Ferstofus's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[All Hail Shadow]

IMO, the shapes of the bodies of your characters seem to call too much attention to themselves (long arms and legs).

[NECRO-NANCY 64: Spooky House]

Really liked the macabre vibes with the choices of color, textures and shades.

Think the N64-like animations were on point, with those ever so slightly truncated or skipped frames (as I'd describe it) and somewhat lack of smoothness, in this case intentional as I see it; those polygons with many flat surfaces and limited use of curvature (baring exceptions) were also pretty recognizable + the pixelated texts and other details like the aesthetics of the "user interface".

For the writing and the story, I really liked Nancy's personality (e.g. her taste in chocolate and the way she often has her eyes half-closed) as well as the other characters' and how that was expressed, plus the pacing of the narrative and the whole 1st-person camera fits well with a video-game vibe again, IMO.

A lot of this animation seemed to be a homage or inspired by N64 games (although still with its own identity), but I wouldn't mind a bit of straying away from that just so to make it something even more unique; perhaps more exploration with the camera angles instead of the either 1st person or the "expository cutscene" one (as I'd call it), or maybe showing different ways of how Nancy advance through the environment instead of always 1st person walking; I realize changes like these could make it less recognizable as a game/homage, so I suppose it's about what choices you want for the throwback and which ones you want when it comes to expressing your own identity (when deciding that, I'd advise you to follow your heart, naturally).

Also, loved the disguised kid, hehe.

Overall awesome, solid stuff, I would love to see more.

[53xy Rumble Compo 2023]

It was fun, gets a bit repetitive with the same moves, but the different stages and uh, game modes, added some thrills. Ok voice acting IMO, I appreaciated the diction, pacing of words, accents and speech idiosyncrasies; I'd have enjoyed some more tension or highened emotions a bit besides the quips, but that's alright (maybe that relates more to the dialogue writing I guess). Also I suggest other music genres besides EDM, maybe trying to tie that to the stages, you did it for the Mario stage so stuff like that to add more diversity. Also, Chandler got me, heh. And my favorite girl was the eyeball one. Overall, enjoyable.

[Hockey, Love, & GUTS!]

Wow, so much personality on the animation, colors and visual effects, the expressiveness and uniqueness of all of it, also on the story and music, which fit so well with everything being so upbeat and energetic, I just love it all completely. All elements of it AND the whole are so genuine and singular and I find that astoundingly beautiful.

I'd like to mention shoots like on 0:52 and others where I see some presence of straighter lines and edgier shapes and I'd suggest a sporadic use of that, for IMHO curvy and smooth lines and shapes seem to be your strength and thus something to focus on, if you'd agree.

Also I'd suggest a display of more expressive and also contrasting emotions from Mercedes around 0:14 and also some of that for Pearl moments earlier, I feel like that could say more about them. And I find some excess of variety in the colors of the visual effect on the credits (an effect that's repeated on many parts of the movie), I felt that makes it distracting and chaotic.

Those are the points I wanted to raise. Again, I really love a work so full of personality like this one, I sincerely hope you achieve success in whatever you pursue with those skills. I wish I could find a venue for donation/patronage so I could support you in a meaningful way. That's it, have a truly wonderful day/night/eating time/visit to the doctor/anything and everything.

StudioCatch responds:

Thanks for the thoughtful response. I agree with most everything. If this goes anywhere, I'll take these notes to heart. And, yeah, maybe I should set up a patreon at some point....

["Grapeful Balloons"]

Loved the atmosphere created by the calm yet unsettling music, use of bland but strong colors, thick lines, predominance of shadow and pacing of the animation; also liked the voice acting with clear diction, a strong presence and a consistent tone throughout. I would have enjoyed some more intricate shadows and some penumbras, that's what would've taken for a 5/5 from me.

jnpmediaart responds:

I appreciate the critique.

[El Dorado Redialed Collab Scenes 106 & 107]

I liked the elegance of the animation, discreet movements yet conveying honest feelings, also well timed (not too fast or slow), smooth and with a balanced pacing (again, not too fast or slow). Also enjoyed the amount of details on the backgrounds, enough to be a pleasant view while not calling too much attention to themselves. In addition I commend the use of lighting, producing clarity on the visuals and some well-measured shading as well. I laughed at the meta animation program joke near the end. What would take for a 5/5 from me would be a better lip sync to the VAs lines on the first half of the short, as I considered those and the mouth motions dissonant.

NovayaCM responds:

I just want to say I really appreciate your in depth review, its a huge help.

[Miyazaki is my Dad!]

Ok. Nox's movements are perfect. That's it, they embody perfection. If you go look in the dictionary the meaning of perfection, you'll be dissapointed, because the dictionary doesn't move as perfectly in real life in your hand as Nox moves in an animation. That has been consistent with the other Nox movies and this one is no different. I finally said that. For the rest, mom's fluid and jovial in tone and motions, Miyazaki could've had a little bit more texturatization IMO to convey a little bit more severity and once again, Nox is perfect. That's it for what I like. Become president someday, at least of Animationland. Or maybe another very important position, I don't know all animators in the world but you'd probably stand a chance in the gladiator fight to decide the last one standing. I'd root for you. Peace.

[Salad Fingers 13]

The tension was so well built and the creepy atmosphere really got me on edge, also Salad Finger's whole character and the whole worldbuilding, the monster at the start, the fact that everything is broken or dirty and the music is always so eerie; all of that reached me.

Also really liked the smoothness of the animation in general and I'll mention the part when the brush was being put on the bucket for that looked good and somewhat unsettling to me (in a good way, yes).

Also good use of camera, angles and the movement of it, perhaps little things but I think they contribute to highlight your skill.

If I were to make a suggestion that'd be increasing the texturization of the characters, which honestly are not actually that "untextured" IMO, so to speak, and your backgrounds already have some awesome texture work but that's the only think that comes to my mind, I'm thinking it possibly would make for an even spookier experience, if that's a part of your vision.

Anyway, 5 stars, thanks for making it!

[Help! A goat ate my shorts!]

Always very polished visuals and light colors and an use of light that makes your style very clear and pleasant on the eyes; perhaps the contrast with what's usually going on is a part of the strength of your humor.

I'd recommend trying to find a way to add some texturization to the characters, as I feel they currently could use a bit of that (exception being Fernando's hairy legs, those look great); I imagine that could be a pain in the ass in an animation so, you know, buy an ass lotion beforehand or something.

Also, loved Gooseman's face in the shot with the two farmers, haha.

[20 Years of Badger]

IMO really well put together in how you pace the news thing with the interview later by virtue of being not too fast or slow while presenting the info in a concise way and with news-like feels in tone and diction, I like how all the little alternate versions of Badger Badger Badger have what I'd call charm due to the aesthetical choices in their genre, lyrics, clips and all around details and that all together contributing to tell the story; and everything showcasing a solid script behing it.

It also had solid humor, not timid nor exagerated with solid acting and voice acting in the expressiveness and delivery and there was also a bunch of attention to detail that really elevate the animation, in things like the news' logo and also the composition of shots and scenes throughout it.

There was also smooth 3D models and a balanced use of light that leaves the content clear without harming the viewers eyes in the 3D parts.

My only suggestion for this would be to add a little bit more of "lore" and events to be showcased and talked about relating to Badger Badger Badger to make for a longer story before the turnaround during the interview, as that would increase the tension a bit and the drama for the finale and also because I felt that initial part to be a bit short as is.

Also what I'll say next is more related to how much effort you put in rather than how I enjoyed your work but I think if you had delivered a lower quality on the parts where there are flashes through history and then the cave I'd probably give you the same score since I focused on the interview part; well, actually not anymore since now that you've done it this way I'd miss it if you changed it, lol, but anyway I hope that info can be of use to you.