gdp's Comments

Equestria Daily : Discussion: Do You Watch FiM With Kids?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:20:16 +0000

Based on the context of what I wrote earlier, Im referring to the notion of female bronies/fans being in the extreme minority, so much so that the assumption around here seems to be they hardly exist. Certainly the Documentary played a role in propagating the myth. In actuality there are tons of female fans (present company included), and even during summer Bronycon it seemed like an even split to me (or maybe 60:40 split). The point is, the male-dominated notion of the fandom is a myth, and a very dangerous one to keep peddling since it threatens to undo the advances the show has made for girls. Carrying the fandom forward needs to be a shared effort, even if only in principle.

Equestria Daily : Discussion: Do You Watch FiM With Kids?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:53:14 +0000

Thats a good point, so in a sense the whole question is a straw man argument. We can never set up an environment where it's nothing other than adult males (with an alleged minority of adult females, which is also questionable) who represent themselves as fans of the show here on the most popular brony fansite of all. [there are other more-PG rated websites, but they dont get the same traffic] >>

Equestria Daily : Discussion: Do You Watch FiM With Kids?

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:57:18 +0000

It's uncommon to SEE the original demographic watching the show, but that's not to say it doesn't happen, and they're simply not eager, or knowledgeable-enough, to sign into Equestria Daily to profess their love/admiration/respect/like/acceptance/disdain for the show. I wouldn't be surprised if the target demographic fans outweighed the brony base by a large factor, but contribute little to the voice or funding of the fandom simply because of the inconvenient fact that they have no voice and they have no money. ;)

Equestria Daily : BronyCon Documentary Side Material Fundraiser

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:46:39 +0000

I know, I'm using the Bluray/DVD to level my computer desk as we speak. >>

Equestria Daily : BronyCon Documentary Side Material Fundraiser

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:43:51 +0000

Agreed. That sounds way more along the lines of what I actually paid for. Well, fool me once. >>

Equestria Daily : BronyCon Documentary Side Material Fundraiser

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:42:17 +0000

Equestria Daily : BronyCon Documentary Side Material Fundraiser

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:37:34 +0000

Ditto.

Equestria Daily : Japanese Giggle at The Ghostly

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:25:33 +0000

It's good,.. but it doesn't compare to the epicness of the Romanian version! /sarcasm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41IeZfZygZw

Equestria Daily : Japanese Giggle at The Ghostly

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:24:47 +0000

Hit the nail in the head! Thank you! :D

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Tue, 2 Apr 2013 01:00:42 +0000

Indeed, those two are classic examples, and you know I would throw in Turnabout Storm as well (though it doesn't get universal praise either, but it certainly keeps me on my seat). ^^ I wonder if that reality that you describe (which I agree with) does have something to do with the fact that most in our immediate generations watch a lot of TV and film, listen to a lot of music, and play around with computers and games all the time, yet don't really do much in the way of literary activities (like book reading). And as a result, most of us are not accustomed to doing this very well. I would say it's time to take Twilight's advice a little more seriously. ^^:

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:23:47 +0000

Agreed, although in both cases of blindly defending and blindly complaining, the issue is not one of defending or complaining, but of being blind to begin with. People should be free to express their opinions, but as a common courtesy we'd like them to think before they speak, and that's true throughout. ;) I would partially disagree on the simple bystander aspect, however, as there is the unfortunate reality that the project has gotten permission from Hasbro, and as such represents a kind of "face" to the community for them. And just like with a bad convention (Las Pegasus?), it's quite possible that mediocre executions can reflect poorly on the community, especially if the issues hampering the project are due to unnecessary elements being added. Ironically, I thought the short-and-sweet "Present Prank" was perfectly executed, and I'm confident that a 15-minute version of something along the same vein as it would have received universally praise, with only the tiniest of nitpickers left to blindly complain about it.

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 18:12:42 +0000

Granted it might be possible to consider the rap-like sequence with the male OC's as a bit out of place, but even that did not detract too much from the overall, show-accurate feel of PPP. I agree that one is a top-notch example of everything done right. I do feel however that it's within the realm of possibility for a fan project to produce a 30 minute-long masterpiece. From Turnabout Storm to FIW to Rainbow Dash Presents to Raindrops to the .MOV shorts, etc, etc... there are various examples of long animated or semi-animated fan-projects that maintain a cohesive sense of quality, and do so in a timely and clever manner with limited resources. But all these take a lot of teamwork, or a lot of patience, and it's hard to coordinate the two through volunteer work. Not impossible, but certainly hard,... and that's why some of these projects have to sacrifice something to get finished. If we combined DR's superb animation and legal permission from Hasbro, with the writing of Turnabout Storm, the pacing of PPP and the fan support of the Mane6 project (for example), THEN you could have the recipe for a successful 30 minute, show-accurate episode. All the elements are out there... they just need to be brought together in a mutually-beneficial manner.

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:58:00 +0000

Re: the felt sequence, I feel it could have been possible to have your cake and eat it too if that sequence were paced a lot faster... it could have been very effective (and a lot more humorous) had it been only a 1/3 or 1/4 of the duration). Same with the flying sequence,... not cut outright, but trimmed for sure.

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 17:55:05 +0000

Oh yes, Picture Perfect Pony was a great example of flawless fan execution. Granted that was only about 4 minutes and a music video, but still it had hyper-accurate animation, great music and "dialogue" (or lyrics in this case), surprisingly good characterization, and a well-woven touch of fan originality (in the form of OC's and the brief rap-like sequence) that's never overbearing. It's the kind of video I could watch again and again, and enjoy every single time (as close to a perfect 10/10 as any).

Equestria Daily : \"Double Rainboom\" Released

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 08:02:38 +0000

I'll make this brief since I only marginally participate in this fandom now... Since this was an animation project for an animation school (or class?), I believe claims about "show-accuracy" were indeed meant to reflect primarily the animation only. In that case, yes the episode was a great technical feat of imitation, and more so when you consider they would later go on to showcase imitations of other franchises (Powerpuff Girls, anyone)? And the episode was creative in the sense that it was bold enough to pursue a very precarious crossover premise, so there was certainly no holding back the creator's mind. I would be hard-pressed to consider this the best fanwork, however, for a few reasons. In terms of art animation, the show-accurate style is squandered on the CGI Cartoon Cel filtering in the latter half of the episode -- so at best, it's competitive with other animation-heavy fanworks such as the [admittedly crude] .Mov series, which while certainly not show-accurate, are still technically-impressive for their length and creative execution. I was a big fan of the voice-acting in Turnabout Storm, so I personally applauded the work done here. I also enjoyed the music, although the few parts I didn't like were directly tied to pacing issues (will explain shortly). And I'm certainly not one to dissuade creative people from exploring fun and clever ways to weave references into their story... so long as they're done in a moderate and subtle fashion. Turnabout Storm is also a crossover, yet has superb-enough writing to make this work remarkably well, even succeeding to incorporating lots of fan references in ways that are both enjoyable and un-distracting. That being said, DR unfortunately suffers from content problems concerning story cohesion, character portrayals, pacing, and moderation. The story strikes me as piece-meal and uninteresting, and the characters, while good imitations, are not as likable. Pacing is needlessly slow when you consider a faster-paced story would've ironically allowed for cooler animation showcasing, and certainly the crossover deviation might've prevented a little more polish added to the MLP showcase. And as for moderation.... References in MLP:FiM work because they are subtle, ironic, and, most importantly, scarce -- it's a great way to demonstrate more original thought, since you're relying on your own devices to carry the day rather than using other people's creativity as a crutch or springboard. Hence the overuse of references, while funny, honestly don't make for an interesting storyline unfortunately. Celestia's letter almost sounds like a subtle dig to the rest of the brony community for taking what's not theirs (Hasbro's IP), but it runs the risk of backfiring as it doesn't set much of an example of the benefits of going through the trouble and risks to do a fanwork like this legitimately. We get a superb tech demo, yes, but as I always say... great art is only a third of the full picture. The proof is in MLP:FiM itself, which admittedly has poor animation versus the older MLP generations and even some of the better-developed anime -- and yet it's near universally loved by us because it's charismatic animation is married to other important content elements. Without a great story and characters and pacing and moderation (and of course, acting and music), what we would instead have gotten was a prettier version of Gen 3.5. Let's put it more simply... if the work was truly great, it would not garner such a mixed response -- and although we certainly have some yahoos, we have come across other fanworks that have received near-universal acclaim, even without the need for fancy animation. I do wish the creator the best of luck in his project, and hopefully it will be properly graded for its technical accomplishments. I also thank the creator for offering this work to the brony community, as well as all the puppet mechanisms he's shared to help others with their own works. That being said, I also respectfully advise the creator to work on improving how his artistry is delivered. This doesn't necessarily mean he has to improve his own writing skills or anything, as typically in the industry they would hire other people to handle that -- but if he was able to successfully style-match the show's animation, it should be considered an even more rewarding and noteworthy challenge to style-match the show's delivery as well. The fact that they came very close is proof that the potential is there, but just needs a little more work... or in some cases, less work.

Equestria Daily : Animation: Snowdrop

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:54:10 +0000

A brilliant fan animation that demonstrates the wonders that people can do with original characters if done properly. Great work! :)

Equestria Daily : New Mane 6 Game - FAQ

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:19:57 +0000

Oh yes, if there's a lot of last-minute activity, then undoubtedly they can make it. But I'm convinced that it's the Fighting Game community that would indeed carry the day, and not necessarily the brony community,... which is plenty loud, but perhaps not really as plentiful as one would think or like it to be. But that's fine, since the great thing about "Alpacas are Magic" (my title) is that it'll help broaden the scope of people who may be a little too pony-centric for their own good.

Equestria Daily : New Mane 6 Game - FAQ

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 04:50:43 +0000

Well, to get the license for "free", but yeah I hear ya. We tried, but it's a tough sell... even the Brony documentary barely managed to eek out $300,000, and that with full celebrity and community backing, and of course a lot more time. I'm still hopeful they can work out some beneficial arrangement regardless.

Equestria Daily : More information on Japanese Pony Dub

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:12:15 +0000

Yay, I always said MLP:FiM was essentially a bishoujo anime, now it'll look like one for real this time. :)

Equestria Daily : 6-Year Old Drops 900 Bucks on MLP Game

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 03:42:52 +0000

I hate to say "I told you so", Gameloft, but I told you you so. No bugger off, and take your greedy game with you! ;P