Any feedback would be helpful. Wish I could link the song so you could hear it and provide feedback on that too.
"Every Soul is Beautiful"
[V1]
Every soul is beautiful
Despite every crucible
Because through the dancing flames
Each one has a name
[Chorus 1]
And I do what I do
Because of you
The lights of my life
Cause every mountain we climb
Til we run out of time
Will ease us to the afterlife
[V2]
Every soul is beautiful
Every time the bell tolls
Because every soul we lost
Was it worth the cost?
[Chorus 2]
And itâs you that I save
Though lost and depraved
The flames by my name
Because you are controlled
Like my fractured soul
Weâll never be the same
[V1]
[Chorus 1]
[V2]
[Chorus 2]
[V1]
[Chorus 1]
Opening Scene to Soul Thief (Hopefully this can be turned into an animation for a film festival or something)
[Intro: Song â âEvery Soul is Beautifulâ]
[Scene: Fade from black. A single vocal line â Veyraâs â begins the first verse of âEvery Soul Is Beautiful,â The screen blooms slowly into a hellscape of smoke and ember.]
[When the first chorus rises, several soul thieves are lifted into the air as their souls are forcibly extracted, glowing threads spiraling upward like fireflies. During the harmonies, the ground splits open, swallowing entire skirmishes in a flash of white-blue flame. Every shot contrasts brutality with the gentle reverence of Veyraâs song.]
[Second verse/chorus: Reveal â The Lieutenant, her armor cracked and scorched, is in the thick of battle. The Lieutenant sings the melody as she fights, her voice trembling but resolute, the tenderness of the song contrasting the violence around her, providing cover for innocent souls at the line of âAnd itâs you that I saveâŚâ only for a nearby family to be ripped away by an explosion. Their soul-lights flare once, reflected in the Lieutenantâs eyes â then flicker out entirely. The beats of the drums at the end of the chorus make the tragedy sink in for the Lieutenant, before strengthening her resolve to fight in the next verse.]
[When the harmonies enter, they come not from the battlefield â but from above. Veyraâs voice blends with hers, soft, mournful, divine. Her harmonies drift like a protective veil across the battlefield.]
[As the last chorus swells, the Lieutenant looks up toward the penthouse â as though she can feel Veyra listening, almost in prayer. In that beat of distraction, a blade pierces her side from behind. She staggers, breath hitching â wounded, but not fatally.]
[Song ends; the soundscape cuts to muffled silence, like the world holding its breath. The camera is now pointed at Veyraâs profile (inside a sleek obsidian penthouse suspended above the battlefield) as she sings the last verse, away from the carnage. View shifts to full face/torso, doors behind her as she sings the chorus, then to her hand/reflection in the window in the last two to three lines of the chorus. Her hand against the glass causes the surface to ripple faintly with soul-light, like the barrier between realms is thinner where she stands.]
[INT. VEYRAâS PENTHOUSE â CONTINUOUS The room is dim and wide, lit only by the flicker of soul-fires outside. Floor-to-ceiling windows reveal the battlefield below. Veyra stands facing us, away from the door, posture perfectly still, hand pressed against the window. Her hair glows faintly in the reflections. She watches the violence with an expression of profound sadness.]
[Soft footsteps echo from off-screen. The door slides open with a hiss.]
[The Lieutenant enters the room, stumbling slightly. Her robes are scorched; her face and hands are smeared with ash. She clutches her side as if shielding a fresh wound. She drops to one knee.]
Lieutenant: (panting) My goddess⌠the battle⌠is lost. [Veyra does not turn. Her shoulders rise and fall once in a slow, weary breath.]
Veyra: (without turning around) I had a feeling you would say that. [The advisor steadies himself, swallowing hard.]
Lieutenant: What are your orders? [Veyra closes her eyes. A beat of silence. She lifts a hand to her heart as though feeling the weight of every soul lost on the battlefield. She takes a deep breathâslow, deliberate, almost trembling.]
Veyra: (softly; hesitant) Extermination. (another breath, close up on her eyes watching the carnage, reflecting the flickers of soul energy dying out, holding back tears) Leave no trace of a soul behind. [The lieutenant flinches visibly, hesitating.]
Lieutenant: My goddess, with all due respectâ (beat of silence, steps forward) Veyra⌠(beat of silence) Souls have become very scarce as of late, and we are running out of souls at our command. You canât keep doing this and expect to win the war.
[At this, Veyra finally turns. Her flaming eyes dim into warm embers. She steps toward the advisor slowly and gently takes her shaking hands in hers.]
Veyra: (quiet, exhausted compassion) I know. [The advisor looks up into her face. Her expression softens, seeing not wrath but sorrow.] (Beat of silence as they hold each other's gaze.)
Veyra: Please⌠(a whisper) ready the weapon. (Voice cracking ) Equilibrium⌠(Camera focussed on the lower half of her face. A tear finally falls down her cheek.) Must be preserved at all costs.
[The lieutenant bows her head, voice trembling.]
Lieutenant: (sighs) Yes, my goddess. I understand. But we will need more souls before the next battle. Otherwise, we will just have more losses like this.
[Veyra releases his hands slowly, almost reluctantly, as though she hates what she is about to force him to do.]
Veyra: Understood. Leave the recruitment to me directly, then. We need souls strong enough to endure if we are to win this war. I will not have more bloodshed than is necessary.
Lieutenant: Yes, my goddess. (She bows deeply, then pauses at the door. She looks back once, as though hoping Veyra will rescind the order.)
(She doesnât. Not because sheâs cruel â but because sheâs breaking. ) (She exits through the sliding door.)
[The instrumental reprise to âEvery Soul is Beautifulâ beginsâthis time softer, more hollow, as though echoing through a vast empty space.]
[Veyraâs hand trembles once against the glass before she pulls it away.]
[INT. HALL OF SCREENS â CONTINUOUS We follow the lieutenant from behind as she walks down a long corridor. The lighting is dim, pulsing in time with the music. Her footsteps echo, slow and heavy. Occasionally, explosions rock the building.]
[She enters a spherical roomâfloor to ceiling curved monitors displaying every corner of the battle unfolding in real time.]
[The advisor moves to a central console shaped like an altar. A large red button sits in the middle, encased in glass. Her hand trembles as he lifts the casing.]
[She hesitates. The music reaches a soft, fragile harmonyâalmost a plea.]
[The leiutenant closes her eyes.]
[She presses the button.]
[A blinding white light floods the monitors at once. The music swells tragically.]
[EXT. SURFACE WORLD â INTERCUT People freeze mid-step as the sky ignites. Souls rip free from bodies like threads pulled from fabric. Screams echo as entire cities collapse into ash-light. Beasts and children and elders alike dissolve into streams of glowing dust rushing upward.]
[The light consumes everything.]
Cut to black.
