I just looked at an issued I have already seen, and I must admit I'm impressed. This shows a lot of work and dedication. I'll spread the word about this.

impalergeneral | September 30, 23:59 CET

It's both very cool and incredibly impressive, but it's also very confusing, with all the changes in setting (which are probably a result of the software being used). It's kind-of unnerving, really. Like a warped sense of deja-vu.

But apart from that, it certainly shows passion and commitment. Also: it's a fun way to build on the comics. I think it's great someone's doing this and applaud the effort.

Having said that, I do wonder about the legalities here. They're basically "stealing" the storylines from the comic for these, so I could see Dark Horse maybe having a problem with it.

GVH | October 01, 00:43 CET

Issue #1 was pretty awful, but his animating (and wardrobe) skills seem to have gotten better later on. I flipped to the second issue of "Time of Your Life" (#17) to check out the voice acting. Some okay, some stilted. Probably better to leave it out and just go for subtitled dialogue.

Interesting effort though, cool in some respects. It's just that not-very-highly-detailed, jerkily-moving polygons aren't as expressive as George Jeanty's art.

Not gonna watch more of these, the lighting bothers me too much (it's not very atmospheric/doesn't match the feel of the comics well at all--why does the Scotland control room resemble the bridge of the Enterprise on a Star Trek series ?). The pacing is weird too.

Kris | October 01, 00:45 CET

The Star Trek fan videos are allowed by Paramount, provided that no money is made off them. I'd assume that Dark Horse would take a similar stance, although I could be wrong.

This is pretty interesting. Obviously this is no substitute for the comics themselves, with the full expressiveness of Jeanty et al.'s art. I think that virtually all of the pacing, wit, and atmosphere is lost in the translation, which is not the fault of the animator but simply a manner of the difficulties with the medium. But it's an interesting experiment in bringing comics to life in a very low-budget medium. The visuals definitely improve across the episodes. I think the voice acting is the weakest part, so far--although whoever is voicing Willow manages to capture many of Aly's mannerisms well, if she does play Willow a bit too quietly.

Also: isn't Warren hilarious? (I saw him in "Time of Your Life, p. 1")

WilliamTheB | October 01, 00:52 CET

While I am not a fan, I have to applaud the time and effort that went into making it.
GVH, I could be wrong but since they aren't making any money off of it, I don't think there is much they can do. Even if they put it on a website of their own making it would be a diferent story but youtube is free for everyone and anyone can post anything. Of course DH could get it removed as it is their property but I don't see why they would as it's only going to create more buzz for the series (no matter how little buzz that might be.)
I also have to say Michelle Ryan as Fray is awful, awful casting.
Of course Natalie Portman is the dream casting for me(what with the Matilda visual reference in the back of the trade) I know it will never happen but that's why it's dream casting.

theMidnighter | October 01, 01:00 CET

Copyright law doesn't require that something be "for profit" work to infringe the copyright. All those disclaimers in fanfic? Meaningless. It's a right enjoyed entirely by the copyright holder to go after infringement, but by and large with fanvideo and fanfic, they have the good sense of public relations and business not to make an issue out of it.

I won't tell if you don't.

KingofCretins | October 01, 01:09 CET

You guys probably don't know this, but the creator of these videos is only 14 years old. Considering his limited resources, I find this fan creation to be incredibly innovative. Also, most of the voice actors for the animated re-enactments are 15 and 16 years old. It's pretty amazing that such young fans are being so fearless about sharing their love of the comics and trying to hone their burgeoning talents.

Their passion for the stories and their desire to create something in honor of the comics should be applauded. To put this into Buffyverse perspective, Jane Espenson got started writing fanfic of her favorite tv shows at a very young age. So who knows where this creativity might lead? Maybe 10 years from now smartjoe299 will be animating a *real* Buffy cartoon or some of these young voice actors will go into the acting profession.

It's a fan tribute done by young fans who came to our fandom years after the shows were off the air. Pretty amazing that the Buffyverse can inspire this creativity.

Emmie | October 01, 01:17 CET

I saw this series before they were recording voices for them and I was already fairly impressed. The game used is "The Movies" and while it is a great game with quite a lot of freedom, recreating something specific is very, very difficult (yes, from experience ;). There's a limited number of sets and scenes, so yeah, the closest to the high-tech HQ in Scotland is the bridge of a starship. But, I think the voices have really added to these videos - I'll be following them from now on (and personally I find the most inaccurate bits the most amusing ;).

NotaViking | October 01, 01:33 CET

I miss my Buffy.

gossi | October 01, 01:34 CET

So much fun. Really cool work.

Brian Lynch | October 01, 02:04 CET

The guy who made these videos is 14?
Someone call the Cartoon Network, or Pixar. This teen has a big future in animation.
Not only that, he's producing more product now than the "Motion Comics" DC announced at Comic-Con a couple of months ago.
Any chance he may tackle Serenity soon?

impalergeneral | October 01, 02:29 CET

Fans are so desperate for more Buffy that they make their own animated episodes. Still, this doesn't tell the "Powers that Be" anything interesting.

So... how clueless does one have to be to run a television network?

quantumac | October 01, 02:32 CET

Just to be clear, in "The Movies" you select the set, the actors, the wardrobe, the scene, even the camera angle (if you have the expansion pack) and you control the editing, but the animations are all done for you.

NotaViking | October 01, 03:16 CET

Impressive.

And FYI, an animated primer on US Copyright law.

napua | October 01, 03:24 CET

I agree, very impressive.

Briands84 | October 01, 05:03 CET

I wonder if this wouldn't maybe work better with the sims 2 rather than the movies. there's some pretty impressive machinima done with that game. it would be probably a bit more difficult/longer to do but the sims v.2 can "emote" in a more convincing way, even if kinda cartoonish. and their movements are definitely less stilted and more realistic.

nyrk | October 01, 06:45 CET

Tell that to the 20th Century Fox and Dark Horse execs who read this site :P.

Simon | October 01, 09:01 CET

11 out of 10 for effort. It's good to see how much creativity the slayerverse still inspires.

Plus thanks for posting that animated primer Napua I enjoyed that :)

The Do That Girl | October 01, 10:16 CET

I applaud the creativity and effort.

I just personally can't enjoy the outcome, and I don't say that to offend anyone involved. Seriously, keep working at it, man.

UnpluggedCrazy | October 01, 10:42 CET

I have this feeling that when the civilization ends, and we have all reverted back to our primitive origins living in caves and feeding off of mutated animal flesh, there will be cave paintings of "How to Kill a Boy on the First Date".

Buffy is immortal, she lives in the land of ideas.

DaniVampsForJoss | October 01, 13:26 CET

Like others, these aren't really my cup of tea but I certainly applaud the effort, especially in such a young 'un.
I hope the PTB agree that it's just a bit of harmless fun- much like fan art or fic.

However, I did have to laugh during the Xander/Dawn scene, since for some reason Dawn wasn't animated as a horse. It made Xander's "Ride me" comments seem just a little ick-worthy!

missb | October 01, 16:02 CET

Oh bummer..it's been taken down. :(

Hey all *waves at whedonesque* it's been a while!

nixygirl | October 01, 17:51 CET

Visually, it kinda reminds me of Red vs Blue.

buffywrestling | October 01, 18:44 CET

No it hasn't, nixygirl. At least, I'm still seeing all the vids. Also: welcome back! :)

GVH | October 01, 19:16 CET

nixygirl! I've been wondering what's happened to you! Welcome back to the fold! :-)

UnpluggedCrazy | October 02, 00:27 CET

Welcome back, nixygirl! It's good to see you again.

samatwitch | October 02, 08:06 CET

It's nice to see stuff like this coming out. I really enjoy watching the fan films.

Badger1 | October 04, 16:19 CET