Critical Role Animatic - Heel Bot

[@NWolfsson]

"And you... you were never alive!" to Laudna was *so* unnecessary hard, I feel like it helped more than anything to show how easy he can cut others down with words and how well he knows them. And how important it is to rectify what is causing these crises.

[@itsaredvine]

He can cut them down and leave em like fresh cut grass

[@petervillent5573]

Dude, Sam literally studied psychology as his prep for the character and he's meticulously noting every detail that he can use / can be relevant to other PC's. I love his dedication.

[@tyllua]

@@petervillent5573 *reminder to never on sams bad side* damn that send a chill down my spine

[@biddle2944]

I'm crying? Seeing FCG go from scared and quiet to the murder bot and then everyone's reactions just...oh my gosh. I've been waiting for someone to animate this and you did such and amazing job!

[@youngmultiverser9311]

Now THIS is what I was hoping for in a animatic

[@lumberluc]

It was The Care and Cull initiative.

[@seanpeery7780]

I knew something was coming because the new intro never features Sam as FCG. Meaning Sam built this character, expecting it to end up splitting from the party in some way or another.

[@alexgregg1058]

I think all the things said by him to the other's were things said to him by Dancer before. Think about it

[@jefrosiers8880]

Laudnas rage and the shock on fearnes face gave me chills for a sec

[@megaspoiler]

Love how FCG's eyes are narrowed in their "red mode". It's like the Iron Giant when it went "battle mode"!

[@cmrobbins88]

Same. Or like Baymax in destroy mode.

[@Taneth]

Number 5 is Angry

[@romxxii]

"Fresh Cut Grass, activating Instant Kill mode"

[@uwuowo214]

@@romxxii Fresh cut grass cutting flesh

[@Dorokill]

this campaign 3 went from being the most funny of the campaigns to the most heartbreaking in a heartbeat

[@isaacgraff8288]

Oh just wait for ep 33. That is a fun one "Is this one your favorite?"

[@adriannaranjo4397]

_If only you know how bad things really were_

[@juliagoodwin9510]

These past few episodes have been hell on my anxiety...

[@greyscaleadaven]

@@juliagoodwin9510 And it only spirals in the best way from here lmao

[@martyperdue2872]

o7

[@arturoreyescortez2476]

Everyone in this group has been harmed by someone. Fresh Cut Grass was made to be an assassin without being aware of it, Laudna was killed by the Briarwoods and has Delilah in her head, Fearne was left with a witch that basically gaslighted her for most of her life, Orym's husband was killed by villains, Ashton was left behind by his former group, Dorian has problems with his parents, Imogen was given powers by an evil god that is causing her psychological damage and Chetney has problems with his former boss. Also, this animation is good and shows how sad this scene was.

[@mathybrain8]

And Bertrand's dead.

[@Cragified]

The source and nature of Imogen's bloodline powers are still very mysterious. Could be an evil god, could just as much be something entirely different. Given Matt's world building I'm leaning on different.

[@kappakiev9672]

CR 3 is a story about healing

[@ciaranmcguinness8900]

@@Cragified well now we know Imogen's powers come from a God Eating Eldritch abomination trapped inside of the red moon

[@Garaman257]

To be fair, Chetney did try to KILL his old boss… if you know you know

[@MycoArsenic39]

The emotions you conveyed in these characters are really impressive, especially Laudna and FCG. You could really see Laudna’s inner-turmoil/conflict through her face and through Delilah, and at 1:51 when her reflection is on one of FCG’s lens. That’s a really nice element, paired with the quote, “This isn’t who you are.” It’s like she’s fighting herself on who she is as a person, whether she is alive or not, or if her friends are going to betray her or not. Also, I really love how FCG started from looking like a small child who doesn’t know what they did wrong, to blind-rage. Honestly, well done. :)

[@tomawen5916]

Chetney saying, "turn him off! TURN HIM OFF!" is the best line of a PC about to die. Well done!

[@roriksavant]

The impact of this animation is incredible... FCG's sudden switch, Ashton keeping him grappled, and FCG's expressiveness are so, so impressive well done

[@rhylin26]

Holy crap! Best one of this scene yet! You’re ability to depict the non dialogue moments is amazing! You really captured the timing and emotion of this scene as it would have been in real-time. Bravo! 👏

[@redch0pstick]

"To be clear, I hit you with a wooden mallet, okay? All these other people came WWE." - Chetney/Travis The animation really highlights that point, all under 6 seconds (by dnd combat status).

[@eternasapphiremoon81]

"I will behead you." Wow....yeah, that escalated WAY too quickly!

[@askthepizzaguy]

"I will behead you." - FCG

[@cybermadness2503]

Amazing!!! Such an emotional moment for FCG, Fearne and Laudna!

[@Roguekriger]

I love that the insults FCG uses like "your parents don't like you" and "you were never alive" because they could easily be insults FCG heard against him in the past that he's basically reusing as a form of projection why also doubling as fitting insults for those he's directing them towards

[@OttersDen]

Everyone's talking about your animation skills - as they should be - but I just wanna give shout-outs to the sound work you do, too. The dialogue editing, the music, and the EXCELLENT Foley you add in... just brilliant, all of it. Well done. 😁

[@a-shanda-productions]

We really can’t go one episode without having a “I’m gonna tear your heart out and eat” scene can we?

[@TakeWalker]

this being the scene everyone's doing, it just gets more heartbreaking every time on the other hand, this is easily the best animatic for this seen that I have seen, well done! :D

[@DreadPirateElla]

AHHH YES!!! I never realized how quickly everything was happening in this scene, you put it together so well!

[@claired2452]

Was emotional enough the first time but damn, this made it feel even more emotional this time. Excellent job! Loving it!

[@dragonicdoom3772]

Omg you can't just show me baby Fearne crying without warning me! Also, can we take a moment to acknowledge that Travis' joke about there being something inside FCG wanting to be released actually kinda came true. What is with Travis this campaign making all these 5 head predictions!?

[@Starhartdeer]

his wisdom score is pretty high

[@dragonfire4869]

Travis is incredibly smart, more than people give him credit for. otherwise he wouldn't be the CEO

[@TomElliottJackson]

Travis spent that entire episode shouting "I told you!" at Laura, I feel like their drive home is where he lays out his theories both weird and wonderful

[@candyh4284]

Apollo's Kickball gift of Prophecy has been given to several of them this campaign, definitely Travis, but also Liam literally made a joke when Chetney came around that Travis could've been a gnome werewolf

[@darklord884]

Seeing Laudna, who is normally such a nice person, suddenly grow a deep intent to hurt, shows how quickly she grew attached to the group and how much it hurt for her to hear what F.C.G. said. She might be the most optimistic member of the group but when she falls, she crashes hard. I like that detail. She isn't naive due to the life she led, but she gets hurt easily when her friends are being angry or mean to her (which based on F.C.G. and Imogen, might actually happen a lot).

[@BaronRathorne]

It's been said before, but your ability to translate the non dialog parts into pacing and action... excellent. Bravo! You really captured how quickly things turned once Chetney conked FCG and how fast it went down.

[@egguu69]

Man, you do the best FCG characterization in your design! This was absolutely phenomenal, and the tiny flashes of Fearne's trauma to accentuate the severity of the harmful comment? Brilliant.

[@morbidnumbskull]

Welcome to the League music users club absolutely fantastic!

[@michaelpenkalski3287]

I love how you've got Laudna's reflection in FCG's lens as she's saying "This isn't who you are"

[@jefrosiers8880]

this is truly a masterpiece

[@1rotzy]

I love how fast it goes from bonk to murder. Caught me off guard.

[@doomdaddy6935]

I love the fact that when laudna said "This isn't who you are " was directed at herself more than fgc

[@sbeve4841]

Fresh Grass Cut

[@candyh4284]

@@sbeve4841 fuckin' great cyborg

[@sniclops15]

The attention to detail of you having Laudna crack only one of his ocular units...

[@jabisdumb]

oh my god oh my goodness oh my god this is so good holy bell’s hells this is so good ahhhh!! I absolutely love the echo when Dancer says “you know what you did” and I love the static and I love the reaction from the rest of the Hells, I love love loove the quick motion and rapid escalation after Chetney hits FCG, I f*cking _adore_ the way you did Ashton’s grapple like holy sh*t that is so cool and so Ashton and oh my goooood!! It’s so awesome how you really captured that this moment was actually incredibly short in universe, sharp and dangerous and painful yes, but over very quickly. Sorry for gushing lol, was saving this vid as a nice treat for myself at the end of the day and it payed off big time, scratched like every possible itch I had about this scene in my mind theatre, Pardon me while I watch it like six more times 💛🤖🔪

[@invaderzam]

Wow! That made it so much more intense with the corrosion and how Ashton was holding back FCG.

[@GXwayne_Gaming]

When I saw this moment in the episode it gave me chills. Sam is so evil OMG. This animation was so awsome, it portrayed the moment so well. FCG in this scene reminds me of Iron Giant. Legit good freaking job 👏 👌.

[@Hallowoct313]

That emotional intensity from fcg. Fearne’s shock. Luandas anxiety and Ashton’s concern for his at this point best friend. Makes this one of the most emotionally driven parts of this campaign

[@abaddonarts1129]

YES!! That's what I love about animatics and stuff like this. It takes what was a ten minute scene when everyone was deliberating or talking in session and only shows the results in world, so FCG was *way more responsive* than Sam made him seem. I suppose that makes sense with robots thinking faster than everyone else. Ashton with the fucking dive tackle though, wonderfully done!! Also holy shit I didn't catch Fearne being her younger self for an instant as she was listening to him because what he said hit home. (Also I know this is a long comment but those sound effects!!!! Love the one FCG made when he whirred up and spun around to attack)

[@dreamy_kiwi2780]

I’ve been waiting for someone to animate that scene, this is more than I could’ve asked for, nicely done! Really nicely done!!

[@finn9707]

This animation is amazing, the character expressions and little personal touches with Laudna and Fearne's trauma kicked ass.

[@thefinalfrontear]

ohh fuckkkk i loved watching the cast freak out so much i never knew how badly i wanted to see this scene uninterrupted. the quickness of fcg turning on chet is so much scarier than i first imagined how that i see it in real time

[@vonhinrick2521]

this is such a good moment! i love ya style and the animation!

[@fanrulerjynx5665]

This scene hit so hard and I’m so great full of the work you have put into this with your drawings and audio edits!!! As soon as I listened I had hoped you would make this, thank you!

[@Jonaegh]

The redaction of most of Matt's descriptions makes this feel really real and impactful! It allows the viewer to extrapolate on the deeper meaning of FCG's fall to madness, well done! 👏👏

[@tstymctst]

Oh, wow! You really made this scene so impactful. The audio, the characters' expressions, the details like the growing corrosion and the flash from adult Fearne to young Fearne and back... absolutely wonderful interpretations of what happened. Lovely work.

[@starstriker1792]

AND I THOUGHT THE ACTUAL MOMENT WAS CRAZY!!! Holy crap I just watched this on the vod cuz I'm behind, but you totally captured how I envisioned this moment, and actually made it even better than I could have imagined. Thank you for this, and absolutely amazing work!!! 🖤

[@GuardianM25]

My god, an animation/highlight channel that doesn't slap spoiler titles on things. I thought these went extinct

[@rileymorris7230]

wow at first I thought this animation was going to be a bit choppy but dam that was good the rust and cracks are scary cool, nice job this showed everything really good.

[@shmee123ful]

I await the deluge of episodes 33 animatics with a mix of dread and anticipation because holy Mother of ravens. That was a lot, it was a lot a lot

[@kagemarunl]

Genuinely and honestly: Thank you so, SO very much for animating this scene. Everyone's emotions and expressions, the sound effects you used, reliving the whole scene but now actually seeing it in stead of just the mind's theater...amazing. Simply and truly amazing! Chills and goosebumps ALL OVER when Delilah appeared and Laudna get the red eyes at the end! Said it before, can't say it enough, thank you for this! ♥

[@Strix182]

I feel like this is FCG unintentionally parroting back insecurities and fears he's picked up on from the party. We've seen them get mixed up with their identity before, muddling the troubles of those closest to him with his own personal thoughts. Letters has a drive to experience empathy, to understand and help the people around them through their troubles, but as an imperfect creation, I wonder if he isn't internalizing those troubles in a much more direct way than we can see...

[@tgbikos]

When I saw this thumbnail, I was expecting funny Sam Riegal hijinks. I'm caught up now, and, uh, oof

[@dragonicdoom3772]

The only thing that could've made this better is the meat tongue coming out, like when FCG's eyes turn red the tongue just flops out of his mouth

[@reubenbailey7491]

Hmm, maybe I should watch the series so that I know what's actually going on here, anyway this was cool.

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

M'thinks this, on top of Bertrands death and Dorian leaving, is going to go down as one of the seminal moments of this campaign

[@GlitchGhost1285]

Ok am going to break character... Because that was f"#g intense and I love it!!

[@lancetmekei3142]

Holy shit

[@Kaizer_Aphelion]

I have no idea what this campaign is about, but that machine is running way past its decomission date

[@evancarson1895]

Man, and I though THIS epsiode would be the one to hit us in the feels for awhile…. Hahahah…

[@user-cy8li6xt3s]

I haven't seen it yet and I feel nothing but dread

[@evancarson1895]

@@user-cy8li6xt3s good.

[@shadowelii]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Sweetrad]

i love how fast the animation is. makes it feel more impactful considering rounds are only 6 seconds each

[@brentage5000]

Between this stuff and last night's events with Orym and Fearne, I can not handle all of this.

[@michaelfinnerty7240]

Yep... this earned you a subscribe from me.

[@xMrxWhitexRabbitx]

Oooff... Thems some emotions!! Loudna... 🥺

[@demiurge2763]

This is one of the the best animatics I have ever seen!

[@jeroen92]

I still love Laura's O-o-o-o-verloaded

[@enwarrior8163]

I love your design for all the characters!

[@nekronprime26]

"Turn 'em off! TURN 'EM OFF, TURNEMOFF!

[@stalhein62]

That's really good work.

[@isabellamontoya9148]

Excellent work nice as always

[@karisschoon7066]

These are some of my favorite character designs I've seen for a BH animatic, I love them. I especially love the way you did FCG, they feel so alive and real. Also, super cool how you incorporated their verbal sounds and sound effects into the clip. Great job!

[@SabreWolf18]

Very good. Nicely done.

[@Mattdovah]

HOLY HECK THIS IS POWERFUL

[@blkhwk1321]

Hit it outta the park, once again!

[@binder38us]

Great animatic of a scary moment

[@lonewolf-4lfe399]

The intensity shown here......

[@ArtoriasB]

Damn this is my favorite so far

[@thomasdoubting]

Rise of the machine! 💣🤖

[@DMingThoughts]

Oh wow, that was awesome! So mich cool moments in one animatic. Great job!

[@jackiethegiant]

This is so good! I love this!

[@TK-_-GZ]

Algorithmic punch

[@ajogden1940]

Oh, bless. You did SOOOOOOO GOOD on this. Emotional animation, flawless editing, solid pacing, omg. Got chills just like I did watching this in the game. The way you cut it together really nails in how SHARPLY FCG changes from one moment to the next. Sam’s sweet little timid voice talking to Dancer, and then moments later his growling/screaming at Chetney? Unrecognizable. Awesome.

[@Micaerys]

This is soooo good

[@razgriz2276]

Amazing job! And i can't wait for what you do for episode 33!

[@Lngbrdninjamasta]

this was such an awesome rendition! & the horror felt even more real than when I watched it live! bravo 👏👏👏👏🌹

[@BouncingTribbles]

Love this, so well done

[@Chaotic-Golden_Fleece]

EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!!

[@klausmuller9791]

I love that his murderbot eyes are the same as the ones of the iron giant

[@kagemarunl]

YES! EXACTLY! I noticed that as well, amazing! ♥

[@wilamblack8372]

EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!

[@derpyderp2270]

I love this scene so much. Simply because it’s so different from everything thus far. We’ve had players vs player before but this stands out to be something entirely different, because normally that’s due to differing opinions or wanting to solve something. This is done purely out of newly lit hatred and piling stress. And the way FCG insults and burns the party with his words makes you clearly feel the emotions and difference between how he normally is Whag also helps is that the mood around this party prior to this was just fun and happy, even the action of Chet hitting FCG was just funny and had no hostile intentions, until it makes a full 180 to complete murder

[@derpyderp2270]

Something that definitely helps is that Sam is the player here. He knows just what to say to help people, but he also knows just what to say to burn people

[@hatandhistea6334]

Oh damn. That laudna at 2:15, dayum. Well done. The atmosphere, tone, art, amazing!

[@MrGhost-fe4tc]

I’m sorry but they way you drew fcg in this made him look so cute even when he was doing the murder

[@audriantan]

what the hell.. what the hell that was so good?? This really put everything together and showed us how fast it went in real time. Wow. I love the expressiveness in all the characters, the body language in FCG and the terror in everyone's faces... Holy crap.

[@danielbrinton9716]

Can’t wait to see episode 33 with so much emotion

[@StaubAufDenKnochen]

Great job!!

[@Mel_the_Pirate]

This is REALLY good, it gets the tense scene amazingly

[@RinSyuveil]

YEEEEEEESSS I am so happy someone animated this part it was so emotionally driven and amazing

[@hohenJai]

This is perfect

[@elbruces]

Thank you! The players were having so much fun doing this scene that it could be hard to see through to how emotionally hardcore it would be in-game. I don't blame them for that, but this was really needed.

[@aoiyuureisuru7656]

Terrifying

[@Nastyn1nja808]

So good lol

[@josecaceres5658]

You almost got me in tears with that last bit there

[@KingsBard]

good pun

[@logangraham3689]

Episode 33 is going to be a lot to animate.

[@fryguy8544]

Welp this scene will haunt me. Thank you for animating it, I love your work.