Welp, I finally watched Make your Mark, or at least the first of many episodes. I have lots to say, but I want to get the bad out of the way before I praise it because I don’t blame some of this on the episode.
This episode has technical and composition issues depending on the shot you’re seeing. In the technical side of things, sometimes the rig on either the characters or the objects is a bit off. The first example that I have in mind is the pendant of Posey Bloom in the first scene. Sometimes it feels like it doesn’t have a clear sense of mass on Posey’s neck. In one frame it feels alright and in another frame it’s levitating around her neck. I don’t have a problem with the lack of “bloom effect” on some shots because of budget reasons, but sometimes it feels like the cutscene of an old videogame, especially the liquid effects.
Also, I think sometimes the episode has composition issues that it’s related either to hue/saturation visuals or lack of occlusion. I love the idea of having a lighthouse where the magical stones shoots a splendid rainbow to the sky. However, I think the rainbow colors are too saturated and it looks ugly or amateur. It’s like Cruis’n Blast on the Switch.
Image for reference.
Other times, the occlusion doesn’t look good in some shots like when Sunny rescues Posey Bloom and her friend. For a climatic sequence, I think a dark color of occlusion would make the scene more visually impactful. I’m assuming it has lots to do with the budget. To me, the saturated colors can be an issue because some HD TVs right now have a very high saturation unless you configure it. And also because usually saturated colors don’t work. And it’s a pity, because when a shot looks very appealing (like some shots on the last scene with Zipp preparing her room), it can be beautiful.
And honestly that’s about it with the flaws and I think it’s a bit irritating because the first episode is very decent.
I love the direction it’s going with the characters and the story. Since A New Generation talked about how a group of ponies wanted everypony to be friends again and considering how it ended, it would make sense that Make your Mark would talk about how to confront the little or major issues in order to maintaining the new friendship you’ve fought for. I love how Posey Bloom was written in this episode because it has a lot of logical points that weren’t adressed in G4, in the same way that A New Generation adressed some issues that weren’t questioned in G4. A pony that questions the use of magic seems reasonable in an era post-Friendship is Magic. One of the main issues I had with the show (and why I finished it last year instead of, say, 2019) is that it has a very status-quo nature. What I mean by this is that, once a character learns something at the end of one episode, that character would forget it in her next episode. This is why some characters like Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and especially Starlight Glimmer were written the way they were. If Make your Mark is gonna have very few episodes, I’m assuming it’s because the writers wouldn’t depend on the status-quo thing, since it’s a very dated narrative tool to build up a TV show.
I also like that some characters have little issues or nice features that make them relatable for different reasons. The scene where Zipp talks with her mother on phone was great because she want her daughter to be a queen, but Zipp doesn’t seem to fit in a royal place. The fact that Zipp doesn’t want to talk about it to her mother during the entire episode implies to me that there were some family issues where Zipp is not comfortable and she feels like she doesn’t have a voice. I think it’s a believable conflict that will be relatable for some people. It kinda reminds me of Nina’s mother on Black Swan.
I like that some of the main characters have very normal jobs. Sunny sells food or ice-cream, Pipp is a hairdresser… the only job that has some level of responsibility is Hitch’s, since he’s a sheriff. The episode doesn’t have quite a lot at stake until the last minutes, but I think that’s a plus. In Friendship is Magic, Twilight had to deal with Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis and Tirek. Here, the main motivation of Sunny is to make everypony feel welcomed. Yeah, that lead to a climatic third act, but I think it’s related to that early motivation. The idea of making everyone feeling welcomed and respected just because a pony seems to be really worried about the use of magic is great and doesn’t feel off. It kinda reminds me of Luca a little bit because the film doesn’t end with an ambitious goal, like beating the bad guy and saving the day as you would expect in some modern blockbuster films. No, the main characters of that film just want a Vespa.
The background music is great, but, while I like the lyrics of the two songs, I don’t like that the songs are just pop songs. I had the same problem with A New Generation, I had the same issue with Tell your Tale and I still have that problem here. And, yeah, pop song can be sometimes great, but I think it depends on the art direction of either a film or a TV show, and I’m more like when the 2017 MLP film had some orchestra songs like Open up your Eyes.
Also, I didn’t expect the writers to give us a glimpse of a potential antagonist. I like the fact that she’s a unicorn because, you know, magic. But, if I have to guess, I don’t think she’s gonna be the one who separated the magical stones many many many moons ago. Whoever did that, I think it’s gonna be an earth pony.
Oh, by the way! I didn’t expect the earth ponies getting magic this way! Understanding animals and making plants grow. I think it’s a very unique idea. Speaking of magic, I love the fact that the more antagonistic the characters are with each other, the more glitchy the magic gets and the less funtional it will get. From a dramatic point of view, I think this will prevent characters that will use powerful magic for selfish reasons, because once you do it, it will get glitchy. Hopefully we won’t get any of that, especially main characters.
I’m very interested in what Make your Mark will offer in the future. Because, even though the first episode has some issues, it’s still pretty good.
TLDR version: I really like Make your Mark. :)
And thanks for the link to the special, DaddyMakesMeEUHH! You rock.
