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Screen Squinty's "Firework Jontron Remix" Review.

Film Short: Firework Full Cover (JonTron Offical).
Created by: JonTronShow, Alex S., Mike Bedsole, Michael Gregory,  and to many animators to name here.
Released: 2016.
Running Time: 4.16 min.

This is an animated musical video remix that was a promise made to the donators by Jontron for a Livestream charity event for “Teach For America," in which he promised to sing the entirety of Katy Perry’s hit “Firework” if they reached their donation goal, which they did at 25,000$.  It was originally released as a song onto SoundCloud but it was taken down, so they took the song created, and through the help of several great talents, created a glorious animated amalgam of a music video.

JonTron did a rather stellar job with his singing. He put a great deal of power, a little pizzazz, and something uniquely him into the Perry song that, even if he wasn’t a professional popstar, made it enjoyable as be-all to listen to and watch, emphasizing that sometimes the intent and approach to a song number can outweigh the glitz of record label polish, and was also helped by the fact that JonTron actually has a naturally booming power-punch quality to his singing voice, even if its a bit raw.

The animation meanwhile was supreme A-game from the various talents around the web that was utilized (and way too many to name here, which can be checked out on youtube) yet they all kept their various styles somewhat cohesive to the main theme of the song and JonTron as their consistent focus. Some of the animation styles were funny, some of it was gorgeous, and they all did a great job.

The best part about this vid though was that they took the main point of the song, a sort of nod to self-empowerment of the unique individual, and preserved it within the very construction and final result of this piece. It felt like a nice homage to the popular song, but at the same time preserve its own self-empowered unique identity. It made the message both much more entertaining, real, and easy to relate to over the original music video.

Overall this has been one of the better remixes I have ever come across, and well worth the view, whether you’re a fan of Katy Perry music or not.

JonTronShow: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdJdEguB1F1CiYe7OEi3SBg

"Firework" by Katy Perry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw

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Screen Squinty's "Smile HD" Review.

 ("Smile HD" Screen Shot, Property of MisterDavey.)

Short: Smile HD.
Created by: MisterDavey.
Released: 2013.
Running time: 3.58 min.

This is my second review of a My Little Pony Friendship is Magic fan made material, my first being Lullabye for a Princess. A friend of mine asked me why I would review fan made material and my response was that there is worthwhile content out there that can show the bigger production companies and independents alike something. I also have an amazed appreciation for the time, creativity, effort and unique viewpoints that some of these content creators put into their work, and thus that makes them worthy of the same equal appreciation and criticisms as the cannon they were inspired from.

Smile HD by MisterDavey is one of such fan made animated shorts that has sprung from the Brony community that uses a song number composed by Foozie that plays happily during some…rather interesting confrontations between Pinky Pie (the fourth walling party planning element of laughter from the MLP-cannon).

From the technical end of things, this is a very well-constructed animation. Some good use of animated angle shots, colours that match the palate from cannon, and a great musical number that juxtaposes with its happy upbeat tempo which enhances the shock value, and does it brilliantly mind you, with the visuals.

The character designs were faithful to the source material (even if the darker theme wasn’t) and utilized the style in concert with the music to enhance that “what the f***!!” reaction you get and hold as you watch this short, with some gruesome realism touched upon here and there for the sake of gross out effect.

Overall, what was first introduced to the community through the earlier fan made Cupcakes with its introduction of twistedly cheerful (and some would say sick) horror, Smile HD took it to the, admittedly mostly gratuitous, next level.

If you’re not a traditionalist MLP cannon watcher or a sensitive viewer, then this is something worth seeing.

To View Short:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqVVtaWd8Pw



Original post: https://screensquinty.wordpress.com/2015/10/24/smile-hd-a-review/
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Screen Squinty's "Lullaby for a Princess" Review.

 ("Lullaby for a Princess" Screen Shot, Property of WarpOut.)

Short: Lullaby for a Princess.
Directed by: WarpOut (Hanssen Steven).
Released: 2015.
Running time: 7 minutes.

There is not a big trend for reviews of fan made material outside of the fan communities that inspire them, but this particular piece, Lullabye for a Princess, a 3 year production by PonyPhonic, deserves some attention.

This is an animated musical short featuring the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, from the television show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic as she sings to her imprisoned sister in the moon, thinking back on their personal history together and the conflict that arose between them.

This is quite simply gorgeous in every aspect of its presentation. The colours are rich, the animation smooth with the character designs original enough without falling to far from the character design from the show. There is this sense of stark light and shadow that highlights not only the depth of the scenes, but the emotion as well.

This short places the spectator within Celestia’s personal perspective brilliantly, and illicit the sympathy and empathy that the show has not quite achieved in regards to this particular character with viewers. This short provides the character with faults that those watching can relate to which the show itself could perhaps take a cue from in regards to this character, even if she is only a secondary character in cannon. The battle sequence between the sisters in particular is where the sheer feels that Celestia invokes, the agony of her decision, as she banishes her sister is stellar.

The visual style of the animation looks akin to a saturated acrylic art piece, though this is a hand drawn animation combined with computer effects. You can see the care and attention that went into it, and the style went well with the action sequences.

The song, the element that carries the short, is the big shining moment, with original music and lyrics composed by PonyPhonic (Dane Larson), and sung by the talented Christina Ellis. It is one of those songs that could rival any big franchise animation company like Walt Disney, and become memorable, indeed having been viewed already by over 4 million viewers on Youtube alone who seem to also recognize talent when they see it as well.

Well done!

To view this short, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7PQ9IO-7fU For other animated short reviews go to Film Shorts Reviews.

 

Original post: https://screensquinty.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/lullaby-for-a-princess-a-review/
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Screen Squinty's "Die Young" Review.

("Die Young." Screen Shot, Property of Vizipop.)

Short: Die Young.
Created by: Vizipop
Released: 2014.
Running Time: 2.40 min.

This is one of those independently made animations that was created purely for the love of the medium of music, in this case “Die Young” by Kesha Rose, being expressed through animation.

The crowning glory here is the character designs. These are unique and imaginative creations that have this flow about them, a lot of swirl and curve to the characters fitting space around each other when the main focus in a manner like what you find on yin-yang symbols or round edge puzzle pieces, and great facial expressions on both the main character and the background characters, expressing an energetic mischief that helped to really solidify the tone of the piece. Combining the eye catching, and sometimes wild, colour scheme, it’s a very appealing looking animation.

There are a few minor things like slight sync issues with the music to mouth of the main character, and a few areas within the back ground characters that should have been moving with the song’s implied pace but not to noticeable with the sheer flow and energy being expressed in the main character and her little pink fox, combined with the excellent song choice, the theme of which this animation expressed brilliantly.

This is a wonderful tribute to the song and great effort on part of the animation team. Good job!

Die Young can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PKNuZovuSw
For other animated short reviews go to Film Shorts Reviews.

Original post: https://screensquinty.wordpress.com/2015/09/03/die-young-animated-short-a-review/
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