JaShinYa's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Anighttoremember]

"Anighttoremember" by Adam-Beilgard*

Acting- 45/50
Range- 13/25
Fit- 24/25
Mixing- 10/20
Originality- 12/15
Writing- 15/15
TOTAL- 119/150

Comments: Yeah, this was a little hard to judge since you smashed it all together to fit into the time limit. Sorry to cramp your artistic endeavor, but I have to draw the line somewhere. Anyway, from what I can catch you have pretty good acting skill. What's most impressive is how natural you sound which I remember from the last contest too. Correct me if I'm wrong. but it seems like the story is a "Hangover" type plot? Probably the weakest part of the entry is your range. All of the voices were very similar. Overall, I think your natural conversational style is great for certain animations. I would suggest working on some voices outside of your range until you can comfortably get those into your repertoire.

[A Night to Remember]

"A Night to Remember" by SourJovis*

Acting- 22/50
Range- 10/25
Fit- 17/25
Mixing- 17/20
Originality- 14/15
Writing- 11/15
TOTAL- 91/150

Comments: You had some dead air in the recording. I get that the first voice was supposed to be a geek, but it would have been much better with more over the top life breathed into him more like the female voice instead of the monotone read. "Maria" had similar reads unfortunately, and I think what you were trying to do was make it sound ascetic in a romantic way, but it would have been much better if you had gone crazier with the voices. Also, 3 of the 4 voices you did were very similar to each other. Overall, you showed a glimpse of how you could act with energy with the first female voice and I would like to hear more of that in the future. Also work on broadening your range.

SourJovis responds:

Thank you for the response. As an audio only piece it would be better without the silences I agree. I always do that, but I receive a lot of complaints that it's too fast and noisy, and how silence is part of the acting. I left the silences in this time to enhance the acting performance, but I got only a 22/50 for acting so that obviously didn't work. No no, I wasn't going for "ascetic in a romantic way" at all. More like unfemininely deep, but someone who THINKS he/she is sultry. My acting really sucks. Sorry for that. Most people say my voices are too cartoony and fake, and that it's just a trick to make them sound different. Honestly I think they're right. You can't do any serious acting with unnatural voices. I don't see well respected actors like Sean Penn, Mads Mikkelsen or Javier Bardem do a 100 different voices. They do a voice much like they naturally have, but in a way that portrays the emotions appropriate to the character they play. There are actors who can do a 100 voices, like Dan Castellaneta and Seth MacFarlane which is a skill indeed, but I don't see them win a Palme d'Or to be honest (no offence). I tried to keep the characters subtle and believable because that's the only way I can seriously act. However, apparently I can neither act nor portray characters. Oh well...

[A night to remember]

"A night to remember" by MikethaCreator*

Acting- 20/50
Range- 18/25
Fit- 15/25
Mixing- 14/20
Originality- 9/15
Writing- 9/15
TOTAL- 85/150

Comments: The narrator in the beginning sounded a bit too close to the mic. The SFX and music drowned out your voices a bit. Your characters were kind of lifeless. If you're going to do stereotypes, it's best to at least go all out and make them over the top. I saw that you weren't sure if this was drama or comedy which is usually a bad sign. Overall, you really need to practice letting loose because these characters were very bland. Also, have a solid idea of what kind of skit you want to do and completely commit to it. Lastly, check your levels in post production.

[A Bad Night to Remember]

"A Bad Night to Remember" by BrutalSurvivor*

Acting- 19/50
Range- 18/25
Fit- 17/25
Mixing- 9/20
Originality- 11/15
Writing- 9/15
TOTAL- 83/150

Comments: You had a lot of background noise and it sounded like you recorded from the inside of a cabinet. Your acting was a little dull. For example, if a guy pulled a gun on you how would YOU sound? You can also find free SFX online instead of making your own. Unless I missed it, I don't think you added a gunshot in so I almost didn't even realize what just happened. As far as reading your lines go, make sure to enunciate. Overall, work on completely letting loose with your acting and look for the SFX you need online.

BrutalSurvivor responds:

thanks for your opinion on me. :P

[A Mic to Remember]

"A Mic to Remember" by Chongo*

Acting- 47/50
Range- 24/25
Fit- 24/25
Mixing- 17/20
Originality- 15/15
Writing- 10/15
TOTAL- 137/150

Comments: You have a bit of reverb in your recording and dead air. The "transition sound" might have been a joke, but it came off as lazy. Some background music would have really helped this to cover up that reverb and you could have used it for the scene change. The nasally voice was great, but I would have liked to have had it be more over the top. Lastly, I didn't really get how the theme of the contest was central to your skit. It's more about the mic than the night (as per your title). Overall, adding in the music wouldn't have taken long and would have drastically helped the quality. Your overall acting was good, just pump it up a bit more. PS: The Samson is a good mic. I almost got that over the AT2020 a couple of years ago. Good pick!

[A Night to Remember!]

"A Night to Remember!" by Roseflare*

Acting- 40/50
Range- 17/25
Fit- 19/25
Mixing- 16/20
Originality- 14/15
Writing- 12/15
TOTAL- 118/150

Comments:There was a tad bit of reverb, but it wasn't all that bad. The biggest mixing problem was that you cut some of the lines short and/or cut off with the next line. Chad's voice was pretty weak (understandable since Chad's got the "man bits") but I did like his douchy-ness. You also had some clipping distortion. You did a good job with the SFX and music. I liked your characters overall, but during some of the more energetic lines, I wasn't feeling it. Other than what I'm assuming is your regular voice, a lot fo the voices sounded pretty similar. Lastly, your diction could use work. Overall, work on your range and diction as much as possible. I really liked your willingness to sound silly with your voices. All you need to do now is let go of your inhibitions completely so you can really let loose during those more emotional lines. You've got lots of potential! PS: I saw the Evil Dead remake... I have no words to describe how ridiculous that movie was. lol.

[Stuff Happened One Night]

"Stuff Happened One Night" by Rehab-Reject*

******BEST RANGE*******

Acting- 47/50
Range- 25/25
Fit- 25/25
Mixing- 14/20
Originality- 14/15
Writing- 15/15
TOTAL- 140/150

Comments: There was a little dead air, and slight distortion like you used a bit too much sound removal. Also, it sounds like you used a reverb effect since you were in a mansion, but the distortion plus the fact that you cut the lines off before the echo ended made it weird. There was also some puffs/pops in some recordings and clipping as well. A few more things with the echo... the character that got called shouldn't have had the effect put on hi lines since he wasn't in the house, and to be honest the echo you chose just didn't really work. I think it would have worked better if you left it out all together save for the ghosts since it helps with the spectral sound. Now that I'm done with the mixing and specifically that echo, you had really good range. One of the best in the contest, really. Acting wise, I really liked your emotion. However, a lot of the lines you read had the rare problem of being overacted. This is a MUCH better problem than underacting. Overacting shows you have the energy and character down, but it tends to make the lines sound a little phony. Your best reads were the ghosts and when the main guy was screaming (which was really impressive). Overall, the biggest problem was the mixing decisions. Some background music would have been really good along with getting rid of that damn reverb. haha. As far as your actual acting goes, you have excellent talent. The best thing for you to do at this point is to go back and compare the lines I pointed out to the rest of it. With all that said you did a good job and I'd live to work with you some day!

[The Spelling Bee]

"The Spelling Bee" by Himynameisjacob***************3rd

Acting- 50/50
Range- 24/25
Fit- 25/25
Mixing- 18/20
Originality- 14/15
Writing- 10/15
TOTAL- 141/150

Comments: My favorite voice by far is the first kid. I could just see some little snot-nosed retard standing up there. This whole recording was very well rounded. The biggest thing I would fix is that it sounds like you used sound removal because there is a slight distortion to your audio. On a writing standpoint, I can see that it could be a night to remember but I didn't get that the theme was central to your entry.

Jacob responds:

Man, so I lost up to five points on how well I fit the theme?
And to think two more points would have won me the contest!
But I'm not complaining. It was a last minute submission, and I like to think I did pretty well.

Thanks a load for hosting this competition!
It was a great experience, and the introduction for me to an even greater community.