This is my review for every senior show I have watched. I will try doing a majority of ten reviews or more and will be about 5 sentences each review minimum. I will also review based around memory mostly, but will look at the stream if I would like to go in depth. Most of these reviews are on the first day of the screening, so please email me if you would like me to watch a short senior project I haven't watched.
Punk It Tender
Punk It Tender was very confident in its editing style. The differing close up shots that were color corrected really created half of the film for me, and showed me that these artists had an intentional style they wanted to present all throughout the film, making the emotion of the main character heavily intertwined with what is happening in the presentation, to the point of over exaggeration. The close ups contrasting the main lighting of the film for only short moments allowed the audience members to not get bored while watching it, and didn’t feel overused as some other films might do. I also think the story, although minimal, was very effective in showing the personality of the characters and how they view the world around them, such as the child's feeling of rejection and eventually acceptance of the adult figure. The highlight for the film was the last scene where the protagonist and the main adult are bonding together. The lighting of the room at the beginning of the scene represents the somber feelings of the adult figure getting beat up, but sets the stage of the child learning punk learning the reason why punk is enjoyable, with the lighting following the discovery of the child. Although it's a theory, I feel this film is autobiographical of the artist's childhood just by how simplistic yet effective it is. On first viewing, I believed that the progression of the characters bonding into new acceptance for each other felt rushed, especially in that scene. On second viewing it seemed more natural to me. The criticisms are hard for me to explain as this feels like a tight film, but I would say a few shots linger on too long and I wished the mother could have more in the film. I also feel bullies were too one-dimensional, and could have been fixed with one scene. Overall, this is a very tight and well developed film, and I would recommend someone talking to the artist if they want to inflict personality to their film.
Albi
I fell in love with Albi as it looked very professional in animation terms. This clearly was a passion project based around how expressive and colorful the world was, and definitely showed what the standard of mainstream animation should look like. The color palette of light pinks, yellows, and greens really made the world pop and the beginning, and signaled to the audience that the main setting was off. In many ways, the beginning reminded me of some scenes from Tarzan or even The character designs are simplistic yet effective, and the character animation, especially for Abli, really set the stage for myself. A great example is when Abli is fixing the door while the store owner is talking. The editing was very effective, and the framing for the animation didn’t make the character seem too small or too big, even when I thought it was going to be such as the introduction of the mini mart. My only complaint of both viewings was how the audio from the voice actors was hard to understand at times, and the show used different takes. But overall, this is the film standard, and what I hope to accomplish when creating my own films.
Wo rm
If I fell in love with Albi, then I gained a spiritual awakening with Wo rm. This is what RISD should represent, and if I were to tell anyone what is the best student film artistically, it would have to be worm. There are no complaints from me as the mix media, animation, and prop designs were universally perfect, especially with how the wants of the characters are represented through no dialogue. The ending especially left me feeling bittersweet, and felt something similar to Jack Stauber’s more somber and quiet works such as “rain”. The color, first starting off with purple or somber, defientality transitioned well with the yellows later presented throughout the film, and made the audience feel like they were seeing the span of the day. I really enjoyed how the actual stock footage was used for the environment, and how materials such as dirt or clay were already established to exist in this world. The music was also perfect, and although not extremely complex represented the entering of the new world for the worm character perfectly. I already spoke to the artist on how I believe this was the best film of the center showing, but if I could express how great this film is in any other way I would be more than happy to. My one complaint is that this, as well as the previous films, brought upon a standard I was expecting for the rest of the showing on Wednesday, and I felt it didn’t live up to.
Are You Yeti for Love?
This film did not live up to the expectations of the first three films. I couldn’t tell if the senior project for this person was meant as just an non-major elective. To myself, this doesn’t seem like a lot of effort was put into it, at least compared to the rest. The animation was very stiff and didn’t have any creative uses for it. The sound choice felt like it overtook the animation by volume and at times didn’t represent the setting correctly, such as the animation for interior of the yeti house, with there being a fireplace sound effect but the lighting doesn’t suggest it. I did think the Christmas music was effective in portraying the mood, along with the action music, but overall should have been fixed with volume. As for art style, the eyes felt too large and should have been worked on more in pre production. The integration of 2D and live action footage was well done, especially with the skiers entering the snow. The editing, especially for the arrow being shown, also works well with presenting the speed of the arrow, and reminded me of the arrow scene in Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom”. There’s also some comedic timing I enjoyed, such as the ending. Overall, although there was some nice integration with live action, this film wasn’t the focus of the artist, and I hope they could do better.
Lovey Dovey
Lovey Dovey was too stiff. I felt, for the most part, there was barely any movement or exaggeration within the film. Although this could be executed nicely when conveying a different sense of realism, such as King of the Hill, I didn’t find any reason for it to be stiff or for the character to have little movement. This is mostly dialogue based project, and I would recommend working on artwork that seems more complex adding in more animation to represent the emotion, whether through facial expressions or animated symbols. The music and dialogue was done well when written. However, there were some major problems such as incorrect lip syncing, or how some volume of the audio didn’t match with the environment. I could still hear some of the audio scratching at times. The audio is the strongest flaw and I would definitely have another take on the dialogue, possibly with more emotion. I would recommend not having lip syncing and focus on other animation. The message is fine and is the strongest part of the piece. I do enjoy the character designs for the most part, however the character can feel too small or too big in certain shots, and it was a bit distracting, such as when they look small behind a tree and then change in size compared to Aura size. Overall, it needs some more work, but it could reach for a decent film.
Happy Horseys
The film is strong when it comes to the symbolism presented, and how it's portrayed. I could be incorrect about this symbolism, but I believe the film is about lesbianism and a young girl starting to understand herself through the mascot of a toy car. These assumptions are based on how the character enters the dream and how there's a fascination with them both meeting each other. If this was the intent, then I would say it does a great job in presenting through not just symbols, but the state of symbols, such as the hair. The film itself doesn’t have complex framing, but the light is well done in portraying the time of day, as well as making the scenes feel ominous and even amazing when the mascot comes. For the style it's going for, it works well and I would consider this a decent film.
I Could Give You My Life in Arms
The presentation of the film with the texture and music was the highlight for me, and gave off a feeling of importance of the filmmaker knowing what's going to happen. What I mean by that is, although film makers know where the story is going, framing such as close ups and stills normally make it feel like we are experiencing the story with the characters rather than it being pre-written. I feel that for many films, they normally focus on the characters in natural circumstances because that's how we could understand the story. Here, we don’t get as many close ups, and when we do we look down towards the characters rather than being developed. Many of the shots, such as the girl lying down on the ground with the train, feel as if they are almost composited as a painting, where characters are in dramatic poses that do not care exactly for the natural way a person would stand. The unique lightig with the warm reds and blues often appeals to this idea of the painting, and when looking at this film I thought of the ``moving image” that was read for class. In short, many of these poses explain the movement and emotion around them, and it was very clear there was heavy thought given towards how each person would stand. The mixed media with the film was also strong in portraying the more mythical aspect of the film. In my opinion, animation could be used to either exaggerate movement/put emphasis on it, or create more believability within a situation that might seem exaggerated, such as King of The Hill. The opening with the props and the train solidifies what film we are watching and how we should let go of disbelief, similar to a play. This method of using animation to tell a contained philosophy of the characters shows to the audience how animation doesn’t need to be over exaggerated and I give extreme props for the director in understanding this concept. The story, although stated in pieces, is understandable mostly through the emotion of the visuals rather than the direct subject themselves, and this cryptic type of story telling lends the audience to imagine what’s happening rather than looking at it, which allows the audience to participate in the film. I wasn’t confused or didn’t feel the story was repeating itself, but rather it felt as if progression was there in finding new information and figuring out the puzzle as the film went along. Finally, there's the sound, which matches perfectly with the visuals and elevates this feeling of mysticism, the highlight being the last song. Overall, a very strong piece many mixed media students should abide by standard.
Still Alive
I like the concept of Still Alive, and I think what really sells the film for myself is the pacing of the and the architecture of the house. For location scouting, the house was perfect for giving off a feeling of claustrophobia while also showing a melancholy comfort in the colors alone. Considering that the majority of the film is the exploration of the house, the exploration of it to tell the story of the main character and their deceased partner gave off the feeling of sadness, and I interpret the house as although being small played a large part in both who the main character and their partner was. I also really enjoy how the subjects within the film are warped by size based around the house, often feeling like giants as the camera is lowered at the worm's eye in the more open areas and full body shots when being looked down. The characters always seem like they are reaching one or both edges of the frame in a full body show, and thus pushes the idea of claustrophobia even more. The stories were very enjoyable. What set them apart compared to other films I saw was how slow the stories were. The film, with its framing and stories by the characters, takes its time as much as it can and cuts away through edits in the right time. The acting is also strong, although there could be a few ideas to put more emotion for later dialogue when the main character is speaking. Overall, this is a very slow film and I am happy with its timing.
EZ Office
EZ office is one of the less interesting live action pieces I’ve seen so far, although I wouldn’t call it a negative experience. Compared to most animation pieces seen beforehand, it doesn’t use a diverse set of textures such as “I Could Give You My Life in Arms” or an interesting story live “Still Alive” or “Punk It Tender”. Still, this is a very solid film as it just shows a mundae day with the two brothers. The framing of the architecture and outdoor environment is what the film focuses on, although it doesn’t present the architecture or environment in a way I would call execptional. In some ways, it's the anti-”Still Alive” when it comes to where the space is, as the environment, both in framing and narrative, is distanced from the main character. While “Still Alive '' was framed as claustrophobic and personal, “EZ office” had the character in an outdoor setting and are confronted with strangers they don’t have ties with. Most of the architecture is shown dominating the overall frame as a background through one wall, which mirrors both a feeling of sameness for each house and also an idea of the unknown. It's not done in an extreme way, but it gets the job done on how I should feel about the space. There wasn’t anything interesting about the two brothers when diving deeper into them as characters, but I did enjoy their relationship where they both look out for each other and also realize a lapse of judgment with each other. I would say the film feels like a breath of fresh air because of these brothers, mostly because too often in the media we see siblings act negatively towards each other and learn to grow. Here, the brothers are at least well associated with each other to the point of buying drugs and not getting mad in their lapse of logic with each other for their plans. I believe the sound choice was confident in what it was doing, and the overall awkward comedy does work for most of the film. I recommend seeing this after Still Alive just to see the difference, and have a feeling of variety on what you are watching.
Reality Check
This film was made by my TA for my animation class, and my class had the pleasure of seeing it again before going to work on our finals. The film didn’t land with me and looking at her explanation after the second viewing, I understood why. The pre-production of the film was completely changed and the story felt like it didn’t know what to be. It was originally meant as a dream sequence, and I feel that would have been more enjoyable to watch because the audience can interpret what each dream means. But at its current state, the story just feels a bit off because of the internal logic that connects the dreams together, and the pieces with the boyfriend didn’t feel needed overall, as well as the therapy session. Especially when it came to the framing of the live action scenes of the main character, I was feeling confused when our TA explained what she was trying to do. They didn’t use the shaky camera properly, and the emotions that weren’t to be portrayed through the film’s framing weren't connected to me, at least for the first and last parts when it came to the shaky camera. The animation for most of the piece was diverse but felt lackluster because of jared movement, especially in the comic esk dream. My least favorite piece of animation was the world ending dream, where the buildings were hard to see and the neon colors with the constant moving of the building wasn’t pleasing to watch. Although there was the fish swimming in that scene, which was my favorite part. But the biggest problem of the film is the audio. Asking about it, our TA told us it was unfinished and it showed, as the volume would sometimes piece or is too quiet compared to the background music. I felt off when it peaked and her first response would be to fix the audio if wants the piece overall to be better. But unlike “Are You Yeti For Love”, there was definite passion for the project based on how diverse it is in content. The zombie dream especially showed well in a mix of 2D and live action, and the feel was a lot cleaner in both visuals and audio compared to the other dream sequences. Overall, it definitely needed more work and would have preferred the original concept for the project.
GIRLBOT
Girl But has a sense of minimalism that, in my opinion, works well in expanding the dialogue, which is the overall highlight. I enjoyed the prop design for each room as it gave a personality of the girl and what she cares about/ her life in general. The 3D render rather than an actual computer works for this film because as we look towards the subject because of the color, does our eyes follow a path around it describing the detail. It's similar to the ideas of the “moving image” ; only the composition is towards different items in the room rather than any character. As the audience is looking around the room, it is also sucked into the visuals presented by the inside of the fake computer. Overall, detail that requires a second viewing. The philosophy stated about the importance of the individual for understanding the rest of the althogrim is intriguing, and showing this theme in a positive light is something I'm not used to seeing in the media. The voice acting also helps with showing the comfort in the philosophy, and that large part to how the pacing of the automatic voice went. Overall, this film does minimalism correctly not by making the audience hyper focus on one object, but allowing them to explore the rest of the frame.
Xquisite
The effects were nice but it wasn’t for me in the end. I felt almost isolated from the piece because of a lack of story, and felt almost skin deep. I’m not saying pieces should have a clear story, but this being within the senior shot didn’t feel right with me. There were some negatives with the background such as seeing a corner at times. If this was meant to be like a runway in certain scenes they should have put more emphasis on the props or scenery such as adding a red carpet or putting in more spotlights in certain scenes. I do believe the pacing of the film was well done when it came to the green screen, and the direct poses did add more energy to the movement of the character. I especially liked the ratio screen, and this film adds variety to the live action catogalge. But as stated before there doesn’t seem to be any larger message or idea. For these visual pieces, I would like something to dig deeper or look at it twice. A good example is Aiden’s piece, and although by concept it seems repetitive, each time you see the piece, the “objects'' within the piece seem different, almost as if Aiden’s work was like a cloud. I don’t see this feeling asking me to do that, and at times feel repetitive when going back to the back studio.
Zoetrope
Zoetrope was so close to me for being one of the best FAV live action, and it could have done one thing. There should be no dialogue. There could be the implication of dialogue but no dialogue. I was actually hoping the main character to be gay based around the art of beings with no gender, as well as how the main character’s voice didn’t feel very masculine compared to others. I feel it would have had a deeper meaning the the main character was implied to be gay because the self isolation isn’t just for the sake of love, and would also relate to the empty and disjointed world the animated figures live in. Besides that, everything was really competent to how it was made from the story to the framing to the lighting. I especially enjoyed the contrasting natural lighting from day and night, and how the film demonstrates time despite being mostly inside. I do have questions on the “I don’t want to play anymore'' scene, as I don’t believe it was that clear what it was meant to be besides the breakup I believe, and I felt re-uniting together in the end seemed more sinister and depressing than intended. A part of me also sees it being a bit too slow and repetitive while another part sees that adding to the atmosphere. The sound choice especially evolved the scene by showing emotions of wonder and discovery, while at times making the audience feel scared. Overall, a good film that just needs a bit more improvement.
Just an Ordinary Dinner
It's a simple animated film, but a very well done simple animated film. What works for me is the character designs that really demonstrate the thought put into the personality of the characters and how they might react to each other. I also enjoy the limited range of diegetic sound with the main three characters, and how that sound helps with morphing them into something new. I will say that the amount of minimalism in the background doesn’t feel as intentional, and I would like more detail such as books that might foreshadow the transformation or even framed photos. For the cultural aspect of the project, having shrines or posters of the animals the parents would turn into could have been a great touch. But overall, the story is very relatable in describing when one feels like they are the reason for their parents fighting, and very much applaud this film for demonstrating that idea.
the sky my dear, which is now full of you
This reaches the animation standards I had for the first two animated projects I saw in the first two days. The emotions are perfect and the transitions from snow to life are beautiful. My personal opinion is for mainstream media, the idea of grief is never properly looked at, and animation in the indie or student genre reminds where the story of grief should be best placed at. The music also really elevates this into creating suspense for our main character, and especially in trying to not let go of the one butterfly she still has. This somewhat reminds me of the show Centaur World when it's serious about its themes or ideas of trauma. The framing is also well done in exploring the change the caterpillar makes to the world, such as him walking, or when the butterflies fall to the world and give life to plants. That perspective shot within the ending felt almost like water because of how liquid the movement was, despite having a chopped up frame rate. I’m conflicted about the frame rate because, thanks to its style, the 12 frames per second make the animation feel like an elongated environmental painting. However, I do feel the style doesn’t make the animation feel solid as it should, and the inclusion of messy lines could have made the characters feel more grounded in their movement. The lines don’t have to be there all the time, just the part that shows major character animation of the main character rather than perspective shots. Overall, this animation reaches the expectation.
Through Your Lens
This film reminded me of a project I saw in Light Sound and Time that I had minor critics over. Although, I can never really get films that get into parties that are meant to be energy but turn to be slow and unpleasant for the main character. I enjoy that within one scene such as Deadpool when preparing himself in the bathroom away from the party life. But for a full shot film I don’t resonate with it as often. These films are normally meant for a sense of relatability in that uncomfortable experience and so far I was never in it. With that being said, I do feel the blurring effects were good at conveying the emotion of the characters and the lighting was decent for separating the house life from the party. I really enjoy the color/ dimness of the houselife as it reminds me of a warm fireplace, and that’s something all films should create in lighting when showing the houselife as positive. I do feel the audio could have been better mixed when demonstrating the environment as that feels like it wasn’t accounted for at times. The audio isn’t as bad as other projects, but it definitely needs work. The plot of the sisters are good, however, I would like to see the little sister be more involved as a character rather than mainly existing in the beginning and end as demonstration of character developmentOverall, this film just isn’t for me.
Self Storage:
This might be the closest animated film that leads into horror for me, and there are a few films who do that well. The use of the animation to involve space really makes this project work as a visual piece and shows a feel of claustrophobia and being lost internally. Connecting these two ideas together was a very smart move on the animator for experimenting with ideas of fear and over anxiety. The designs and style have a variety of detail, and it works well because the color pallete states constant, making these changes form simplistic to simply connect more. The use of perspective change to morph also helps in demonstrating this difference, and the perspective changes themselves had a very nice pace towards. I really enjoy how the perspect feels as if it's cut up, through the pacing it feels almost like a comforting ding. Overall, the morphs of the project really set this one out for me, and I would love to see how this artist tackles morphing modern cities.
Swallow Flying to the South
This film is perfect. Everything from sound to the visuals, to the story is perfect. This comes to the level of Wo rm and I feel it could be a good second behind it. I love the implementation of 2D animation mixed with stop motion and I believe the set designs far exceed my expectations. The pacing for what the young girl is going through is very well done to demonstrate the internal suffering of the character, and the role of the teacher as both caring and at the same time distant figure really spoke to me on how unloved these children are. The scene that sparked the most enjoyment from me was the bathroom scene, which I felt disgusted by watching how uniform these kids are treated in private tasks. This film shows the subtle ways of how one is broken within character and the scenery of both a rigid yet aging building demonstrates that. I feel besides that 2D stop motion mix, the highlight is the scenery. My one criticism is that the pan in the middle demonstrating the playground before the girl cries needs a few more frames but that’s it. I want to see so much more of this artist.
Mirror Match:
This is similar toward the sky my dear, on how it's a very strong film through the visuals alone and is close to reaching that standard but only needs a few things dones. Although for both of these films, I feel there might be something extra needed that only the artist can do. I haven’t seen a lot of fighting animation and mirror matches are extremely well done when it comes to the fighting. The fighting overall is the highlight for me and I appreciate how much careful planning was put into it. I also enjoy the movement of the scenery and how the pillars are constantly changing in order to create tension. A few things that could have been improved was the character design of fear. When I first watched this, I thought the negative character was a representation of self doubt. The presentation does show him as something of a fearful character, but I thought the presentation was meant to elicit tension rather than fear. I also believe the lighting was too much the same, and I feel if the lighting was used to put in more horror aspects, then it would have been more transparent of what the negative character represents. I also believe the dialogue wasn’t needed within the story, and would make the animation feel enhanced if there was nothing put into it. Also, the diegetic sound is fine but perhaps it might have been better to focus on it overall rather than the dialogue.
Homecore
Homecore has to be one of the creepiest/creepiest animations I saw for the FAV senior show and I’m so glad I watched it. The perspective is something I never seen before in an animation and it feels almost noir, especially with its pacing. The use of a non-human character I feel adds a layer of creepiness towards the overall piece and at the same time a level of cuteness. Both the movement and pacing also add toward the creepiness while allowing the audience member to discover and dissect the setting around the character, so see how close it relates to our own. I definitely think the ending was a perfect amount of variety towards what audience members were seeing, and saying the non-diegetic music overall complimented that scenery. I was talking with some FAV students beforehand about myself believing there wasn’t any 3D animation for most of the FAV, and after seeing this film I would like to send my comment. The perspective alone shows what 3D animation could do at its finest when well utilized.
Gather My Loose Ends
This needs a better title sequence. I do feel the animation should use more frames per second, but overall I enjoy both the lighting and the concept. The lighting feels less like horror and more like isolation for me, and seeing those cold blues mixed with the cloth does show the feeling of isolation overall without making it seem too overdramatic. The concept was more on the horror side, and I feel it executed very well when describing the pressure the main character went through. The use of subject or characters was also well done in describing the idea of isolation through society, and I wish more films had more characters to demonstrate these ideas rather than focusing on one or two characters. Perhaps more variety with the art style/lighting could be fine to add a different feeling or even help with the pacing, but overall pretty good.
Notorious D.A.D
People say they enjoyed Notorious D.A.D but to me it felt like the most obnoxious piece with the whole FAV show. Sure, the relationship was sweet in the end and the mother I loved how she supported the father, but my god did the humor suck. I hate how the father breaks the fourth wall because it wasn’t done in a clever way and I also didn’t like how a father referenced how conceiving the son was an accident. The character just states an event through rap and acts as if the “cringeness” was a joke. The rap isn’t even that impressive and didn’t follow that extreme of a beat. The voice acting was bad for the kids. I could tell he was voiced by a college student. At least with Yeti for some Love there was some carefulness for it in terms of content, this animation, the style isn’t good also, just added whatever came to mind. Overall, it's bad and I don’t want to see it.
Mutual Consciousness
I was interested in a way where it felt more like a video game cutscene, and I feel it would work best for a video game. As it is with the framing and format, it didn’ engage me and I feel the ominous feeling with everything such as the plants, environment, and characters fell to omniputet and there should have been variety in the style. The ending does do this, but it should have been extended throughout the whole film. I think what could have saved this if there was two characters, and if they spoke through text. I would have loved it if it was the same format but with two characters silently speaking towards each other, and the text being paced. As is, it's fine but I would say it's more of a sophomore project rather than a senior final.
