The Animated World

2008-02-28T16:17:00.000-08:00

I decided to try something new, since school pretty much has me too exhausted to animate anything big, why not post up some sick animated action by some other people? So with that said, I present to you my views on what's good and what should be LEFT ALONE. Bias free. Yes, I know I'm not the best animator ever yet, but every winter gives me an ample opportunity to learn a GUAP about animation and storytelling, se here goes.

When most people think about anime, they think happy-dappy stories about a boy who grew up in a small village who's either the chosen one by some set of made-up gods to save the world from an evil race of beings and meets many comical and quirky characters as he travels the world. He usually has a strange pet, a submissive female magician, or an evil brother, and might just have some sort of unique power that no one else has. And on top of that, he's probably half-demon or something and his father or parents were kings or queens or something. I've just summed up a ton of anime cartoons right there. However, there are exceptions to the rules...

Shows like Cowboy Bebop are breaking the mold with that type of thing, but it's really hard to find, ya know? There's little to no original anything anymore, and being new to animation, I've found myself using stereotypical safety shields in my own movies. And to tell you the truth, I'm pretty pissed. I have a hard time even watching my old stuff sometimes seeing where I could have changed one small thing to make a drastic improvement grates on my nerves. There's so many shows out there that could've been done better. One Piece for instance. I love One Piece's concept, from it's pirate thing to it's weird characters with strange abilities and personalities. True the whole 'I want to be king of the [insert obscure job here]' thing is completely over-used, if they had cut out the unnecessaries from the manga that made the cartoon series so over-stretched, One Piece could have been on my favorite's list. Anyways, I've gotten some revalations in my hiatus from animated. (Also been posted on NG.

REVELATIONS ABOUT ANIMATION
I've had it with anime. Though it is good for detail and looks really cool standing still, I would rather have living, breathing, fighting characters in my movies than pretty but cold emotionless ones like many anime style animations. Don't get me wrong, I love Afro Samurai, Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop, but I would rather use less shading detail on living characters and focus that on killer sceneries and lighting effects. I pull my hair out watching how still and boring the animation was in the talking scene of my last movie. However, the fight was probably my best work yet and had a ton of animation, so I know I can do it. I'm just committing myself to having more hardcore frame-by-frame and less boring prettyness.

REVELATIONS ABOUT STORY WRITING
With lots of studying in my hiatus from animating, I also got a chance to reflect on what little imagination and effort I've put into my writing. People seem to enjoy the realistic voice-acting, but I'm talking about the plot and mythology behind my movies. I can't go on with NightGun's story the way it is. I basically just mixed Devil May Cry, Power Rangers, and X-Men, threw in black people and anime-tized it and called it my own with the pilot. I've been praying for months now for a better story and I've finally got one. (And yes, I believe God's there, I am a shameless Jesus freak) I want more than anything to make a relatively serious story that grips people and is ORIGINAL. I will still do comedy, but probably on a separate basis. I've learned that the more genres you force into a production, the more it will fall short on each.

THE FUTURE OF NIGHTGUN AND OTHER THOUGHTS...
I'm sick of being one of Newgrounds' average animators. I'm ready for my top spot now and I'll do what it takes to get it. The few fans I have, I hope will stick with me on my changes. I'm working on a script for a 30-minute feature with the world of NightGun called NightGun: "Utopia" that from the looks of the script and storyboards, I'll probably release in 3 parts. Been working on concept art and ideas viciously, and production will start hopefully May if I've finished the commercial for my friend's business.

Peace. (That was LOOOOONG)

Urbanlyte Studios

The Animated World