I am NOT beating the Alan Becker glazing allegations Check out the Flexispot C7 here: shrsl.com/4m7ya (affiliate link) If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe, like the video, and leave a comment on what you thought of the video! Edits Below: 7/26/24: At 39:29, I don't mean to undermine the amazing work that Scott and Aaron and everyone else on the Alan Becker music team, the quality of the music is amazing, but I still support my claim that the sound effects don't feel as impactful as they did in AvA Season 2. Also I'll go watch GuildedGuy when I have the chance.
i am utterly flattered by this video essay. you've put into words what I could not (which may be part of the reason I rarely use words) i've got to give credit where it's due: terkoiz did all choreography for monster school, the witch, KO vs herobrine and all other fights that happen in the nether, as well as that fight in The Box fordz did most of the choreography for lucky block staff, including the boat scene, and the chef fight scene skim came up with the idea for lucky block staff episode and wrote most if not all of the fight scenes. in terms of my typical involvement in these fight scenes, I typically tell the animator who fights who, the powers/movesets of each character, and the general storyline of the fight. they do the rest. oh and lol ty for the feedback about the music levels. that's a fair point
The GOAT is here!!!!! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and I can't wait for the rest of AvA Season 3, especially if there are more fight scenes like the CQC fight in The Box! Cheers to many more of your animations and if you ever get a Hollywood level budget for a AvA movie, it might actually just be the best action cinema of all time. Also, thx for clarifying what everyone on your team does
I believe that Alan has spent his entire life learning and understanding "Actions speak louder than words", and has blessed us his knowledge with the easiest way to understand
my favorite foght scene is when it shows 1 person getting ready before they fight ina moving play like ona train like when king orange sets up the mkncraft disc i just love those types of things
@@teaturtlesuffersok I know it's cool but this is too far if you start to hate the language we speak as a species just bc of a animation then your mind is very easy to destroy
One thing you forget to mention is that since everything is so overwhelming, your brain tends to focus on one specific stickfigure / the enemy instead, who already have constant movement so it doesn't feel like they're just standing there (except when King Orange fought Herobrine 💀) That change in POV of each character allows you to have rewatches but of everytime and notice new details, it's awesome lol
Exactly! I've rewatched the series many times and I still constantly feel like I get more out of the animation just because of the complexity of the fight scenes!
@@Very_Cool_Username this is basically the same effect you get with the spider-verse films. I've rewatched Into the Spiderverse like a dozen times by now, and on every rewatch I STILL discover new things.
thx! the boat scene in the lucky block staff episode is probably one of my favorite action sequences, period, so I'm glad that someone who worked on that liked my video
@@ChunkyNosher Oh that whole Lucky Block Staff episode was incredible, we had to cut so many ideas as well haha. I'd recommend checking out Gildedguy's work as well, he has some fantastic action and storytelling with zero dialogue.
Not to mention that all the stick figures have their own fighting styles and abilities that are apparent in the fight scenes. I love that detail sm!! It makes the stickmen unique and avoids having stale similarities between them, they all react differently to the premise of battle and being brought into one which was especially apparent in the real time for season 3. Loved the video essay and hope to watch more like it!!
For real! My favorite example is the Monster School episode again; Second, King, and Red all wield the staff like completely different weapons. Second swings and stabs with it like it’s a sword or a lance, a lighter weapon made for precise strikes. King tends to swing it around like a club, letting whatever block is in the staff do all the aiming for him while he provides the blunt force. Red sets his stance and puts his whole body into each strike, using momentum to his advantage like it’s a hammer. Though now that I think about it, the material in the block at the time could also be a factor…but still, King uses it the same way no matter what block is inside it, so the possibility that Second and Red actually went through the trouble of adapting their fighting style to suit the staff’s block still means something.
and i like how this is rlly rlly shown in ultimate minecart race, especially showing how competitive these stickfigures can get and in a way showing their styles and personalities throughout the race
@@mysiebuns_ Even though the episode ends with all the racers finishing in a four-way tie, I know a lot of people who say that Red performed the best in that race out of the four of them, and I have to agree with them. The fact that they’re distinct enough for that to even be an opinion people have is awesome.
@@mysiebuns_ oh yeah!!! like how Red utilized animals, Blue drank potions, Second relatively stayed on the minecarts and used rockets, and Green being observant and using his fishing rod. They all had different methods when it comes to trying to win in the race
Im glad someone else appreciates and admires Alan's animations as much as I do. This video greatly explained the beauty of Alan and his team's work therefore I dont see why this shouldnt be viewed more by others!
You could talk for hours about Alan’s videos and I would still love every second, I’ve always loved his videos but didn’t always know why and this is a perfect explanation of how well he does it without you even realizing.
I've been waiting WAY TOO LONG for a proper essay on Alan's work. If there's one thing I'd elaborate on it's that Alan's growth and technique have very distinct milestones. The first ever complex team fight scene was the spider minecart track in animation vs minecraft season 1 finale. That episode blew EVERYONE away, I remember the impact. No one had ever seen anything like that before. Another very memorable team fight that shocked us all was at the end of The Witch in season 3, because the insane potion body-morphs added a whole other layer of keeping track of everyone's moves or even who was who. It was amazing and still one of my favorite fights put to screen. Also the Flashback from Animator vs Animation Volume 5 was the very first time Alan used 3D graphics, and he wasn't even sure his audience would like it, he just hoped we would, and you can believe it went off like a gunshot. We had no idea he had that in his arsenal and it was so well done, it's one of the reasons Animator v. Animation is my most anticipated series from Alan because it's obviously where he and his team want to go the hardest. Their best gets better with each episode.
It's interesting how flexible the series is. We just had a season with an intense contiuing story with a menacing villian, subplots, and character development. And now its just goofy shenanigans again and it doesnt feel off at all.
14:04 I like how everything you're saying isn't even really explained in the actual animations... We're able to come to this conclusion just from seeing how the characters use it. Alan Becker and his team are MASTERS of show-don't-tell.
This why I fckn love art so much, in all its forms, from music to cinema to game design to writing. You can say SO MUCH with just a single frame or a single line. It's absolutely magical and the power of a good narrative never ceases to amaze me. I'd honestly be happy just consuming and creating art until I die, it has to be one of the most amazing things we humans are capable of doing apart from our engineering feats.
I would LOVE to see videos breaking down more of Alan Becker's fight scenes. Its oddly satisfying and makes me love the fights even more than I already do!
Honestly now that I’ve seen this video I’m hoping more people start dissecting and comparing the technical AND emotional narratives of Alan’s fight scenes.
You perfectly summarized why I'm fascinated with Alan Becker and stickfigure animations in general. I love the comparison to the Jackie Chan movies, thank you for putting my fascination into words!
26:07 I've heard a really good explanation of emotional stakes vs mass stakes, and how the viewer 90% cares about the emotional stakes. We really didn't care about Thanos dusting away half the universe and killing trillions of living beings, but we cared a lot about half the main cast (who we have developed an emotional connection to for the past 20 movies) get dusted away.
i highly recommend watching stick figure animations and really immersing yourself into one, because you just gained a new subscriber, and i am NOT going to shut up about stick figures
Me personally, the music in Alan's videos is as important as the choreography. Since Alan's videos have next to no voice acting, the team has to rely on movement to convey how a character feels. And the music can sometimes add, or make up those movements. For example, in the showdown, theres largely no music, since the fight scene needs to focus on, well the fight. But when TSC runs out towards the fight, the music kicks in, adding to the emotional factor. Everything from beyond that point is completely enhanced by the music. In summary, Scott carries. More animation studios need to implement the music into their choreography. If you've seen hackers wrath you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
Oh my god someone finally made an alan becker video that’s over 5 mintues that’s coming from someone who’s older then 12 or something who’s also not just talking about powerscaling? The gods have blessed me today. Thank you for your video.
the fact that Alan's cast of simple, faceless and voiceless characters are some of the most expressive in fiction as a whole says a lot about how insane he and his team are at this. Also you under-glazed Alan's work
"The strongest entity in history vs the strongest entity of today" hits hard. That's the hype of King Orange vs Herobrine right there. You explained everything so incredibly well in this video, incredible job!!!!
man I have been an alan becker fan for a long while now and I really appreciate the fact that you made this video because I feel like many people just pass alan off as the guy that makes stick figure animations for children even tho his videos are master pieces that are way better than some freaking shows that have millions of dollars for funding
I think mentioning the Pro's and Cons in a sponsor is the best thing which every creator should do as its not biased because your getting a bag. Props to for mentiong the Pros and Cons
Have I already watched every single Alan Becker animation that he has released? Yes. Have I already gushed to myself over just how magnificent and absolutely astonishing the animation and writing is? Also yes. Do I acknowledge that Animation vs Minecraft is over 4 hrs and 20 mins long? Affirmative. Has this video made me want to completely re-binge the entirety of AVM even though I have already acknowledged it's length? Completely and absolutely. If my family reports me radio-silent for nearly five hrs, y'all know what happened.
This video is basically my 3 hour yap session about alans animations to my girl like two weeks ago. The best part about the animations to me is the Physics of how their world works, their 2D for us but to them they live in a 3D world and the rules and limitations of what they can and can't do on the desktop (and Minecraft) is just so amazing
Here are my unorganized thoughts: I've always been thinking about how people talk about big creators, make several ~40 minute long videos, but for some reason Alan was just watched, not really talked about(in comparison to other creators). I am so glad to finally see a video that covers this topic, and even better since detail in your video is insane. I really am hoping for this video to blow up, I've been waiting for one like this for a long time. Wait for a video like this was worth it, because it's way better that I imagined it to look like. Also, what I really love about this is that you actually possess a lot of knowledge on the storyline, abilities, details, references etc. and how you've analyzed things frame by frame, just like I tend to do. And the editing is really nice, even satisfying. Thank you for putting so much effort into this! You've done a very great job!
THIS FRRRR I legit been waiting for someone to do anything covering Alan especially with all the focus on the non-stickfigure indie animation out there
"Conservation of ninjutsu" is a phenomenon when, in a story, more enemies = less power each. Mainly because large-scale choreography is hard. It's easier to have enemies be one-shot, waiting in the background, or "air-boxing" to look like they're doing something, while the protagonists only have to take on a few at a time. If you look too closely it ruins immersion. One of the biggest reasons why the fights in AVA/AVM work so well is that they don't do this. Every fight is full of action. Characters are always doing things. No moment is wasted. They don't fight in a bubble; they use the environment and each other like you said. This plus the animation truly elevates these battles to a whole other level
man, i originally clicked in the video so yt wouldnt stop reccomending AvA stuff, thinking that it would be boring, but man that passed quick i got to say, i have never heard someone put so much analisis to alan becker's work, its one of my favorite series of all time, and with all that you explained it made me like it more i like all the explaining you did, focusing in also explaining another terms outside of becker's works itself, and seeing it with this perspective made me respect a lot more AvA, lets see how part 6 turns out amazing video, hope you can grow a lot more because your way of explaining was amazing, and made 41 minutes feel smooth and not boring at all
What amazes me the most about the work Alan Becker and his team put out is the fact that they constantly find more ways of getting creative, which is particularly incredible given how high a bar the original Animator vs Animation already set in that regard. And it's never out of complete nowhere either, as every element and character has a consistent set of capabilities, they just keep on spiderwebbing out the possibilities of interactions between them to an absolutely absurd degree.
Hey, stickfigure animator and massive Alan Becker fan here! I am absolutely amazed by the quality of the video (both editing and writing wise) and the deep thought process that was highlighted in this video. I also want to thank you for spreading the word of stickfigure animations to a wider audience. I would just like to give out my kudos to you, Alan Becker, the stickfigure animation community and all the animators as a whole out there. You gained another subscriber and I'll look forwards to your next videos!
This has got to be by FAR the best video essay about Alan's work, i've been meaning to find videos like these that truly appreciates the scope and vision that Alan has for story-telling and Minecraft in general, Alan's team has such creative minds that no amount of praise will ever equal to the amount of creative spectacle they can produce, truly a great video for anyone who hasn't yet truly seen what Alan and his team can truly accomplish.
Also, a note: you can see the growth of allans time, dedication, and animation team in the animations. In the early animations, the fights are always 1v1s, people only jumping in when someone else is knocked away, but in the latest fights, everyone is always fighting, all the time
alan becker was my child hood animator i didnt even need ti speak english its magical i feel like the reason why it looks really good is because of its simplicity its hard to make a human like animation but its alot easier with stick men, he is the one who inspired me to make an animation channel, i love alan becker
This video is long overdue. I've been waiting for a video highlighting Alan's stick figure animations and analizing them. And as someone who has kept up with Alan's Animations well over a decade and utilized his "12 principles of animation videos" to better myself in Animation. This is an amazing and accurate representation of how a "REAL" stick figure animation should look like. Keep up the great work Chunky! You've gained a sub out of me!
I remember watching his videos over and over, watching one specific stick figure to understand what their choreography was, because it was so epic and entertaining. Not just with combat, but also with the note block episodes, where every stick figure is playing a part in a song. So much detail goes into these scenes it’s actually crazy.
MY GOD have i been waiting for someone to just REALLY appreciate alan's amazing choreography across all his work, over his multiple series's. Amazing video man!
I genuinely can’t explain just how happy I am to see a video essay not only about the phenomenal fight choreography of Alan and Co, but one that goes so in depth! I’m praying that this video does exceptionally well, because you’ve managed to convey one of my favorite parts about his videos. Thank you so much for this. Also, I’d love to see you talk about the fight scenes in the Gildedguy series too! It’s another web-series that I feel is under appreciated and has some crazy fights. Especially the latest episode.
I have always said that the best feature of Alan's work is that he gets all of the story across without words. Each stick figure has their own personality and you get attached to those personalities, making each fight that more suspenseful. The story is amazing and takes you down paths you never expected to go down. I admit, I cried at least twice during AvM and am excited to see where AvA is going. I get so excited whenever a new Alan Becker vid is dropped, be that a small youtube short or a large video with amazing fight scenes. Thank you for putting all of my thoughts about this youtuber into words and onto the internet.
This is a perfect way of showing how well Alan Becker does his videos with out even showing a single facial expression he has made me feel like these characters are actually real and have made me cry at some points. This just goes to show that Alan is one of the best. There is so many minor details that goes into his videos that no one notices. Also noting that every stick figure can fight in their own unique way like you mentioned at 19:04 where even TSC with no unique fighting style to go against king orange still tried to help red attack him. So many little details noted, I'm happy someone finally noticed it and said something about it.
One of my top scenes is when the stick figures completely lose TSC. Just the amount of emotion conveyed by music and body language is insane. Same goes for the fight between red and TSC
Not to mention the fact that he utilized the characters colors and personalities from the start. If you look at character purple while in the music world episode it was shown that the exact opposite color of the color wheel, green, was the one chasing after purple. Towards the end of the fight purple throws yellow at king orange knowing that yellow looked similar to king orange's son, gold.
I use Alan Beckers animation as a huge inpiration in fight animations in 3D at least, and I'm happy this video essay was made explaining why its so good
This dude legitimately summarized every single thought I’ve ever had about Alan’s animated fight scenes that I could never fully articulate into one video. Really well analyzed! ❤
39:28 I hold a different idea. In avm ep25, just before before the "pigstep" remix made by Scott Buckley started. This music is born to appear in fight scene. What's even more-Alan managed to make every plot fit the music so well(or the one fit the other). The plot and the music share the same emotions, and there are even leitmotif that represent different parts of 起承轉合: 起 3:56 this leitmotif comes when things begin or continue 承 4:20 this one arises when things process 轉 4:41 this appears when things are going to change, twist 合 9:54 this is basically same as the first one, but it shows us how can a leitmotif represent different things in different style The viewer's emotions(mine, at least) just go up and down with the music, which increases the intension much more than a few sound effect. (and the intension the remix brings at 9:34 is incredible! Damn, Scott. You cooked!) I would say this is a plus for the animation and I would rather sacrifice some fighting sound effects in exchange of this epic music.
I think one of the things that make Alan's fight scenes better than pretty much very other fight scene, is the characters personalitys and skills, along with how that's integrated with the powers they have/get
Honestly this video essay literally tells everything of why i just love alan becker's production. It feels so universal, and its literally the most enjoyable things ive ever seen. His action scenes are such a master class and his story is just so well written. There isnt any part of his videos where it felt boring to watch. His chaotic fight scenes, wonderful executions, and progression is absolutely incomparable and i dont think i cant see myself doing it any better. Absolutely wonderful video essay
excellent analysis and video essay! Alan Becker was a huge childhood inspiration for me and I loved watching his and other people's stick fight (plus stick obstacle course) videos back then!
Alan Becker appreciation, letsgooooo! Genuinely i adore these stick figure animations so much, and I'm always blown away with what he can do both on a technical level AND storytelling, especially because he doesn't use dialogue and it WORKS. It works so well, especially with the music. Purple's backstory and the cinematography and musical score had me in a chokehold. They're amazing
This video is one of very few which really did analyze Alan's animations with elements such as fights choreography and even storytelling, I always has been amazed how well made is the fight scenes, but the thing which I appreciated the most is the story, especially when the actions can and do affect it. King's story arc was a masterpiece, which shows complex antagonist who is able to realize what he did wrong, and that he became a monster he never wanted to become. Overall great video
This video needs more attention dude, this is the most hardset documentary not only on alan becker but the old era of flash animations/stickfigures fighting animations.❤❤❤ (i may not be around in that time but i can see how animations has changed through out the years.)
Alright you have definitely impressed me I enjoyed this and learned alot more than I thought I would It is a crime this video has under 300 views This needs much more You have earned my subscribe Well done
I’m so glad you made this video. Alan Becker and his team are one of my favorite creators on this platform. The storytelling, cinematography, the animation and art, are all SO good. I’ve been watching him for years!!! I’ve rewatched both of his series multiple times. There’s so much detail in his series so it’s really easy to miss stuff happening outside of the focal point. I could talk about his stuff forever. It’s so cool to see how not only the animation style has improved and developed, but the personality of the characters as well. Every character has their quirks, traits, and roles. In every fight, they all move with purpose. It’s also so interesting to see how they incorporate their personality into combat as well. Like, the King has no actual experience in playing Minecraft. That’s why his only moves include making copies of the others, destroying, creating, or displacing blocks, and using the staff to suck everything up. Meanwhile characters like TSC *do* have experience in playing Minecraft. That’s why the King gets so caught off guard when TSC uses stuff like minecarts, ender pearls, and TNT to get him. Theoretically, the King knows how they work but he has no idea how to fight with them. ARGHHH I love Alan sm.
I haven’t finished the video so you may mention this but I want to write this comment before I forget to. At 33:56 ish, when Herobrine possesses Red, this isn’t a new ability. It’s actually a callback to the original Animation vs Minecraft, in which Red turns evil and steals the Minecraft Launcher (the creative mode block). When he’s eventually defeated, it’s shown that Herobrine was possessing him in a death animation much like the one that plays when Herobrine first enters Red’s body in this fight. It’s clear that this was on purpose, as he immediately builds an obsidian mech around Red, which is what he did in the original video. This is likely what he’s familiar with, and thus would be an instinct to do when back in Red’s body
I am very happy to see something like this for Alan's work. For a channel so big, you rarely get to see this sort of thing for it. It's refreshing, honestly.
i happened to come across this video because someone on tumblr highly recommended it, and wow i can definitely say im so happy i watched. As a huge animation fan myself and a big alan becker fan to, i absolutely adore this, the analysis is incredible well explained and good to follow, it also learned me a lot of things. I already loved Alan becker his content and this only makes me want to love it more, the way he brings so many elements together and makes it so incredibly fun to watch and worth infesting in. Plenty of people ive recommend it to always seem a bit unsure, seeing how its just stickfigures playing minecraft and how they watched him as a kid and find it childish to revisit, the thing they miss is how incredibly this is for just stick figures. Although it seems childish at first glance, it can be appreciated from all ages. Especially those tiny details that just make the story just so much more better, which why i always insist people watch/rewatch it again now that their older. Or maybe im just incredibly obsessed with it and annoying- which wouldn’t surprise me much. Either way i love this video, im trying to learn animation so perhaps i can achieve something great like this one day, so im pleased with long (which i think was quite short for an essay i would not mind hearing more) detailed video essays like this. Thank you ❗️❗️🙏
Wow, I already liked Alan's animation, but this video made me like them even more!! I never noticed some details you pointed out in the fight scenes even though there are people who spent probably hours doing them!!
Dude I cannot thank you ENOUGH for this video, NOBODY talks about this show and it makes me so sad that people don’t. This series is an underrated gem that deserves COUNTLESS analysis videos, and I’m endlessly grateful you’re contributing to that count. Maybe someday I’ll make my own analysis videos on this show, about the things about it that I love. Awesome video man, I love your editing style and I hope you keep it up
16:49 I honestly believe this is because of Alan Becker's style of animation which gives a unique advantage. Due to the simplicity of the stick figures and the boat it is easier to at least KEEP UP and be able to identify what's going on to a degree, not to mention the 2 Dimensional camera view we're operating on makes it even easier to keep track of. In normal animation/movies where characters have far more detail, same for the background and the effects work such a thing could look like a mess without sacrificing some aspect of choreography. A good example is Fog Hill of the Five elements, it is exactly what you're asking for, complex combat with excellent use of super powers to blend in with the combat but this comes at the sacrifice of the dynamic camera, most of all the fights in the series utilize a 2 Dimensional camera view and it makes the camera perspective look a bit flat and undynamic which isn't a bad thing, the show maintains it's readability and it's all the better for it but you can notice this conscious sacrifice every episode, compare this to shows like Jujutsu Kaisen where the camera is very dynamic, especially in fights like Choso vs Yuji where we can have first person perspective, bottom to top perspectives etc but this comes at the sacrifice of that same complex fight choreography, the environment isn't used nearly as much as Alan Becker or Fog Hill of the Five elements. So it's like; - Complexity & Creativity - Readability - Perspective In fight choreography one of these might need to be sacrificed. In order to maintain readability one might need to sacrifice dynamic perspectives or complex and creative combat. One can have complex combat and interesting dynamic shots but lose out on the readability. These things aren't mutually exclusive but it helps narrow down why specific fights come out the way they do, like let's take Sukuna vs Mahoraga as another great example, the fight was incredibly complex and the perspectives used were amazing but the readability of the fight wasn't too profound as you can probably show people who have already seen the fight 5 or more details they didn't catch specifically because of how ambitious the fight was, like how Mahoraga was managing to attack Sukuna by flinging his severed limbs at him while getting cut up, this detail is something majority of people still don't know and this was due to the complex combat and the creative camera work, hell people don't even notice that Mahoraga performed a feint because the camera perspective was from a low angle view. I sometimes am torn between these things as well, if I want to be ambitious with my fight scene sometimes I need to sacrifice a creative camera view in order to maintain readability and complexity or if I want some dynamism to my shot I have to loosen up the complexity. Alan Becker himself is an example of this sacrifice play in which he ups the complexity and creativity, maintains the readability (The strong colors help too) but the perspective is sacrificed most times but this isn't bad in fact it works HEAVILY in his favor due to the fact that it is and has always been from a 2D perspective, so there being no change in the camera perspective won't even be questioned let alone noticed, thus it has a unique advantage in that department unlike other works which either imitate 3D space (2D animation) or is literally 3D (live action/3D animation) Not downplaying Alan Becker but I just wanted to clarify that what he's saying isn't a problem with how fights are choreographed in animation/live action films but rather that working all these elements without sacrificing one is highly difficult.
Breaking a fight scene into three measurable parameters (Complexity, readability/clarity, perspective) is a very smart and intuitive way of analyzing said fight scene, thanks for sharing! I also agree with the fact that all fight scenes sacrifice at least one of those aspects, but I also feel like clarity/readability and perspective tie into each other a little bit. One point that I couldn't necessarily fit into the video is that when it comes to wide shots in a fight scene with multiple subjects doing different things, the clarity is sacrificed in those scenes because while you can technically see everything, actually comprehending what happened in real time is nearly impossible on the first and even subsequent watches. However, the perspective of the fight was therefore enhanced since while you can't comprehend every action, your brain is overloaded trying to do so, which translates to a positive and exciting emotion from said fight, compared to other shaky cam fight scenes where you can't see any action, so your brain doesn't have any action to comprehend in the first place.
Please make more videos of analysing the AvA and AvM fight scenes frame by frame! The analysis you gave of King vs Herobine was amazing and I honestly would enjoy a break down of every major fight done in a similar manner! Love, love, loved this video!
i just want to say, thank you so much for making this video. This video literally made me tear. The fact that I've been a fan of Alan's work for years and that he was my inspiration for becoming an animator, and understanding from this video what I didn't realise/couldn't express in words is purely wholesome :'))
I hadn't seen Alan's more recent animations, but my goodness this video essay is absolutely amazing and has made me want to actually watch the entirety of animation vs minecraft when i have some free time
DorMyd In my analysis, I also noticed this emotionality against the battle with the king, and I myself noticed a lot that it was obvious that I was working on the series myself, and I would take a lot of things into account, thank you)
It's really true, the beautiful choreography of the fights is what made me start to like Alan Becker's animations, these choreographies are so rich in details with such great timing that it's insane to see.
This is a great analysis! I’ve loved Alan’s work since I was 6, and it was one of my biggest inspirations to become an animator. When you talked about the environment and compared it to Jackie Chan, it truly made me understand why I loved it so much. Alan and the team are so good at combining team fights and environment it’s no wonder Cave Spider I had my most intense fixation on his channel from Lush Caves to The Box so I loved this video for bringing back good memories of being in the fandom. I really enjoy the fight breakdowns, pointing out details I haven’t even noticed. Also, I want to get better at choreographing my own fight scenes and this analysis, and I learned so much of what makes a great fight scene here! All in all, 10/10 video, and have a great day!
thank you so much for making this video, i've always wanted to put my appreciation of alan beckers work into words, but im just not skillful enough in my writing to do that. you've said everything i wanted to and never could have for my appreciation of alan becker. thank you.
alan becker is one of the main reasons why i started animating 6 years ago!!! so happy hes still getting recognition for his incredible work (and i still look at his '12 principles of animation' video frequently LOL)
I am NOT beating the Alan Becker glazing allegations
Check out the Flexispot C7 here: shrsl.com/4m7ya (affiliate link)
If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe, like the video, and leave a comment on what you thought of the video!
Edits Below:
7/26/24: At 39:29, I don't mean to undermine the amazing work that Scott and Aaron and everyone else on the Alan Becker music team, the quality of the music is amazing, but I still support my claim that the sound effects don't feel as impactful as they did in AvA Season 2. Also I'll go watch GuildedGuy when I have the chance.
Been watching Alan for years at this point. He’s probably got one of the best online shows I’ve watched, for sure.
@@Squorzel Alan is so good he makes underrated an understatement.
The glaze is deserved ‼️💯
What allegations?
That hes Alan's #1 fan 🤣@@zian01000
i am utterly flattered by this video essay. you've put into words what I could not (which may be part of the reason I rarely use words)
i've got to give credit where it's due:
terkoiz did all choreography for monster school, the witch, KO vs herobrine and all other fights that happen in the nether, as well as that fight in The Box
fordz did most of the choreography for lucky block staff, including the boat scene, and the chef fight scene
skim came up with the idea for lucky block staff episode and wrote most if not all of the fight scenes.
in terms of my typical involvement in these fight scenes, I typically tell the animator who fights who, the powers/movesets of each character, and the general storyline of the fight. they do the rest.
oh and lol ty for the feedback about the music levels. that's a fair point
Gog I love it when credit is given to those who deserve it.
woah its the man himself‼️
The GOAT is here!!!!! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and I can't wait for the rest of AvA Season 3, especially if there are more fight scenes like the CQC fight in The Box! Cheers to many more of your animations and if you ever get a Hollywood level budget for a AvA movie, it might actually just be the best action cinema of all time.
Also, thx for clarifying what everyone on your team does
@@ChunkyNosher AYYY
you’ve got such an incredible team with you alan
Bro dropped the hardest Alan Becker documentary and thought we wouldnt notice.
"here we see a wild Alan, animating in the hopes of attracting enough viewers to pay his bills. And it seems to be working quite well!"
True
Don’t worry in a few years a new one will arise (Mabey)
He's the most sane Alan Becker fan
droppet
38:22 I love how Blue is just described as “crippling nether wart addiction” here.
25:42 The Strongest Entity in History vs The Strongest Entity of Today. Goddamn.
*"No, you can't make a mincraft character scary by changing 2 pixels!"*
So how tf ko win?
@@longpeter0921His name was on the title
@@number4493 oh i see :))
Stand proud Herobrine, you are strong
I believe that Alan has spent his entire life learning and understanding "Actions speak louder than words", and has blessed us his knowledge with the easiest way to understand
my favorite foght scene is when it shows 1 person getting ready before they fight ina moving play like ona train like when king orange sets up the mkncraft disc i just love those types of things
Indeed 🤌
Alan and his animator team are cracked as hell
This is why I haven't liked audio for years now
@@teaturtlesuffersok I know it's cool but this is too far if you start to hate the language we speak as a species just bc of a animation then your mind is very easy to destroy
One thing you forget to mention is that since everything is so overwhelming, your brain tends to focus on one specific stickfigure / the enemy instead, who already have constant movement so it doesn't feel like they're just standing there (except when King Orange fought Herobrine 💀)
That change in POV of each character allows you to have rewatches but of everytime and notice new details, it's awesome lol
YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSssss, the re-watchability!!!
Exactly! I've rewatched the series many times and I still constantly feel like I get more out of the animation just because of the complexity of the fight scenes!
@@Very_Cool_Username this is basically the same effect you get with the spider-verse films. I've rewatched Into the Spiderverse like a dozen times by now, and on every rewatch I STILL discover new things.
agreed!!
EXACTLY MAN, you can watch it as many times as u can cause there's so much to see
Oh my god somebody did a video essay on Alan's MASTERFUL choreography, that's just what I've been waiting for!!
Same here lol
The vid I never thought I needed.
@@Nobodyshere1105 The vid I always knew I needed
Alan Becker is just the goat
Fucking Agree!
I totally agree.
Agree
Yeah i agree alan's animations are on par or if not better the companies who make anime
The absolute Goat
finally my two favourite things
video essays and Alan Becker videos
ikr finally a video that can actually appear when I search 😂
Finally a video where there are 2 stuff that I like so I can eat in peace
Wow, what a fantastic analysis! Glad our videos impacted you enough to want to break down one of my favorite sequences we’ve done. Keep it up!
thx! the boat scene in the lucky block staff episode is probably one of my favorite action sequences, period, so I'm glad that someone who worked on that liked my video
@@ChunkyNosher Oh that whole Lucky Block Staff episode was incredible, we had to cut so many ideas as well haha. I'd recommend checking out Gildedguy's work as well, he has some fantastic action and storytelling with zero dialogue.
Not to mention that all the stick figures have their own fighting styles and abilities that are apparent in the fight scenes. I love that detail sm!! It makes the stickmen unique and avoids having stale similarities between them, they all react differently to the premise of battle and being brought into one which was especially apparent in the real time for season 3. Loved the video essay and hope to watch more like it!!
For real! My favorite example is the Monster School episode again; Second, King, and Red all wield the staff like completely different weapons. Second swings and stabs with it like it’s a sword or a lance, a lighter weapon made for precise strikes. King tends to swing it around like a club, letting whatever block is in the staff do all the aiming for him while he provides the blunt force. Red sets his stance and puts his whole body into each strike, using momentum to his advantage like it’s a hammer.
Though now that I think about it, the material in the block at the time could also be a factor…but still, King uses it the same way no matter what block is inside it, so the possibility that Second and Red actually went through the trouble of adapting their fighting style to suit the staff’s block still means something.
and i like how this is rlly rlly shown in ultimate minecart race, especially showing how competitive these stickfigures can get and in a way showing their styles and personalities throughout the race
@@mysiebuns_ Even though the episode ends with all the racers finishing in a four-way tie, I know a lot of people who say that Red performed the best in that race out of the four of them, and I have to agree with them. The fact that they’re distinct enough for that to even be an opinion people have is awesome.
@@a.n.9800 yeahhh exactly thats why i love that episode so much and its so underrated out of the many avm episodes there are
@@mysiebuns_ oh yeah!!! like how Red utilized animals, Blue drank potions, Second relatively stayed on the minecarts and used rockets, and Green being observant and using his fishing rod. They all had different methods when it comes to trying to win in the race
Im glad someone else appreciates and admires Alan's animations as much as I do. This video greatly explained the beauty of Alan and his team's work therefore I dont see why this shouldnt be viewed more by others!
Agreed :D
You could talk for hours about Alan’s videos and I would still love every second, I’ve always loved his videos but didn’t always know why and this is a perfect explanation of how well he does it without you even realizing.
I've been waiting WAY TOO LONG for a proper essay on Alan's work.
If there's one thing I'd elaborate on it's that Alan's growth and technique have very distinct milestones. The first ever complex team fight scene was the spider minecart track in animation vs minecraft season 1 finale. That episode blew EVERYONE away, I remember the impact. No one had ever seen anything like that before.
Another very memorable team fight that shocked us all was at the end of The Witch in season 3, because the insane potion body-morphs added a whole other layer of keeping track of everyone's moves or even who was who. It was amazing and still one of my favorite fights put to screen.
Also the Flashback from Animator vs Animation Volume 5 was the very first time Alan used 3D graphics, and he wasn't even sure his audience would like it, he just hoped we would, and you can believe it went off like a gunshot. We had no idea he had that in his arsenal and it was so well done, it's one of the reasons Animator v. Animation is my most anticipated series from Alan because it's obviously where he and his team want to go the hardest. Their best gets better with each episode.
animation vs youtube essays
we found it lads, the golden comment
holy shi
titanium idea
I hope Alan somehow animates his stick figures fucking shit up with this guy’s essay (with his permission ofc)
It ended as a tie
UYYYYAAAA
It's interesting how flexible the series is. We just had a season with an intense contiuing story with a menacing villian, subplots, and character development. And now its just goofy shenanigans again and it doesnt feel off at all.
14:04 I like how everything you're saying isn't even really explained in the actual animations... We're able to come to this conclusion just from seeing how the characters use it. Alan Becker and his team are MASTERS of show-don't-tell.
"show-don't-tell" lol
This why I fckn love art so much, in all its forms, from music to cinema to game design to writing. You can say SO MUCH with just a single frame or a single line. It's absolutely magical and the power of a good narrative never ceases to amaze me. I'd honestly be happy just consuming and creating art until I die, it has to be one of the most amazing things we humans are capable of doing apart from our engineering feats.
So in conclusion:
He transcends languages and still manages to tell a story.
This is the best Alan Becker documentary I've ever seen. As a fellow insane Alan Becker glazer, you have my respect sir o7
@@NovaMations388 Right
The Herobrine possesing red and building an obsidien thing as a reference to the FIRST EPISODE is the coolest thing ever
I would LOVE to see videos breaking down more of Alan Becker's fight scenes. Its oddly satisfying and makes me love the fights even more than I already do!
Honestly now that I’ve seen this video I’m hoping more people start dissecting and comparing the technical AND emotional narratives of Alan’s fight scenes.
why are u everywhere
@@johndanielbeladas8949 Because I watch wayyy too much RUclips.
I forgot how much i loved Alan Becker
Peakest of Peak
You perfectly summarized why I'm fascinated with Alan Becker and stickfigure animations in general. I love the comparison to the Jackie Chan movies, thank you for putting my fascination into words!
26:07 I've heard a really good explanation of emotional stakes vs mass stakes, and how the viewer 90% cares about the emotional stakes. We really didn't care about Thanos dusting away half the universe and killing trillions of living beings, but we cared a lot about half the main cast (who we have developed an emotional connection to for the past 20 movies) get dusted away.
i highly recommend watching stick figure animations and really immersing yourself into one, because you just gained a new subscriber, and i am NOT going to shut up about stick figures
Me personally, the music in Alan's videos is as important as the choreography.
Since Alan's videos have next to no voice acting, the team has to rely on movement to convey how a character feels. And the music can sometimes add, or make up those movements.
For example, in the showdown, theres largely no music, since the fight scene needs to focus on, well the fight. But when TSC runs out towards the fight, the music kicks in, adding to the emotional factor. Everything from beyond that point is completely enhanced by the music.
In summary, Scott carries. More animation studios need to implement the music into their choreography. If you've seen hackers wrath you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about.
Oh my god someone finally made an alan becker video that’s over 5 mintues that’s coming from someone who’s older then 12 or something who’s also not just talking about powerscaling? The gods have blessed me today. Thank you for your video.
the fact that Alan's cast of simple, faceless and voiceless characters are some of the most expressive in fiction as a whole says a lot about how insane he and his team are at this. Also you under-glazed Alan's work
"The strongest entity in history vs the strongest entity of today" hits hard. That's the hype of King Orange vs Herobrine right there.
You explained everything so incredibly well in this video, incredible job!!!!
herobrine vs king Orange feels intense than gojo vs sukuna for me tbh
@@shirleyyap3208true😂😂
man I have been an alan becker fan for a long while now and I really appreciate the fact that you made this video because I feel like many people just pass alan off as the guy that makes stick figure animations for children even tho his videos are master pieces that are way better than some freaking shows that have millions of dollars for funding
I think mentioning the Pro's and Cons in a sponsor is the best thing which every creator should do as its not biased because your getting a bag. Props to for mentiong the Pros and Cons
Have I already watched every single Alan Becker animation that he has released? Yes. Have I already gushed to myself over just how magnificent and absolutely astonishing the animation and writing is? Also yes. Do I acknowledge that Animation vs Minecraft is over 4 hrs and 20 mins long? Affirmative. Has this video made me want to completely re-binge the entirety of AVM even though I have already acknowledged it's length? Completely and absolutely. If my family reports me radio-silent for nearly five hrs, y'all know what happened.
🤝
🤝 I also did that😂😂😂
This video is basically my 3 hour yap session about alans animations to my girl like two weeks ago. The best part about the animations to me is the Physics of how their world works, their 2D for us but to them they live in a 3D world and the rules and limitations of what they can and can't do on the desktop (and Minecraft) is just so amazing
Here are my unorganized thoughts:
I've always been thinking about how people talk about big creators, make several ~40 minute long videos, but for some reason Alan was just watched, not really talked about(in comparison to other creators). I am so glad to finally see a video that covers this topic, and even better since detail in your video is insane. I really am hoping for this video to blow up, I've been waiting for one like this for a long time. Wait for a video like this was worth it, because it's way better that I imagined it to look like.
Also, what I really love about this is that you actually possess a lot of knowledge on the storyline, abilities, details, references etc. and how you've analyzed things frame by frame, just like I tend to do. And the editing is really nice, even satisfying.
Thank you for putting so much effort into this! You've done a very great job!
THIS FRRRR
I legit been waiting for someone to do anything covering Alan especially with all the focus on the non-stickfigure indie animation out there
"Conservation of ninjutsu" is a phenomenon when, in a story, more enemies = less power each. Mainly because large-scale choreography is hard. It's easier to have enemies be one-shot, waiting in the background, or "air-boxing" to look like they're doing something, while the protagonists only have to take on a few at a time. If you look too closely it ruins immersion.
One of the biggest reasons why the fights in AVA/AVM work so well is that they don't do this. Every fight is full of action. Characters are always doing things. No moment is wasted. They don't fight in a bubble; they use the environment and each other like you said. This plus the animation truly elevates these battles to a whole other level
man, i originally clicked in the video so yt wouldnt stop reccomending AvA stuff, thinking that it would be boring, but man that passed quick
i got to say, i have never heard someone put so much analisis to alan becker's work, its one of my favorite series of all time, and with all that you explained it made me like it more
i like all the explaining you did, focusing in also explaining another terms outside of becker's works itself, and seeing it with this perspective made me respect a lot more AvA, lets see how part 6 turns out
amazing video, hope you can grow a lot more because your way of explaining was amazing, and made 41 minutes feel smooth and not boring at all
thx and nice battle cats pfp
I love this comment and the Battle Cats pfp. :3
38:24 Blue - crippling netherwart addiction
I've never knew about Alan. Now I'm going to watch his entire channel
It's 2 am currently and I saw this in my homepage. Who needs sleep anyways, I'm watching a video essay on my favorite RUclipsr. Thanks for the treat!
Literally same, I’m not joking it’s 2:09 am for me rn
9 am and I haven’t slept
What amazes me the most about the work Alan Becker and his team put out is the fact that they constantly find more ways of getting creative, which is particularly incredible given how high a bar the original Animator vs Animation already set in that regard. And it's never out of complete nowhere either, as every element and character has a consistent set of capabilities, they just keep on spiderwebbing out the possibilities of interactions between them to an absolutely absurd degree.
Alan Becker and SMBZ have some of the best choreography in an online show, or any show, period.
FR SMBZ THE GOATTTTTTT
@@moosesues8887 Avatar The Last Airbender, Alan Becker and SMBZ are definitely the GOATS of fight choreography with a purpose for sure
sadly wasnt smbz canceled? it was really good though i agree.
@@dethstrider7865 yeah it was cancelled a long while ago, but it got rebooted, it currently has 2 episodes of the reboot.
@@dethstrider7865 I don’t know if my comment was deleted but SMBZ was rebooted with two episodes
Just turned on captions, realized it was the actual captions, then made me realize this will be a banger video 🔥 🔥
i can't believe this is the only comment i've found talking about the captions
@@djChris_ can't believe you're a goat for having the time to say something
YES! Finally someplace where I can READ the CC!
@@Nobodyshere1105 EXACTLY BRO
Hey, stickfigure animator and massive Alan Becker fan here! I am absolutely amazed by the quality of the video (both editing and writing wise) and the deep thought process that was highlighted in this video. I also want to thank you for spreading the word of stickfigure animations to a wider audience. I would just like to give out my kudos to you, Alan Becker, the stickfigure animation community and all the animators as a whole out there.
You gained another subscriber and I'll look forwards to your next videos!
This has got to be by FAR the best video essay about Alan's work, i've been meaning to find videos like these that truly appreciates the scope and vision that Alan has for story-telling and Minecraft in general, Alan's team has such creative minds that no amount of praise will ever equal to the amount of creative spectacle they can produce, truly a great video for anyone who hasn't yet truly seen what Alan and his team can truly accomplish.
Also, a note: you can see the growth of allans time, dedication, and animation team in the animations. In the early animations, the fights are always 1v1s, people only jumping in when someone else is knocked away, but in the latest fights, everyone is always fighting, all the time
alan becker was my child hood animator i didnt even need ti speak english its magical i feel like the reason why it looks really good is because of its simplicity its hard to make a human like animation but its alot easier with stick men, he is the one who inspired me to make an animation channel,
i love alan becker
0:09 "I love animation more than the touhou fandom loves armpits" thats debatable
This video is long overdue.
I've been waiting for a video highlighting Alan's stick figure animations and analizing them. And as someone who has kept up with Alan's Animations well over a decade and utilized his "12 principles of animation videos" to better myself in Animation. This is an amazing and accurate representation of how a "REAL" stick figure animation should look like.
Keep up the great work Chunky! You've gained a sub out of me!
YESSSSS I REALY NEEDED SOMEONE TO DISCUSS ABOUT HOW ALAN IS AN AMAZING ANIMATOR.
I remember watching his videos over and over, watching one specific stick figure to understand what their choreography was, because it was so epic and entertaining. Not just with combat, but also with the note block episodes, where every stick figure is playing a part in a song. So much detail goes into these scenes it’s actually crazy.
MY GOD have i been waiting for someone to just REALLY appreciate alan's amazing choreography across all his work, over his multiple series's. Amazing video man!
I genuinely can’t explain just how happy I am to see a video essay not only about the phenomenal fight choreography of Alan and Co, but one that goes so in depth! I’m praying that this video does exceptionally well, because you’ve managed to convey one of my favorite parts about his videos. Thank you so much for this.
Also, I’d love to see you talk about the fight scenes in the Gildedguy series too! It’s another web-series that I feel is under appreciated and has some crazy fights. Especially the latest episode.
I have always said that the best feature of Alan's work is that he gets all of the story across without words. Each stick figure has their own personality and you get attached to those personalities, making each fight that more suspenseful. The story is amazing and takes you down paths you never expected to go down. I admit, I cried at least twice during AvM and am excited to see where AvA is going. I get so excited whenever a new Alan Becker vid is dropped, be that a small youtube short or a large video with amazing fight scenes. Thank you for putting all of my thoughts about this youtuber into words and onto the internet.
This is a perfect way of showing how well Alan Becker does his videos with out even showing a single facial expression he has made me feel like these characters are actually real and have made me cry at some points. This just goes to show that Alan is one of the best. There is so many minor details that goes into his videos that no one notices. Also noting that every stick figure can fight in their own unique way like you mentioned at 19:04 where even TSC with no unique fighting style to go against king orange still tried to help red attack him. So many little details noted, I'm happy someone finally noticed it and said something about it.
One of my top scenes is when the stick figures completely lose TSC. Just the amount of emotion conveyed by music and body language is insane. Same goes for the fight between red and TSC
Not to mention the fact that he utilized the characters colors and personalities from the start. If you look at character purple while in the music world episode it was shown that the exact opposite color of the color wheel, green, was the one chasing after purple.
Towards the end of the fight purple throws yellow at king orange knowing that yellow looked similar to king orange's son, gold.
That Kenjaku joke was wild.
"Take it all in like kenjaku" 😭
I use Alan Beckers animation as a huge inpiration in fight animations in 3D at least, and I'm happy this video essay was made explaining why its so good
This dude legitimately summarized every single thought I’ve ever had about Alan’s animated fight scenes that I could never fully articulate into one video. Really well analyzed! ❤
39:28 I hold a different idea.
In avm ep25, just before before the "pigstep" remix made by Scott Buckley started.
This music is born to appear in fight scene. What's even more-Alan managed to make every plot fit the music so well(or the one fit the other).
The plot and the music share the same emotions, and there are even leitmotif that represent different parts of 起承轉合:
起 3:56 this leitmotif comes when things begin or continue
承 4:20 this one arises when things process
轉 4:41 this appears when things are going to change, twist
合 9:54 this is basically same as the first one, but it shows us how can a leitmotif represent different things in different style
The viewer's emotions(mine, at least) just go up and down with the music, which increases the intension much more than a few sound effect. (and the intension the remix brings at 9:34 is incredible! Damn, Scott. You cooked!)
I would say this is a plus for the animation and I would rather sacrifice some fighting sound effects in exchange of this epic music.
The internet fight scene in AVA V where they use the environment which is the different internet platform is awesome, can't get enough of it
I've never seen someone put in the effort to making custom captions *HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THAT???* that would be so helpful with my youtube career
I think one of the things that make Alan's fight scenes better than pretty much very other fight scene, is the characters personalitys and skills, along with how that's integrated with the powers they have/get
Honestly this video essay literally tells everything of why i just love alan becker's production. It feels so universal, and its literally the most enjoyable things ive ever seen. His action scenes are such a master class and his story is just so well written. There isnt any part of his videos where it felt boring to watch. His chaotic fight scenes, wonderful executions, and progression is absolutely incomparable and i dont think i cant see myself doing it any better. Absolutely wonderful video essay
excellent analysis and video essay! Alan Becker was a huge childhood inspiration for me and I loved watching his and other people's stick fight (plus stick obstacle course) videos back then!
27:21 that shot kills me every time. Genuinely started sobbing
Alan Becker appreciation, letsgooooo! Genuinely i adore these stick figure animations so much, and I'm always blown away with what he can do both on a technical level AND storytelling, especially because he doesn't use dialogue and it WORKS. It works so well, especially with the music. Purple's backstory and the cinematography and musical score had me in a chokehold. They're amazing
This video is one of very few which really did analyze Alan's animations with elements such as fights choreography and even storytelling, I always has been amazed how well made is the fight scenes, but the thing which I appreciated the most is the story, especially when the actions can and do affect it. King's story arc was a masterpiece, which shows complex antagonist who is able to realize what he did wrong, and that he became a monster he never wanted to become. Overall great video
This video needs more attention dude, this is the most hardset documentary not only on alan becker but the old era of flash animations/stickfigures fighting animations.❤❤❤
(i may not be around in that time but i can see how animations has changed through out the years.)
thank you for
1 a great video
2 amazing toggleabble captions
3 a timestamped sponsored segment
(deserves a sub and like)
Finally someone who gets me, a lot of people don't realize how awesome Alan Becker and his crew is, their literally better than Disney this days
Amazing video, i didnt know how much i needed a video essay on my favorite animator thanks
Alright you have definitely impressed me
I enjoyed this and learned alot more than I thought I would
It is a crime this video has under 300 views
This needs much more
You have earned my subscribe
Well done
I’m so glad you made this video. Alan Becker and his team are one of my favorite creators on this platform. The storytelling, cinematography, the animation and art, are all SO good. I’ve been watching him for years!!!
I’ve rewatched both of his series multiple times. There’s so much detail in his series so it’s really easy to miss stuff happening outside of the focal point. I could talk about his stuff forever.
It’s so cool to see how not only the animation style has improved and developed, but the personality of the characters as well. Every character has their quirks, traits, and roles. In every fight, they all move with purpose. It’s also so interesting to see how they incorporate their personality into combat as well.
Like, the King has no actual experience in playing Minecraft. That’s why his only moves include making copies of the others, destroying, creating, or displacing blocks, and using the staff to suck everything up. Meanwhile characters like TSC *do* have experience in playing Minecraft. That’s why the King gets so caught off guard when TSC uses stuff like minecarts, ender pearls, and TNT to get him. Theoretically, the King knows how they work but he has no idea how to fight with them.
ARGHHH I love Alan sm.
I haven’t finished the video so you may mention this but I want to write this comment before I forget to. At 33:56 ish, when Herobrine possesses Red, this isn’t a new ability. It’s actually a callback to the original Animation vs Minecraft, in which Red turns evil and steals the Minecraft Launcher (the creative mode block). When he’s eventually defeated, it’s shown that Herobrine was possessing him in a death animation much like the one that plays when Herobrine first enters Red’s body in this fight. It’s clear that this was on purpose, as he immediately builds an obsidian mech around Red, which is what he did in the original video. This is likely what he’s familiar with, and thus would be an instinct to do when back in Red’s body
Okay you mentioned the mech a little before 35:53 (when I paused to type this) but still no mention of the original possess
I am very happy to see something like this for Alan's work. For a channel so big, you rarely get to see this sort of thing for it. It's refreshing, honestly.
The amount of times I just squealed when a fight scene just shows up in this video is insane. Alan Becker is truly amazing.
i happened to come across this video because someone on tumblr highly recommended it, and wow i can definitely say im so happy i watched. As a huge animation fan myself and a big alan becker fan to, i absolutely adore this, the analysis is incredible well explained and good to follow, it also learned me a lot of things. I already loved Alan becker his content and this only makes me want to love it more, the way he brings so many elements together and makes it so incredibly fun to watch and worth infesting in. Plenty of people ive recommend it to always seem a bit unsure, seeing how its just stickfigures playing minecraft and how they watched him as a kid and find it childish to revisit, the thing they miss is how incredibly this is for just stick figures. Although it seems childish at first glance, it can be appreciated from all ages. Especially those tiny details that just make the story just so much more better, which why i always insist people watch/rewatch it again now that their older. Or maybe im just incredibly obsessed with it and annoying- which wouldn’t surprise me much. Either way i love this video, im trying to learn animation so perhaps i can achieve something great like this one day, so im pleased with long (which i think was quite short for an essay i would not mind hearing more) detailed video essays like this. Thank you ❗️❗️🙏
Wow, I already liked Alan's animation, but this video made me like them even more!! I never noticed some details you pointed out in the fight scenes even though there are people who spent probably hours doing them!!
Dude I cannot thank you ENOUGH for this video, NOBODY talks about this show and it makes me so sad that people don’t. This series is an underrated gem that deserves COUNTLESS analysis videos, and I’m endlessly grateful you’re contributing to that count. Maybe someday I’ll make my own analysis videos on this show, about the things about it that I love. Awesome video man, I love your editing style and I hope you keep it up
16:49 I honestly believe this is because of Alan Becker's style of animation which gives a unique advantage.
Due to the simplicity of the stick figures and the boat it is easier to at least KEEP UP and be able to identify what's going on to a degree, not to mention the 2 Dimensional camera view we're operating on makes it even easier to keep track of.
In normal animation/movies where characters have far more detail, same for the background and the effects work such a thing could look like a mess without sacrificing some aspect of choreography. A good example is Fog Hill of the Five elements, it is exactly what you're asking for, complex combat with excellent use of super powers to blend in with the combat but this comes at the sacrifice of the dynamic camera, most of all the fights in the series utilize a 2 Dimensional camera view and it makes the camera perspective look a bit flat and undynamic which isn't a bad thing, the show maintains it's readability and it's all the better for it but you can notice this conscious sacrifice every episode, compare this to shows like Jujutsu Kaisen where the camera is very dynamic, especially in fights like Choso vs Yuji where we can have first person perspective, bottom to top perspectives etc but this comes at the sacrifice of that same complex fight choreography, the environment isn't used nearly as much as Alan Becker or Fog Hill of the Five elements.
So it's like;
- Complexity & Creativity
- Readability
- Perspective
In fight choreography one of these might need to be sacrificed. In order to maintain readability one might need to sacrifice dynamic perspectives or complex and creative combat. One can have complex combat and interesting dynamic shots but lose out on the readability. These things aren't mutually exclusive but it helps narrow down why specific fights come out the way they do, like let's take Sukuna vs Mahoraga as another great example, the fight was incredibly complex and the perspectives used were amazing but the readability of the fight wasn't too profound as you can probably show people who have already seen the fight 5 or more details they didn't catch specifically because of how ambitious the fight was, like how Mahoraga was managing to attack Sukuna by flinging his severed limbs at him while getting cut up, this detail is something majority of people still don't know and this was due to the complex combat and the creative camera work, hell people don't even notice that Mahoraga performed a feint because the camera perspective was from a low angle view.
I sometimes am torn between these things as well, if I want to be ambitious with my fight scene sometimes I need to sacrifice a creative camera view in order to maintain readability and complexity or if I want some dynamism to my shot I have to loosen up the complexity.
Alan Becker himself is an example of this sacrifice play in which he ups the complexity and creativity, maintains the readability (The strong colors help too) but the perspective is sacrificed most times but this isn't bad in fact it works HEAVILY in his favor due to the fact that it is and has always been from a 2D perspective, so there being no change in the camera perspective won't even be questioned let alone noticed, thus it has a unique advantage in that department unlike other works which either imitate 3D space (2D animation) or is literally 3D (live action/3D animation)
Not downplaying Alan Becker but I just wanted to clarify that what he's saying isn't a problem with how fights are choreographed in animation/live action films but rather that working all these elements without sacrificing one is highly difficult.
Breaking a fight scene into three measurable parameters (Complexity, readability/clarity, perspective) is a very smart and intuitive way of analyzing said fight scene, thanks for sharing! I also agree with the fact that all fight scenes sacrifice at least one of those aspects, but I also feel like clarity/readability and perspective tie into each other a little bit. One point that I couldn't necessarily fit into the video is that when it comes to wide shots in a fight scene with multiple subjects doing different things, the clarity is sacrificed in those scenes because while you can technically see everything, actually comprehending what happened in real time is nearly impossible on the first and even subsequent watches. However, the perspective of the fight was therefore enhanced since while you can't comprehend every action, your brain is overloaded trying to do so, which translates to a positive and exciting emotion from said fight, compared to other shaky cam fight scenes where you can't see any action, so your brain doesn't have any action to comprehend in the first place.
Please make more videos of analysing the AvA and AvM fight scenes frame by frame! The analysis you gave of King vs Herobine was amazing and I honestly would enjoy a break down of every major fight done in a similar manner!
Love, love, loved this video!
Nice analysis for potential fight scenes to be created.
Great job.
i just want to say, thank you so much for making this video. This video literally made me tear. The fact that I've been a fan of Alan's work for years and that he was my inspiration for becoming an animator, and understanding from this video what I didn't realise/couldn't express in words is purely wholesome :'))
Those are the most amazing manual captions I've ever seen, wtf
(yes I know I'm glazing, but so is he)
I hadn't seen Alan's more recent animations, but my goodness this video essay is absolutely amazing and has made me want to actually watch the entirety of animation vs minecraft when i have some free time
''because Mojand hasn't had a cooking update yet and they're tired of it.'' at 10:51 was my fav joke lmao
I love how fast, bombastic, and intense Alan Becker's fights are. Everyone is doing something and they are so creative.
I would LOVE to hear you gushing over the choreography for over an hour long.
12:08 I’ve never been able to put word on it, but now I know why Alan Becker’s combats feel so satisfying
DorMyd In my analysis, I also noticed this emotionality against the battle with the king, and I myself noticed a lot that it was obvious that I was working on the series myself, and I would take a lot of things into account, thank you)
It's really true, the beautiful choreography of the fights is what made me start to like Alan Becker's animations, these choreographies are so rich in details with such great timing that it's insane to see.
Am I the only one amazed by those YT subtitles ?!
This is a great analysis! I’ve loved Alan’s work since I was 6, and it was one of my biggest inspirations to become an animator. When you talked about the environment and compared it to Jackie Chan, it truly made me understand why I loved it so much. Alan and the team are so good at combining team fights and environment it’s no wonder Cave Spider I had my most intense fixation on his channel from Lush Caves to The Box so I loved this video for bringing back good memories of being in the fandom. I really enjoy the fight breakdowns, pointing out details I haven’t even noticed. Also, I want to get better at choreographing my own fight scenes and this analysis, and I learned so much of what makes a great fight scene here! All in all, 10/10 video, and have a great day!
15:52 the factt hat they just BEAT THE SH*T out of it after an AMAZING fight is so funny to me
This video perfectly delivered an explanation of Alan's unique animations. Keep up the good work Alan's team and crunchy nosher
Herobrine VS King Orange is the biggest moment of fan service in AvM and it just works so intensely well, i was so hyped when he took over Red again
thank you so much for making this video, i've always wanted to put my appreciation of alan beckers work into words, but im just not skillful enough in my writing to do that. you've said everything i wanted to and never could have for my appreciation of alan becker. thank you.
I'll be honest you're deserved more then 6k chunkyNosher
alan becker is one of the main reasons why i started animating 6 years ago!!! so happy hes still getting recognition for his incredible work (and i still look at his '12 principles of animation' video frequently LOL)