See the trailer at the official site:
http://www.cloudywithachanceofmeatballs.com/
The design on the characters doesn't appeal to me.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
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I agree for the most part on the character design Macaluso. The only thing that bothers me is that the eyes on most of the characters look way too similar to me. I feel strongly that eyes are essential to visual personality in a character. Seeing eyes look so similar on these characters makes the world feel kind of unvaried. The characters start to feel a little visually recycled.
That being said, I really enjoy Bill Hader's voice acting. It's amusing and has personality, but it's not obnoxious or overpowering. From the few scenes the trailer shows us, the animators for the character seem to have picked up on these qualities and reflected them in their performances. I espeically like the "RatBird" scene, and the one in which he excitedly realizes the sky is raining burgers.
That being said, I really enjoy Bill Hader's voice acting. It's amusing and has personality, but it's not obnoxious or overpowering. From the few scenes the trailer shows us, the animators for the character seem to have picked up on these qualities and reflected them in their performances. I espeically like the "RatBird" scene, and the one in which he excitedly realizes the sky is raining burgers.
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I think this is a pretty brave attempt from Sony to do something different in the CG realm in terms of designs. Let's face it, apart from subtleties, CG humans all pretty much look alike from Pixar/DreamWorks/Disney/Blu Sky/etc movies, so going for a much more stylised and cartoony approach should really be welcomed.
This is obviously a comedy, so the style suits, though conversely it <I>may</I> be coming too close to the Jimmy Neutron feel, especially given the comedic inventor angle. So while I would agree that the story feels lightweight, it could hold some visual interest if the whole bubblegum/balloon type colorful world doesn't get too much on the eyes in the first ten minutes!
This is obviously a comedy, so the style suits, though conversely it <I>may</I> be coming too close to the Jimmy Neutron feel, especially given the comedic inventor angle. So while I would agree that the story feels lightweight, it could hold some visual interest if the whole bubblegum/balloon type colorful world doesn't get too much on the eyes in the first ten minutes!
The best videogame CG animation I've seen has always been stylized.
I think if you're going to do animation with people, human designs should also be stylized.
I'm going to repeat this point for the millionth time and maybe more people will understand it -- because we live in a real world interacting with people all the time, you really notice it when the animation of a "realistically modeled" CG human character is off. It doesn't have to be much to stick out like a sore thumb. However, with imaginary/stylized character designs, you''re more likely to forgive animation mistakes and keep your focus on the story.
That's the clearest explanation I've been able to think of over the years for WHY realistic CG human animation generally doesn't hold up well for extended periods of time and for why a lot of people prefer stylized and hand-drawn animation.
I think if you're going to do animation with people, human designs should also be stylized.
I'm going to repeat this point for the millionth time and maybe more people will understand it -- because we live in a real world interacting with people all the time, you really notice it when the animation of a "realistically modeled" CG human character is off. It doesn't have to be much to stick out like a sore thumb. However, with imaginary/stylized character designs, you''re more likely to forgive animation mistakes and keep your focus on the story.
That's the clearest explanation I've been able to think of over the years for WHY realistic CG human animation generally doesn't hold up well for extended periods of time and for why a lot of people prefer stylized and hand-drawn animation.
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While I agree with you for the most part, I think a lot of it also has to do with WHO is animating it. Beowolf and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within didn't look good at all, especially Beowolf. But that Advent Children movie looks great (although I suppose that looked more anime than realistic).GeorgeC wrote: I'm going to repeat this point for the millionth time and maybe more people will understand it -- because we live in a real world interacting with people all the time, you really notice it when the animation of a "realistically modeled" CG human character is off. It doesn't have to be much to stick out like a sore thumb. However, with imaginary/stylized character designs, you''re more likely to forgive animation mistakes and keep your focus on the story.
That's the clearest explanation I've been able to think of over the years for WHY realistic CG human animation generally doesn't hold up well for extended periods of time and for why a lot of people prefer stylized and hand-drawn animation.
But the main one I wanted to mention was World of Warcraft. The ingame graphics are completely cartoony, but the intro movies for all three games (well. one game and 2 expansions) are (mostly) realistic and done very well. ESPECIALLY the current one "Wrath of the Lich King". I really wish the WoW movie that is in the works was animated by Blizzard instead of live action.
Doesn't really have anything to do with Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, but I just wanted to praise blizzard on making GOOD realistic looking humans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GejwFn_4ZzU <-- the cinematic for reference. On a side note, I'm really sad the guy who did the voice for this is dead
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Just referencing another good video game example of nicely modeled/animated human character with just the right bit of exaggeration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pOljQqvX8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3pOljQqvX8
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I like the trailer, it shows me that it is a comedy, it tells me that it's about an inventor and that the story has something to do with food falling out of the sky but beyond that it doesn't tell me much about the story. It's a main gripe of mine how modern trailers tell you everything about the movie. Why see it when the trailer tells you everything?
While it hasn't elevated the movie to my must see list, it is now sitting on my I may check this out at the cinema list. I quite like the fact that the humans are cartoon-y for lack of a better word. If I wanted to see real looking people I'd check out those movies that feature real people. Part of the appeal of animation is the ability to create non-real worlds that you can escape into.
While it hasn't elevated the movie to my must see list, it is now sitting on my I may check this out at the cinema list. I quite like the fact that the humans are cartoon-y for lack of a better word. If I wanted to see real looking people I'd check out those movies that feature real people. Part of the appeal of animation is the ability to create non-real worlds that you can escape into.