Eddie Lebron's Fan Film, "Sonic"

Sonic 06 had a shitton of problems, but the CGI of that game wasn't one of them. It was done by Blur Studios, which does the CGI for most videogames in general: http://www.blur.com/

 

I think he meant that he thinks even the in-game cutscene animations in Sonic 06 are better than the animation found in the fan-film. I think it's a shame, too, because the model work (Sonic notwithstanding) wasn't half-bad; I think that Gamma model was of pretty good quality, personally, and I bet it would've been the best CG in the movie if the animation wasn't janky as all fuck. The fact that much higher-quality animations have been made using Source Film-Maker, imported Generations models, and much less time makes me wonder what the hell went wrong with this project. They had an actual budget and plenty of time to work with, as well as past experience from previous projects, so why was it THIS BAD?
And for those of you complaining about the inclusion of real-world environments, look at the Green Hill scene at the end and be thankful the entire thing didn't look like THAT.

 

Here's Naka's exact quote:

'Awesome!! ???????????????????
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oh I think he wishes for subtitles, maybe someone can sub it into japanese someday? also, if I've got it correctly, he thinks that'd be what Sonic would look like if the movie was being made in Hollywood. Sorry, my japanese is a bit rusty and I had to use help from an online translator so excuse me if I've got it wrongly...

 

I guess I should have known from the Megaman film that "film" doesn't mean feature length. Really didn't expect it to not even break the half hour mark. What was the reason this took so long? Not that I know anything about what goes into making something of this length.

Well, since Yuji Naka gave a positive comment, I'll just say... nice effort.

 

It's usually dependent on resources and complexity. Sonic required a bit more involved CGI and production than Megaman, which is already a challenge with a team that works full time outside the film. With a full-time team and resources, Sonic would have taken 3-4 months and Megaman 10 months but that's the burden of independent film making. As short as other films were (such as Iron Baby), those 2 minutes took 4-6 months to complete. It's always dependent on the situation and I wish the turnaround could have been quicker.

 

I remember listening to an interview with Pixar where they said when they started thinking up ideas for their motion picture they chose toys because of the limitations of 3D at that time. Problem with this is that it doesn't feel like any considerations like that were taken, if you are going to do character like Sonic in 3D with real life then make sure you have skills for that. Lack of overall polish - Sonic font at the beginning... Uh hardly the best choice IMO. But fan videos don't need to be crap as projects such as "Christmas with Sonic" show. I know that this was attempting to be Hollywood blockbuster style, but why choose that style or this subject if obvious problems are going to occur. I doubt the people that worked on the team can blindly accept Sonic's movements as being at all natural.

I'd say well done for the effort but the project to me shows such little planning and attention to detail that I question any use of the word "effort".

 

My friend just linked this to me, it's cool that he managed to finish what he started but goddamn I've seen better compositing in old B-movies. One of the biggest problems even other than the awful CGI is how tonally jarring the entire thing is; the music and the intro make it out to be some sort of extremely serious situation with five news reports in a row (aren't there any better ways to deliver exposition?), but then Jaleel White starts talking, and then cheesy awful CGI Sonic appears and starts going "WAY PAST COOL", "SEE SUMTHIN YA LIKE" etc. And what the hell was up with the acting? All of it was awful except for Robotnik himself, and even he was ruined by his awful outfit.

Anyway, the best part of the movie was when the girl yelled "BUZZ BOMBERS!" and the camera zoomed in on her shocked face.

 

This is one of the most repulsive fanworks I've ever seen. Like I know we respect the efforts of the amateur stuff people pour their time into...but this? THIS? THIS FUCKING SHIT? It's absolutely insulting. I was embarrassed the whole way through watching this. That Sonic is repulsive. The quills, the mouth, the voice, the laughable way he moves, everything. What the hell were they trying to go for with Sonic in the first place? He's all happy go lucky Robotnik just kills damn near everything on his island? "HA IMMA GO HAVE FUN!!111EXDEEXXD!!1!1."

The story and world setup is a hodgepodge of random Sonic mythos that don't work in a realistic setting ESPECIALLY when combined with a Sonic worse than cartoon tier. The military getting slaughtered when a sluggish sonic can casually roll through them? Right. An entire island wiped out with a single missile strike? Right. Green Hill zone randomly plastered on a realistic backdrop? It's just...this end result is just horrifying.

Shit. It's like someone sat down and put this all together over years of work and said, "Yes I did good today." I would hide my head in shame, let alone release it to the public.

EDIT: I think that's a little mean, but I don't know how you miss the mark with Sonic with the time and effort put into something like a movie. It just doesn't work on any level. I have nothing good to say about it. I didn't even expect anything. I went in looking for laughs and I came out embarrassed for liking anything in relation to Sonic.

 

Unfortunately, I agree with you.

The only reason I wanted to watch this was to hear Jaleel White as Sonic again. And he was given, what, five lines and one monologue? He wasn't even needed for the entire plot. And this is considered a SONIC fan film? Might as well call it "Robotnik."

The pacing was terrible. I was expecting SOME sort of climactic ending, but we get ... nothing? No confrontation with Robotnik? Just a behind shot of Knuckles? ..

I know I said people shouldn't be quick to judge; but after seeing this short film .. Not just Sonic fans have a right to be upset; lovers of writing and film have that right as well. I don't blame the actors; the writing was terrible-- the only person that shined in this film was Robotnik. Sonic's lines sounded forced. ESPECIALLY his laugh.

The music was atrocious. I agree with the people who said it was trying to make the film more epic than it really is. Not even a lick of a Sonic theme; there were no distinct melodies. The music didn't make any of the scenes memorable, even when Sonic appeared.

Two years in production. Two years of hype. Two years of waiting. All deflated with poor pace, poor music, and poor plot points. It had a lot of potential. It really did. I would have liked to see more of Sonic.

At least Yuji Naka liked it.

 

Actually there was a small allusion to the Green Hill theme in the track that played when Sonic first saw the zone, but it was only two seconds and very subtle. But thats nitpicking. Agreed, the music didn't fit.

 

Making notes as I see the "film":

1. The scene is mirrored at 2:56....I can tell by the words on a sign on a light pole to the right and a building to the left.

2. AVGN....what a surprising touch!

2a. Welcome to 1984 I suppose

3. The 3D interaction is well above Beast Wars quality, but not up to the standards of this decade (still looks pretty good for what it is).

4. @ 9:04....I could have sworn that a person has to be between[I/] the robot's arms in order to be grabbed like that... :/

5. I don't care what anyone else says, those buzzbombers kick ass! (motobugs....not so much)

6. "That makes 3.....4 more to go" I don't know why, but I found this hilarious!

Conclusion: I'm hungry for more....and it will peobably never happen This isn't nearly as bad as what many people have been saying. The Knuckles bit broke the 4th wall though...but there had to be something shocking at the end I guess. The worst part is that I felt that the movie ended at the beginning of something great!

 

It's less surprising if you noticed all the cameos before that. Before that scene I already noticed Brentalfloss and a couple of people from Channel Awesome. There was also an appearence by Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic) later on as the GUN soldier that Sonic saves from a couple of robots.

 

I was thinking of what the rocket scene reminded me of.

turns out it was this

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siJlPtWkmzw[/youtube]

 

How to make the Sonic Fan Film more enjoyable:
1) Do this.

2) Repeat Step 1.

 

I thought the CGI in Sonic 06 was impressive myself so I don't know why someone would try to infer it was bad cause it was in a bad game. What the CG in 06 is guilty of is misleading the player into thinking the game will look better than it did. It went from looking like PS3 (CG) to PS2ish (in-game) in my opinion.

I still gotta see this fan film. Should be interesting.

 

I watched that three times in a row. Hilarious. XD

 

I have no idea who those people are....although the Hispanic guy in the city looks familiar. :v:

What a damn travesty.

My opinion of the movie itself is that it was a false start...or even a PE. Such a tease and it's over before it gains any traction.

 

Me, Psyguy, a writing professor in Ohio, and my buddy Mike did a live commentary of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX6qGZ6w75I