We made a cartoon, please watch and give feedback?

Lord Jezo

Lord Jezo

CAGiversary!
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After many months of work the first in a series of (hopefully) many cartoons has been released. Editing and script revision was done by me and animation work on it was done by a friend of mine.

We are now putting it out there (along with a bunch of other shorts) to get our feelings hurt and dreams crushed by the internet public. So far we have had a mixed bag of results from this. Some times think it's the worst thing to ever happen to humanity and others think it's amusing. The split it pretty fierce.


specialops.png


The Extra Special Ops are a ragtag team assembled to protect America from the progressive supervillainy of Pox and his possible life partner Diva.

The main feature we want to put out there is one about Obama since it's some topical stuff. Thank goodness he won the primary or all the work would have been wasted.

Obama Chooses a Running Mate

All the rest of the videos are here in case anyone is interested in seeing more:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ExtraSpecialOps

I would suggest The Deer Hunter short if you want a look at some of the "heroes" of the series instead of the "bad" guys.
 
Don't worry, it wasn't awful, but it wasn't spectacular either. I'd place it somewhere between good and slightly above average. It had it moments, (it actually got a few chuckles out of me), but it feels like it needs...more.

This assessment is based entirely on the video above. I didn't watch the others.
 
I actually like it. Its got an late night adult swim feel to it. Were all the voices done by one person?
 
[quote name='nevposey']I actually like it. Its got an late night adult swim feel to it. Were all the voices done by one person?[/quote]

All the voices were done by mostly one guy. Obama was different and a member or two of the ops were done by a third guy, but a single person is responsible for most of them.

The adult swim feel was what we were going for as we are fans of that style of show. The target audience also is the same group of people. We checked to see what a couple hipster places thought of it and on that site the animation was destroyed as total garbage and a waste of everyone's time for even considering watching it.

We aren't looking for just positive feedback but to try to understand what people don't like about it. While they were a bit crazy on the side of negativity hearing what gamers and people who actually like animation think is what I want to know.

So far the potential negatives:
Too long
Doesn't capture your interest quick enough
Video quality a bit poor.

I'll look into the sites recommend for better hosting. I also think the main webpage (not youtube) needs a bit of work, that will come in time.

Thanks all for at least taking a few moments of your day to check out what we have been working on for a while now.

[quote name='chasemurata']That was incredible. :drool:[/quote]

Face at end: what didn't you like? I really do want the negative as well.
 
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-Excellent narrator (you should his his voice more often but re-write his dialogue)
-Pretty decent animation but you should fix the dude in the pink's neck
-It seems like you guys put a lot of work into this but the writing needs more cohesion. Take a day to hang out and really write with no regards to constraints and then tighten up from the mass.
 
Another CAG making his own cartoon.....Thats cool. I enjoyed it.

What software did you use in making this?

EDIT: By the way Jezo, what part of the country do you live in?
 
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I liked it! I only watched the episode in the OP... I thought the screaming was funny (I'm glad you didn't go too overboard though - just right), I liked the theme song, thought Barak was spot-on, animation was impressive (shadows and depth-focusing was pretty cool). I also thought the voices overall were really good.

That said, if it might help you be a little more timely with your releases, maybe the shadow detail and focus work isn't needed? It looks nice for sure, but if it takes a lot of effort to do that, maybe cutting it should be considered. Also, I thought the characters' arms might look better if the arm farthest away from the audience might be placed behind his or her torso (that was the only thing about the animation/production that really stood out for me as something to improve upon).

I've done a little dabbling in Flash and I know I would hate it when people would say, "You know, that looks just like _____," so you might not want to read this next part...

The style reminded me a lot of those SNL cartoons. It also seemed like something that would be at home on Adult Swim. It also reminded me of a cartoon about some delusional Army vets that I saw on Wonder Showzen once. All of these aren't bad things, just what immediately came to mind.

Edit: I wanted to give my opinions before reading everyone's comments. Don't worry about those douches that tore it apart technically, it looks great. I would focus more on the writing if you really want it to stand out. I didn't think the toon in the OP was too long... no longer though. You guys are off to a great start!
 
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Thanks for the replies. I'm the co-creator of the cartoon. I've been working on the stuff for a couple years now. The initial idea was a half-hour episodic series that was more in depth like the Venture Bros., but after showing it to some agents they suggested that I make shorts given that I have absolutely no history of doing anything.

So, I taught myself the flash and after effects and started animating the shorts. The only drawback is that given my limited ability it restricts the action and given the short format it reduces the plots and humor to more aqua teen style (which though I love it was not my original intention).

As for now, I'm just trying to do little shorts to help people better understand the characters and (hopefully) get a fan base as well as comments and criticisms to make the show better.

Here's the latest one -

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e72c16c2a0
 
I definetely got the Adult Swim connection. Felt like a mix of GI Joe and That show with the talking French Fries and the Meatball.

I like it.
 
Awesome, thanks man. I'm hoping to pump another one out in the next month or so. It's good to hear that some people like it considering all the work that goes into it.

As far as who does the voices - all voices are done by my brother and myself with exception to the Obama voice done in the penises short.

Also, I animate all the characters in flash and composite in after effects.
 
OP, I just realized that I've been reading your blog off and on for about two years now. I was checking it out today and saw the video posted there and put 2+2 together. I like when you have entries about disgusting fast food items. :lol:
 
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