Regarding the New Bump Lines

[AngryOwl]

I think the shift from photography to video and/or digital art has impacted in a way, but it's maybe a consequence of the shift rather than a cause for it.

I would have to agree in full. The style and means of creation of the bumps directly impact the feelings behind them. Even if more time was thrown into helping the current existence of the video and digital art bumps, I would argue that the same feelings would not be conveyed.

Photography leaves the clear-cut remembrance of theme. Tilt-shift, AcTN incorporation, Owl stamps, Tokyo photos, and even some of the unorganized and unrelated comedy bumps leave this feeling to an extent. While this may be a bias comparison because I've witnessed many more of the older bumps compared to the newest series, I can say with some amount of certainty that my mind becomes blurry when trying to think of memorable patterns or individual bumps of the new series.



As a side note, I feel really bummed out about The Boondocks possibly being left at season 3. It was my favorite ongoing series when it came to Adult Swim putting out new episodes compared to the other stuff they make. Though, I can see why Aaron would want to leave it off at S3.

[NumyMufn]

Couple things... as far as I know the current bump team's newest member has been there for three years now. The next in line at least seven years, and after that is one of the original bump writers who started at CN long before that. Mike Lazzo still has final say on what airs. Do we have the recent bump that says "Mike - too many graphic bumps"?  Yeah, that Mike.

Many of these new bumps smell like the promo teams' work. I feel like they had a bunch of those random clips they've been known to attach to the promos just lying around and somebody decided it was a good idea to use them as bumps.   EDIT:  Wow, I found a bit to back that up. I knew that sophisticated woman was somebody famous and when I went to find out exactly who she was it says it those bumps were "the brainchild of promo writer/producer Matt Hutchinson." (Congrats to Matt on the new baby.) I can only guess there is a similar story behind Flip Spiceland's appearance in 'Flip's Tips'

After some reflecting, the Owl Costumed guys actually remind me of the earliest bumps that featured the streets of Japan. Nowadays they don't have much reason to carry on the Japanese theme.  

We've had animations before, the batch of stop-motion and those by Jake Dooley - both well done with mostly good music, though. The black and white ones they have at the moment I mostly find manic and/or disgusting. I rather like the cows & zebras by Taras Hrabowsky. I'm afraid those may not be around long as they were part of the collection for the 'Animals/Off-the -Air' special and I don't think [as] has any extended rights to it, unlike the cuts from the Flying Lotus video that was produced by [as]. (That's more of a guess based on how quickly the show was pulled from the video section.)  

Part of the problem for me is they threw SO MANY new bumps at us at once and such a large chunk of them didn't seem to fit the groove that we all know and love. But as I'm able to separate them into related groups I find that I'm really okay with some of them. The others just don't feel right. But then I recall when the First Aid bumps didn't feel right, and also the B&W Cards and then the graphic bumps. So, is it just that it's change?

I think only time will tell.

[Laughingboy69]

I don't know, even I'm getting tired of the "Scare tactics for laughs," weird-ass promos/bumps that [as] has pulled out of their whatchamajiggers.

[NumyMufn]

I don't know, even I'm getting tired of the "Scare tactics for laughs," weird-ass promos/bumps that [as] has pulled out of their whatchamajiggers.

Are you referring to this variety? http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3564 We have them all listed as "BW Drawings"
Because those are the ones I really do not like... except for the kitty. The kitty can stay 

[Laughingboy69]

I don't know, even I'm getting tired of the "Scare tactics for laughs," weird-ass promos/bumps that [as] has pulled out of their whatchamajiggers.

Are you referring to this variety? http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3564 We have them all listed as "BW Drawings"
Because those are the ones I really do not like... except for the kitty. The kitty can stay 

Naw, I'm talking about:

http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3704
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3656
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3658
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3654
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3653

Let's not forget their sign-off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtIcwWZyorw

Just a few examples. I could go on, but... I really don't want to.

[NumyMufn]

The Clown Kids? Yeah, they're creepy - but the creepiest thing is that the footage is from an educational film  ...except maybe for zombie looking Carl - that's pretty damn creepy.
I don't see those too often.
I haven't seen the Cyriak cats in a while either. I'd be surprised if they own that one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSMCRD35ch4
...and I don't find it particularly creepy, just more of the 'wtf?' category.

After my earlier post I remembered about the Granny & her PC bumps. I don't much care for them either.
The real problem with the 'wtf?' bumps is the shock value is very short lived and there's nothing 'endearing' about them. Not that I care to be shocked in the middle of the night either, but I don't know a single person who just loves seeing Granny take her meds from the blue hand. Those random bits were far more effective tacked onto promos where they only aired for a week, and went by so quickly you really just went "what the hell was that" and maybe you'd pay more attention the next time you saw it.

[Dont Haunt Me]

Let's not forget their sign-off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtIcwWZyorw

Just a few examples. I could go on, but... I really don't want to.

A bit off topic, but...



Assuming he meant "than" instead of "that" ... WHAAAAT?

P.S. sorry for the big image, I'd put it in a 'spoiler' if I had the option.

[NumyMufn]

Let's not forget their sign-off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtIcwWZyorw

Just a few examples. I could go on, but... I really don't want to.

A bit off topic, but...

Assuming he meant "than" instead of "that" ... WHAAAAT?

P.S. sorry for the big image, I'd put it in a 'spoiler' if I had the option.

edited for emphasis
not off topic at all
and totally agree...

... WHAAAAT?

[Laughingboy69]

Yeah, I don't know. I really stopped watching a lot of [as] recently, and most of what I have seen are from Bumpworthy and random internet searches. I guess I got a little upset when the network decided to embrace their stoner, ADHD mindset and hired people to concoct these strange, uninteresting, intended for shock value creep bumps instead of what they were best known for; short, 10 second interludes alerting people that they have 3 minutes to take a dump before the show comes back on, featuring smewth beats and cool shoop'd pictures.

Maybe I got annoyed that I couldn't copy them with my own stuff anymore too.

Then again, all I still watch on [as] is King of the Hill.

[Jeff]

Agree with the last several posts.  I think we have to consider that the tastes of those who frequent this site may not be representative of the majority of the current viewers of adult swim.  Thus a shift to cater to that (or maybe I'm off base).

Not to say that our tastes may be better, or more mature, but our tastes may be better, or more mature.

[Daikun]

I'm willing to agree that the animated bumps are an eyesore. I almost feel dizzy when I look at animations that have Problem Solverz-esque character designs.

[mongo]

Whoa, I got backlogged here. Back to the matter at hand; about the newer bumps being the promo team's work, no wonder they feel so different. I really was never a fan of those bits, and they definitely lose the "shock value" on repeat. I'm really sad to see the whole Japanese them slowly disappear, it was a very fun part of the [adult swim] block (and some of the best bumps were part of the AcTN line-up ). With that said, I really think the Owl Guys bumps are the best of the new stuff, they feel more like the authentic [as].

I agree on the animation comment; while I wasn't a huge fan of some of the Dooley bumps, they were always made carefully. The stop motion batch had enough "freak-out" without being too gross, and I feel it was actually a very strong series. The Hrabowsky cows are beautiful, I agree on that; really well made stuff. Sadly they don't seem to air anymore . I agree that after a while some of these work; I was really amused by Flip's Tips, and again I think the Owl series is great, but still the majority don't mean much to me. I adored the Arlen Bank series, but thankfully KOTH bumps seemed to be disconnected from the whole movement.

The Clown Kids bumps, well, don't love 'em but I'm kinda OK with them. I like the creepy ATHF characters (would anyone have ever thought Zombie Carl would be that creepy?). Granny's PC was a quite weak series; funny the first time, stale after that. Definitely a valid point about there being nothing endearing in those (or most of the new bumps really, not even Flip's Tips). If someone really feels stuff like the cat bump is better than The Dawn is Your Enemy, those are the guys killing our block.

Also, I agree with Laughingboy69 (hey dood!). I don't really watch [as] anymore except for King of the Hill, and the full block on random occassions (April Fools no longer being one of those, even if The Room is funny). I agree with the focus on the stoner/hipster/ADHD mindset bringing the block down and taking a lot of the originality away, although sicne we know now the other team was at work maybe that'll get straightened up. I gotta admit, I saw a few image bumps this week that were pretty damn cool to see on the air, and some recent stuff like Adult Swim Air. About copying them, that's true, but I really wouldn't want to make anything in that vein either way .

[Ryan D.]

-- bumps of yesteryear really seemed to have a flow or follow a coherent plan or theme.  You had your // location series, tilt-shift series, transportation series, scrolling bumps representing certain shows, unusual settings (shoot the freak, etc.) and they always, at least to me, had similar or complimentary music.  

That stuff is where it's at, Jeff.  With that being said.... the bump master is in his editing room.  All is right with the world.  Just saw this one recently...

"Fly With Us"
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3703  

Love it!  Great legendary A.S. Bump music too.  Made famous when used in....

"ACTN Green Guy One Arm"
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/1805

[Dont Haunt Me]

Let's not forget their sign-off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtIcwWZyorw

Just a few examples. I could go on, but... I really don't want to.

Assuming he meant "than" instead of "that" ... WHAAAAT?

edited for emphasis
not off topic at all
and totally agree...

Thank you, I now know people around here love The Dawn is your Enemy just as much as I do. I guess I kinda already knew that though. I mean who doesn't love it? WELL THAT GUY, FOR ONE. Anyway...

-- bumps of yesteryear really seemed to have a flow or follow a coherent plan or theme.  You had your // location series, tilt-shift series, transportation series, scrolling bumps representing certain shows, unusual settings (shoot the freak, etc.) and they always, at least to me, had similar or complimentary music.  

That stuff is where it's at, Jeff.  With that being said.... the bump master is in his editing room.  All is right with the world.  Just saw this one recently...

"Fly With Us"
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/3703  

Love it!  Great legendary A.S. Bump music too.  Made famous when used in....

"ACTN Green Guy One Arm"
http://www.bumpworthy.com/bumps/1805

Also, this.

I recall referencing that bump recently. It's a great bump, my only problem is that I haven't seen any like it before or after it aired. My point being, this bump is isolated, and I don't actually think we'll be seeing much like it anytime soon.

As said before, the new Owl ones aren't so bad. The music is great (when they have it) and the visuals aren't bad either. Not saying this problem is fixed. They keep spewing out more and more mediocre bumps every (sun)day.

SO, if we actually want to do something about it, we could either sign up on the official [AS] boards and rant there, send personal messages to whoever is in charge of the bumps/AS producers, etc., OR do those "Dear Adult Swim" messages and get on a bump of our own!

Fat chance anything will work. I wouldn't exactly be too keen on changing my style after getting insulted on it.

[NumyMufn]

I feel like I'm a bigger fan of the B&W bumps than anyone else around here.  Even sentimental at times. But I really like the zen moments created by the old-style graphic bumps. For me the biggest part of the whole bump experience is really the music. It's pretty safe to say that's the deal breaker for me on some of the new 'random' creations.