Hello! Woww, I enjoyed every second of the storyreel! Your storytelling was great and the visualizations were top notch, would love to see this released as an official shortfilm :D I personally had the exact same situation before, where a cat randomly appeared on my bad day (I used to be scared of cats) and then ended up adopting it as well :)) Oh I particularly like how your showed timeskip using the calendar, that was really clever! Lastly, congratulations on completing the program and I wish you the best of luck for your future endeavours :))

This is a great concept for a story! There are a lot of superhero stories, but not many life after being a superhero stories. This is also relatable in that I think everyone worries about losing the thing that they feel is their biggest identifier. I can also personally relate to having a little black cat as a companion, so I loved the addition of Sunny!

I love this story!! What a relatable character- facing the problem of losing something you love, because of something you can't control. The cat is too adorable and I love how it helped Jane accept her new reality, even if she was reluctant and stubborn at first. Your art style is also really nice and it felt like I was watching professional boards!! Congratulations on finishing the XP and creating such a lovely story!!!

Hi AJ,

Great use of lighting, amazing characterization, and your use of colour for the memories is great! I also love the angles you chose for the shots.

The only thing I'm a little confused about is that she completely loses her powers. Are her powers connected to her emotions? 47 isn't really that old so it seems odd that she completely loses her powers at this age but if this is part of the world you've built, please ignore my comment. Perhaps the last scene could be of her using her powers (but to a lesser degree as they are weaker than before) to get the TV remote (or something).

Perhaps remove some of your narration as a lot of what you say is shown in your frames.

I love that your hero's hero is a cat. I guess we all search for connection and it's great that you've shown that even the simplest connections can help people heal.

It has a really strong premise and your artwork supports your narrative. Great work!

"You can stay, but only for a week." Haha! I've been there. That's how one of our cats adopted us.

This story made me emotional, in a good way! I am moved by Jane's story arc, and I love the dynamic between Sunny and Jane.

Please, please keep working on this. There's true potential here and this needs to be a movie!

I'm sold!

Hi, AJ!

I know this is the final submission for the class, but I still want to provide feedback since it seems from your description like you're going to continue to work on the project and you haven't had the same opportunity to get feedback since you've missed the last few submissions. Hopefully the notes are helpful, but as always, feel free to ignore any that don't match your vision. And most importantly, congratulations on finishing your storyreel!

I'd recommend avoiding language like "We see." You already have the visual, so we're literally seeing it already. Trust your art to tell most of the visuals and try to only describe what's on screen if there is an action that you can't depict clearly in the storyreel. Honestly, your drawings are well composed and clear, so you don't need to add a whole lot beyond the dialogue.

The cat is absolutely adorable!

As someone who also created a story about the power of empathetic animals to help us through mental health struggles, I really loved this. I love how she has reached a point where she could no longer save the cat the balloon in the tree, which is reminiscent of heroes saving cats from trees, but then a cat is the one who ends up saving her. That's a beautiful little role reversal.

Overall, you've done a great job here. You could clean things up around the edges and maybe polish a few things,  but the biggest change I'd make is cutting back on your narration. The story is already super good and the drawings carry a lot more weight than you are giving them credit for. Great work overall!

hi AJ
I really like your setting, so I'm very curious :)

I'm immediately amazed at your neat artwork. Your first two shots are good in setting the tone (I think? I expect her story to start at a down moment) and showing information easily.
I love the nuance of upright in the hospital bed, showing she's not easily defeated. Throughout the story, I'm not seeing a lot of who she is as a person, though that doesn't stop me from being engaged.
"She tries to help, cause she's a super hero, that's what she does" is nice :) also very concrete first new thing/minor obstacle.
At 1:13 I can't help but laugh at the actual word POP in there, too.
God I hate that awful kid now. His statement is very on-point, that's good. I'm almost wondering if it makes sense for him (the exact words, maybe), but of course he's disappointed.
Cool, sense of mystery (mess in the apartment)
The cat's very cute ^^ The stare-down is good!
oh no her powers... (nice that it happens when she overexerts herself)
the shots at 3:10 and 3:14 are good!
"but the cat meows at Jane", ah yes, very typical conversation ^^
It's sad and interesting that she habitually waves the door shut, or tries to, showing it'll be difficult for her in also a concrete way.
damn that shot at 3:46..
Nice story structure to cut to the flashback/fever dream now.
hahaha meowing at her face :)
is the window open because she accidentally did that in the night? Or did the cat do it? Or is it just nothing?
go away shelter people >.> shot 4:51 is very good; both their facial expressions and posture especially

I'm almost wondering a bit what her life will be afterwards, but I don't mind not knowing. This story is complete, and it's well-told, not more than necessary. I'd like to know more about her, I've felt engaged. I'm not sure if I have further pointers :)