Visual effect: Rain drops
Done using adobe after effects
Audio to visual effect:
Rain sound and wind audio (the sound effect fades away)
Done using keyframes in premier
Ethereon animation review
Story: The story presented in this animation is quite simplistic. It focuses on the protagonist Ethereon and his battle with the antagonist “the phantom knight.” The focus is clearly on the fight and character designs as opposed to story, so no actual plot or background for the characters is established. This would be quite confusing, but given the simplistic structure of the story (build up, climactic fight, conclusion) as well as small pieces of character dialogue make the animation easy to follow without much confusion.
Character design/art: The character design for this animation is striking and memorable. The first shot shows the protagonist entirely. He is clearly muscular, and carries a ridiculously large sword on his back. This along with the pieces of armour he wears signifies immediately to the audience that he is a strong, warrior-type character. The same can be said about the antagonist, who appears not long after.
While both characters are designed similarly, colour theory is used to differentiate them and establish their roles. For example, the antagonist wears purely black and red, and is even surrounded by these colours in his introductory shot. These colours immediately allow the audience to recognise that this is the villain, as these colours have psychological links to evil and violence.
The protagonist on the other hand has a prominently green colour design, with his hair, armour and eyes all being a bright green. This colour denotes endurance and safety, showing the audience that this is the protagonist, and is opposition to the antagonist.
At several points, silly and over-the -top facial expressions are used for the characters, which provides comedy through both its sheer ridiculousness, and the way it starkly contrasts from the dramatic and intense mood and atmosphere set up by the music and serious expressions. However, this can cause confusion as to whether it should be taken seriously or not.
Animation: The animation is very dynamic. As there is always some kind of movement in every shot, it never feels still or slow. This keeps the animation flowing and shots mostly don’t feel as though they drag out in any way. This dynamic nature helps to match the speed of the action that takes place in the scene.
Effects like the rain in the background and the wind blowing in the character’s hair contributes to this dynamic feel, as well as making the shots look more visually impressive. My one complaint about these are their lack of consistency. For example, in certain shots the wind and rain are not present, despite being shown in the previous shot. This lack of consistency can break immersion in the animation. However, due to the implications of this being a video game scene, such as text boxes and loading screens, these inconsistencies are slightly more forgivable. These “video game” elements are also animated very well, and contribute to the style of the animation.
Overall the animation is very fluid and dynamic.
Sound: The sound design for this animation works very well. Sound effects for the weather such as the rain, wind and thunder contribute greatly to the immersion of the scene, and help to establish the setting.
The tense orchestral music that creeps in with the reveal of the antagonist creates a sense of looming danger and mystery, and builds tension for the fight to come.
After tension is built up, and the fight begins, a fast paced, intense metal piece kicks in, reflecting the intensity and fast paced nature of the fight. This works very well for driving audience excitement for the scene, and so makes the sequence more enjoyable to watch. Overall the the soundtrack compliments the visuals well.
The sound effect used for dialogue text-boxes is reminiscent of classic JRPG video games, and so is immediately recognisable to the audience. This makes it engaging, as it stands out to the audience. The volume of this sound effects is not always consistent, and so can be jarring when it is louder than expected.
Another way that the sound design could be improved is by adding sound effects for characters’ movements and attacks. This would make the sound match the action even further, and would make the attacks feel as though they have weight and presence, thus making action scenes even more engaging.
Verdict: Overall, this animation is fluid, dynamic and engaging to watch. Despite it’s flaws, the action, simple premise and striking character design make it entertaining to watch and easy to follow. The comedic moments are also entertaining to watch and inject personality, liveliness and humour into the animation.
Improvements and changes I could make:
1. Increase the video quality to 1080p
2. Have a less simplistic plot
3. Add more sound effects to the actual fight
4. Maybe add voices
5. Be more consistent with the rain
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