TAZ Music Animatic: T.I.M.E. {spoilers}

CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 57-59
I'm not sure there's anything I can say to explain or describe this video, so I'll just segue right into some caveats and stuff:
Yes I'm into The Adventure Zone now! No this isn't the big animation I was thinking of for it. Creative liberties were taken with a lot of the scenes in this video--I'm sure I messed up plenty of design/narrative details--and headcanons will be subject to change in the future! That's about it!
Song: T.I.M.E. by Neil Cicierega
Program Used: Adobe Photoshop CS6

[@BurningOleander]

darkly dramatic theme with comedic lyrics thrown on it that make it better a lot but also ruin the mood a lot yeah, pretty much TAZ on songform

[@EmptyFeet]

my thoughts exactly

[@DARE0451]

T.I.M.E. is really interesting from an artistic and tonal perspective. The song YMCA is entirely about the AIDS epidemic of the 80's, where gay people, mostly youths, were thrown out on their asses, some homeless, unable to get medical care or jobs due to having The Gay Disease. The YMCA stood up and provided humanitarian services to these people. The song is very upbeat, but in reality T.I.M.E. is more tonally accurate to the topic. YMCA the song is somebody looking back on the conversation where someone suggested the YMCA, T.I.M.E. is that interaction happening in the present.

[@gandalfalfa]

ruin is a bit of a strong word but yeah

[@theartistswings9810]

I disagree with ruined but - I KNOW RIGHT?????

[@sockeye42069]

The cut to Johann with "hang out with all the boys" ended my goddamn life.

[@fishiest3539]

I could literally write an essay on why this song and this podcast are perfect for each other

[@kappaross6124]

By the looks of the comments, it seems like some people have :P But yes, even the smallest word choices seem to fit perfectly. It's uncanny.

[@Queer_Nerd_For_Human_Justice]

Please do I would read it

[@molybdenumrose]

Merle trying to talk to Pan, one more time, and getting no response BREAKS MY FRICKEN HEART

[@nekkidnora]

Oh man, Lucretia's face when she sees Magnus, and immediately after- oh goodness.

[@GamzeenMakara]

Not gonna lie, the first thing I did when the song started was laugh. I was so confused on why this song would be with an animatic that looked pretty serious in the first couple seconds. But then I was looking very deeply at the video and listening to how the music correlated. Just...heh, it's literally the most amazing Adventure Zone animatic I have EVER seen.

[@NeonGreyscale]

"no man does it all by himself" in T.I.M.E. makes me cry now that we know the bear king's true meaning of strength.

[@Shaqccident]

I absolutely cannot get over this- the song is horribly appropriate in every way. I couldn't have picked something better to make an animatic for that because it matches the tone of the show PERFECTLY (intensely heart wrenching but also silly and wonderful and just FUNNY). The symbolism you were able to pull from the lyrics and apply to the story lines up Shockingly well I'm never going to get over this ITS SIMPLE AND BEAUTIFUL AND FUNNY AND EMOTIONAL AND PERFECT great job 11/10

[@EmptyFeet]

aw man this is really sweet!! these were my goals so I'm glad they reached someone, thank you! ;v;

[@alexamckee7389]

Erica N COULDNT HAVE SAIS IT BETTERRR

[@Kurkia_Harmonity]

@@EmptyFeet Kkkkkk

[@orchidbreezefc]

This is honestly like, the perfect TAZ video. The emotions are intense and perfectly capture the drama of the episode, the staging is great, it fits the lyrics AND on top of that is easy to follow and somehow in chronological order, all while being the most fucking ridiculous song I've ever heard. It perfectly encapsulates everything TAZ is tonally. Also, every time I watch that bit with Lucretia seeing Magnus alive and having a moment of joy before her face falls upon seeing the Hunger, and she just looks devastated and you can see in her face the realization that everything she did was never enough, if not entirely in vain? TEARS STREAM DOWN MY FACE.

[@gracemartin6284]

I think this music mashup is the best fit for this episode and just the feel of the tres horny bois in general. There's an undercurrent of epicness and seriousness and intensity while still being goofy and light on the surface:) i love this so much

[@salemoleander]

I cannot stop watching this, it's so so so good. I get chills every time Magnus bursts through those doors. The pacing of the images with the music is stunning, I don't think I'll ever get over this animatic it's so freaking good. Also amazing Lucretia design!!! I love her

[@codycrawford1440]

*Merle casts Zone of Truth* "Kept you waiting, huh?"

[@insertwittytitlehere]

I love you.

[@EmptyFeet]

haha, cool

[@Riolu91]

The comedic lyrics on top of the dramatic music describes this podcast better than any way I possible could have.

[@marqicuis]

This is AMAZING!! I just started the Stolen Century arc and being able to see an animatic about what happened at *KKKRRZZZKKKKKKKKKKZZZKKKKKKKKK* is so cool!!!!

[@kappaross6124]

Okay, replacing spoilers with static is a great idea and everybody in this fandom should do it.

[@marqicuis]

I come back to this animatic all the time because of how powerful. Just now found my comment from 3 years ago. Hi Marq!

[@marqicuis]

Back again for the first time in a while. Hi Marqs!

[@beawolfe]

Oh gosh this just shows how oblivious I am... I've watched this like three times trying to figure out why the pacing and art style were so dang familiar, I only just now actually looked at the channel name and lo and behold.... Toasty I'm glad you like TAZ cause that means two things I really like are intersecting!

[@EmptyFeet]

haha, I'm glad too! I'm really enjoying TAZ and making stuff for it and...I'm just kinda tickled that people know my animatic style well enough to recognize it in a new fandom?? that's pretty neat! ^u^

[@standardemc5713]

IT'S FUN TO STAY AT THE I P R E

[@TiramisuSlice]

Oh mY GoD this is absolutely phenomenal! This is exactly how I imagined all of episode 57-59 looking. I am completely enamored with this. The music is so dramatic and goofy and it suits the theme of TAZ perfectly. Seriously, fantastic work.

[@LavenderTownsGhost]

they lyrics to YMCA have never sounded so powerfull

[@charlottegreen8906]

i had to rewatch this at 0.5 speed to appreciate every pannel this is so great it captures these recent eps so well

[@junomcnugget9951]

the horror on lucretias face when she sees the hunger, with merle trying to talk to pan and getting no response, the fear in taakos eyes when he falls into the trap, magnus seeing barry die next to him. all of that together made me cry very hard, especially to such intense but silly music. this is truly astounding

[@BreakfastAlex]

Damn... this animatic was the thing that made me want to start listening to TAZ and now that I'm caught all the way up to this point I came back and watched it again... and just wow. this is so amazing and you capture so much of the emotions in each of the scenes so well, you are such a blessing to this fandom tbh

[@ImWeirdAndILikeIt]

IT'S FUN TO BE IN THE IIIIIII. P. R. E.!

[@VidiioSearch]

The amount of creativity with the song choice is amazing.

[@OhForTheLoveOfSatan]

never in a million years would i ever imagine this song being so serious but boi howdy was i wrong

[@annavreling2799]

The young man young man while zooming in on angus made me cry.

[@mariannacross2538]

i can't believe i'm weeping over this ridiculous dnd podcast a+ animation

[@psych707]

Emptyfeet, you always manage to find the perfect music to accompany your animations. it's really remarkable.

[@keen1696]

Hot diggity shit. I cry every time I watch this, but I keep doing it cause it's a baller animatic

[@memedweeb7872]

i have never felt more emotionally conflicted

[@ShinjiIkari459]

cannot get over this lucretia design

[@flawbehindsunshine8271]

fjdka;jfd; i've been watching this over and over trying to pick out new stuff every time. This is amazing and I'm 100% in love. The hallway scene with Taako and Angus? The Voidfish? Carey punching the shit out of Magnus? so so so so so good , excellent job

[@Paego_]

oh man, I can tell I'm gonna be rewatching this at least ten times today.

[@MidoriTheAwesome]

I keep coming back to this just to hurt myself emotionally

[@internetfriend6701]

I never thought of YMCA as that inspiring of a song, but you did a great thing here

[@kattastic9999]

I just finished episode 59, so I knew I could finally watch this And I can't even begin to describe the whirlwind of emotions slamming through me right now how fucking dare you oh my god I love you

[@pariswhitehead5900]

the sudden light on lucretias face and everyones expression being exactly how i imagined. basically sums up how this episode made me cry in public. frrrick i loveeeee

[@nemuch77]

I have no words, the composition of the frames was beautiful, and the music choice?? Genius! I *love* how expressive your sketches are. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!

[@TheOwlsrcool]

ive rewatched this 3 times now and im still not completely certain that im not hallucinating the audio

[@EmptyFeet]

that's fair

[@emilyrcronin]

Some days, the universe blesses u with a gift and you have to cry-laugh about imaginary moon folk to a haunting reprise of YMCA

[@hipsterhanschen]

your character designs are all really excellent, really dynamic and evocative, even in their sort of pared-down versions for an animatic. a+

[@cerealshenanigans]

this is genuinely SO beautiful what the heck??? I've loved your stuff for years now and seeing you do the adventure zone made me so so so happy (and seeing how amazing it ending being made me EVEN HAPPIER!!)

[@MidoriTheAwesome]

This gets sadder every time I watch it, and brings back all of the heartbreak I was feeling during this episode. the part at the very beginning where Magnus walks past Carey actually makes me die a little inside. This is so horribly wonderful, thank you for creating this.

[@sillylizzymoo]

I don't know why the thing that hits me most about this is when Taako leaves the sapphire on the table, I think it's just the way it is drawn to look so casual which is just so perfect for Taako - great job!

[@Hypnogogyc]

MY GOD EVERYTHING FROM THE EXPRESSIONS TO THE FLUID POSES WERE AMAZING THANK YOU FOR BLESSING MY EYES WITH THIS

[@newbestfriend5867]

The podcast itself can be summed up this way, just four men dramatically singing a goofy song.

[@Charlie-jd3iu]

there is NOTHING more on-brand for TAZ than a dramatic rendition of the Y.M.C.A. song. Perfect video 10/10

[@thenamelessnpc1000]

legit got chills. this is amazing

[@mortifyingideal]

I have thought so often about how Time is the perfect sad TAZ song but T.I.M.E?!? are you kidding me with this!!!!! so good, so choice. Thanks for all the work you put into this, it's amazing & I'm glad to have witnessed it with my own two eyes.

[@GingerlyBusiness]

when i realized what song this was i started hyperventilating and had to pause until i calmed down. I loved it

[@LouNeptune]

You can hang out with all the boys! *Crowd of void monsters enters and murders Johann*

[@rorygiambalvo2955]

0:31 just a gorgeous shot. Absolutely fantastic video

[@premiumsockets]

This is truly amazing, I especially love the shots of the director!

[@michaelthompson7083]

All your stuff is sooooo gooood! That frame of Lucretia at 0:31 gave me chills! I watched another animatic (the one where Lup fires everyone up) and I really liked that too. I also like how you draw all of the characters. Like, there were some people in TAZ that I sorta only had a concept of who they were and not how they looked, but when I saw them I was like, "Yep, that's 100% right." Nice work!

[@lee6001]

Dark and dramatic undertones with an outer shell of lightheartedness to create a simultaneously heart wrenching and hilarious tone of song, basically taz in a nutshell

[@EL-jq1sq]

YOU'RE INTO TAZ????? YESSSSSSS!!! Also that Maggy tho yeees...

[@zibeth7332]

I saw this years ago when you'd just published this and loved it for what it was, but now that I've actually gotten into TAZ I'm absolutely blown away holy shit.

[@jaaiper]

I have never listened to this song and felt so much emotion. This is absolutely perfect in every way and describes the tone of taz perfectly

[@neriairi]

I really love the part when Lucretia's face went from pure happines to full horror , the expresions were super cool, well done!

[@gabrielaclontz4624]

1:03, the guy in the left looks like a humanized Signless xD Awesome video like always! :D

[@rosemarycat5]

oh wow this is incredible. I love the sense of movement in all the stills. your character designs are gorgeous. magnus walking by a collapsing carey at 0:10 broke my heart.

[@greasby]

I finished Balance maybe a few weeks ago and I'm still suffering from withdrawal and this animatic KILLED ME. I know the music is a silly one but just the visuals and the lyrics work well really well idk I'm crying rn

[@bloodfueled]

i never thought the man behind two trucks would push me to tears and yet here we are

[@jovicnemanja8218]

I just have to say that this is just SO DAMN BEAUTIFUL. Love the choice of the song, adore the art style and the tone you made here. Imma put this bad boy into my favorites and watch it god knows how many more times. Keep up the awesome work.

[@gagestah]

Man, always Excellent content AND good song selection! Great to see another animation from you, as always.

[@peridotgem13]

wow!!! this gave me actual goosebumps, the designs and the music and everything work so well together. great job :)))

[@Gracyn1102]

I love this so much! The song choice, the character's expressions throughout, and your art style is so beautiful! You're such an amazing artist!

[@WBF_III]

Unexpected emotional reaction to a song about the YMCA... How did you do that...

[@sleepyselkiesiren]

taking something silly and dumb and turning it super dramatic is very on brand

[@Gracyn1102]

Coming back to this two years later and it still blows me away

[@teawithdragons7047]

This is so good I can't even express how much I love this!! Perfect song perfect scenes omgggg

[@KawaiiVampiire]

This is absolutely amazing, it captures the perfect tone and the pacing is just fantastic!!

[@FattyTunaForever]

I have watched this 10 times by now and it still gives me goosebumps. Excellently done.

[@vis_3012]

I cannot begin to put into words what absolutely stunning work was done here. Thank you for this

[@aidenpendergast9512]

wow I love taz and I love your art style and those two things fit so perfectly together.

[@ameliabones191]

Aaaaaaaa i love this!!! Ur such a great artist! Ur the reason I aspire to make these! I cant wait for the day I'm as good as this!

[@scooter156ify]

Hi from the livestreams! Still can't get over the fantastic song you chose! ^.^

[@Amciel17]

THIS IS SO WILD AND GOOD! You put a lot of thought matching the lyrics with the visuals. I love it!!!

[@emilyaw3831]

I finally realized that at 1:12 there are four cloaked figures behind Taako, Barry, and Merle, thus implying seven figures in total - aka the seven red robes.

[@goshdangitmaria4567]

Wow, one of my favorite artists/animators making TAZ content and perfectly encapsulating all of the perfect feelings I have about it? This must be heaven! Amazing visuals and flow and characters and feels and everything as always, my friend. I'm going to be re-watching this ENDLESSLY in anticipation for next episode, I'll tell ya that much. :D

[@ShadowErus]

i dont know enough about art to properly compliment you but boy, do i love this. of course just your style, and the choice of music but specifically the composition of the shots. whatever you call that its absolutely fantastic

[@lightmeuppp]

I STARTED CRYING WATCHING THIS IT'S SO INTENSE AND SO EMOTIONAL also yes i love that it's the YMCA but also dramatic it fits taz so well

[@Theflyinghamburger]

Well done. I never thought that song could give me chills. Well done, indeed!

[@vacant-state]

I adore TAZ. And you, I've been following you back when you posted the first few Mambostuck WIPs. And this one, this animatic hit me hard. All the images in my head that the McElroys plant in there, especially the last two episodes, were so filled with many different emotions and epicness. Seeing you, my longtime favourite animator, drawig those scenes out in your style that I grew to love over the years, filled me with so much joy and awe. I love especially that part when Lucretia saw Magnus storming in or when Carey collapes as she hear about his death. Amazing.

[@otternaut7635]

holy hell this is amazing!!! this made me a little teary, not gonna lie. The song choice is so on point, as are the expressions and the pacing!!! I've loved your stuff for a while now and seeing you do TAZ stuff makes me so so so happy! keep up the awesome work!

[@paulbinkley709]

I've watched this easily 20 times over several months. Really excellent. Nice pairing with particular lyrics (odd as the song choice is, it works) and really outstanding art. I love your illustration of key scenes.

[@MentalVideographer]

Having not watched enough of TAZ, I'm not 100% sure what I just saw, but I definitely felt emotion.

[@Kaleidonope]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaa this is so incredibly good and I love literally every aspect of it??? I wish I had something more witty to say but I am absolutely just blown away by everything going on, I love the lighting effects, I love the designs and the timing, it's just so incredible and thank you for this

[@EmptyFeet]

oh man thanks so much, I really appreciate it!! ;v;

[@jomeimei7962]

Yo four people liked this so much they turned their device upside down and liked it again

[@cheesewizard3965]

When I saw that title, I had exactly one expectation. And you, my good sir or ma'am, delivered

[@biggreenplanet14]

I wish I could do more than just like this video it's AMAZING. I love your art style

[@lauravturner]

Who thought YMCA could sound so epic? XD brilliant.

[@Dovachiief]

this is so dramatic and beautiful

[@cc-crow]

OH HECK. I LOVE the McElroys and I absolutely ADORE your animations! I've been meaning to get onto the Adventure Zone and I have been procrastinating on actually finishing an animation, so I'm going to go and get on both of those NOW. //nyooms off to work

[@MerriLoPresti]

Lucretia's face when she sees magnus KILLS ME this is amazing!!!

[@SAWhowhatnow]

So did you make Merle look like Venom Snake on purpose? Because it owns.

[@EmptyFeet]

I did not! And honestly I don't even know who that is (I assume it's an MGS reference though), but I'm glad you're enjoying it, haha. Even if my Merle headcanon changes in the future we can forever treasure Venom Snake Merle.

[@SAWhowhatnow]

EmptyFeet Here's a quickly googled reference: goo.gl/JwBk24 , Its mostly the ponytail, eyepatch, and short groomed beard. But regardless, please keep up the fantastic work!

[@Devouration]

since his arm I've always imagined hit to look more like that

[@egregiousmeme5266]

I have never hated and loved something so much simultaneously. I tip my hat to you, well done.

[@cyan0corax]

man i love the timing in this, is makes everything seem so epic?? i specially love the transition from taako to magnus around 0:40 that was amazing!!

[@Brecheese999]

I'm just starting TAZ now because I needed more D&D to watch now that I'm all caught up on Critical Role. I'm early enough in that none of this means anything to me, but it still looks awesome!! I can't wait to come back to it once I understand the context.

[@vazak11]

This was beyond epic, kudos!