This was...strange. It must have started with only two Flashes. That would make sense, because there was only two shapes. And suddenly, there was a rising tide, a flood, an avalanche of them, pouring through the submission slot, overcoming everything. It was like an artist had reached into the minds - no, the very subconscious - of his fellows, and pushed the start button on some of the prehensile, genetic knowledge inherent in them all:
"Triangles look BADASS in Flash."
I'm still trying to get my head around the craze that hit the site today. What actually happened, does anyone really know? What tripped the switch? There can't be just one simple answer, because of the sheer diversity of what actually rode in on the Two Shapes bandwagon. We had some rushes of creativity, writers suddenly unbound by the mores of art and detail were free to frolic in the land of literacy and throw their scripts in people's faces. We also had the artists who submit Flashes made in 10 minutes (submitted to "test the BLAM filter") suddenly having their work regarded for critical appraisal and treated with the same respect that is given to Flash artisans.
And of course, some people finally got to make a Flash pentagon. We're all so happy for you.
Most of what came through was understandable, on one level or another. You'll always have people who care more about writing than art (hence we have stickmen) and you'll always have people who like jumping on bandwagons. But here is where things got really screwy, where we actually smashed the looking glass and lunged headfirst through the frame: within hours of the first conversation between Square 'n' Circle, someone posted a parody of the Two Shapes videos. We all know that nothing on the Net has "made it" until it's been parodied, so here we are. Two Shapes has now become a legitimate medium for stories of any genre.
So, Newgrounds has once again led the way...right? That's what we should believe, isn't it? Surely that many artists couldn't succumb to a sort of mania at the same time for no reason. Or am I reading too much into all this? Perhaps I am, but if that's the case, you must be too. After all, you've read this much of my blog on the subject, and chances are you were one of the thousands of people who watched those videos. Maybe you were even one of the hundreds who voted on them (often to keep them, in fact). Whatever the case is, the question remains: where do we go from here?
Three Shapes?
falarinx
Not only were some of those flashes created by the more well-known artists of newgrounds, they also featured their voice-acting as well. So those who have been around long enough to have at least heard the voices in other flashes may have thought that was another reason to vote higher on the flashes.
One thing though is that, unlike some flashes, when one of the "shape" characters were talking it seemed to fit how they moved up and down. In other flashes, the artists who are unaware of how to properly animate the mouth during speaking parts, make the flash less appealing.
That is my take on it anyway. Have a nice day.
Blackharrier32
It's a valid point, for sure. My only reason for having slight doubts would be the rather *cough* extreme reaction the some Newgrounders had to the choice made by those experienced artists. You know, because they TOTALLY have the right to make demands of an artist like that...
Personally, I like the Two Shapes vids. They were a breath of fresh air in many ways, and a small beacon of hope for people like me who like writing but have "limited" (read: almost none) artistic ability.