ZipZipper's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[My First Street Condom]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

I liked your banter in the beginning and how natural it sounded. The mixing was obviously off as it sounded out of place with the ambient street noise. When your Indian accent came in at the end, strangely enough it was somewhat hard to distinguish from your normal voice. A little pitch variation with one or the other could have helped differentiate. Also, with that end part I felt there was much more potential for it to be hilarious. Instead, it was kind of dull to me, but I could tell what you were trying to do. So that plot point needed work, but the rest of it before he chokes worked well. I really love conciseness, so I commend you for that. Overall, you did a nice job. Maybe a little extra character development and plot development. But good work!

AnalogByNature responds:

Thanks for your review & suggestions/advice, Zip!
I guess next time, a script would help

[My First Robbery]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Were they robbing...a house or a store? Weird if a store had a doorbell or weird if the first character was using the word customer for visitors to his house. Anyways, your range needed to be much more diverse. I could tell the difference between the characters, but they were still very similar to each other. Mixing was pretty good as everything was mostly clear. In general, I think some ambient sound effects would have really helped. I think I heard at some spots you were recording in one take while switching between voices, which is sort of a no-no hahahahaha. The plot was random at times, I think it could have been more concrete. Overall, this was okay. What would really help is practicing coming up with as distinct characters as you can. The more committed they are, the more invested your acting will sound. Good work!

Forserious responds:

It was a house. I think I went a little overboard wanting it to be random and ridiculous.

Thank you for listening and for the advice. I'll be more mindful of these things in the future.

[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.

[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! :)

[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.

[VAC 11 Entry - chevron]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

I love the use of honey by the couple all the time, makes me feel awkward heheheheheheh. Anyways, you made some cool characters that I sometimes got confused about because their ranges were kind of similar; they could perhaps use some work. Nice use of effects and reverb to make everything sound like it was in the same space. The big problem I had with this was that the pacing was just so slow. I think this was due in part to the writing, which I found kind of dull. It was predictable, so when some lines were dragged on for dramatic effect, I didn’t really feel the point of it. Even if the lines were a bit faster paced as is, I would feel like the story was more engaging. There was a lot of silence as well. So overall, this piece had great technicality, it just needed work with some acting and most importantly plot. But nice job!

chevronrock responds:

Thanks Zip, I agree with all of your points and appreciate the feedback. Until next time...!

[Timmy's First Board Game]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

The length of this piece I actually found appropriate for the story. Seems like you put a ton of work into both the acting and the plot. Very nice work! I laughed a couple of times and I was always interested in what was going to happen next. The mixing was great and the music and sound effects were all perfectly chosen and placed, really adding to the general mood of the piece. Your vocal range was quite good and what I’m most impressed by is the balance this story has. There was a clear beginning, middle, and end, though I don’t know if I completely understood the end hahahaha. My only real critique is that the vocals were too dry. I think they could have benefitted from some reverb to make it sound like they were in the same spooky space as the sound effects and whatnot. Otherwise, this was a really fantastic entry, one of the most entertaining on the list. Superb work!

moonvamp responds:

Thank you kindly for the critique and compliments. Yeah, I should definitely take reverb into account whenever the story is in that kind of setting. I'm glad you enjoyed it overall.

[Pet Store Calls]

VAC 11 Judge Review:

Nicely done. A fairly humorous story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. The vocal variation between characters was well done and there was a fair amount of sound effects to keep the story intact. The big problem is the mixing, it was garbled and there were some pops with your breath. It’s good to be careful of what you’re doing with your mouth and your air as you’re recording so that extraneous noise isn’t accidentally made. Other than the technical difficulty, your submission was pretty good. I liked how your main character did not sound like a main character and I liked how you were able to say everything that needed to be said in a concise amount of time. Good work!

elreybon responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I'll work on my recording technique. I'm glad you liked my entry.