Yay!  I finally get a chance to review this masterpiece without bumping any threads!

Story  By far the best aspect, the story is fantastic.   It might be simple but it illustrates a great point very well.  It's focus on the main character's life makes us feel for him.  I also love that quote at the end.

Animation  The animation is pretty decent.  I don't have to much to say about it so lets move on.

Voice Acting  The voice acting is definitely an improvement over the older version since I can now tell everything that is said.

Set Design  The sets are simple, but effective.  Even the best sets can ruined by bad cinematography but that is certainly not the case.  More about that in the next category.

Cinematography  The cinematography is perfect.  Using grayscale for the present and color for the flashbacks was a stroke of genius.

Effects  The effects were very neat.  I'm glad you fixed the water effect so it wasn't overlapping the hose.

Editing  The scenes were edited together perfectly.  I love the how you zoomed into the eye for the fireman's flashback.

Overall  Like I said in beginning, this is a brickfilming masterpiece.  It is by far the best brickfilm you've made.
Thank you for making this in the first place and making it even better.

Story 10/10

Animation 8/10

Voice Acting 8/10

Set Design 9/10

Cinematography 10/10

Effects 9/10

Editing 10/10

Overall 9/10

Last edited by BrickTective Productions (July 16, 2014 (04:39pm))

Youtube
Facebook The Screenplay Challenge

Hate to be that guy, but I kinda favor the older one.
I prefer the older voices to the new ones, as well as some of the shots.
Plus, the Color/Black and White switching isn't consistent and just doesn't look right.

Still, they are both amazingly great, and you should be proud of 'em!

Sure!
At 0:57, the truck and lights are completely in color, showing blue and red, and it's not a flashback. There's not more blue anywhere else, and the colored flames in that sequence aren't a strong red. Being the only use of a more orange-y color. The previously established color palette was black/white/and a strong red for real time, but then more shades/colors are introduced and it takes time to figure out why. And with the later scenes being totally black/white, there's no more clips to help figure out the logic. Adding something of color to the later real-time shots, or removing the blue from the truck would have simplified things.

Now, after watching many times, it appears that the fire truck is in full-color at all times, but this wasn't apparent at first and is a bit confusing. The real fire-truck is his dream, yes, but it appears unfulfilling to him, as he is yearning for the past. Thus, should it be in color? And being only in one short shot makes it look like some kind of error or oversight, unlike the toy truck that was in several shots. So yeah, I'm was wrong, it is consistent. But to a pattern that is harder to figure out and only fully used for one shot. So consistent, yes, but also a bit confusing.

As for some other shots/things:
The narrowing video at 0:38 of the new video seems out of place, as well as the more threatening tone in the kid's voice.
The shot of his legs as his runs to the fire was switched for a higher shot that showed his body. (0:59, old video)
The wider zoom of both the fireman and the fire at 1:32 of the old video doesn't use an unnecessary camera movement, and keeps the fire in-frame.
I prefer the old, single shot of the gravestone. The pan down allowed the writing to be more of a reveal, and the tophat man was less noticeable and distracting. Rather than a wide shot and then a close-up from basically the same angle.