Short Film: The Piano

[Mathew Everett]

I cant stop watching this!

[cybling]

Hehe im really glad you like it, feel free to email me at cybling@gmail.com with any questions.

I know the animation could be better (only really spent around 5weeks on animation), and i think that if i had more time, or someone to help, i could have made it better. But im overall happy with what ive made in the 6 months and cant wait to start my next one

[Geddart]

Wow! I love it! This is overflowing with emotion really!
A Lot comes directly from the great music - makes me wanny play piano again! (and i will learn this piece now!) In overall your cinematography is very good. Camera, cut, pacing - it all fit's together very nicely. I just dig in and say what i like now.

I love that you can really see him playing. He's using the pedal (right word in english?) in the first shot and i was able to play the melody from the shot where you can see his hands playing - GREAT!
I love that when the old lady appears. He never looks at her directly but he has this dreamy look on his face. Also when she kisses him it would look totally ok if you'd just see him alone. Well done!
The Transition from the soldier scene to him playing again is very nice.
I love the shot where you can see the boys feet jumping with that horse thing; (first time) works great together with the music at that moment.

hmmm, what i don't like?
Sometimes the Animation is a little weightless, for example where the soldier get's shot or when the boy get's the present. Also there could be some more subtle facial movements that would make the characters seem less cliché and more alive. Here and there the shadows are a bit harsh too (for my taste). But all that fades away cause you have totally nailed the feeling with this little piece. Wonderfully melancholic.
Hope you will keep us updated with your future work!

PS: I think it would be a good idea to give your short a more informative filename. (people will save it, search it on their hdd's and so on) Piano_Gibbons.avi or something like that would be much better than finallarge.avi.

[cybling]

Geddart,

Thanks for the brilliant feedback, was exactly what i wanted to see to be honest. I am gonna be re-animating the shot with the boy receiving the gift at the weekend because i know its pretty weak. Im really glad you think the rest is good tho. Ive also changed the filename, that makes much more sense Cheers