I have been watching this series for a while now. I have to say I have mixed feelings about this, There will be praise but first let's get the critiques out of the way.
Critique 1: The video quality itself. I get the feeling that these are amateurs who don't have much money so I'll give that a pass, but it might be wise to save up for a better program and/or camera. That's it really.
Critique 2: Sound editing. There is just a lot of background hissing as if all the sound effects were maxed out in volume. There needs to be control and balance. Every time I hear a character speak there is a huge background buzz and it peaks horribly.
Finally, critique 3: The voice acting. It is ATROCIOUS! I get the feeling that they are random people off the street. Though I give credit that they are all trying, acting and speech training is definitely needed to make it a whole lot stronger.
Alright, now to the praise
Praise 1: Sephiroth's voice actor. This guy seems to be the sole exception in the cast list. Obviously he's had training, has a love for the job and respect for the role. As for his performance as Sephiroth... This is a completely original take which is sounds like a mix between Crispin Freeman and Paul Dobson. He sounds well composed, subtly malicious, yet you get the feeling that he thinks he is the hero despite the horrific things he is doing. I can't believe I'm saying this but that guy matches, maybe he could even surpass George Newbern. I'll be keeping an eye on him. Though despite my praise to him, he isn't the saving grace (not entirely.)
Praise 2: The animation. There is only so much you can do with toy figurines. Though there should be more "motion" such as legs moving as they walk rather than "shuffle" it's still easy to watch and somehow there's quite a bit of personality.
Praise 3: The music. OK, Nobuo Uematsu is a musical genius, no two ways about that and it's great to see that the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack is being used here. Though where THIS is inventive is that some tracks are remastered, a few even sound orchestrated. Whoever is behind that, Kudos!
and finally, Praise 4: THE STORY! Holy hell is the story amazing! Whoever wrote this has a serious amount of talent. You can almost say it fits into the actual Final Fantasy VII compilation. From the acting and video quality you'd think the story would be in the same league as your every day wannabe fan fiction writer, yet THIS is the exact opposite. It has depth, character, suspense and even a bit thought provoking at times. This is GREAT writing! The saving grace of this series.
Despite the problems which are big, the winning parts are bigger. I do recommend this if you want to watch a decent Machinima and I will support it in any way I can.
Critique 1: The video quality itself. I get the feeling that these are amateurs who don't have much money so I'll give that a pass, but it might be wise to save up for a better program and/or camera. That's it really.
Critique 2: Sound editing. There is just a lot of background hissing as if all the sound effects were maxed out in volume. There needs to be control and balance. Every time I hear a character speak there is a huge background buzz and it peaks horribly.
Finally, critique 3: The voice acting. It is ATROCIOUS! I get the feeling that they are random people off the street. Though I give credit that they are all trying, acting and speech training is definitely needed to make it a whole lot stronger.
Alright, now to the praise
Praise 1: Sephiroth's voice actor. This guy seems to be the sole exception in the cast list. Obviously he's had training, has a love for the job and respect for the role. As for his performance as Sephiroth... This is a completely original take which is sounds like a mix between Crispin Freeman and Paul Dobson. He sounds well composed, subtly malicious, yet you get the feeling that he thinks he is the hero despite the horrific things he is doing. I can't believe I'm saying this but that guy matches, maybe he could even surpass George Newbern. I'll be keeping an eye on him. Though despite my praise to him, he isn't the saving grace (not entirely.)
Praise 2: The animation. There is only so much you can do with toy figurines. Though there should be more "motion" such as legs moving as they walk rather than "shuffle" it's still easy to watch and somehow there's quite a bit of personality.
Praise 3: The music. OK, Nobuo Uematsu is a musical genius, no two ways about that and it's great to see that the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack is being used here. Though where THIS is inventive is that some tracks are remastered, a few even sound orchestrated. Whoever is behind that, Kudos!
and finally, Praise 4: THE STORY! Holy hell is the story amazing! Whoever wrote this has a serious amount of talent. You can almost say it fits into the actual Final Fantasy VII compilation. From the acting and video quality you'd think the story would be in the same league as your every day wannabe fan fiction writer, yet THIS is the exact opposite. It has depth, character, suspense and even a bit thought provoking at times. This is GREAT writing! The saving grace of this series.
Despite the problems which are big, the winning parts are bigger. I do recommend this if you want to watch a decent Machinima and I will support it in any way I can.
