Talk:Apples to the Core/@comment-24479601-20140129011640

I liked this episode a lot but as an animator, the final version song really bothered me. Especially when you put it up against the animatic. My two major issues are:

1. Eye Contact. This is an issue I've struggled with in the past, so I can sympathize that it's difficult to do, and usually MLP doesn't have that many problems with it, but in the song it's all over the place... and it pulls me right out. For instance:

http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/File:Apple_Bloom_singing_while_Big_McIntosh_is_smiling_S4E09.png

What the heck is Pinkie looking at in this frame? She looks like she's about to eat Applebloom's bow lol. And Big Mac is looking ABOVE Applebloom for some reason.

In the animatic, Applebloom and Big Mac look at each other having a big brother/little sister "moment", and Pinkie looks at them excitedly:

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130727004403/mlp/images/1/1b/Apple_Bloom_...than_traveling_with_my_family_S4E9.png

There's a bit of perspective in the animatic that's flattened out in the final animation that may have a lot to do with how it looks.

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2. Pinkie Pie bouncing around on the wagon. It worked in the animatic because when the Apples danced around, the cart did too. Here, it made no sense because when they danced, the wagon just kept moving as normal.

And why is Pinkie sliding around and popping back into position the second time they show her bouncing on the wagon (around 1:06 in the video)? That just looks... bad. If I were directing or supervising, I wouldn't let that "slide" (har har).

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There's other stuff I could nit-pick about (poppy/mechanical animation, poses that aren't as dynamic as the storyboards, etc.), but those are my major problems with the song.

There's some good stuff in it, but overall I definately liked the animatic more. It could have been a lot better, especially since the MLP animation is usually very good for a TV show on a tight budget.

So yeah, the song was a bit of a disappointment for me. Liked the episode overall though.