Hello Flipnote fans! This week's Featured Artist is... MattBoo[3]! MattBoo, a veteran of Flipnote Hatena and Sudomemo has made us laugh with his quirky and unique humor and art style for many years. Let's see how he's doing these days!
Please tell us about yourself.
I'm MattBoo, a semi-retired Flipnote animator who was active from 2010 until 2017. I got into drawing and the animation medium in general when I was just a wee laddo still in soiled diapers, inspired by the cartoons I was watching to make cartoons of my own someday. Thing is, however, being a dumb little kid with little access to technology I had no idea how to for the longest time. That all changed on December 25, 2010 when I got my first Nintendo DSi (it would be the first of many), when I discovered Flipnote Studio and made my first ever animations with it.
Being hooked on the tiny screen, I was so thrilled to finally be making cartoons and seeing so many other cool cartoons on Flipnote Hatena that I never put the DSi down for 7 years. I grew up a secluded loner during that time, but it was worth it. The experience I had with Hatena and Sudomemo was once in a lifetime, and it made me a better artist and better person, not to mention all the friends I have made. I would not be where I am today without Flipnote in my life, and I am eternally grateful for it, warts and all.
What are your interests or hobbies, and how do you spend your free time?
Definitely NOT Flipnote, I don't plan to make very much of them anymore and I made only 1 Flipnote in 2 years. But, largely moving on has allowed me to devote my time to focus on my actual art. See, with drawing idiot stickmen blowing each other up for 7 years, I needed to let my creative wings soar. In that time, I have created a new cast of characters whom I love dearly, and you can check them out on my Twitter and Instagram (links below)!
Aside from art, I still cobble with animation on occasion (but not often as I've only made 3 or 4 full cartoons since 2017), mix videos, produce sound design, research and collect past television airings, surf the Internet waves, chat with friends, and juggle knives in an anthill. (I had to go to the hospital a few times, but I'm making progress)!
Please introduce some of your best Flipnotes, and tell us why you like them.
Hoo man, where do I start? I had to have made at least 500 of these stupid things. Well, let's go in order, shall we now?
Wii Coma (2012)
For a while, this was my favorite Flipnote I've done. Upon rewatching this all these years later, I can see why. This is probably the funniest of my older Hatena Flipnotes, the very concept of being in a coma after a Wii falls on someone's head and waking up with it STILL on their head is actually pretty funny. All the other gags in this work too, especially the ending. Funny stuff.
Horrible Fast Food (2013)
There's something peculiar about the banters between the pushy cashier and the customer. It's childish, sure (granted I did this when I was 12), however it was still charming upon retrospect. That ending when the cashier gets his block knocked off still gets me to this day. I tried to remaster this thing in Flipnote 3D with color but it never got off the ground.
Bowties (2014)
This was probably one of my earliest Flipnotes where I gave up on my old dialogue-heavy format and just decided to do the most idiotic, nonsensical drek I could possibly draw. And it still holds up. This thing is unabashedly out of order, and I like that.
The 1st Annual Robot Entertainment Fair (2015)
This one's sort of dumb. But the good kind of dumb.There's pretty good spot-gags in this one that keeps this pretty entertaining on my end; the robot rapping in monotone to Eminem's approval, the Monty Python skit, the Robot Olympics ("That's my favorite, hehehe!"). Also of note, this was one of my first ones to not be fully animated, a time and Flipnote space saving procedure for some of the fuller ones when I was busy.
Moronic Fairy Tales: Big Flower (2016)
Ah yes, the storybook fantasy series that never was. Anyhow, this one has some interesting backstory in that it was storyboarded in 2013 to be a Flipnote 3D cartoon, and when that didn't happen for years, I came across the original notebook and decided to put it in production. The result? Probably one of my funniest overall, it blends the visions of a young and foolish wannabe cartoonist and a disgruntled old fart pretty evenly. Like a yin and yang sort of deal. Being storybook theme, the animatic nature of the cartoon actually kinda works.
A Very MattBoo Christmas (2016) (parts 1-2 on 1st account, parts 3-6 on 2nd, links below)
This six-part miniseries that I worked non-stop on for 3 weeks straight almost killed my hand and my motivation for future Flipnotes. It was a fun experiment though in that since it's roughly 7 minutes (the length of a 30s-60s theatrical cartoon short) it's the only MattBoo cartoon to ever follow a narrative. We also find out where stickmen go after they die and we meet Cupcake, the ruler of Purgatory with a temper as short as Bob's attention span! I suggest giving it a watch if you haven't already, it might be THE best Flipnote-anything I've ever done.
Kick the Pigskin (2017)
If you were on Sudomemo in mid-2017, you might remember this one. It was trending for I think about 3 weeks. I was always dumbfounded that out of all my Flipnotes THIS would be my hit, but I still like this one. A nice absurdist take on the classic Peanuts gag. I also like the obscure Vince Guaraldi score I used for this as music, it accompanies the idiocy going on in the picture quite well.
Goofy Ghost Roommates 2 (2017)
For my last full Flipnote until "Fred" came along last month, I revisited my "Goofy Ghost Roommates" Flipnote for Halloween 2016 with a new story. I'm not particularly fond of the first, but this sequel is probably the funniest things I've ever made. Tons of great dialogue and character based interactions. I just love how Mike just gets gradually fed up with Jeff's bull, and the ending gag with Eddie still gets a kick out of me.
Sorry that was a lot, but when you make 500 of these puppies, you can't help but rescue a handful from the pound.
What techniques or skills are you especially good at in your Flipnotes? What are some techniques or skills that you wish to improve?
I think I'm probably at my best regarding the animation aspect (or at the very least when a cartoon is actually animated). I feel a cartoon is best when it embraces the fact it's not real and makes the most of what it can get away with, such as wild exaggerated expressions and movements. I try to focus on what a character is feeling and blow it out of proportion when I start to animate. How do I draw the face? How do I flow the animation of this movement? And most importantly: is it funny? If so, I use it.
I'm not the best at proportions and all that, but for cartoons like these Flipnotes I've done for 7 years I didn't really see that as very important. I was animating stickmen, after all. It wasn't until late 2017 when I stopped making Flipnotes that I started getting into shape. I have a better grasp on that now, but I'm still not the best. But I still keep up the drawing so that I don't get sloppy in my work.
Please introduce some of your favorite artists on Sudomemo.
This is admittedly going back a long ways. I had so many favorites, I don't know where to start.
Fred's songs and distinguishable style are dear to me in a way. His content takes me back to a simpler time back when he was one of the bigger Hatena celebrities. Barring all this, his content is genuinely fun. silly, and upbeat, and you can tell he's very passionate in his music. Please go support his releases on Amazon and iTunes, he deserves it.
This guy's been on the Sudomemo scene for a while, and to my surprise he still puts out a new Flipnote now and then. He does a great job with his artistic interpretations on Thomas the Tank Engine and SpongeBob characters and is just an amazing talent overall. His art has this nice fuzzy feeling to it, amidst the weirdness that actually happens in his Flipnotes.
Sadly, she's not as active on Sudomemo as she used to be anymore, but that's no reason not to admire her work. Her art style is adorable, does a fun take on Earthbound and Pokemon characters, shares amazing music, and is overall an optimist who isn't afraid to share inspiring messages of positivity to others. Please go check her out.
His stuff is quite peculiar. His style, both animation and design wise, is quite varied and recognizable and I must say has quite a lot of charm. He hasn't posted a thing since 2016 unfortunately, as he apparently moved on to greener pastures. His Twitter and deviantART still contain very cool recent art from him, which showcases his improvements as an artist.
Another inactive user who will always go down in my book. Red Dragon is undoubtedly one of the most talented people I know of in the Flipnote realm, her animations showcase her extraordinary knacks for cuteness and design. She does an amazing job animating in ones on speed 6 (12 fps) which is not an easy task, she knows enough about weight and speed to make even a slower framerate look very convincing and lifelike. I applaud you, Red Dragon.
I am thoroughly disappointed his Hatena Flipnotes aren't accessible anymore (or at the least reuploaded on his Sudo page), because this man was one of my earliest influences first starting out. With a fun cartoony style coupled with simple, yet endearing and entertaining characters, his Flipnotes were among some of the funniest out there and insanely memorable. Please check out his content, wherever you find it.
Oh boy, Hatena members will likely recognize this household name of two brothers sharing the same DSi. Their stint on Sudomemo was brief but oh man did they leave an impression on Hatena, their very distinct style of animation and humor circulating through Hatena like a virus. I don't know what Epic is up to these days, but Guitar still does art and music as PotooBrigham, so support his stuff at the very least. These two deserve the praise they've gotten big time.
This man is strange. Like, very strange. But he puts his strangeness to very good use, through his odd yet very comedic Flipnotes and his great music. He's very passionate about what he does and I commend him for that. Even if he hasn't posted since 2017 and probably never will again, I still recommend checking him out.
Now, it's been 2016 since her last animation on Sudomemo due to several complications, but she is still very worth checking out. Her content is just adorable, I love her style and characters a lot. She's a very nice person and a great friend too. Go check out her new stuff as mellowforests, she's improved tenfold and it really shows!
A famous name you will never see another Flipnote from again, BrainSlice has some of the best animation I've ever seen, be it on Sudomemo or not. A quirky guy who still clearly puts a lot of time and effort into his hard work, BrainSlice has probably the best sense of designs and styles put on the small platform on Sudomemo. If you haven't seen his content yet, please do yourself a favor and watch. Please. I beg of you.
Okay, I draw the line at 10. Otherwise, this whole article would be nothing but me gushing about creators like a frickin' nerd.
Is there something you would like to say to the Sudomemo community?
Even when times are tough, when the world gets you down, when it feels like you're about to throw everything out the window, don't give up. If you're passionate about something, be it animating, drawing, music, painting, or even carpeting, keep up the good work and I promise, you WILL see results and your hard work WILL pay off eventually. I'm proud of all of you.
Social media links
Sudomemo (1st account): https://www.sudomemo.net/user/562E9B00F7D75FBC@DSi
Sudomemo (2nd account): https://www.sudomemo.net/user/586E3190A31384CD@DSi
Sudomemo (3rd account): https://www.sudomemo.net/user/5B95E360A31384CD@DSi
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCUHn7Axht5pCU64VADnwgg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MattBooTwitHole
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattboosarthole/
Newgrounds: https://mattboo.newgrounds.com
Happy Flipnoting
Thanks MattBoo! We enjoyed hearing your perspective and look back at things.
Until next time...happy Flipnoting!