Curse of Strahd Animatic: Hellfire

[@mariakutsy2178]

OOh! Wonderful animatic! Great way of showing, how Strahd is pulling the strings and manipulates his way throughout the campaign!

[@angelicaclarah]

Aww thank you so much!! 😭😭

[@mrraow7491]

Ok now I'm just convinced that Barns Courtney is THE go to for Curse of Strahd songs 😂

[@angelicaclarah]

Oh, 100%!! Something about the quality of that man's songs is just all gritty and dark ✨️

[@VanNessy97]

Girl help the way I was expecting the "Like fire, hellfire!" from Frollo

[@angelicaclarah]

LOL

[@VanNessy97]

@@angelicaclarah Strahd singing Frollo's "Hellfire" about Ireena, change my mind

[@TransientFlame]

*_Wow._* Curse of Strahd is my absolute favorite D&D setting, magnificently gothic and _dripping_ with atmosphere, and your stylish, evocative animatic brings that to life in a way none other really has in my opinion. You're clearly a skilled and talented artist, and you deserve FAR more attention. I wish I had seen this stunningly beautiful animatic much earlier, but better late than never to discover an absolute gem! First things first, the raven flying across the screen to introduce the blood-red text was the *perfect* opening. (As a side note, I love your use of color throughout this entire video - mostly oppressive grays, to reflect Barovia's depressing environment, with pops of white, black, and red for dramatic effect. But even the red wasn't *too* bright, more of a deep crimson, which was pleasingly complementary to the saturation level of the grays). The introduction to the PCs was dramatic and instantly made me want to know more. After all, introducing your heroes lying dead and bloody on the ground is *definitely* an attention-grabbing hook. The cutaway to a shot of the looming statue, with the barren silhouettes of trees in the background, and the animated flames flickering tall in the foreground, just added more to the mystery - does this have something to do with their death? Suddenly, the heroes' wounds heal as Strahd and company shows up on horseback. It implies his power is responsible for their sudden healing and awakening, for a moment later, the PCs open their eyes, their pupils white, and the story begins. I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS STORY AND I LOVE THAT. If I were to point out everything cool about this animatic, I would be describing literally every moment, so here’s a *slightly* abbreviated list of some of my favorite scenes: 0:41 - 0:47 Okay, the way that he punches up and rises through the straw, *perfectly* juxtaposed with the crescendo of the chorus, and poses with lightning flashing behind him, before doing a plunging leap with his sword, might actually be the coolest shit I've ever seen. This animatic is full of action, energy, and dynamic movement, and this is a prime example of that. I also love the entire group shot at the end there too, they're such party goals. 0:52 - 1:01 I love the use of mysterious silhouettes all throughout the animatic, but the running through the forest was especially cool, and the close-up of Strahd and his raven surrounded by flames, getting closer and closer to the raven until its eye - and the screen - turns red was such an awesome transition. 1:11 - 1:13 The foggy church, the ghostly figure, the flash of angel wings and then he's gone - it's a subtle moment, but it adds to the mystery of the story. 1:30 - 1:32 The fall is graceful yet dramatic, and her hair is gloriously red. If this is indeed depicting a certain character from the lore, I love her inclusion in this animatic - small role, *large* impact. 1:43 - 1:48 Yeah this is just really fucking cool. Depicting Strahd as a literally bloody figure draped upon a throne, his red silhouette dripping across the floor, with the heroes approaching him in the foreground, is such an awesome visual. You can clearly feel that they are in peril just by being in his presence. I also just love the lightning flashes in the background - adds to the ominous energy. 1:52 - 1:57 Magnificently creepy. The feral expression on Strahd's face as he puppeteers our heroes was effectively disturbing. He’s enjoying pulling those strings a little too much. 2:00 - 2:13 This part of Barns Courtney’s song is always so interesting to me, as the lyric are too distorted to hear what they actually are, creating a surreal effect. Applying this to the tarot scene with the oracle/fortuneteller - someone with supernatural powers who can translate and interpret through signs and symbols - just works with the eerie music so well. 2:13 - 2:18 OH MY GOD, the fighting animation is so fluid, with each character even displaying their own unique moveset/power!! Every time I see this, I am just insanely impressed at the frames and attention to detail. 2:20 - 2:29 The way that all the previous scenes of the animatic plays over Strahd’s face with increasing speed, as he looms closer and closer to the screen, is another atmospheric touch adding to the sense of dread that this campaign is just so good at evoking - the feeling that the BBEG is always watching. Finally, the shadows of the characters at the end turning into Strahd was _so_ visually clever, a perfect ending to an amazing animatic. Okay, so that was hardly abbreviated, as I ended up summarizing almost the entire video, but it truly deserves all the praise, and I have nothing but deep appreciation for all the time and effort you must have put into creating this work of art. This is absolutely my go-to video whenever I want to feel immersed in the mood of Barovia once again.

[@angelicaclarah]

Hello! First off thank you so much for all the love for the animatic! I was really blessed to have a great COS DM who made a world of difference. I'm stunned you managed to pick up on so many of the small things we included!!! It was honestly the highlight of my week reading this and seeing that someone enjoyed it this much! Minor cos spoilers: To answer the big questions, we TPK'd early in the game and were resurrected and thats the point where the animatic starts at the battle of the druids. It was a sorc, monk, rogue and pally and our dm ran an extended version of the game that we played once a week over a year! So our story included more interactions with the brides, the abby, the townsfolk and flashes of lore as we went. I'm so glad the story and the art that came out of it was this appreciated and thank you again for this lovely comment!!!

[@TransientFlame]

@angelicaclarah Thank you so much! I love the wonderful stories that can arise from playing D&D, and having great DMs make all the difference. I am so lucky to know a few! It was a very cool plot twist for your DM to style your party's TPK as the beginning, rather than the end, of your adventure! It must have lead to some very unique story beats, especially as an extended campaign! Thank you again for sharing such an awesome animatic and story to KZbin!

[@jesnemo2677]

dang another great CoS themed animatic of a party's adventure! what more can i ask for??? wait..... to another barns courtney song!??? discovered this artist through the OTHER CoS animatic and can't get enough of BOTH! would love to hear about your barovian adventures btw!!!

[@angelicaclarah]

AW THANKYOU! You're so kind, I really appreciate you taking the time to comment! And I know exactly which animatic you're talking about! Their work inspired me to try making one for myself 🥲It's currently still an ongoing campaign!!

[@jesnemo2677]

@@angelicaclarah omg! i hope you post updates on how it goes! actually in our session tonight there was a throwback to our CoS campaign where Kasimir (yes..... we took the npc with us into our NEXT TWO campaigns) thought we might be back in barovia.... turns out we're in the shadowfell... but still. hearkened back to those days. glad you were inspired to make this and share your story with us!!!!

[@orlando71434]

@@angelicaclarahhow did the campaign go? And if it got to that point what happened in the final battle?

[@Sonntam]

Epic stuff! It looks absolutely fantastic. Strahd pulling their strings looked absolutely gorgeous.

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you! I really appreciate this!! 😭😭

[@moonink3d420]

the animation and transitions are so smooth!!!!! this is. absolutely incredible :))

[@angelicaclarah]

How kind 😭😭 Thank you so much!! Transitions are some of the most difficult but satisfying things to figure out!

[@spellslots]

This is amazing! Can't wait until it blows up.

[@angelicaclarah]

Aw 😭 that's so sweet of you to say! I'm glad you enjoyed it 🥺

[@trishapellis]

I love this, it captures the vibe so well!

[@Stryk_LifeCoach]

This is fantastic! Really well done.

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you!! 💞

[@yelis9864]

Это очень красиво и атмосферно. Это сколько сил было потрачено на рисовку, а сколько на прохождение....

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you so much! 😭❤ I appreciate you taking the time to comment 🥲

[@gimmickgotbored7157]

My GOD, this is awesome

[@danielcrabb1604]

fantastic! deserves way more views!

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you so much 😭 that's very kind of you!

[@patryklesnau4388]

Im working to have same type of Strahd villany in my campain :)

[@angelicaclarah]

Love that!! A good villain makes all the difference 😌

[@looptheloopy]

This is so good aaaa

[@angelicaclarah]

You are so kind!!

[@patryklesnau4388]

Wooooo thats epic!

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate it

[@christosgiannopoulos828]

Not the song I expected, but I'm not disappointed

[@Tara-fc2wo]

I definitely thought Hellfire from Hunchback of Notre Dame

[@theclemmo7493]

AWESOME

[@Selitress]

Amazing!

[@angelicaclarah]

Thank you!!

[@Deathhawkdown]

2:38 did you have to have that sound at the end! it blew out my speakers

[@angelicaclarah]

LMAO I'M SORRY!! I didn't even notice 😭

[@axl3521]

Hey, just finished with my COS campaign and I am curious. How long did your game take to complete?

[@angelicaclarah]

@@axl3521 About a year! But we played a little fast and loose with the pacing so it may take you a little less long 😊

[@axl3521]

@@angelicaclarah Yeah, the campaign I took part in was heavily homebrewed and took about 3 years to complete.

[@ReoGnom]

i feel the style and empathy. BUT he is not an elf. good job btw, keep on repeat

[@Depresso_Espresso]

This is a comment.

[@LolitaAngel6]

this looks super cool!

[@angelicaclarah]

THANK YOU!