Episode Four- The Search for the Black Spider: Join our adventurers as they trek the depths of an abandoned dwarven mine in search of their missing employer.
NEEDLESSLY SENTIMENTAL MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR:
“Sometimes when I go into a museum I like to look at the frames. Many are works of art themselves; hand crafted, gilded, and lain with mosaics. However, the purpose of a good frame is to be invisible. It is to draw attention away from itself, to accentuate all that is beautiful and unique about the art it surrounds.
A great deal of delicate, loving care went into the making of this short, but it is our sincere hope that effort will act as a frame that simply draws attention to all that is funny, heartwarming, and special about this wonderful work of art known as The Adventure Zone. After half a year of effort I could not be more proud of my happy, familial crew. I hope you will enjoy what we have created together, but if there is any praise to be had, we say direct it to the McElroy family who through their own tender care, created the podcast that we all love.”
- Curtis McOsker
HOT DIGGITY SHIT THIS IS A BALLER FAN FILM
Ayyyye
I literally just made that same comment, basically. I should have read more comments. I'm so glad someone else says "Hot Diggity Shit" now too and it's not just me.
Kerensa McElrath Taako voice: the key is to make clever sight gags and visually represent the scenes while still including the character and charm of the dialogue
I love the bit at the end where everyone else has their weapons and Merle is just holding two lanterns. Sums up his whole character tbh.
Sacred Flame
It does
whoever played griffin is a legitimately good actor. well done.
Dakotah Engel I like the one who plays Justin as well
Ditto orc lady
Someone on Reddit pointed out the incredible level of detail here and it's so true. Brian mouths "the Phoenix Fire Gauntlet" when the static kicks up, for example. So dang cool.
I noticed that too!
I had to go back when i read this and my gosh that's a great thing to put in
was wondering if anyone had commented this yet!
7:10 for people too lazy to look
The production value was WAY higher than I was expecting. This was great!
Agreed! This is a delightful rendition!
@@Randoplants Definitely, because even though Here There Be Gerblins wasn't really all that connected to the main plot. This was amazing
Right?!?
How did this manage to make saying "Let's roll initiative" sound kind of badass?
Just like when Griffin says it in the finale.
I mean, if we're being real, 'Let's roll for initiative' is actually one of the most reliably badass things in D&D.
Cr gets me every time
Yeah I totally got chills. Perfect ending to what I hope is a series.
They made rising, victorious sounding music that dropped out just before the line, then added even louder rising victorious sounding music just after it.
The fact that you can actually see Bryan mouth "Phoenix fire gauntlet" as the static happens gives me endless joy
Same!
Bryan is the literal spider. Brian is the elf.
“Foolhardy?” “... Yeah...” *”AAAAAAAAA”*
Zed Bee then he like walks down the steps slowly XD
The way the guy lip syncs yeah is just so precious
This was dope as fuck. Please tell me you're doing more. Could watch an entire series of these.
sircut ditto! They're so rad!
sircut dope af
sircut amazing my dudes!
SAME
I want to like this but there are 666 likes so I don't want to mess that up.
I love that when Bryan's voice goes static-y, you can see the actor mouth "Phoenix Fire Gauntlet". Nice touch!
Great catch! How'd you notice?? lol
Shalterra probably because, like most of us, we've watched this a dozen times lol
I know i did!
yes! and then the actor playing Merle is clearly just going "kkkkkkk" through his teeth. i love it.
It’s such a cool detail that when Brian has the static he’s actually mouthing “Phoenix Fire Gauntlet” while Merle actually looks like he’s making the static sound with his mouth.
I have watched this at least 25 times since discovering it four days ago and I legitimately cannot stop watching this, the rewatchability of this video is incredible, I can't stop sending it to everybody I know, regardless of whether they know TAZ or not! Every time it ends on "let's roll for initiative" I just wanna start crying because it gives me such an intense feeling! I want to see a full MOVIE in this style! Even if it isn't taz related, a full D&D movie edited in jump cuts like this from in-scene to the players around the table and back again is so unbelievably brilliant. I could gush about this for hours I could write my freaking dissertation on this video I want every frame of it tattooed on my body.
May I humbly present: kzhead.info/sun/p7OOm9d8gXWfna8/bejne.html
Y'all should make a Kickstarter to do a live action first episode
Toe to Tip That's a Bart that would require permission from the boys and probably maximum fun
Max Srebro i will go to Huntington West Virginia and personally get their permission
Toe to Tip That's a Bart I think only Justin is in Huntington but I guess he could call the others
it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission!
Toe to Tip That's a Bart I would also go to Huntington West Virginia and personally ask Justin
This was the shit dude.
It was THE SHIT.
Understandable.
Understatement of the year bro. It made my Jesus. Not my day. Not my year. My Jesus.
Fuck you this was going sooo fast that it might as well had been moving mock Jesus straight into my brain hole with a force soooo mighty that i might have jizzed myself while making whale noises .....
4:10 The actor playing Merle is brilliant that reaction is everything
Obviously the lip-syncing and attention to detail in this are phenomenal, but could I draw attention to the incredible camerawork, editing and directing on display here? For example things like the zoom at 4:10 (and all the more subtle movements), the use of the music andsound effects, fantastically timed transitions from game-world to table make this so engaging and it's such high quality work. And then it all build to the "Let's roll uh.. Let's roll initiative" and slight lean forwards which literally gives me tingles. An incredible job by everyone involved!!
This is the purest and most beautiful tribute to a series I've ever seen. Only The Adventure Zone could have fostered a following made up of such honest, kind people capable of expressing how magical the podcast is. I really hope Griffin and the whole gang sees this at some point.
Ellen C I totally agree. What happened after this???
oh man the book Taako was reading was the "VII Habits of Highly Effective Elves"
The Mcelroys just referenced this video on their interview for Desert bus 2019! Awesome video, and it seems like they agree.
My first question was, "Are they going to use the original audio or dub over it?" I never expected this level of quality out of it. Y'all did an amazing job and every detail of this is meticulous and well thought out, and literally every moment I'm noticing more details like the COSTUMED and the SET DESIGN, like how the HELL did y'all manage all this??? I'm REELING, y'all.
If you're going to do more, please, please, pleeeease.. Do Jenkins. I am begging you. This shit is amazing.
Jiuyal2406 Director speaking: Jenkins is totally my favorite character in the series.
I would love to see the scene where Griffin is struggling to remember Jenkins's voice and it turns into an in-character existential crisis. I feel like there's a ton of potential there.
AZFanFam mine too!! I hope to see more of your work in the future :)
Anyone else notice that even the *sniff at the beginning* was synced? Hot diggedy fuck this is a bawler ass fan film.
it’s hard to trust “fan films” anymore with how little work is put into most of them, how uncomfortable it can be to watch and how impossible it is to enjoy them when none of the people acting are taking it very seriously. but i cannot imagine how much work and dedication must have gone into this. into the effects, costuming, SOUND EDITING HOLY FUCK GIVE THAT PERSON A FUCKIN OSCAR, and the acting. the actors were so genuine and so funny in how the presented the voices with their mannerisms. especially just the the regular folks playing the game, oh my god. that was such a pleasure to watch. i laughed much much harder watching this than when i first heard it! like.... constant laughter and crying, dude, im so happy. thank u thank u thank u
"There's something else in this room" sends chills down my spine for some reason, the cinematography is amazing
Honestly outstanding shot.
I was fully prepared for this to be totally cringe-worthy, but instead it was incredibly well done. Love this, please give me more by the spoonful.
You guys must have put an exorbitant amount of work into this. The lip syncing is perfect, the costumes are great, the emotions portray, I love how the girl plays Clint. Everything about this screams high production. Very nice job, this is probably one of my top favorite videos that's come out of TAZ fans
I think you mean Killian?
Andy Palmer killian and clint are played by different women.
have the boys seen this because im crying
Is there any chance Travis Kitchen can make a four second "AbracaFuckYou" video?
i'm 30 seconds in and LOVING THE SYNTH
lincoln darling you're here!
I love your work!
This is so so so incredible and had me grinning throughout the whole thing. I LOVE how you cut between the campaign and the reality. It was so fun! Amazing job friends.
this was rad. i can't believe u made "lets roll initiative" sound cool
The actor who plays Griffin is just so so so good. They're all freaking great. This is the best.
Brian, I'm zo proud of zem!
Taako's actor is called Travis Kitchen and if that isn't destiny I don't know what it is
100% if there was an adventure zone/comedy dnd tv show, i would love for it to be in this format.
1. I love this. I swore I was only going to watch a minute of it (I have a test to study for) but ended up getting so into it! 2. The only thing that isn’t perfect is Magnus’s glow-in-the-dark axe (understandable) but it’s brilliant!! The costumes!!!! The voice/lip synch!!!!!!!! The settings!!!!!!!!!! Amazing. 3. Please make more.
I love that you caught the axe! Yeah, we toyed with the idea of trying to make that work but thought the lantern worked better asthetically. Same reason he doesn't have a full beard even though Travis made that cannon.
@@azfanfam9581 moar wen?
@@azfanfam9581 PLEASE make more
This is baller as fuck my dudes oh my god !!!
ALSO the guy who did Griffin's part was so,,, good!! (and highkey cute k bye)
Come for Taako, stay for Magic Brian
what the fuck. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK THIS SHIT IS DOPE AS HELL I LITERALLY LAUGHED MY ASS OFF WHEN MAGIC BRIAN CAME UP!!! Oh god, you guys are AMAZING!! I wasnt expecting much when i saw 'fan film' but damn, you guys proved me wrong!! Honestly im so shooketh from the acting and the lipsyncing is super on point and i cant with magnus's person being such a smartass its too hilarious HAHAHA pls pls pls say that you'll make more cuz this is too fucking amazing to pass up. I threw my PILLOW at my screen when this ended at 'roll for initiation' so yeah, consider this person subscribed. GOD, the Mcelroys HAVE to see this.
4:11 PERFECT reaction. I felt that. 👍🏾
"Let's roll initiative" with the music and the dramatic lean in. Goosebumps.
Do you guys have a Patreon or PayPal? This is 100% an experience that deserves paying for.
This is literally the most beautiful fan film I have ever laid my eyes on and I really appreciate the work put into this! I can’t- I don’t think I could express how AMAZING THIS IS.
You can see Brian's mouth saying "Phoenix Fire Gauntlet" even with the static sound, which I love
Man do more of this please! I understand it was probably very difficult but oh my goodness it was so well made, I'm pretty darn sure you guys didn't go into an actual massive cave but I couldn't detect any green screen fragments in like hair and stuff, and the lip syncing was astoundingly accurate.
"Special Thanks to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Longhorn Caverns State Park" Pretty sure they *did* film this in an actual cave, friend.
Yup, the park is pretty awesome and the people there were so nice. If you ever find yourself around Austin you should check it out. It's funny that some of the shots sort of look green screen, but yeah, all on location.
AZFanFam 1. That's super cool 2. Do they just have a massive iron door there?
You guys are in Austin? Dude you HAVE to get Griffin involved. I'm pretty sure he would think this is the coolest shit.
Baron11704 sadly no door. That was added in post production.
Coming back to say that this video is what got me into the Adventure Zone and therefore DnD in general. It introduced me to a whole new world of fun nerdy shit I'd never experienced before. I remember the first time I watched this video I was like oh fuck I gotta watch whatever this is from. And now here we are! Thank y'all for making this!
Thanks for your comment. 😁 It means a lot.
This was.... So many million times better than I thought it was going to be when I clicked on it. Seriously impressive work. Loved it.
I'm getting a very distinct Peter MacNicol vibe in ghostbusters 2 vibe from Magic Brian's performance. And let me be clear; that is a GREAT thing.
Holy shit i can see that.
Christian Haigis did an awesome job at the non verbal comedy. Just the way he looked at both lamps at the end made me bust a gut.
I never noticed the "is orc women covered in goo a fetish of mine" thing before justin decided taako was gay GDKDHDJ
What I love the most is that I checked your channel and you only have two videos - this one and a PG version of this - and you have 4.1K subscribers - that speaks to the quality of this vid and the demand for live action TAZ. PS: please do more of these! haha
"I just feel like we've grown apart." Accidental foreshadowing
I love how Clint is a 20-30 year old lady. Perfect representation, if I do say so myself.
okay okay OKAY so I came across this in a playlist and was just gonna skip it bc I was look for animations, but this. THIS. This was the best thing I've ever watched in my life I'm so impressed I loved every bit of it, and highkey this inspires me to make my own live action content for taz so thanks y'all, this was baller, hot diggety shit.
Just a thought, would there be any reason for a live action version of the Adventure Zone to *not* be a KZhead series? Cause if you got permission from the Creator and got funding, you could make one awesome video into an awesome live action series
I would pay to watch a show like this.
this is legitimately one of the best things I've ever seen, this is just...some quality-ass film-making, I adore the way you've incorporated the original audio into it instead of just...converting it into a whole new thing, if that makes sense?? anyway wow, fabulous, great, just a ton of positive adjectives!!
EmptyFeet Thanks so much. We're just so thrilled people are enjoying it.
holy shit this is absolutely fantastic. the costumes, the directing, the acting, the lip-sync... just wOOOWWWW. I especially loved magic brian, his whole vibe was fucking great. a perfect mix of sinister and eccentric
I came across this on a play list and fully expected to skip it, but now I'm gonna watch all of it
How haven’t more people seen this?... this out lived all of my expectations and was phenomenal!!! I loved all of it!
having brian mouth "phoenix fire gauntlet" while static came out was such a nice touch
If this was a full thing, I would definitely watch through the entire 69-hour run. Honestly, this was great.
Magic Brian's moment of, "Oh-Okay!" in response to Magnus charging him has entered both my everyday vocabulary and my Library of Gestures. Together, Griffin's vocal acting and Curtis's physical acting have changed the way I react to certain situations, and have injected that much more joy into otherwise un-regarded moments
Merle shrugging with the lanterns is pure fucking gold. You guys did such an awesome job capturing the spirit of the characters. 11/10. Perfect.
I'm loving whoever is playing Taako, he makes the best faces
I really like the detail where Brian actually mouths "Phoenix Fire Gauntlet" while the static noise is layered over
God, the attention to detail is incredible. My personal favorite is how you can see magic Brian clearly mouthing Phoenix fire gauntlet
The fact that you can tell Magic Brain is saying "Phoenix fire gauntlet" when he is being staticked is a great touch.
Well done! Costumes are on point! My five favorite moments: 1. "Foolhardily?" "Yeah..." "ROAAR" 2. That let's roll initiative lean and smirk. 3. Allison as Clint. 4. Magnus' shield tap at the beginning of combat. 5. "I just gotta know if I'm gonna be distracted." and the musical break as you cut back and forth.
This is perfection. Especially the lip sync on Griffin's stuttering as he paints his word pictures. Also the black spider outfit was fabulous, darling.
Really, incredibly well done. Great attention to detail.
Merle holding both lanterns instead of drawing weapons is a VERY nice touch...very Highchurchy
Liked, subbed, favorited, sharing with everyone I know. Everyone associated with this work should be enormously proud. Bravo, bravo, bravissimo!
On like my third viewing I noticed that Magic Brian mouths "Phoenix Fire Gauntlet" while we just hear static. Awesome attention to detail.
Okay so, this is legitimately a very cool idea, and y'all did a really great job with it. I wouldn't have ever thought of doing something like a live-action dubbed short film, but y'all executed it SO well (also, I absolutely LIVE for the little smirk at the line "let's roll initiative"). This almost feels like the beginning of a Netflix miniseries (which is making me think that Netflix really needs a scripted D&D show that's half in and half out of the fantasy world, but that's not relevant). All the acting was really good, which I can't imagine was easy considering the fact that y'all had to show believable emotion while also following an audio track perfectly. Good job, all around. Direction, cinematography, acting, effects, costumes. Everything was very good and I loved this so much.
>End it at rolling initiative >not ending it when the drow descends into the pit, squishing the spider and having the melodramatic "oh, what a worlddddddddd" moment why must you toy with my feelings? I love this, I want more
The Voidfish would consume this and re-broadcast it to everyone, for sure.
the ending!!! the acting! the lip syncing! the music! the costumes! (edit: the video quality! the cinematography and the lighting and the angles and the way you mimicked the little sounds in the background!!!!) the everything oh my GOD this was so incredible it surpassed my expectations for a fan film by FAR. like. i'm in awe. i want to show this to everyone i know. oh my god.
7:49 The guy playing Magnus is so spot on, he looks very excited to be rushing in!
I like how the Brian actor was actually mouthing the words Phoenix fire gauntlet, that's a nice touch!
This is literally my favorite thing in the world right now. Okay so like, the word "literally" has been used so much that it has lost it's meaning, but I am using very properly and with full intent. The productional value in this is unreal! Costumes, casting, pacing, cinematography, CASTING AGAIN, my dudes you absolutely crushed this!!
hey wtf is this budget and quality i've watched this 4 times today and literally have no idea how this was done by a group of a few people for fun like goddamn we got actual wizards out in this world making better quality youtube videos than every episode of goosebumps and are you afraid of the dark combined be proud guys because im flabbergasted and shook
How have I not discovered this earlier. Taako is killing me. Everything is so well done!!! It makes me want to listen to the whole series for a 4th time
its been 6 years since i first watched this and its still one of the coolest things ive ever seen from a dnd podcast fanbase
Merle realizing he's just holding two lanterns and then just rolling with it is the greatest thing I've seen in ages. This was fantastic, thanks so much for making and sharing it!
I would literally watch every second of TAZ in this format HOLY SHIT.
Came back to watch it again. Always gives me chills.
Everything about this is amazing. The facial expressions. The lip syncing. The costumes. 11/10 my homies (also just a side note, that ending gave me chills)
By all rights this should've been awkward and awful and in fact it totally and completely owned in every possible fucking way, holy shit wow. You guys nailed this and it is up there with 'TROOPS' on the list of fan creations that fucking rocked my socks.
such sick camera work and transitions. the ending when the music dies down for the delivery of his line GOT ME PUMPED.
I’m so happy they got Steve Buscemi to play the role of Taako In all seriousness this is hands down the best fan made live action video I’ve EVER seen, props to you!
I like how Brian actually says "Phoenix Fire Gauntlet" during the static
I'm calling it now, the team behind this will have a show on TV/Netflix within 5 years. This kind of talent is insane. Really well done.
Killian's silent sass and exasperation was great Edit: also Taako's frying pan. And wow, that is some impressive lip syncing.
Merle holding both lanterns at the end as combat starts was so subtle but awesome!
I watch this every one in a while and marvel at the acting and the lip-syncing. Absolutely superb stuff.
Saw this posted on reddit with 3k views...now it's at 56k views and counting! Great stuff guys! I didn't even know the McElroys before this video and now I'm listening to their d&d podcast!
Came in to this thinking it would be cringy but it was so well done! im flabbergasted
I love how the music plays for the short time we see Taako sitting on the ground eating, I thought that was gold
I love the expression when Merle realized he was holding 2 lanterns at the end! Great work!
I think it was a really nice touch that you had brian mouth the words Phoenix Fire Gauntlet