🩸 Nerdy Prudes Must Die (Animation)

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO COOL WOAAAA

this is fantastic. the camera movements, the lip syncing, and ho MY GOD the hole in max's torso being used to show off richie's face. i love this. this has to be my favorite animatic for npmd

It’s rare to see this song animated to show Max’s emotions beyond anger, but omg you can see so much range here. Did I see a tear run down his face during the “will you pray for me” section??? The fact that nobody even cared when he died is awful, even if he was an asshole, and I wonder if that stuck with him Edit: I think it was sweat, but my point stands

I KNEW I WASNT THE ONLY ONE THAT GOT THAT THE SECOND "Who will pray for me?" WAS MAX TALKING ABOUT HIS DEATH!!! The way you portrayed his ghost looking over his body as a tear falls down his cheek?????? Chef kiss

God Max is an incredible villain. Setting him up as a literal monster, then showing us a glimmer of the depth beneath his facade, then ripping it away from us so suddenly we still feel a little sorry for him in moments like this. He is more of a monster than ever and that's tragic. I love it.

Everything from the expressions to the dynamic camera characters mannerisms to the smooth transitions between each shot are absolutely amazing. But my favorite little detail has to be all the ghostly hands on Richie's back when he says he yells he isn't a loser. Because thanks to them he really does believe that. I absolutely love how can understand it's Grace's, Ruth's and Pete's hands almost as if to back him up and Steph's hand joins in late but is on Pete's hand foreshadowing their future together.

I am SO obsessed with the way the light disappears when Max clenches his fist at 0:27

THE LIP SYNC? The LIGHTING, the CAMERA TURNS? The fact that Pete’s and his other friends’ hands are on Richie’s shoulder as he sings I’m not a loser? This is the best recreation of this scene I’ve seen, well DONE!

0:28 The way Max drags the camera to focus back on Richie while singing "Who will pray for you when your body's gone" is like. It's like my own heart is dragged and tossed around it's so cool AAAAAH

I still headcanon that the real reason Max was so hellbent on killing was because no one worried about his absence or mourned his death. They only cared when it cost them the game against Clivesdale (fuck Clivesdale). Everyone celebrated and even dreaded the possibility of his return. Not to say he was in any way a good person but almost everyone wants to be missed when they’re gone. It’s even hinted that his homelife might have been somewhat abusive from the negative self-talk he had during the scene at the Waylon place. We get no indication that even his parents cared.

THE HANDS ON HIS BACK FOR IM NOT A LOSER MADE ME CRY

I love the “will you pray for me” part with Max standing in the lobby of the Waylon Place. When the tear runs down his face, it’s so horrible to know that no one cared when he died. He was a dick, but it wasn’t for no reason. Great job, I love the animation!!

the hands on Richie's back are all of his friends, in order of how much they meant to him. starting with Ruth's hand who he was the closest to, then Pete's hand, his other best friend. The Grace who he wasn't exactly friends with but she's a nerd so they were allies. and then Steph's, who he would have gotten to know better if he hadn't died. it's so sad but also really clever and beautiful. best animation I've seen so far.

THE TURN??? THE EXPRESSIONS?? THE WAY U CAN SEE RICHIE THRU THE CHEST HOLE AND THE HANDS IN RICHIE WHEN HE SAYS IM NOT A LOSER??? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING YOO

Is that Pete, Ruth, Steph, and Grace putting their hands on his shoulder? (Or possibly Pete, Ruth, and Kim and Bryce’s nerds from Literal Monster?) Because all of them putting their hands there is so impactful. If my brain was working better right now I’d probably vaguely analyze it for fun but I just spent like the last five hours doing homework that’s due to tomorrow so I’m all brained out lmao. Anyways I loved this so much, fantastic job

Spoiler for the animatic I love the part where the characters all place a hand on Richies shoulder during the “I’m not a loser” a very interesting interpretation of how the song played out in the performance with the cast walking out slowing in the background of this song (I don’t know weather it was intentional or not)

I like that even though Max was bad, this song shows how bad everyone being happy that he’s dead is. Especially when it was hinted that he wasn’t that bad deep down right before he died.

It's so cool you gave Max a giant hole in his chest, because in the play he got killed by a giant piece of wood through the chest! And then aiming the camera through his ghost hole is very unsettling and cool cinematography!

THE WAY MY JAW FUCKING DROPPED??? HOLY SHIT, I DID NOT EXPECT THE LITTLE ANIMATION BITS- THE LIP SYNCING??? THE SMOOTHNESS OF THE CAMERA???? THE TRANSITIONS??? THE PART WHERE THE HANDS OF THE OTHER NERDS ARE ON RICHIES SHOULDER ONLY FOR MAX TO PULL HIM AWAY FROM THEM????? IM INSANE IM CHEWING AT DRYWALL IM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH THIS IS SO GOOD

This is a phenomenal work of art. The lip sinking was insanely good and AHHHHH The emotions in Max's and Richie’s faces. SO GOOD. The symbolism of showing Richie through Max's chest was brilliant.