So, you've probably noticed that I didn't put Atrocity note pages in my two previous
Animated Atrocities review. Actually it seems that a surprising number of people didn't (or kept quiet about them). I'm actually pretty happy about that because I don't know, they kind of made my videos feel a little more low-budget, like I couldn't be bothered to put actual footage in the synopsis area. But let's not abandon them completely. Recently I stopped taking requests because it got way too out of hand. How about let's play fair. My Atrocity notebook template is now a "request submission." However, if you fill it out wrong I'm just going to disregard it altogether. And a lot of people have sort of filled it out improperly or judged things too harshly. So this is going to a normal guide to how to fill one out (oh and disregard the 1001. I'll make a better one for that).
- Alright, episode title, show, episode number, writers, and directors can usually be found on imdb.com. If the animation in question is something that no one has ever heard of and you can't find the creators on it, just write "writers/editors/staff unknown."
But now to the part you're all interested in. How to not over-bash an episode in any of the categories.
Cringe-Inducing Audio: Music, sound effects, sound mixing, or voice acting that forces the listener some distress.
1 in C-IV: The music in the episode is bland, generic, or uninspired.
3 in C-IV: The lyrics to such songs are rather stupid, like a song about socks. In the voice acting territory, a main character has a particularly obnoxious voice or style of speaking.
4 in C-IV: Characters attempt to sing, but aren't good at it.
5 in C-IV: Sound effects such as nails on chalkboard, and absurdly loud explosions are used.
7 in C-IV: A main character has a grating voice.
9 in C-IV: EVERY character has a grating voice.
10 in C-IV: You shift between not being able to hear anything and covering your ears.
Cringe-Inducing Visuals: Visuals that in some way force the viewer to look away from the screen. It may be badly abused gross out, a character in phyiscal or emotional pain, or seizure-inducing lights
1 in C-IV: This animation has a character in slight discomfort that is somewhat unpleasing to watch [
Courage's appearance in Ball of Revenge]
3 in C-IV: There is a constant source of light gross out, or one particular moment that attempts to gross you out [
Spongebob's face in Spongebob, You're Fired!]
4 in C-IV: There is a constant source of gross out that may tick off the squeemish, or there is one moment that goes above and beyond [
Squidward's toenail in House Fancy]
7 in C-IV: The episode goes above and beyond to gross out the viewer by throwing in pus, blood, or fecal matter [
The Splinter]
9 in C-IV: The episode is constantly at Squidward's toenail from House Fancy for the entirety of the episode.
10 in C-IV: The episode has seizure inducing lights that put hundreds of kids in the hospital [
Electric Soldier Porygon]
Lackluster Writing: Writing that fails the basic concepts of storytelling, lacks cohesiveness or polish, and wreaks of laziness.
1 in LW: A story is told extremely by-the-book with little divergence from the beaten path.
2 in LW: A story is given slight amounts of filler/unnecessary moments (+1 modifier for 11 minute episodes; +2 for 7 minute episodes)
3 in LW: The story has dents here and there, but you can still follow what's going on during a first viewing.
5 in LW: Logic is thrown to the wind to have whatever the writer want to happen, happen.
6 in LW: The plot only seems to move when the writer pulls something out of their ass (Johnny's Royal Flush)
7 in LW: The story was mostly or entirely ripped off from somewhere. Or the writers use a concept that abandons all logic.
8 in LW: The story was mostly or entirely ripped off from a story within the same franchise.
9 in LW: The story has no sense of coherence. You could type random characters on your keyboard and come up with a better story.
10 in LW: Nothing of substance was even ATTEMPTED.
Annoyance: This is the most subjective category so hints cannot be given. This is generally used to give extra points where the other categories do not apply. Just remember that once you say that something is the most annoying thing out there, nothing can really take that title away. Always estimate conservatively.
Disturbing Content: This does not apply to shows that are trying to be disturbing, such as The Gregory Horror Show. This category is for when things like the writers put suicidal themes in episodes for children. Remember that what disturbs you may not disturb everyone.
1 in DC: Those characters are staring into my soul.... but in all seriously, some uncanny character movements
3 in DC: It's hinted that a character has gone through some particularly severe torment. (Keep in mind that this may be black comedy).
4 in DC: All of the characters live in the uncanny valley.
6 in DC: There is extremely unsettling imagery that goes beyond just mere gross-out.
7 in DC: There is a vicious monster tormenting a character [
The A Pal for Gary monster]
9 in DC: It's expressly stated that a child thinks one of his parents raping the other is normal sex [
1 Night in Gottlieb]
10 in DC: I have personally never come across something that I believed is worth 10/10 in Disturbing Content. God have mercy on the poor soul who truly finds this, beyond horrifying imagery, beyond terrifying concepts. A 7 out of 10 would give someone nightmares, a 10 out of 10 would truly psychologically scar them. Do not use this rating lightly.
Unnecessary Cruelty: A character who does not truly receive it is at the receiving end of misery. Judge the animation as a whole and not just the instant.
1 in UC: Someone stole this character's sweet roll.
2 in UC: This character suffers some bruises for no reason.
3 in UC: The character suffers a minor loss of personal belongings (ex: the episode ends with him missing his wallet)
5 in UC: These characters have their talents, hobbies, or lifestyle mocked by someone they know/trust '
Putting Your Hoof Down]
8 in UC: This character is told that his neighbors, friends, and even family would be better off if he was never born [
It's a Wishful Life]
9 in UC: This character is literally tortured for comedy. [
A Pal for Gary]
10 in UC: This character is psychologically tormented to the point where he is contemplating suicide. [
One Coarse Meal]
Rancid Morals: Not everyone who tries to teach a lesson has good intentions. Sometimes it's a failed parody, sometime's it's the writer not thinking everything through, but sometimes it's purely malicious. Remember that the episode has to specifically be trying to teach this. If it was by accident, it goes under "unfortunate implications." (and/or lackluster writing)
1 in RM: "Get along with people or evil ice monsters will kill all of you"
2 in RM: "Yes violence is sometimes the answer. I'll leave you to figure it out for yourself."
3 in RM: "You're absolutely perfect in who you are. You don't have any flaws whatsoever."
4 in RM: "Being gay is not a choice. I learned this by choosing to get injected with a vaccine that turned me gay." [Family Gay]
5 in RM: "Hitting people is wrong, unless that person is hitting you in order to teach you a lesson." [Arthur's Big Hit]
6 in RM: "It's okay to be a useless freeloader, as long as you're chasing your dreams!" [The Groovenians]
7 in RM: "Crying DOES solve all of your problems after all!" [Stuck in the Wringer] (a moral so terrible it's hard to take seriously, thank god.)
8 in RM: "You see those people that look different than us? Yeah, they're lesser beings than us."
9 in RM: "You should really consider suicide sometimes, you're just taking up space if you don't"
10 in RM: "You should stay in an abusive relationship for the abuser's benefit" [Seahorse Seashell Party]
Low production values: Sometimes animation is used to get a cheap buck out of those who will buy anything animated out of their kids. That being said, keep in mind that not everything is going to be Disney. Try to keep a -1 or -2 modifier to indie projects that really
don't have a budget. It all depends on how much you think they're trying.
1 in LPD: Some assets are reused from an earlier episode. It's only noticeable if you know where to look.
3 in LPD: Some assets are reused from an earlier episode. It's easy to see.
5 in LPD: There are large segments of the episode that are not animated. Previous clips are replayed in order to save quick buck.
9 in LPD: This animation would not pass on Newgrounds.
10 in LPD: It's just a still frame with someone talking, entirely.
Unfortunate Implications: It's like Rancid morals, except done by accident. Because of that fact, unfortunate implications tend to be worse and more common than rancid morals. Use that guide with a -3 modifier.
Character derailment: This in fusion with Low production values makes it truly difficult to have high scoring animation because low production values are almost exclusive to one-shot things, and character derailment is exclusive to ongoing shows. Character derailment is when a character does something that well, tarnishes their character whether it be out of character or not. The numbers on this vary from series-to-series way too much to give any sort of useful guide.
When you're done, add up all of the numbers out of 100. If you've done everything right, you should actually have a number that's surprisingly small. Please remember that Animated Atrocities are the ONLY requests I take, and I'll only consider them if someone fills this form out.
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