Originally Posted by
Mack
Hey Luna, thanks for your comment. There are some points in your post though that I don't really get though, so I'd love if you could explain some of them further so that I can take value from it.
Sure thing. I'm happy to do that.
Originally Posted by
Mack
No, this opener is entirely made from scratch. It is the first opener in a very long time where I haven't touched my hands on the floor to gain momentum. so, all in all it's very different from my previous replays.
Well, that could totally be from muscle memory, then. I sometimes make openers entirely from scratch myself that look similar to other openers I've previously made - I wasn't saying it was inherently a bad thing, I was just asking if that was the case.
Originally Posted by
Mack
That knee made me gain momentum rather than lose it. It keeps my direction and it pulls me toward uke while giving a base for my tori to spin around. Is it a matter of you not liking it or do you genuinely disagree over the mechanics behind it?
That's a fair point, I never really cared enough to go and edit the replay myself to see if it actually
was useful, I just looked at it and decided there and then that it wasn't. Regardless, I'm still not really a fan of how it looks. I can appreciate the mechanic but it just looks odd to me, still.
There was also the opportunity of extending said knee and kicking off of the ground; from here you could use your other leg to lift uke and do the counter rotation in a much less awkward manner, but that's just my opinion.
Originally Posted by
Mack
I don't see how you really find any of the grabs pointless considering there are only 3 of them and every single one was essential for me to move the way I planned. I don't think you're very familiar in grab switches, you should check them out. They're cool as hell when executed seamlessly. Dunno what you mean by fidgeting for the decap, I thought it was pretty simple. Care to explain?
I'm not saying
all the grabs are pointless. The first one was pretty essential to get into the position you had to, but for that one, I was saying it could've been better positioned, and I still stand by that opinion. It kind of looks like you decided really early that you wanted to grab and just went with whatever you touched. In my personal opinion, I'd never aim to grab the bicep, I always try to go for Uke's hand or maybe his elbow if I can't get the hand - it just offers more range.
The second grab, yes I said it felt pointless, and I still think that. Grab lasted for very few frames and gave Uke a sudden burst of momentum which looked really weird to me, however, I can understand that the grab was
necessary.
I still think you fidgeted way too much. Before you start going for the decap your foot is already way past uke's head and is at his shoulder (frame 564) then you had to forward again and it just looked kind of awkward when you're watching the replay slowly. I'm aware you did it to get into the position for the decap, but I personally believe that it was possible to get into that position without having to do that.
And yes, I'm very familiar with grab switches. I do them myself often.
Originally Posted by
Mack
I agree with you on the boom, but I wasn't really in a position where I could follow up in a flowy manner. I'm just glad I could follow it through nicely.
Well if you agree with me I won't comment on it.
Originally Posted by
Mack
Either way, we all disagree sometimes but I'd love to know what you think I could do better. For me to do that though you'll have to be a bit more specific. Thanks!
That's the beauty of replaymaking, isn't it? Sharing each other's personal opinions to make a better replay, it's nice.
Regardless, thanks for the discussion thus far.