#voiceplay fanart

[acaplaya-musings]

Practically almost as soon as I watched VoicePlay's Be Prepared video on Patreon, I knew I wanted to do a pencil sketch fanart for it. But firstly, I wanted to wait till it went public on YouTube so I had the best chance of obtaining a decent screencap to use as reference, and secondly, I was quite busy with university stuff as well as writing Striking A Chord anyway, so I didn't get around to doing it till now.

Honestly I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out, and I'd like to think that younger me (like even early high school age) would be really amazed at being able to create something like this <3

[spooky-apostate]

Recently I've been trying to nail down a simpler but equally fun painting style, and I think I've landed somewhere I'm happy with!

Ft. Geoff and the star of the show, Olive 😄 (from a recent VoicePlay video) [process shots] [reference]

[haethealhell]

onepointbraincell i hope you know i did not mean to time it like this but i'm done with Cesar Dress La Rosa i genuinely did not mean to finish it right after you posted your own fanart and i feel like if i post it now it's gonna seem like i'm trying to one-up you and i don't want that

[the-gifts-he-has-given-me]

Behold, a fanart poster!

Okay, so this is inspired by a post from @kinetic-empathy, specifically this post, which suggests the song "Run Boy Run" as a continuation of the Kidnapping saga. There's a couple of additions in this reblog by @claramurphyqueenoffandoms too

Not that I approve of what the song was initially about, but this idea takes the song and gives it its own story, and I am all flipping for it.

[Transcript: Layne in his outfit from the Panic video, looking more torn and beat up, running toward the camera with broken chains dangling from his wrists. Behind him is a dim figure, reaching out to take him with one shadowy claw. The title - Run Boy Run - is written on either side of him.]

[gapstudio]

"Fus Ro Dah!" 🐲⚔️ Check out #voiceplay on #youtube and their #acapellacover on #skyrim 's "The Dragonborn Comes" feat. Omar Cardona #digitalart #fanart #sketch https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl0-IEILLfy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[haethealhell]

FANART GO GO GO

WOOO A PAGE OF DOODLES

The scales are less obvious in reality but you get the idea

Layne, sad because Geoff is taller than him.

Geoff, freshly passed out.

FALLINGBLUEROSES

DRAGON GEOFF + KATHY

I AM SO

AUTISTIC

ABOUT THIS

YOU HAVE NO IDEA

POV:

THE MOOSE FOUND YOU

@fallingblueroses FANART WOOO

The bedroom was dark, but Geoff didn't need light as he lay on his side and watched his wife and son sleep. Kathy had an arm wrapped around William and was holding him close. The house was silent except for the hum of the air conditioner and the occassional car passing outside. They had decided to keep William home from school the next day and turned off their alarms for the morning. He doubted anyone expected them to be at PattyCake.

Kathy had calmed down immensely after she had her baby in her arms, and seeing Kathy calm had gone a long way toward calming Geoff's nerves. William had taken things far better than they'd expected. He'd stared at them for several seconds as he processed things, then he'd climbed into Geoff's lap and asked "So you can fly now?"

He'd had to laugh. "I don't know. I haven't tried." When he thought about it, it would be a shame to have wings like this and then they not work.

He and Kathy had both worked on reverting to their human form. For some reason it seemed to be easier for her even though, like Geoff, she couldn't hold it for long. William had simply watched in fascination before asking if he'd grow wings too. And again, all Geoff could say was that he didn't know.

He listened to his family breathing and nagging worries began to eat at him. What if the changes weren't done? What would happen to William if they became full dragons or demons or whatever? And even if they didn't, how would they explain this to their relatives? What about their work? And what if...what if they were taken away by some government agents or scientists for "study"? Geoff shuddered as he imagined himself and Kathy chained up in cells, being stuck with needles and having bits of tissue cut from them.

Stop. You'll drive yourself crazy. He took a deep breath and slowly released it before moving closer to his wife and son. He put an arm around them, then carefully brought one wing up to cover and protect his family and tucked his head in close to Kathy's.

He kept listening to them breathe as he fell asleep.

***

Geoff's body felt far calmer when he woke up the next morning. He drew his wing back and got out of bed, careful not to wake his family. Yesterday his wings had felt like sandbags hanging from his back, but as he stood up they felt lighter, more natural. He barely noticed the extra weight as he walked to the bathroom.

The horns weren't as frightening as they had been when he looked in the mirror. His eyes had gone from hazel to tawny, and his hair was fuller and longer, hanging past his shoulders. He studied his reflection for a long time, then looked down at his hands with their claws. Yesterday he'd been ready to cut the tips of his fingers off to get rid of the claws, but today...I guess I'm getting used to things...Wonder if I'll be able to play the piano with these...

His wings wouldn't quite fit in the shower comfortably, but he was able to hold his human form long enough to clean up. Once he was dressed he went to the kitchen to cook breakfast. He was absolutely ravenous, and he had to assume Kathy would be as well. They had plenty of food on hand for now, but... How am I supposed to get groceries like this? Maybe I can ask one of the guys to go shopping for me...

A few minutes later his phone beeped twice with notifications, and when Geoff checked his phone he saw the texts were from Layne. Hey Geoff. Look at this. There was a video attatched, titled "'Dragon Syndrome' Reported In 13 States".

He blinked as he played the video. The reporter was shown for a few seconds, then a map of the United States was displayed with various states marked in red. "Thirteen states have reported what is for now being called 'Dragon Syndrome', with people actually growing dragon-like wings, horns, and claws. There is very little information about this, but the Center for Disease Control is asking that anyone experiencing this go to the nearest emergency room for testing..."

Geoff growled to himself. Yeah, right. Not happening. If the government wants us they can come and get us. He wasn't sure if this made things better or worse. He couldn't help but think of how things had spiraled into insanity when the COVID pandemic had hit.

Another thought came to him. If it was some kind of virus...He texted Layne back. You're not growing wings, are you?

Nope. I'm fine.

Good. Hopefully the others were as well. Geoff put the phone away and kept making breakfast as his mind went over this new development.

***

After breakfast Geoff showed Kathy Layne's text, and Kathy looked up more articles as William helped Geoff clean the kitchen. "This one says it's in nineteen states now," she said from her seat at the kitchen table.

Geoff sighed as he rinsed a plate and handed it to William to put in the dishwasher. "Great. It's spreading."

Kathy frowned. "But if it's a disease of some kind, then a cure can be found."

"Yeah, but that could take years. I keep thinking about everything that could happen. People might panic, Kath. And if they do things are going to go to hell pretty quick."

"This isn't the Dark Ages, Geoff. People do crazy stuff to their bodies all the time. What we have is nothing compared to some of the pictures I've seen."

He pointedly flexed his wings. "Seen anyone walking around with wings lately? It just takes a few lunatics to get the pitchforks and torches going." A strong need to protect his wife and son rose in his chest. "And there are people who would stir up that kind of trouble just to watch stuff burn."

Kathy studied his face, then came up to him. "I know. But there's so many other things to think about. Why don't we worry about that when it starts to happen." She hugged him and rested her head on his chest.

Geoff sighed. "Right." He put his arm around her. A glance to the side showed William staring at them and he beckoned for him. William came up and hugged them both, and Geoff brought his wings up and around to cover them again. He wondered how that gesture had come so naturally to him, but decided not to think too hard about it. At least not right now.

[fiofyan]

Don't leave me high

Don't leave me dry

[jack-gelb]

[everswan-art]

Oogie Boogie Song 🎃👻 I know halloween is done and chrismast is not here yet ! But I wanted to do it so badly 🙀 I fell in love with the cover of this song by @thevoiceplay and especially with @geophr3y as the main singer ! I was made for this one 🤩 #fanart #oogieboogie #nightmarebeforechristmas #voiceplay #geoff #songcover #dice #halloween #christmas #digitalart #art #procreate (à Sarcelles, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5kp8QGFx8P/?igshid=b8sdaafx5piw

[acaplaya-musings]

Also this is the only "companion video"/"sister video" of VoicePlay's where the arranger wasn't the same person who did the first video/s! (Panic Medley was done by Layne and Earl, whereas this one was done by Geoff) (In comparison, My Mother Told Me and Valhalla Calling were both done by Layne, as were Mountain King and Classical Chaos).

Also Jules says "running gag", I say "actually kinda creepy once you notice it!

Trapped: Billie Eilish in 3 Minutes — VoicePlay music video

Between their "Panic in 4 Minutes" medley the previous summer, and the "Mission: Jingle Bells" mashup at Christmas, VoicePlay had developed a penchant for being kidnapped and restrained by nefarious persons unknown. So their fans naturally started to ask how this kept happening to a group of such jovial, hard-working singers. This video doesn't provide all the answers, but combined with some of Billie Eilish's eerie tunes, it's basically a short horror film and a fantastic addition to their spooky season catalogue.

Details:

title: Trapped – Billie Eilish in 3 Minutes

original songs / performer: all songs by Billie Eilish — "Bury A Friend", feat. Crooks; [0:15] "Bad Guy"; [0:43] "Bury A Friend"; [0:56] "Bad Guy"; [1:06] "Copycat"; [1:23] "Bad Guy"; [1:37] "Bury A Friend" & "You Should See Me In A Crown"; [1:59] "Copycat"; [2:19] "Lovely", feat. Khalid & "Bury A Friend"; [2:32] "Copycat"; [2:46] "Ilomilo"; [3:00] "Bury a Friend" & "Bad Guy" NOTE: The "Bury A Friend" video includes body horror elements, "You Should See Me In a Crown" contains many spiders, and "Ilomilo" has a repeated flashing light effect.

written by: all songs by Billie Eilish & Finneas O'Connell; "Lovely" in collaboration with Khalid Robinson

arranged by: Geoff Castellucci

release date: 4 October 2019

My favorite bits:

those delicate, crunchy harmonies combined with their expressions of fear and confusion at the situation they're in

Geoff's bassy spoken punctuation moments

the heartbeats, gasps, and crunching sounds in Layne's percussion combined with the unpredictable audio panning that enhance the creepiness

their slow-mo Reservoir Dogs walk away from the van

the repeated visual gag of everyone just missing seeing Layne being hauled around the house

the monophony and gradual beatboxing tempo increase during the second "Bad Guy" verse

the cool stuttering effect in Earl and J.None's backing vocals during the transition between songs

Eli's smooth timbre on the lead for "Copycat"

the whooshing sounds in Layne's percussion as the group separates to search for him

Earl being prevented from completing ♫ "might seduce your dad type" ♫ by a shovel to the face

Geoff's lovely, light tone on ♫ "sorry I'm the one that told you so" ♫

the floaty harmonies and bell chords in "You Should See Me In a Crown"

J.None and Geoff in unison on those low octaves for ♫ "tear me to pieces, skin and bone" ♫

coordinating Eli hitting the door with Layne's kick drums

Eli's fantastic descending riff on ♫ "all you sa-a-a-a-a-ay" ♫

J's beautiful vulnerability on the melody of "Ilomilo"

the gloved hand reaching for Geoff's face as we hear his voice menacingly say "Come here."

Layne jerking his head around in time to the beat as though he's feeling the additional danger of their confinement

finishing on a minor chord that sounds so despairing

Trivia:

○ Because this video is a prequel to their "Panic! in 4 Minutes" medley, they paid close attention to continuity.

The date on J.None's phone screen is the day before the previous video's public release.

Their clothing is the same, and their hair is as close as they could reasonably get it. (They didn't make Layne buzz his head or Earl bleach his hair, though, which then raises other creepy narrative implications.)

○ The guys are taken down in ways that explain their later bedraggled states when they wake up in the abandoned sawmill.

Layne — choked out from behind and dragged across the floor ⇒ scrapes and bruising around his left eye

Earl — smacked with a shovel ⇒ diagonal scrape across his cheek and nose, bruise on his forehead

J.None — tripped on stairs & dragged ⇒ scrapes and bruises on his left cheek and jaw

Eli — knocked against a door, glasses left on chair ⇒ bruising around his right eye and scrape on his left cheek, no glasses

Geoff — finds the key, knocked out by facepalm ⇒ has the key around his neck, cut on his right eyebrow, scrape on his left jaw

○ Geoff joked on Instagram that Layne "had to go first" because he's "the cutest". For practical purposes, it seems more likely that he just didn't sing any lead lyrics that needed to be captured on camera. (But also, Layne's the tallest and Earl's the burliest. It makes sense for their captor to take out the two biggest physical threats first.)

○ When Layne is being pulled down the hallway behind Geoff during "Copycat", Earl put his big muscles to use doing the dragging. (I assume he also towed J.None across the floor during the overhead shot, but Geoff didn't specify that part in his tweet.)

○ The YouTube comments are full of speculation about the identity of their abductor. Many suggested Tony, though none offered a reason he might do so. A few considered Home Free or Pentatonix trying to take out their rivals, but fear not; in reality all three groups like and support each other. (My tinfoil hat theory is that it was sound guy Paul who had gotten fed up with their antics, since he wasn't in the van with them as he usually would be.)

○ Their artist friend Leon King surmised that it might be an inside job, with last man standing Geoff as the "Bad Guy".

drawing by Leon King

○ The cabin location, Big Oaks Ranch in Chuluoata, was the same place where they had filmed their (much more lighthearted) video for "Daddy Sang Bass" the previous spring. The guys have since used other parts of the property for a couple of Geoff's solo videos and two episodes of PattyCake's Villains Lair series.

○ According to Eli, the horse trailer didn't smell as bad as they'd been worried it might. That was probably a relief after the aromas they had encountered while filming their video for "Grow Old With You" at an active horse ranch.

○ They posted part of their blooper reel for this video on social media as an enticement for their Patreon. (Poor Eli really earned those fake bruises.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by VoicePlay (@thevoiceplay)

○ Layne and Tony also used "Bad Guy" as a villain song for Maleficent in a PattyCake music video the following month, and VoicePlay later included it in their "Aca Top 10 – Hits of 2019" countdown video at the end of the year.

[acaplaya-musings]

(not the next post I was expecting to be sharing on my blog but anyhow)

Back in my VoicePlay Visuals post for VP's Little Mermaid Medley, I alluded to my vague temptations to draw "Geoffsula", but how I wasn't sure I'd be able to do him justice. Well, months later, the temptations returned! And I had some ideas, like doing it digitally (I'm no stranger to digital art), and secondly to get a bit more creative with the art concept. So I yoinked a screenshot from the Poor Unfortunate Souls scene in the original Little Mermaid movie, and set about redoing it VoicePlay style!

I created this in the Sketchbook Pro app, on my Surface Pro laptop (which can also become a tablet and comes with a stylus pen), and spent a week on this (don't ask me how many hours though - I didn't count, but the answer would be Quite A Few(tm)). Hope you like it!

[spooky-apostate]

VoicePlay recently covered Hellfire from the Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Geoff's lead performance really caught me! I tried to work in the nuances I saw from him, as well as amplify the mood a bit [original vid]

[hi res]

[haethealhell]

Cesar in a dress? Cesar in a dress.

reference:

first sketch:

final sketch:

Final thing:

please ignore the leg it is way too long and looks off and i decided not to add eyes because it's a weird angle

[the-gifts-he-has-given-me]

A VoicePlay fanart.

In the middle is Rachel Potter. One side of her outfit is like her Ariel costume, and the other side like from Phantom of the Opera. Her mouth is open as she sings.

On the left is Geoff Ursula, who grins wickedly as he holds his hand out toward Rachel.

On the right is Phantom Tony, who bares his teeth as he clutches his fist near Rachel's throat.

Above them all is one dark, dripping word, said by the two villains:

SING.

[Yes, it's because Rachel literally got her voice stolen in two separate VoicePlay videos, and WHY NOT]

[jules-has-notes]

Lost In Japan — VoicePlay music video

When the VoicePlay guys go to clubs together, they're usually the ones on stage. But for the sake of this video, the swanky VIP section became the VP section. They took inspiration from Shawn Mendes's original music video, and took the opportunity to get a little gussied up for a (pretend) night out. Add in their usual fabulous singing and some fancy camera work, and the result is a certified jam that's also fun to watch. If you aren't already, you should be at this club. You don't even have to move from where you are right now.

Details:

title: Lost In Japan

original performer: Shawn Mendes

written by: Shawn Mendes, Scott Harris, Nate Mercereau, & Teddy Geiger

arranged by: J.None & Earl Elkins Jr.

release date: 17 May 2019

My favorite bits:

those tight, crisp opening harmonies

Layne acting startled in the corner before his part begins

J.None's buttery smooth lead vocals

the laid-back bounciness of Geoff's bass line

the abundance of airy sounds Layne put into his percussion to enhance the anticipatory feel of the lyrics

Earl and Eli providing solid backing vocals throughout

Eli looking from one iteration of J to another on his opposite side by the power of editing

going from pure unison on ♫ "can't get your off my mind" ♫ to that big harmonized belt of ♫ "I can't seem to get you off my mind" ♫

those cool lighting effects in the couch panels (Good job, Eli.)

the silence between their unison lines

the middle trio bopping from side to side

J moseying from his falsetto back down to settle into his chest voice and finish things off beautifully

Trivia:

This is a rare instance of neither Layne nor Geoff being involved in the arrangement or video production for a long-form video. Earl and J had both been getting more involved the music arrangement process over the previous year, and they did a fantastic job on that together. Similarly, Eli had been getting more into the lighting and editing side of things, so he handled the visual duties.

J.None's first arrangement for the group was also a Shawn Mendes tune, their short cover of "In My Blood" the previous summer.

Ironically, the video filming was slightly delayed because the enormous white couch got a bit lost in transit.

The cover art was once again designed by Rek Dunn.

They teased the video release a couple days in advance on Twitter with a string of suggestive symbols.

A fan was taken with Earl's snazzy outfit and drew some equally snazzy fanart.

art by rtlndr_ on Instagram

This track was later included on VoicePlay's "Citrus" album, which compiled most of the songs they recorded from 2017-19. Because the individual songs had already been made available digitally, that album is exclusively a physical item that can only be purchased at live shows or through their website.

Fellow a cappella group Citizen Queen had released their own version of the song a few months earlier.

The word Japan in the title seems to have attracted a larger than usual contingent of Japanese viewers on YouTube, many of whom left very nice comments.

[acaplaya-musings]

So I've been busy doing yet more fanart! Because often when I finish one, it isn't long before I wanna start another! I felt like doing another sketch fanart this time, and chose Sleeping In The Cold Below as the video from which to take reference. Shading the clothing was a pain, as it always is, but overall it turned out a lot better than I expected, and I'm pleasantly surprised with it! Hope you like it!