fantastic man - really awesome, loved the epic sense of myster and adventure!
Reviews for "The Moon Guardian"
I found this to be a little hard to watch. The art style would better suit a comedy, or a parody, but what I saw was not fit for cute little doodle people. The art was not bad at all, but I found it to be improperly placed with a story line and setting it didn't belong to. This, really is just an opinion of mine, so don't let it degrade you. I like the animation, the art was certainly of good quality, and the voice acting was decent, so kudos to the team for that.
Keep the good stuff coming guys. I hope to see more stuff from you, even if it doesn't fit some of my preferences.
I think it's a contrast in talent. For example, the backgrounds are clearly better drawn then the people. I do like the ambient feel of it though. But as I've told others, I focus mainly on the story and this one was quite empty. It seems to be a first episode to me, but is it actually a stand alone movie? There's a lot that was left out. For example, if you could light the moon from atop the tower that was under a shield then where was the mother going when they were attacked? And who were the villians and why did they want to prevent the moon from being lit? Some dialogue or have one reveal a face would have been nice. I feel like they were left as cloaked figures because it was easier to draw. And why was that guy a fox (or whatever)? Not that that's bad, but it makes me even more interested to learn about the world you've made in this story.
If you're going to make some more episodes about this story, then hopefully my questions will be answered. If not, then next time try to make the story a bit more fulfilling.
Tyler responds:
I'm not opposed to hear what you're saying, I appreciate the review.
Perhaps I failed at directing to make that clear, but the barrier was only valid while there was a guardian, in this case, the mother died and the barrier that hid them became void thus making lighting the moon from atop the tower feasible. The girl didn't take the role until she completed the task. While the barrier was up, they were hidden (shown early on), and lighting the moon from within was not an option.
Overall good effort but a dull experience.
Pacing in the character movements sort of bothered me. in the beginning, you had what was suppose to be a very dramatic scene, but the way the characters moved, talked, even blinked was awkwardly mixed with the context, almost as if it was meant to be a comedy. This sort of deshuffled the flash a bit, even while the script was functioning on a higher level than the other art. Not to say the art was bad, but it was blandish and fell somewhere between a naive color pallet and trying-but-not-knowing how to be dark. Like a Disney channel cartoon meets an dark fantasy-R.L. Stine book(?) This I believe was also transferred into the story-- bluntly being subtle became overly bland. Therefore interacting with the characters became difficult, and what should have been you conveying who they were with little dialog characterized them through the animation as dimensionless.
It seems like you found someone who can write dialog, but try listening to the story better and find your own style among countless other forgettable fables that reflect something worth saying, inspiring a different tradition than good vs evil every single full moon. Critical it may seem, but good for a child's drama not a serious one, which I believe was trying to be attempted.
Nice music, voice acting, sound effects otherwise.
Tyler responds:
Sorry there weren't enough ninteno sprite rip-offs for you.
Not bad, but could have been better.
While this had a lot of effort that was put into it, I wasn't really impressed. However, I am going to be fair with this.
Graphics: I really liked what Matt did with the backgrounds, as well as the style that was used. However, aside from a few scenes, there wasn't much animation although you did a good job on the facial expressions. As for said animation, it was decent.
Sound: Zack Striefel did a good job on the music, but in case you haven't noticed; Natalie (Dragon Knight Tara) also happens to be a composer. Speaking of the voices, they were good although not very distinctive. However, I'll let this slide since this happens to be a standalone short.
Content: This is where it starts to falter a bit. On one hand, your friend did an excellent job on the dialog, as well as your story was original and well-written. On the other, the direction doesn't feel right considering that this was too dependent on dramatic angles/close-ups even though the pacing was good. I found it a bit awkward to follow, and they contributed to the middling animation quality. Tyler, I will recommend that you study old cartoons for a bit such as Fleischer's Popeye and the works of Bob Clampett; there's more to learn from them than whatever Disney & Pixar have been making.
The Good:
-Great backgrounds with a unique style
-Fitting music
-Decent voices
-Original
-Nice tone
The Bad:
-Not much in terms of animation
-Too reliant upon close-ups
Overall: For those involved, I will give you a seven for the effort that went into this. (3.5/5)
Tyler responds:
I don't disagree with anything you said; thanks for the criticism.
I was going for more of a cinematic, less animated approach due to time restraints, though. Not all problems need to be solved with animation.