Hope you can keep working on these two guys!

jabzinaut responds:

Really appreciate that, ButzboPrud!
I seriously loved working with Step's tune, it inspired so much and wish I couldve included all of the ideas before the deadline, definitely want to continue the storyline.
I honestly thought my backgrounds suffered a little too, I'll admit that towards the end I really wanted to finish this especially with the deadline creeping closer and didn't do much with those.
Thanks for the feedback, and I for sure will!

[Boss Boombox Dancin' Day]

I found the character design and bizarre animation to be pretty cool in this one!
It started fluently and nicely introduced until the part where the old man leaves to the hospital. After that point I think the story could've used some more work, like it would've been fun to see the frustration of this guy after bothering some more people before he finally meets the girl.
Still an enjoyable short, good luck on the Novice round!

jabzinaut responds:

Thanks very much! I actually had a lot more ideas I wanted to incorporate in this toon to make it longer and the original idea was actually to make the old man pass out like he did and then the boombox guy goes around town scaring/making people upset with his boom box/dancing until he finally meets the girl who is all for the holiday. I wasn't able to animate this guy until the week of the deadline so I was down to the wire with the deadline. I really, really dug Day of the Jelly Spill and good luck to you as well, sir!

[Prosnorkulus 2]

Surprisingly GOOD!
I don't usually dig into the "mindless gore" kind of animations (a sort of "genre" that is particularly popular in flash animation i guess), but there's something about this one that certainly makes it different!
I guess it may come from how you experiment with an endless variety of death sequences which adds a lot to the fun and absurdity of the flash, and how everything is well timed and polished on its frame-by-frame form.
I think there's room for improvement on the character animation though; sometimes the tweened look a little 'mechanic' , something that takes some extra time, but may be worth the effort.
Keep it up!