ZipZipper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[First Deep One Sighting]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Well technically, this wouldn’t be exactly the first deep one sighting, just the first reappearance hahahaha. Anyways, there seemed to be a basic two or three variations of voice, with slight differences between them. Because of that, the characters would have really blended if it weren’t for the difference in acting. A lot of the plot relied on the listener imagining what actions were taking place. Though the sound effects and the background voicing helped, I was still a little confused with what has happening, not to mention some fantasy vocabulary threw me off without much explanation. With mixing, the biggest issue was space. I think there could have been more reverb, not just in general, but some variation on it to represent space between characters and not just volume variation, for example when the deep ones are attacking and they’re supposed to be far away but then suddenly that main one approached and was really close up? Lastly, though your acting could be worked on to sound more real, it sounds like you knew what your characters were; you just need more exaggeration with some and then fine tuning with others. But, nice idea for a story and a great dramatic approach. Good work!

Tonash responds:

Thank you very much for the detailed review!

I will definitely take your words to heart and try to improve in the future! :D

[My first trip to the forest in]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Good thing I read the pseudo-description, otherwise I wouldn’t have known it was in your mind. That explains why there was a lot of silence, the narratives must have mostly been going on in your head! Hahahahaha. The mixing was a huge problem because it was extremely difficult to understand what was being said. I immediately questioned who the two other characters were in reality as well as the location in reality. I understood the goblin humping his leg, but it sure didn’t sound like there was much trauma. Good vocal distinction between goblin and the main guy, but not much else interesting. The story was flat from what I could understand and the acting seemed quite dampened and unenthusiastic. I would first work on being able to sound as clear as possible first with your voice and then through help with the mixing. Also, think about a dialogue that’s got an even but quick pace and more clarity.

Jaggblade responds:

Thanks for reviewing. You've given me a few things to contemplate and improve on :D

[My First Voice Actor Casting]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Well, I think this was dry and confusing. After I listened to your entry, I read the description, but it didn’t really help since I’ve never seen any of the stuff you’re referencing and the self-evaluation I did not need to see. That aside, the plot going on was almost non-existent. You set up the casting that was happening and then went straight into delivering the lines like a casting, which was just dull just hearing one thing after the other being read off a script. Instead of really making a story, you did a demo, and through doing that there wasn’t really a plot. I think your voices could have used much more variation. Thinking about voices being on different pitches and sticking with those pitches I think helps solidify a character. The mixing was okay. Perhaps a little underlying music would help set up moods. You just relied too heavily on listeners having a previous knowledge of the content. But, I think you have the capability to make something of your own that is funny and new like the stuff LittleKuriboh makes? Maybe next time.

Kreuvf responds:

Thank you very much for your review.

I agree with you, especially after having heard other entries. I underestimated the effort it takes to create even a three minute piece and ran out of time (holidays were over :-(), so produced something in a quick and dirty way.

[My First Time Out Drinking]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Was there a subtle stool squeak signifying Randall backed out of his stool when he ordered/praised the Mountain Dew? Hahahahaha! The mist is mysterious! Hahahahahaha!! Wow! Those are some extremely precise characters!!! And there were a lot of laughs! Hilarious twist ending about the mist-ery. Wow...this is so well-balanced in every aspect. My only criticism is that I would have liked a touch of reverb on their voices to make it sound like they were in the space of the bar, as well as maybe turning up the sound effect of the people ambience a tad more. That way, it would really feel like I was hearing this dialogue happening in the exact location and give a little sense of realness. Other than that, I think this is pretty much perfect. Great range of emotions with the acting and a very clear distinction between characters with a really great script that was actually quite clever and never dull. Fantastic work!

[My First Trial]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

The story was actually a really nice idea, but I thought it wasn’t executed that well. It was pretty dragged out, which I think made it weak and kind of boring. I think an inner-narrative from the accused at the beginning explaining how he got into his situation would have been nice; to really exemplify how he felt being his first time in court. In terms of acting, there could have been a little more variation between the accused and the judge. The judge’s vocal inflections also seemed to bleed in to the prosecutor’s voice a couple of times as well, but good witness voice that was very much different from everyone else’s. When the witness was tearing up the jury, a couple of screams would have made that clear. The mixing needed a little bit of work as your voice was distorting when you yelled or got loud. But really, it was a great idea with a good foundation of characters, it just needed more work on its script in order to feel not as awkward and more work on the voices as to have more consistency. Nice work!

[Tcaojat: B - Fiz]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Guardian in my pocket!!! Hahahahaha! That’s my favorite part. Okay well, that was a strange story that I think I followed all the way through. You had distinct characters, but the rock changing dialects towards the end threw me off a bit; it seemed awkward to me. There were nice reverb effects to simulate the cave, but mixing with the voices could still use a little bit of work I think, especially in the beginning with that excess white noise and random cutoff. Your voice sounded a bit timid with most of the characters, I think you could have really projected and solidified their personas. The script I thought was a little weak, but it still had definable parts. I just thought some sentences went on a bit too long and that the humor was sort of weak. But overall, I thought this was an okay piece, I really liked your Jepht character. Nice job!

Mechassassin responds:

Thank you very much for the review. Hopefully the next time I'll be able to let myself project better, since I was a bit conscious of the neighbors at 3 am. haha, of course, that's no excuse. Admittedly, everything was rather rushed and I do wish I had put a little bit more time into perfecting everything, but I am very thankful for your criticism especially towards the weak points of the piece. I'll definitely keep them in mind for VAC 12. Thanks again! :)

[My First Day as a Summoner]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Well, I was very lost because I know nothing about League of Legends. Although you had variation with your tonal character, I wasn’t feeling much enthusiasm. I felt like I was hearing a script being read for the most part. You had a good music choice that was a little awkward because it kept running through the entire piece so I wasn’t sure when there was a mood change or change in plot. The mixing was okay and like I said before you did have a pretty good variation of voices. The story choice would have been more fitting if you weren’t setting it up in the realm of this game. A more general fantasy realm would have made it much easier for me to understand. Otherwise, I think you need to practice really projecting emotion and character with your voice. But good work!

[My First Adult Tantrum]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

It’s unfortunate that you disqualified yourself by raging into a demon lord. You obviously had the talent to make something really good with just your broad vocal range on its own. I find it very strange that you got so worked up over one simple rule when you already had the capacity to do so much. Next time, you can make your own voice acting contest with your own rules, if that makes you feel better. Also, I’m not into girls, thank you :|

[For Bratter Or Wurst]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Wow! Those are some great accents! And I enjoyed the subtle humor. Interesting plot that kept me listening on because of its pace and the mixing and effects were perfect. You even had quite a nice range of acting from your main German character. My only question is how does this relate to the theme of the contest? I don’t think there was anything concretely mentioning it was any of the characters’ first times, but it was an intriguing tale. Other than not following the theme, this piece is solid. Good acting and good story. Great work!

Iamavoiceactor responds:

Hey ZipZipper thanks for reviewing For Bratter or Wurst. I was rolling with the deep seeded meaning of first time. For example It was the first time the German was threatened. Also the first time he was faced with the loss of a friend. After seeing the submissions I now know that you are supposed to make it a structure around an idea. Not an Idea where its subliminally expressed. Thanks again and Hey at least I got best range thats has to be worth something.

[My First Job (VAC 11)]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Nice acting. I could tell there was distinction between characters, though the first and second caller sounded very similar to me. Nice background ambience that cradled the mood effectively and the mixing was clear with a few perfectly done effects. The dialogue was just very predictable and cheesy and the plot itself kind of fell off at the end. His father disowning him so nonchalantly didn’t seem like the kind of climax to signify an end. I guess the script all just hovered on the same frequency with no huge ups or downs. Other than that, I thought your acting fit the characters and there were no technical issues. I just wish the words they were saying were different lol. Good work!