Watched it before you posted it on BiM.
Great job!
Granted, there was a bit of light flicker, but you have already fixed that, so I will discuss it no further. The glowing head though... that must have been a labor of love! (...or hate once you started animating with it). I dabbled with glowing heads before, and it is no easy task getting it to look good.
To bad that you weren't able to finish the whole thing, but it's good nonetheless.
Overall, I give it a 5/5 children!

Edit: I agree with what was said about the dutch angles. They were a bit overwhelming.

Last edited by Rivvm m (February 10, 2016 (06:18pm))

This is excellent. Apart from the light flicker, as Rivvm m mentioned, this was a perfect film. It definitely had a blockbuster feel
I loved it!

Last edited by Cartoonkid98 (February 10, 2016 (07:28pm))

I do admit, the slants were really over-used in this.  That was initially somewhat intentional, but even so I went too far.
Most of this was animated quite some time ago.  After having received such criticism for other films, I've seriously cut down on my slant usage, with Leprechauns in France being completely slant free, and with Ella's Tale using only a small few.
I still do quite like slants though, I'm obsessed and I don't think that I'll ever be completely rid of them.  Welcome to Darkmoor so far only uses a few stray slants, and some slants for specific short scenes, but contains mostly long periods of time where the camera is as level as I could manage, so that's something.  Now I see that a slant really isn't worth it at all unless there isn't a level shot to contrast it.

One of the reasons I stopped the film here is that I didn't want to film the rest of the film now that I've fixed my light flicker and don't use as many slants.  It would have been terrible for continuity.

Thanks!
I made a video in which I showed the dolly I built for those sorts of shots here: https://youtu.be/RWACQUVGBss  It should contain enough shots of the dolly to build your own similar dolly.  I'd really recommend it.  It makes things a lot easier.
Although, even with the good dolly, the wall shot the single hardest to produce shot I've ever attempted.  It took me somewhere around three months if I remember correctly.

I feel like most of what's been said has been already said here, but I thought I might throw in a few of my thoughts as well.  As I mentioned on Twitter, the slanted angles were definitely in excess here and it could have used some toning down.  The editing also seemed a bit "off" and sluggish to me somehow, like the shots didn't quite match up.  There's also some really great stuff here, though--the dolly through the wall in the TV room is inspired, and the brick-built explosion and the shot of King Tut and his henchmen popping out from behind each other were great too.  Overall, it certainly has its weaknesses but still definitely worth watching.  Even in its incomplete state, I'm glad you decided to upload it.  It's fascinating to watch you you've changed ad developed your style over time.

This isn't a bad thing.

Many well-known directors have a unique visual style, and you've definitely got a unique vision.  At the end of the day, I'd still prefer watching something unique and interesting yet imperfect rather than something technically good but bland.  And don't forget you're always improving; you've gotten much better since then, and it shows. 

With that being said, I don't think it's particularly helpful to think about slanted angles as needing an arbitrary amount of "straight" shots to even them out.  Slanted angles are a tool to use to tell your story, and there are always good and bad ways of using them.  The best way to make use of any shot or camera placement is to think about what effect they have, and how and why they accomplish this.  The "traditional" use of a slanted angle is to create a sense of unease, foreboding and/or danger--the crookedness helps sell the idea that something is "off" to the audience.  This is why this sort of shot tends to show up in Noir and German Expressionist films a lot, which often deal with such themes (in fact, the name "Dutch angle" allegedly even comes from this--"Dutch" is derived from "Deutsch", which is the German word for, well, German).  You can apply this in multiple ways--for example, you could have a scene where the protagonist has a ground-breaking revelation, or a massive secret/plot twist is revealed.  In the moment it is revealed, framing it in a slanted angle could really give it some extra impact.  Or, you could have a film where the main character gradually goes insane--have the shots start out straight and even, but as time goes on, make them become more and more slanted.  I don't know the specifics you've planned for Welcome to Darkmoor, but I imagine the style you've got going could definitely benefit from some slants. 

Really, though, there are no fixed rules in film-making, and you could make a shot like that mean almost anything you want it to, as long as you can do it well, and have reasonable justification for doing so.  Keep experimenting and thinking about the effect you want to have.  You're in control of the story you want to tell: how do you want your audience to feel?  And even if you do add it in for no particular reason, it can still be fun to see from time to time.  There's nothing inherently wrong with using one once in a while as long as you don't go overboard.  Think about it like eating delicious chocolate cake: it's wonderful to have on your birthday, but you'd get pretty tired of it if you ate it every single day.  Save it for the occasions that matter.

Good job! It holds together well even after years of on and off work.

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