CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

EDIT: i got my facts wrong. I thought this was going to be a really strange movie... I heard that there was going to be no mention of God in it...and that it was made by Disney...but apparently, it's not? I am confused now..

ANYWAYS

The Ten Commandments is going to be a 3D animated movie!

http://epicstoriesofthebible.com/

I am not so excited about the animation... I really liked how Dreamworks did this movie in the late 90s.... but...I dunno it has potential.

I guess it's part of a series of Epic Bible stories...

...

Well, I applaud their efforts. But really, the animation is...VERY sub-par. It doesn't look polished at all. CG animation is overused these days anyways, and a movie with bad CG animation...well, I don't see it drawing any large crowds. I mean, I've seen video games that look better than this. Maybe it's just my eye, but I think the animation looks very unprofessional. And I'd suggest that maybe it is made by amateurs, if the actors in it weren't so well known (Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley, etc.).

It may have the potential to be a good movie; The Prince of Egypt was very well done and I liked it a lot, but...I dunno. XD I wish them the best, I guess.

This looks like another cheap TBN project. It think the POE had a lot better quality and wider audience range, considering this looks like an episode of Jimmy Neutron, or the cut scene in a mid budget video game. Also, I couldn't hear any sound on the trailor. Was there any?

I wasn't impressed with the Voice of God in the commercial.

Radical Dreamer wrote:...

Well, I applaud their efforts. But really, the animation is...VERY sub-par. It doesn't look polished at all. CG animation is overused these days anyways, and a movie with bad CG animation...well, I don't see it drawing any large crowds. I mean, I've seen video games that look better than this. Maybe it's just my eye, but I think the animation looks very unprofessional. And I'd suggest that maybe it is made by amateurs, if the actors in it weren't so well known (Alfred Molina, Ben Kingsley, etc.).

It may have the potential to be a good movie; The Prince of Egypt was very well done and I liked it a lot, but...I dunno. XD I wish them the best, I guess.

I totally agree XD -._.- I really wonder why we can't seem to get any amazing animation for Christian things.

Mechana, there was sound O_o I am not so excited about the voic ating though...

I wish them he best too...

Sigh. I think I'll pass on this.

So many people caring more about how pretty the movie looks as oposed to the message behind it.

Quite sad really.

Don't get me wrong, it would be awesome if this movie or other movies with Christ-based messages had a high budget but sometimes that's not the most important aspect of a movie.

TeeLay wrote:So many people caring more about how pretty the movie looks as oposed to the message behind it.

Quite sad really.

Don't get me wrong, it would be awesome if this movie or other movies with Christ-based messages had a high budget but sometimes that's not the most important aspect of a movie.

The problem is that the message in this movie has been carried across already, in much higher quality of both voice and animation (Prince of Egypt). This just looks... well... lazy. A lot of people base their watching habits on the quality of the entertainment, and honestly, this is subpar even for christian media. It feels as if they're banking on a bunch of childrens church programs to buy it because it'll fill time and is about the bible.

You can write the best message on a used napkin with ketchup, but it will come across as more valuable and understandable on real paper in ink, clearly printed. This is becoming an issue of the medium getting in the way of, and obscuring the message, rather than assisting in the communication.

TeeLay wrote:So many people caring more about how pretty the movie looks as oposed to the message behind it.

Quite sad really.

Don't get me wrong, it would be awesome if this movie or other movies with Christ-based messages had a high budget but sometimes that's not the most important aspect of a movie.

Because the best way to witness to people that want to see a well-made film is to make it look awful, but claim there's a good message behind it (a message that's been done before, with more skill, for that matter).

Right.

Enough of the sarcasm everyone, thanks. Teelay brings up a valid, if not idealistic point.

I understand what you mean, Teelay..but they are kind of right. Unfortuntately, beauty sells...and that goes along with art.

This may or may not be relevant: I just got back from visiting an area with lots of folk art...and there was some really cool stuff, that probably wouldn't be cared about by the normal people. It was kind of flashy and stuff, but it still had it's own worth to a very select few. Normal people would call folk art junk.

Same with this movie: What I think this movie has better than the Prince of Egypt is the fact that they won't just stop at the Red Sea, they do go on...and I think that alone might be worth a rent.

I think what many Christians are tired of, Teelay, is the seemingly lazyness of the Christian animation...and it is a little bit sloppy. The Prince of Egypt was made by a secular company, but it was for the most part clean, and very close to the Bible. (I think they took a few non-important liberties with the story)

Maybe the animation is the way it is because of the Moses that this animation studio is trying to present. Their catch is an "ordinary man" that is called by God. And so i think they are wanting to make Moses seem like an ordinary, humble man.

I am not sure if I actualy like this idea...to be honest. Why would Moses be humble and stuff? He WAS raised as a prince after all...I think he was humbled when he was sent out into the desert..you know?

Anyways...yeah... I hope my feedback makes sense...and please guys, Cut the sarcasm. I have seen it a lot lately, and it's getting old.

I'm never one to judge solely on looks, as I've said before in the chat. So it isn't really the lack of polish in the animation itself that bothers me. What bothers me is what others have said; that this is an indication of the laziness of Christian entertainers.

It sadly seems so many Christian artists and entertainers are content to be sub-par but claim "There's a good message behind it!" God wants us to do everything for Him. Our work is a form of worship to Him. You think He likes half-hearted worship? To just go, "Well, the message is what's really important, so I don't care about the quality?"

I think not. We should always strive to do our very best for Him, not to just go "Meh it's adequate," which sadly is how I feel most Christian entertainment is done. "It says God and Jesus and stuff in it, so it doesn't matter how good it is."

Nate wrote: "It says God and Jesus and stuff in it, so it doesn't matter how good it is."

Exactly what I feel the stance is. QFT

Nate wrote: "It says God and Jesus and stuff in it, so it doesn't matter how good it is."

That's not my stance at all.

I agree that I'm getting sick and tired of how movies that usually have a Christ-Centered message are usually low budget and crappy.

I was discussing the animation quality in a different context.
We should put the message over the appearance.

I'm not saying Christians shouldn't bother putting effort into their films.

Uhm, from what I understood from the focus on the family review, it's aim is for younger children, kinda to help them get closer to God while they are still young.

Also, I don't know what bashing the art in nearly every post will accomplish....

Well, I feel that, despite many of these shows are aimed at kids, parents still have to end up watching them with them. If the show is done in a way thats not visually detracting from the show, both the parents and the children may get somethign out of it, rather than the parents wondering why Moses looked like a robot.

I target the art because its what I know the most about, and that I would like to hold Christian animation to the same standards as any other animation, just as I would like to hold christian writing to the standards of other writing, christian movies to other movies, christian comics to other comics and christian music to other music. Its a competitive market... why not act as such?

This level of quality is usually relegated to the 5 dollar bargin bin in Best Buy if its not a christian movie usually, so what gives it a free pass to go that route when it is christian?

bakura_fan wrote:Also, I don't know what bashing the art in nearly every post will accomplish....

That's not entirely the point. Thing is, this has not only been done before (The Prince of Egypt), but it's been done better. So I really don't know what they're trying to accomplish by having third-rate artwork, using a Bible story that's already been released in theaters.

well, Prince of Egypt really didn't cover the whole wandering in the desert, receiveing the ten commandments, the golden calf, or the promised land. They probably could have chosen better graphics (to me the graphics are game looking), but I don't really see the need to sweat over it. Anyway, I'll stop posting here, I don't wanna start something.

Wow, this movie does look pretty bad. Whereas companies like Pixar or Valve do things things that try to improve 3D animation, (Mad props to Valve because they do so for videogames which generally hold less of a standard when it comes to quality of animation compared to movies) other companies seem to make their animation look mediocre.

Take a look at these videos: http://youtube.com/watch?v=mY5qJHZCz2I
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rNM4eFsX68Y

This is what 3D animation should be like nowadays. Notice the character's fluid motions and the high detail on the facial movements. That is good 3D animation right there. This is what 3D animation should be now. If a videogame company could do that, a animation/movie company should exceed that quality or at least be on par with it.

Why does there have to be yet ANOTHER Ten Commandments/Moses movie? There are plenty other Bible stories that haven't been filmed HARDLY as much.

The Prince of Egypt was AWESOME; you can definitely tell that God was helping them make it. We need more movies like that instead of Dreamworks jumping on the CGI bandwagon.

For the record Charleton Heston did do the voice of God in the
Ten Commandments.He admitted to such about 40 some years later.