MBR: Neil vs DeeJay

MBR: Neil vs DeeJay
Theme: Kitchen Fight
Due Date: August 24th (Extended up to 7th September)
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Neil:

Notes:
Had a lot of fun making this since it gave me a chance to try out a different way of camming. Thanks for the match, DeeJay!

DeeJay:

Notes:
Don't let the length fool you.
This was an honor. I never thought I'd be MBRing with Neil so soon, but since we're here I gave it my all. I definitely learned a lot working on this project and am going to keep learning to push my limits even higher. Thanks for the great challenge, man!

 

Man this one is tough!!!! I really like both animations, so I guess I'll go through each one and what I like about them/what can be improved on:

Deejay:

Deejay you may be an animator that's been around for a minute but that has little to zero relevance to just how polished and creative your work is. The intro really made me think back to the days before where MBRs had a nice overall story to them, and you really fleshed out the setting for the fight so great job on that. As for the fight itself, wow! You really surprised me with the choreography you had going on, it was just really a fun watch and the comedy sprinkled here and there with the pa character genuinely left me satisfied with the animation overall. I also really admired the attention to detail at parts like when Neil gets hit against the cabinet and the cabinet is shown to be physically damaged.I will say the only thing I wish was better was the ending (I loved the bet part though lol), as Neil starts the fight but it ends with him just being off screen so there's no real resolution to his end of the animation. Excellent work man, this style just brings me back!!

Neil:

Neil as always, your execution and fight choreography is basically second to none; that was a really outstanding animation. The choreography was also great and everything felt just right as far as the characters, the environmental interactions, and the weight of their actions. The ending was also a good touch, as I got a chuckle out of that. I think the only thing that left me wanting more was what Deejay had that you lacked, and that was a context/premise for the fight. I'm all for random maple characters scrapping but for this one it just felt like they had to fight for the sake of fighting. I also think the creativity with the kitchen theme was easily knocked out of the park by both of you.

This one is really hard me for me to pick because I'm a huge sucker for the way Neil animates, but ultimately I will have to give my vote to Deejay. While his combat wasn't as developed the same as Neil, it was on the same level when it comes to creativity and the nice touches of the introduction and attention to detail has me enjoying Deejay's all-around great animation more than Neil's stellar combat and flow.

You guys are rocking it out of the park, keep it up!

 

Probably the most difficult MBR and the best one in a few years. Since both of you sent me the video last night and I've seen it plenty of times and mulled it over flip-flopping between both.

DeeJay:
- Like the intro sequence and details like picture frames and whatnot
- Brilliant choreography
- Pretty long but nothing felt like filler

Neil:
- All killer no filler. No breaks in the action (i.e. shots dedicated to people getting up, getting ready, etc.)
- Brilliant choreography
- Cute ending

Both of you are sort of neck in neck but I think I'll give my vote to NEIL because he utilised the kitchen a bit more than DeeJay and I think his choreography was a bit more detailed with a neutral. He utilised plates, knives, the actual equipment like kicking stoves, etc.

It was also more consistent. By consistent I mean that the knives never were tanked and there was no break in this fluid choreography but in DeeJay's things like the SF parrying, summoning items/food and tanking knife hits while balancing hand to hand choreography probably put me off on a personal level.

However, DeeJay also put the effort into animate the objects being crashed into individually and had detailed choreography on his own, so ultimately this was more of a personal preference in what I am looking for in fights rather than which is the better animation since both are fairly even.

Great fucking job to the both of you. One of the rare times I don't have anything to really critique and thoroughly enjoyed what you both put out.

Spoiler: Me after watching both your anims. Post-anim clarity.

 

Okay first off thank you all for including ME in the MBR storyline !! and second off I love the reference of the murderer wanted poster.

Now let's get voting:

DeeJayHD:
- Your storyline is amazing.
- Your camera angle is very good.
- The title is very well done.
- Fighting animations in yours is very style.
- choreography is awesome.
- Using Object as weapons or projectile is very wholesome.
- the smooth and realistic animation and movement are the best.
- Awesome choreography

Neil:
- Short but worth to watch.
- Fighting style is spectacular.
- Using Object as weapons or projectile is very wholesome.
- Camera angle is amazing.
- choreography is awesome.
- Your speed animation is off the chart.
- Awesome choreography

My Vote goes to DeeJayHD, This dude is wholesome on his MBR animation, Part where I appeared is the best moments of my life!

 

EEEEEEEEEEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

You BOTH went hard on this and this just made me wowed a lot for you guys right now! This is the type of creative stuff I'd love to see instead of some lame classic fights.

Personally, I freaking love both animations but I think I'm gonna have to go with NEIL.

I absolutely loved Neil's part because, he honestly has this entire part planned out. This gave me Mimic vibes from just watching how each objects were used and I love throwing things at other people believe me. The choreography and the rigs are VERY on point and the timing for these things are OFF THE CHARTS. My hats off to you Neil, really.


DEEJAY ALMOST and I mean seriously, ALMOST had my vote due to his context. Who doesn't love context?

I really loved the intro and everything had their own thing going on! It made the whole entire animation look more lively and I love that so much. Especially Hunter doing his duplication thing I thought that was pretty adorable. But despite the intro, this *is* a kitchen fight so I'm gonna be more focused on that part.

The context for the kitchen fight is perfect 100/10 and I'm being REAL honest there. I love that little touch of using the ham there that was pretty hilarious! But the thing here is missing for the kitchen: DESTRUCTION. The other thing that I'll point out in comparison with Neils part, the pace is really good just as his! But, The kitchen needs to be damaged a little more and a more intense way of doing so.

This part gave me Mimic vibes too.

I really loved the creativity and effort you both put on this animation. I enjoyed LITERALLY every second of it. I hope to see more of your future projects soon.

 

Ya both Dwayne Johnson! Omega good job :D

 

Good god this is a hard one to vote on. I've spent a good chunk of time mulling over both choices - you guys did amazing!

DeeJay: I need to have my head stapled together and kill Zero, thank you. I love love LOVED the story around the idea of fighting in a kitchen, and I got a good chuckle out of the "Are ya winnin son?" Part. Your expressions and gestures really sold the scene of a living, breathing environment that took my breath away. I'm gonna have to take notes! However I felt some scenes dragged on for a bit longer than they should have, and made the pace grind to a crawl while the pair talked. This isn't a bad thing of course; but I think a quicker pace could compliment the high octane combat. The font was readable and I liked the use of color to display different characters; it minimizes the clutter of text-boxes but still lets you keep track of who's talking. Your combat was entertaining, and the creativity shown was phenomenal; however your physics felt a little soft when it came to impacts and attacks. The use of the objects in the environment; and this is entirely personal preference - felt unrealistic and it took me out of the scene a little bit. Overall, I loved this animation, and the theatrics and storyline put things in your favor; but the combat felt lacking imo, which hurts; because it's creativity is amazing.

Neil: Man oh man. Shaving off the story for a condensed bottle of lighting combat, over the beat of Macaross82-99? *Chef's-kiss* Bellissimo. I've seen your cinematics before and would've loved to have something alongside the meat and potatoes of combat; but wishes can't fill an empty stomach; so let's eat. Your combat is fast paced, grounded, and pretty intricate. There was a healthy mix of realistic physics with goofy physics to make the times where he kicks the whole desk seem believable. You show movement and weight extremely well; I particularly liked the part where DJ got himself up off the desk, or when Zinon was swinging the cutting board around. The tug of war sway when DJ stabbed the knife into the board was also really nice; and I enjoyed the detail of Zinon's eyes darting back and forth between the weapons before he grabs the extinguisher. The ending was pretty sweet; and I'm a sucker for happy endings.

This MBR is extremely even, but I'm giving my vote to Neil. Good job, both of you.

 

How is it that MBRs have popped off so hard in the last few months.

Deejay, this is frickin' NICE. Love the buildup, the extra love you put into the background characters and extras was a joy, and I came out of your animation wanting to know more about your character's life. P is lovable and I want to see more of him if I'm being totally honest.
When the time came to fight, I saw you flex your muscle with that distinct style of yours. I always love seeing characters fight and, using the context you've given, be able to infer how character fights- like how Dee works in a restaurant and fights with food and kitchenware.

Neil, dost mine eyes deceive me? A fight animation from you that I actually like? Really, REALLY LIKE?? What the hell is going on here!
I know what's going on here. It's your 110% effort using the environment. Usually the characters you animate are so powerful that they don't need to interact with their surroundings or be resourceful with it since they are the complete package. But your character is fighting a grounded, much less god-like opponent so he accommodates. This let you make a fight scene that is just really special here, entirely unlike anything I've seen from you and I love it. I know I sorta started this with a burn, but the thought that I'm trying to get across is you've always been exceptionally good at fight animations, it's just that this is the first time I've seen something that adds that extra layer of flavor to elevate your animation beyond what you normally do.

Major respect for you guys, a real battle between legends here.

My vote goes to.... Deejay.
The extra story and bits means more content, and that means coming away from the animation with an experience. You can't out-choreograph or out-fight scene an animation that offers it all, unless things go horribly, horribly wrong... BUT THAT'S NOT THIS so thank you guys, thank you for gracing us with your amazing work.

 

Spoiler

Y'all made this difficult for me to vote.

Great job to the both of you on utilizing the kitchen and good choreography!

Deejay: Very well done on making a long animation without any long pauses, I'm impressed! I like the build up to the fight on the first half and the many expressions on everyone's faces was a really nice touch to put life into the animation. Hit sparks and swing effects could've been used along with blood effects when Neil got cut by the knives. The camera shakes were very minimal, especially at the ending where Deejay swung that chunk of ham at Zinon could've had a bigger camera shake with tapering.

Neil: Really fluid and snappy movements on the choreography. Great job on conveying weight in the combat and the objects. Deejay caught on fire after splashing on wine was a really smart idea and the ending with the fire extinguisher was adorable. There's nothing much else I can say since it's pretty short.

Spoiler: Decision:

My vote goes to Neil. Although Deejay had more content, Neil's choreography had better fluidity and he utilized the kitchen a bit more than Deejay, like Kayas said. It was a REALLY hard pick for me, bravo to the both of you!

 

Alright, lemme start off by saying that both anims go hard. Like, HARD hard. I had so much fun watching (and re-watching) both of these, you both should be incredibly proud.

Both fight sequences showed off awesome weight and impact in the attacks, and both had really fun choreography that took advantage of the setting and made it really feel "improvised" (in a good way).

While I think Neil had the slight edge in terms of the fluidity of the fight sequence, Deejay gets my vote. IMO, there was only a hair's difference between the two fights and Deejay made up for it in a HUGE way in his introduction of the setting and non-fight-related interactions between characters. All of the "background shenanigans" inside and out of the restaurant were super entertaining and nostalgic, and the dialogue got a few laughs out of me. The animation in its entirety just had me more entertained overall.

TLDR: Vote goes to Deejay. Yall both savages for this tho.

 

Deejay gets the vote for sure.

 

This MBR is as close as a photo finish. Loved both parts and hope to see more of the same caliber.

DJ: You've always had a knack for storytelling and giving exposition to your animations which I appreciate (That doctor joke was a nice throwback lol). The choreography was really fun to watch and I enjoyed the back and forth between the characters, my only problem is how the techniques you executed the fight with clash a bit, going for an fight with minimal use of effects without harder camera shake makes it hard to sell the impact. The lack of effects also makes the hitstuns feel jittery and last a few frames too long. I'd personally probably keep the amount of frames as is but use smoke/wind effects so that there's more going on during those pauses and the fight neither feels flashy nor soft, at 1:50 it would've been nice to make the counter(?) semi-transparent to see Deejay's moves better but overall I vibe with this animation heavy. I really like the close combat at 2:08 and hope to see a more focused and polished style from you in the future.

Neil: One of your most refined animations yet, I definitely see you tapping more into the close-quarter martial-arts movie influences and can't wait to see how far you go with it. Your camerawork got heaps better and you seem to have an easier time selling the impact while keeping the choreography clear and easy to follow.

Similar to my voting process in Kayas vs Omega's MBR I prefer brief animations that are concise and well-detailed and I think Neil crushed that aspect. You both exceeded your previous work though so you're both winners in my eyes. Thank you both for the good fight.

 

Spoiler: Yeah, Dad

Woooow, this one was certainly hard to vote for. I loved the kitchen atmosphere a lot! Certainly is more unique rather than a forest or a empty street. Believe me, this took awhile to write down since both of the animations were my favorite and I had to make a choice.

DeeJay, seeing that sweet introduction to the real world where there are multiple people hanging out and existing is a favorite thing of mine! I love pointing out characters of "Ohhey, I know him!" n' all that! The world building is what I always loved within a maple animation since the days when I was young. Truly shows that the old days still holds up even to this day!
You surely kicked Neil's ass and it was a really good fight too! Pretty fair and everything! And then you literally finished him off with meat. Now that got me laughin'. Fighting in strange places is probably my most favorite scenery. Keeps me on my edge to see what the character will throw out.


Neil, DUDE, IS THAT MACROSS 82-99?! Hooooohhhh man. I never realized how much the style of Music they can make fit with a fight animation. I certainly loved that at the start. GOD, fighting with using the things in the scenery stage is so freaking hype! I remember Rebaz doing the same things within his animations as he told me it gives more life.
The comedy parts of the fight were subtle but good. Like a tomato to the face or stabbing a knife into the wooden board and trynna pull the knife out. I really like how fluent and life like that was! My man DeeJay literally caught on fire! Yet, Neil saved his life in the end making it a fun fight and somethin' to laugh about. Pretty heartwarming say the least.


My vote goes to..... DeeJay! The world building got to me as I love seeing from one place to another, or inside a building with other characters!
Great job to both of you guys!

 

Both were great but I'm voting DeeJay because I enjoyed it more overall with the story and what not

 

Fantastic job, both of you. I think most people here would probably happy if either of you took the win, but sadly only one of you can. (Wait, boomer question, are there ties in MBRs?)

DeeJay, I really loved the context the introduction provided, and it really did wonders for setting the scene. The little movements of all the characters as they conversed were very impactful. The intro was something I really didn't expect from an MBR. It felt really wholesome, and pulled me into the animation, making me really care about what was to come. I like the bits of personality the characters showed off as they were introduced as well. Also, camerawork and use of music was on point. A minor thing, but I also really enjoyed the use of text, with the font and colors. I'm a slow reader, so it was tough to read all the text in time, which is a small gripe. For the fight, I was a fan of the usage of the set. Smashing with pans, throwing fruits and using kitchen utensils, the scene slowly becoming broken as the fight went on. My favorite part was the dad popping in and a knife quickly embedding itself into the wall. I loved the weight and feel of the smash bros inspired charging fruit throw. With the big introduction, I was a little sad how quick of a finish it was. Even a simple, Dad?: "is he... dead", cut to Neil struggling to get up and falling unconscious or twitching on the ground, and a cut back "he should be fine" I think could've added a lot of closure.

I enjoy and value the work that went into explaining the theme. It really made the kitchen feel like an actual kitchen. I think the kind of context setting the intro provided may change how some folks consider approaching MBRs going forward, as it made this whole thing so special.

Neil, after watching DeeJay's first, I thought they had it in the bag. And then you come in with an amazingly choreographed fight right when I had set a high bar. THIS is a kitchen fight. The use of the environment made this fight extremely fresh and exciting. My favorite moment was using a cutting board as a shield; I felt like I was suddenly transported into a Jackie Chan film. Dam spectacular. The ending with the fire extinguisher was something that was extremely notable as well, and stuck in my mind all day. It was a nice, cute, quick ending to an epic fight.

My only suggestion for yours would to try taking time to slow down and highlight certain moments down that could go missed, such as zooming in as DeeJay looks to the counter and spots a kitchen knife, or focusing on your character as they start rummaging and collecting mugs and cups to use as projectiles. With the theme, it could've been interesting to have people also reacting to the fact that there was a kitchen fight taking place to make the kitchen feel even more like a kitchen. Perhaps a chef freaking out as their plates and cups are being smashed and what not, and a cook fleeing the dangerous scene. Maybe even a confused customer asking what's taking their order so long?

My vote: I think Neil's actual fight was better choreographed, but the story and context set by DeeJay's really pulled me in, and it helped make the kitchen feel meaningful in a way classic fighting alone can't do. Given how well they were both animated, my vote ultimately goes to DeeJay.

 

Enjoyed both animations a lot. Since both animations had high quality dynamics, following the theme is the last criteria for me.
Voting for Neil since it looks to have more fight in the Kitchen FIght.

 

Ey, I actually remember watching this pretty early in the morning, then deciding to put it off and think about it after doing my schoolwork. I think everyone else covered what I wanted to say already, but I'll drop some of my own thoughts here. Anyways,

I feel that when it comes to the actual fight, Neil's animation and creativity of the Kitchen items were very, very creative. The small interactions like both characters having an awkward interaction when the knife was in the cutting board, to Deejay slipping on wine, which in turn caused him to be caught on fire easily. Small things like that during the fight made it really fun to rewatch over and over. The hand-to-hand close combat style really compliments the overall theme since it feels like more action and a fast-paced version of a Jackie Chan fight scene. It was a treat to keep rewatching over and over.

Although on Deejay's end, I loved the overall setting this took place. It felt more lively with context to the actual fight, and the build-up was pretty neat. The father popping in was also pretty funny. Just like Neil's animation, I really enjoyed how objects were being tossed all around the place, and making a whole mess in the kitchen. Something I started to notice after multiple playbacks and rewatching more closely at it, I get what you were going for, having minimal effects, Villager pocket ability, Charging smashes, SF4 parries, and all that, but, it kind of feels like trying to mix multiple styles all at once, and I think it is especially noticeable when you're trying to show SF4 hitstuns lag without an actual hitstun effect. It makes sense why you didn't put an effect there, to match how the raw hand to hand combat, but, it's a little jarring to me. Though in all honesty, that's just me nitpicking, and probably just my preference. The fight was still really fun and clever and very charming overall.

I was on limbo for a while, but I'll hand my vote to Neil. I found myself rewatching it over and over since I found his overall choreography and execution to be spot on.

Amazing job you two!

 

Lovely show you've put up for us you two!
I'm a little bit late, so most of what I'd like to say has already been covered so I'll try to be a little more concise with my thoughts, but that historically doesn't stop me from barfing up essays :)

Generally, my thoughts are summed up with both fights are great to watch, with Neil's being choreographed a fair bit better in terms of pacing, using a lot cleaner sound effects and using the kitchen environment in ways that make a lot of sense and is entertaining to watch. The main drawback for Neil's animation is simply the length of it, and the beginning.
A lot of people won't have an issue with a fight happening for the sake of a fight, and that includes me, but I will not deny that when compared to something with just a little more build up it becomes blatantly obvious that Neil's animation is a fight, and nothing but a fight. Camerawork is clean, transitions are lovely and make for crisp angles of all the juicy bits!
A little bit of appropriate camera shake, and some effects that are just a LITTLE bit more standout so as to show them just a little bit more would have fit my preferences more, but what we got is by no means lacklustre in that department. Excellent work Neil.

Deejay's animation has a buildup, and a little more character to it with the pre fight scene, his father tuning in for cheeky comments, and the other characters adding just a little bit to the spectacle of everything.
That being said, Dee uses almost no visual effects at all, which is in my opinion not purely a negative, but leaves a bit to be desired visually, as it's harder to track movements as easily, especially on smaller screens. Solely because I first watched these animations on mobile, I'm cryptically aware that Dee skipped out on many visual effects that would have made the fight just a little more visually appealing to me.
The choreography was great regardless, and was a fair amount more creative in terms of the environment for sure, and had far more memorable usages of the environment to me, but a lot of the animations felt just a bit incomplete, keyframes missing just a little too many inbetweens for me to ignore, and the pacing is just barely too slow for what I would consider to be within the ideal range for combat. Overal, these are definitely minor gripes that on their own are almost entirely negligible. If not for the fact that I'm comparing it to another high quality animation, many of these would take many more rewatches to come to mind.

Overal, I find I can rewatch Neil's more mostly due to the pacing and lack of excess downtime at the start of the animation, so my vote goes to him.

 

OMG,i really enjoyed both of animation.

make good used of chicken's object to fight.that's interesting!
i take my vote to Neil because i like how to animate closely fight scene like Kung fu movie! Then i watching neil's part more than Deejay's part. lol
i like to watching how the animators Rigging Maple character.(yeah Neil got my point)

but i also like Deejay's choreography,clearly storyline why they fight,remind me to the old MBR animation.

shoke me both of you. love it :3