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Messages - tickyhead

#61
Applications / Re: Celebrate films
February 10, 2008, 08:27:25 AM
I have to agree with Griever on this one. I subjected myself to watching all four of your movies on youtube, and I have to say that they are not very artistic in any way, they're just boring.

You say you don't want it to be judged on the technical aspects or content, but that is what makes a movie. These "little projects" are all you have to show us, and they may as well be absolutely nothing! We are forced to judge your application on what you show us, just as it will be with the rest of the world. If you expect that your "art" will not be judged on what it is, but some other "level" that, since you don't want to inform us as to what it is, must be beyond human comprehension, then you are a lost cause already. Nevertheless, I will judge you against your wishes because it's my unofficial job as a xepher forumite.

To start, there is nothing special on the technical side of your movies; the camera angles are the usual fare, there is nothing to look at that makes you say "wow, that was a cool shot!" or "gee, that's such a strange effect, I wonder how they did it?" There is nothing special within the subject matter itself, either; it's just you. Going through daily motions. Complaining about the cold over and over again. Et cetera. As I said before, it's boring. Is there anything great or poignant you have to say? Or do you just want to talk about the weather?

You say that being an artist is to "express yourself." So express something! This is like abstract art that is nothing but a blank canvas; you can talk on and on about the "inner workings within that simplicity" or how it is an "expression of your art," but in the end it is still a blank canvas, something that required no skill at all to create. I would much rather have a picture that an artist spent hours of labor upon that is really nothing special in the end, than the blank canvas that the "artist" claims is fine art; just as I would much rather watch a movie that is interesting, than a boring one that you claim is "art."

I was reminded of a certain video that Xepher posted in another topic in this forum when I watched your movies, except you didn't film yours while dancing around naked and wearing a horse mask. At least that video was interesting because it was scary as hell. I would never want to watch it again, mind you, but at least it made an impression on me.

A quick question or two about a few technical aspects as well, since I'm a stickler for being thorough: do you know how to use HTML and SCP at all? Do you even know what those are? because those are a requirement in order to make a website here. I highly doubt you will actually get in, but on the off chance you do you should at least know what you're in for.

Also, in your videos you seem to be fluent in English, yet your grammar and sentence structure here is...horrid. This has nothing to do with the application itself, but what could possibly be the explanation for that gap?
#62
General Chat / Re: OMGWTF!
February 07, 2008, 02:12:24 AM
So long, and thanks for all the fish...
#63
General Chat / Re: OMGWTF!
February 02, 2008, 06:53:02 AM
That...was probably the worst thing I've ever seen. Ever. I feel like I need to go wash my eyes out with burning acid after seeing that.

Proof that not everything that comes out of Japan is entertainment gold. Take that crazy otaku people...
#64
Applications / Re: REC (the name has no real meaning)
January 30, 2008, 07:19:14 AM
Actually, Xeph, if you had checked their site you would have seen that they have a significant log of comics...

However, it's probably a good thing you didn't check, because I was barely on there five minutes and my eyes are already sore >< Not only is the background a really glaring color for my eyes, but the website is so lackluster...I'm actually amazed, I thought even stuff on comicgen couldn't be so completely bare. Do you even have any understanding of basic html at all? Because you do realize that this website DOES NOT have any automatic webpage builders at all. you have to know how to manually write your website from scratch and upload it to the server via SCP.

I'm going to say no. The webcomic is confusing (and filled with grammar and spelling errors) and the website, if anything, shows how bad you are at making websites.
#65
Applications / Re: Ether's Poison Application
January 26, 2008, 10:48:59 PM
Quote from: bloodyrosegun on January 26, 2008, 10:45:21 PM
Thank you very much for being straight with me :D

I haven't finished reading the reply yet, I got to the part where you mentioned asking for permission to color other's arts. I asked every artist if I could [color their arts] and credited all of them in my artist comments.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, then, and for being so receptive to my rants. Too often I've seen applicants fly off into a whirl of insults when someone doesn't say exactly what they want to hear...you are indeed a breath of fresh air.

The rest of my post still stands, however.
#66
Applications / Re: Ether's Poison Application
January 26, 2008, 10:18:14 PM
Hoo boy, where to start...

Okay, first thing. If you had checked around a little bit, you would have noticed that here at xepher.net, Xeph doesn't look too kindly on "plans." You can "plan" to make a website or update a comic all you want, but planning and doing are two entirely different things. Xepher has said before (I know it has to be somewhere around here...) that he's not interested in any planned things for the future unless you can prove that you're reliable, and won't just give up after a few pages. In fact, the minute you said "I plan to..." you were pretty much doomed.

Secondly, you do realize that you have to, at the very least, know how to use HTML to have a website here, right? Because neither your smackjeeves nor DA account show any knowledge of said web-coding language.

On the DA note, extra points taken off for TyPiNg LiKe ThIs in your username.

As for actual art content on your account, everything....well, almost everything anyway, seems to be the coloring of someone else's line drawings. This is mostly formality, but did you actually get permission from the original artists to color and post their lineart? You say on your ID that you hate art thieves....yet very little of the art on your page is wholly your own. What little seems to be your own work (most of which is actually in your scraps, away from the eyes of the casual browser, I've noticed) is...a little lacking for my tastes. There seems to be no flare or surprise to it, for me.

Now, the "manga plan" in question.

There are three pages. One is simply a bunch of overly pixelated splatters on a black background. One shows an eye, a profile sketch, and a window. And one is a CGed picture of a person with no mouth. Is the non-mouth significant in some way? If this person is, indeed, living in medieval times, then where did she get the crazy hairdo and what seems to be a Japanese kimono?

The story you've decided to go with seems to be conflicting with this colored picture in question. For one, in medieval times, I'm fairly sure no one was all that interested in Japanese clothing, nor did they wear it. Unless they were actually Japanese, in which case they would never think of giving their children names that were unpronounceable in their own language, and they surely did not have bright red hair, regardless of what hair colors the characters of such "classics" as Naruto have. Maybe I'm just nitpicking here, but it seems that there are major conflicts within your story that have nothing to do with angst or romance.

As for the story itself, it doesn't seem to be pushing any new boundaries, and the main character sounds just a wee bit like just another generic Mary-Sue. But, seeing as there are only three pages so far, I can't actually tell what she, or any of the other characters that might pop up, are really like.

All in all, I'd say stick with smackjeeves for now. If, say, six months from now you're still hard at work on your beloved manga, then maybe you could try here again. Maybe.

Of course, if this review has hurt your feelings in any way, don't take it personal. I'm a horrible, bitter college student, after all.

Just remember; I'm not reviewing you, just your application.
#67
I have to agree with pigeon and otr....

First off, the dialogue is....well, just as ortsft...otrsf...I'm just gonna keep calling you otr, okie dokie? Anyway, as otr said, pretty much every single sentence has at least one exclamation point. Most of them have two. I know mangas are all about intensity! And energy!! but I think it's a little too imposing. The dialogue, and the story, are also very cliche, no offense. The whole "young child with happy family is orphaned when said family is brutally killed, and he eventually turns into a powerful warrior because of it" shtick has been done to death. Now that would be okay, if the story was interesting, or the characters where intriguing, or even the setting was new and engaging. But as it is, it doesn't seem to be breaking any new ground. What have you added to that plot line that makes it special, or different?

And the names, as has already been covered, are already well-known, and sort of...you know...someone else's. I won't bother going into that too much, but I would highly recommend spending that extra five minutes making up a few character names that aren't so well known. It's not that hard, honest.

Also, the only part of this that is actually "manga" (so far) is the picture you use as a header...I know you're trying to hammer out the script first (which, as I said, is a little predictable and not all that inventive...again, no offense) but I'm kind of confused...is it the manga, or the the novel-in-manga-format that you're actually trying to do? If it's the latter, why not just, I don't know, write a novel? If it's the former, then why also call it a novel, when it seems to be just a script?

As an end note that really has nothing to do with critiquing your work, I am wondering if the picture you've used as your header is actually yours. I'm not accusing you of anything, don't get me wrong, but I've seen many aspiring novelists on the web use someone else's artwork to sort of "sell" their writing. If it is, indeed, going to someday be a real manga, maybe you could also show things like character designs in your posts? (You do have those, right? Since you're so adamant about making a script, you should be equally involved in the actual drawing of your characters, right?)

Anyway, there's my two cents. Mayhaps if you tweaked the story a bit, changed the character names, and used some decent grammar and a punctuation mark that wasn't an exclamation point, it could be an interesting read. As it is, though...well, no offense (again), but it isn't very interesting.
#68
General Chat / Re: OMGWTF!
December 12, 2007, 08:55:56 AM
People who like to jump off cliffs for fun scare me. People who jump off cliffs wearing a flying squirrel-esque outfit are freaking amazing.
#69
Applications / Re: Game Over
December 07, 2007, 08:46:05 PM
well, xepher beat me to the punch. So instead I'm just gonna say:

What he said. hope you have better luck elsewhere.
#70
General Chat / Re: Global Warming
December 02, 2007, 06:08:35 AM
Yeah, well, it's a nice balmy 40 degrees Fahrenheit here. In California. Where it almost never goes below 50 in winter (at least where I live). And tomorrow, I bet you ten bucks it'll suddenly go back up to 70. It has before, that's for sure. It was sunny and hot in the middle of November, and that just doesn't happen.

The rest of the world gets global warming, Santa Cruz gets local insanity. (well, more than usual, I mean.)
#71
General Chat / Re: Arrrr
December 02, 2007, 03:45:49 AM
Actually, a cel-shaded MMO like windwaker wouldn't be a bad idea... I know I'd definitely play something "cartoony" looking if it was a good game.

Or a Zelda MMO would be nice too...
#72
Writing / Re: Short Story: In the Devil's Mind
December 01, 2007, 07:55:13 PM
uhhh, fayth...you really need to check the dates on these topics before you post....

this one in particular is almost a year old, and the other you posted in on this forum was from way back in 2005.
#73
Web Design / Re: Image Viewing Programs
December 01, 2007, 08:17:47 AM
Well, hopefully that will work better. But then, I've always had problems with stupid things involving code in the past...I'm either incredibly dense and keep missing little tiny mistakes that later seem obvious, or the internet is just out to get me.

Also, quick apology to paper-snow for stealing your topic. Can't wait to see your application when it opens up again! (word of warning, though; I'm known to be tough on new applicants ;))
#74
Web Design / Re: Image Viewing Programs
December 01, 2007, 12:31:16 AM
I agree with pigeon-wing, thanks muchly for the lightbox link. Now if I could only get it to work right... XD I'm so javascript-challenged.

Of course if that doesn't work, phpgraphy doesn't look too shabby either.
#75
General Chat / Re: Arrrr
December 01, 2007, 12:26:57 AM
I did open beta for them at one point....they game LOOKS incredibly wonderful, but it's kind of bland gameplay-wise.

And while the "family" system is really cool in theory, it feels really awkward playing three characters at once, and it pretty much nulls any community building, in my opinion. Who wants to party if they've already got their own, anyway?