Media Diary Week 1: RWBY

The media text I have decided to review in this week's media diary is a 3D american animated web series called RWBY.

The very first trailer for the show that came out in 2012, the animation of action sequences in this series has greatly improved from what it was then.

The story takes place in the world of Remnant, which is filled with supernatural forces and shadowy creatures known as the Grimm. Prior to the events of the series, humans waged a battle of survival against the Grimm before discovering the power of a mysterious element called Dust, which allowed them to fight back against the monsters. In the present day, Dust is used to power magical abilities and weapons. Those who use these abilities to battle the Grimm are known as Huntsmen and Huntresses. The series focuses on four girls, each with her own unique weapon and powers. Together, they form a team at Beacon Academy in the city of Vale, where they are trained to become Huntresses.

The cinematography of the series is something I have very mixed opinions on. There are many shots and parts where the camera positioning/angle/speed or the lighting used is very fitting however at times, it can look odd or a certain camera position to a scene will in no way fit or be too static. This problem was very minimal in the series but when it appeared, it was quite a nuisance and greatly effected the look of the show.

The music of this series is by Jeff Williams with the accompaniment of the beautiful voice of Casey Lee Williams. The video trailer above plays the song Red Like Roses (Red Trailer) as its background music, which is one of the 12 songs in Volume 1 of RWBY (Volume 2, which is the present one, have quite a lot more.) As this is an animated web series, a lot of the acting is done through sound, voice acting. It is voice acted by many of the employees at the company who make this, Rooster Teeth, and because of the lack of experience with voice acting for some of the cast, the delivery of some dialogue in Volume 1 is very sub-par or sounds strange however, much like the animation, it has greatly improved over the progress of the series.

There are many special effects in this series as it in the fantasy, action and adventure genres. Special effects mostly happen in fight scenes but when they do appear, it adds great emphasis to certain parts of the action and add a more powerful and amazing feel to the battle sequences. In the instances that it does appear out of battle it is mostly to make the technology in the story look grander or make a certain part of a character look more important/glow with power.

As I mentioned under the video, the story takes place in the magical world of Remnant where humans take up the role of Hunters/Huntresses and fight evil creatures, called The Grimm, using Dust (a strange magical element which is basically used to power everything). The series focuses on Team RWBY, which consists of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, and their lives in Beacon Academy, a school made to make hunters/huntresses, which is situated in the kingdom of Vale (One of the 7 kingdoms that makes up the world of Remnant).

The storyline basically follows the struggles of becoming a hunter/huntress, average teenage problems and an evil group of people called the White Fang who are trying to get all the Dust for themselves. You know, your average slice of life, fantasy, action and adventure series.

As I mentioned it is basically themed around teenage life in school with magical aspects and fighting, however with the whole subject of Dust it can get quite political and military related. As Dust is a very limited resource, used to power everything (like weaponry and magic), and everyone is trying to nab it up. It has been hinted that further into the present volume that more investigation will be done into the political side and military side of Dust as a material/power source. However as I said, it's mostly based around average things with a magical aspect like; self discovery, love, confidence, teamwork, etc.

There isn't really a lot of things that can be compared to RWBY sadly, except more 2D animation on the Japanese side of things as this plot of magic, weaponry and so forth is used a lot there. There isn't a lot of 3D animation that is close to RWBY except another product by the same company called Red vs Blue. It is also a 3D animated web series with the same writers and choreographers, however it has a completely different theme/genre of sci-fi and action. It is also based around the game Halo while RWBY is an original idea/product.

As I mentioned, there isn't really any physical acting, only voice acting. There is some mo-cap work in some scenes, however it looks quite odd at times and doesn't fit at all. The voice acting work, as I said, started off quite odd and cheesy as it was a first experience for all voice actors (except a few who were involved with the voice acting for the other 3D web series I mentioned, called Red vs Blue) however it gradually became better as the series progressed and a lot of improvements are now coming from the voice actors.

The appeal to the audience is the reputation of the company making this product as well as many other factors. The company, Rooster Teeth, mostly specialise in video game/show/movie related news and comedy shows, as well as the media texts mentioned. They have a high reputation because of Red vs Blue's quality and popularity as well as having their own personalities that catch audience appeal. Other than the company appeal, there is also the 'anime' appeal. As RWBY is the first ever 'anime' to be fully 3D, as well as the first ever product like this to be released by this company (As I said, they were a gaming/show/movie related company). It also has writers and choreographers on board who are known for their work on that side of the spectrum.

I feel that RWBY, in general, is a creative new media text with a lot of room to grow with its animation, voice acting and so forth. It still has a long way to go but improvements are happening quickly and are easy to see. I give it a 9/10 rating, it's certain aspects are amazing however there is room for improvement in writing, animation, etc.