FINAL DRAFT?

LINK

FINAL CREDITS

Sans sound!

LINK

SOUND

I was fortunate to get my first choice off of Voice123.com.  Mr. Dunahee has the Grandfather-type storyteller voice that my animation craves for...  I think I will go with his second version:

VO1:  HERE

VO2:  HERE

Also, I tried to modify a song that I thought could possibly fit my animation, but I ended up giving up before putting the whole thing together because it just wasn't working...

ORIGINAL:  HERE

My Clip:  HERE

So, I decided to just deal with cutting up classical music...  Thank you Modest Mussorgsky for your "The Great Gate of Kiev:"  HERE

This is the violin part that I will be using for the somber parts...

"Sad Romance" by 지평권 

**********************

BLEU BLOOD  (new narration)

o4.17.2oo9

 [as the camera starts to zoom in, until the first fade transition into the window]

A long time ago, in a kingdom far away, there lived a young Prince, the sole heir to the throne.    

[while the camera continues to zoom in, until the study scene cuts]

His tutor, a bold and feisty man, was entrusted by His Late Majesty to mold his young charge into a wise and thoughtful King. 

[scene with the prince and musical notes only]

Unfortunately, the young Prince had no interest in books and learning.

He longed for a life beyond the Castle walls.   

[minstrels shot to outside window shot]

Long days passed as he gazed out the windows... Surely, life beyond held secrets he would never know...

[Advisor shouting until study scene is over]

No, he was constantly reminded of his obligations.

[sitting at the chair profile shot]

As the nights grew longer, the Prince grew restless.   

[moon shot to the end of close up sitting in the chair]

A sweet, mournful melody beckoned him through the evening air.

It was gentle, yet lonely, touching the Prince, for he, too, felt forlorn. 

[sneaking away shots—bedroom, hall  steps, courtyard steps]

But this night was different. No longer able to contain his curiosity, he decided to venture into the Unknown... 

[foot stepping to opening the doors]

With a daring step, he pushed open the heavy gates to the World.

[scene with the wind blowing]

A cold wind rushed to meet the Prince with a chill he had never felt before.   

[halfway down the steps to the end of the Prince lifting his head]

The first thing he saw, as he descended the last stair, caught him wholly by surprise.   

[old woman passing by—2 shots]

An old, ailing woman with only a thin cloak to shield her from the bitter cold, disappeared into the dark night.  Lured by her, the Prince followed. 

[long shot after the Prince’s feet are seen]

He soon arrived at a small village not far from the Castle grounds.  

[walk cycle]

Discomfort loomed over him, and he grew more fearful with every step. 

[halfway close-up to the children scene]

Misery revealed itself in the faces of children huddled together, unable to keep warm by a dying fire. 

[extreme close-up eye opens to mother and child]

The young Prince fought back his tears and forced his eyes to see the unimaginable.

[zooming out from the frontal shot of the Prince, the village, and the Castle in the background, to the burning scene]

Here, in this desolate place, he realized the true colors of his Kingdom. 

[thorns surrounding scene]

Despair overwhelmed him - it closed in like a crown of thorns, strangling him with sadness. 

[eye squeezed shut to finger bleeding scenes]

The feeling, so strong, pierced his soul. 

[the Prince fascinated]

And for the first time, the Prince realized his true calling – he bled.

[growing up scene]

The Prince, now aware of the tragedies of his people, returned to the Castle, determined to face his duties. 

[study scene to being crowned]

As the years passed, the time came for the Prince to be crowned King.   

[zooming out from the crowning scene]

The people rejoiced and celebrated, for the boy they once knew had become a wise and thoughtful ruler. 

[music takes over with joy]

[as we zoom out—to the arch and out of the Castle door]

And so, the Kingdom grew prosperous, and everyone in the land lived a life full of happiness for many, many years to come. 

CREDITS SEQUENCE?

Possibility?

MUSIC TESTS

1--Mellow Trudgery: seems like it's for a completely different animation...like a character sneaking around in the dark at night exploring through a forest with animals coming out of their habitats to do their nocturnal thing...so NO.

2--C Minor: i've done plenty of variations on this chord...but it still doesn't seem right for Bleu Blood...no matter how many times i watch my draft mov...

3--Flute Shimmer: sounds like morning in the mountains with spring melting the winter away. NOPE.

4--BeginningFin: yea...sounds more like it...it's more renaissance-type...

5--tryAgain2: um, somber, but big buildup at the end. maybe i should combine this and the previous...sigh, but they're in different files... >.<

6--INTRO: too sad. this is like a short summary of some of the previous clips...

DRAFT 2

View HERE:  No Sound.

OPENING MOTION TEST

HERE is the link to view a rough cut of what I would have wanted for the Title Sequence to look like.  It doesn't really match the style of the Animation itself, because of it's intense Photorealism. However, some of it might still be used for the Ending Credits.  

Each transition is supposed to fade in and out with black, but the fading out lacks the transition--sorry!  There aren't supposed to be any long pauses after each image.  >.<

***NOTE:  LOADING may take a while.  Please be patient--thanks!***

CORONATION

I started to work on the Final Scene once again.  This is the version I came up with today...  It's much better than all the other shots, but I still am not sure if I need to texture the Cathedral a little more?  It may be a little lacking to match the floor tiles.  It also doesn't have as much saturation at everything else.  I added two more maidens behind the Prince.  I wonder if the green one is too redundant?  The petals will fall in the final shot  (see below for more details).  I plan on zooming out from a medium frontal shot of the Prince as he is being crowned, and as soon as we get to the crowd, I want to cut to the accordian musician's foot counting in time.  This will cut to a medium shot of them starting a cheerful version of the same melody heard throughout the film.  

We will then cut to the shot of the peasants who are now "well-to-do-looking-merchants," and see them gratefully celebrating the Coronation of their Prince...  

I want to zoom out of the scene like this shot from the Art of Sleeping Beauty by Disney.  The question lies in what happens after that...  Should the camera exit the Castle doors which close, and then pan up to the sky where it fades to white?  Hmm....

DRAFT 1

REAL Low Resolution

TITLE SEQUENCE STORYBOARDS

The version I came up with for Bleu Blood as a fusion of my references:

I'm thinking of making most of the Title Sequence photographs which are subtly added with drawn and / or painted elements...  Although, these are a few blue roses that I found that had a lot of charm, and I'm tempted to just fade them into a black background, zooming out as they bloom (as if they are emerging from the darkness)...

OPENING TITLE SEQUENCE

A couple of References for my Title Sequence are the Age Of Innocence directed by Martin Scorsese (1993):

...and Sympathy for Lady Vengence directed by Park Chan-Wook (2oo5):

EDITS and MORE