Hero/Villain: Aqua Woman versus Evaporation Girl

Our hero, Aqua Woman:

Her nemesis, Evaporation Girl:

Our video:

My critiques of other heroes/villains:
Brendan Trepal's hero/villain project:

Brendan does not list his hero's name on his blog, but he is dressed in colours of shiny gray and black, with a helmet. There are gold accents to his outfit, which appear even brighter against the black and gray. This contrast of brightness creates visual interest to the character's costume, and also distinguishes him as a hero. Villains do not wear striking colours that pop out at us like that, so we know he is a good guy.

The lighting on his costume is that of stark contrast and shadows. Although it is mostly gray and black, it is made of metal and therefore very shiny and bright. The shadows help the highlights stand out. The mood of this character is that of confidence and power. In the animation, he is surrounded by fog but then the hero comes in and forces it all away. He is like a light in the middle of all this fog, and that helps to show how he is a hero.

For movement, this hero is able to teleport. He crouches down and the poof! disappears in a cloud to the next location. There is not a lot of weight in his movement, although when we walks he moves slowly and deliberately, which might attest to the weight of his armor. The character also moves with linear motion, opposed to overlapping, since only his legs move when he walks.

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Maddie Schneider's hero/villain project:
Maddie's hero is named Sonica, and her villain is Psycho. Sonica is dressed in yellow, which is very bright and makes her look like the sun. This use of colour makes us realize immediately that she is the hero. The saturation is very intense, and it contrasts Psycho, who is wearing black and a deep purple. Sonica is dressed in warm colours, whereas Psycho is in cool colours. Just this difference sets them apart significantly.

The lighting is very clear between the two characters. Sonica has almost no shadows to her costume, whereas Psycho is nearly all shadows. Even his power involves purple "shadows" that spread out at Sonica. This symbolizes his evil-ness, and how he is a "dark" individual. Sonica evokes a mood of goodwill and triumph, of good over evil. On the other hand, Psycho evokes a mood of darkness, deceit, and trickery. All this is done through the lighting of the two characters.

Weight is used very well in this animation. When Psycho stands up, he does so slowly, like a real person would. He also uses a cane, which shows his weight being lifted. Sonica floats in the air, and they actually show her hair rippling in the wind, which adds to the realism of the piece. When Sonica hits Psycho with her power, he is sent backwards, back first and then his arms and legs fly outwards. This shows overlapping movement, and makes it more believable. It was really difficult to show weight in Pencil, and I think they did a really good job of showing it here.