Production notes

Every story starts as a cast and a setting. Those are drawn once, then used as reference for every picture in the story, so the characters stay themselves from beginning to end.

The cast

Model sheet for Earl — **Earl** the noble captain

a tall human man with short blond hair, wearing shining silver armour with a blue cloak, carrying a sword with a golden hilt

Sounds confident and steady.

Model sheet for Brynn — **Brynn** the young squire

a slim boy with curly brown hair and freckles, dressed in a simple brown tunic and trousers, holding a wooden practice sword

Sounds bright and eager.

Model sheet for Mira — **Mira** the lady knight

a woman with dark skin and tightly coiled hair tied back, clad in lightweight, dark steel armour with a red scarf around her neck, gripping a lance

Sounds clear and firm.

Model sheet for Rolf — **Rolf** the grizzled veteran

a stocky older man with a grey beard and scars on his face, wearing worn chainmail and a battered helmet, carrying a broad axe

Sounds gruff and slow.

The setting

Background painting of An ancient castle guarded by four vigilant knights shrouded in mystery. — **An ancient castle guarded by four vigilant knights shrouded in mystery.**

A sprawling medieval stone castle with towering walls and narrow flickering torch-lit corridors, cast in shadows and the cold grey of dawn.

grey black deep red torchlight orange

The plan

The four knights notice the castle has become strangely quiet at night and worry something is wrong.

worried and thoughtful wide establishing shot Earl, Brynn, Mira, Rolf
Brynn finds a hidden door in the castle walls that was never there before and calls the others to see it.

curious and cautious medium shot Brynn, Earl, Mira, Rolf
They open the door and find strange signs inside; this makes them more worried about what is happening.

tense and concerned close-up Earl, Brynn, Mira, Rolf
Rolf tells a story of a secret passage used long ago, and they guess the silence is to hide something bad.

serious and determined medium shot Rolf, Earl, Brynn, Mira
Working together, the knights find the source of the silence and promise to guard the castle even more closely now.

relieved and hopeful long shot Earl, Brynn, Mira, Rolf

How it was made

Pictures drawn: 11
Words written: 1119
Generation steps: 19
Time to make: 6 min

Drawn in charcoal. Written in English at level B1, for teen readers.

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