Running From A World That's Watching

"Come closer" is what someone or something said in Tay's Minecraft world - a world they said they found on their cousin's old 360 from 2013. Tay spawns in a cozy house, seeing a seemingly bottomless pit, a 3 block deep hole, and their dead cousin's bed. As Tay comes closer, they find themselves running from a Minecraft world that's watching. Tay is not alone in this world... Full Uncut Footage: ‪@tayredwood‬ Tay Redwood TikTok:   / tayredwood   SPOILERS: The ARG in this video was created by someone or something. I found it one night scrolling on my phone. The story is compelling, and many details drew me towards it. I feel that Minecraft ARG videos are really campy, and just not scary enough. I have watched this video so many times, that I can't really tell if it's scary anymore. But when I finished the first major encounter between Lyle and The White Shadow and watched it in full for the first time, I actually was so creeped out, I was certain I heard something mumbling in my bedroom in the middle of the night. It was probably just the wind. So, I spent 6 months making this. I learned that I really enjoy sound design, and I had a lot of fun creating the voice of The White Shadow. However, my vocal chords aren't happy with me. Some interesting details that I will yap more about in a behind the scenes if people are interested... I started working on this video 6 months ago. At that time, I was going through a very difficult time and struggling, I'm sure everyone can relate to this: being unable to get out of bed, feeling like you have no value, feeling like you are in a chasm and the thought of climbing out is exhausting. Working on this video has truly been a journey - I have put so much energy, passion, and inspiration into it. It started with about 6 hours straight of commentating what I saw. I really wanted you, the audience, to feel like you were on the journey with me. Then, I started blocking out the movie with some of my favorite music. If people like this video enough, I will share all music used. I used a LOT of Hollow Knight music - that game is another thing that really got me through the difficulties I've faced the past few years. So of course, I used so much of the music from it. If you can't already tell, I really love music, especially video game soundtracks. I feel like the music really set the tone for so many scenes. The music from Demon Souls (another favorite game of mine) used during the downfall of Lyle makes it feel so tragic. I think one thing that really stood out to me about this ARG mystery is that each family member was clearly tormented and struggling, but it seems they didn't talk about it much. I think that's something that most people can relate to - so many people struggle and don't talk about their feelings. It's as if that is what The White Shadow wants - like our own shadow/poor coping skills are our downfall. With the conclusion of Lyle's story and the introduction of Tay's new world, I really had fun playing with a push/pull tension. I used a lot of string quarter Dragon Quest music for those moments. Fun and playful to express Tay, contrasted harshly against the pure evil of The White Shadow, that is, silence, or the lack of light. The end of Tay is also tragic, and the jarring voice lines "Where. Are. You.?" is so chilling. I slowly but surely wanted this thing to feel like pure evil. The more optimistic the tone built, the more dark and gruesome, dark and gruesome became. I did leave quite a bit of uncut footage in the movie as time goes on, which I think is really cool. It adds nice breaks throughout the movie. I purposely left many things yet to be uncovered. We see Tay, then Lyle's fall, then the tragic fall of Tay, even though Tay is so smart and tried to fight it. With Tessa, we see an evolution - Tessa actually talks about things. Inside Tessa's mind, I feel like it was super campy. So I did some crazy things to create the voices from the signs, but it came out perfect. The noise, pixelation, and glow added nicely too. The encounter between Tessa and The White Shadow in her mind was epic. I used music from Bloodborne (can you tell I love Fromsoftware?), and the red tint with the text appearing on the signs really drives home the feel that this thing is taunting its victims. The silence at the end of Tess'a mind with the guttural monologue was chilling as well. In the end, we get some unusual family lore, and so much is left to your interpretation. The ending was extremely inspired by David Lynch's Twin Peaks. The end feels like pure evil, but it is juxtaposed against what is undeniably Tessa sacrificing herself so that no one else will be tormented by The White Shadow. The ending is arguable, but the self-sacrificing compassion had impact. Socials: If people like this video, I'll make a full list of all music used. This Minecraft video is a mysterious and scary ARG story.