Synopsis: When a defiant Trinidadian teenager dismisses her grandmother’s folklore and leaves her window open to the night, she inadvertently invites a predatory Soucouyant into her bedroom. Her skepticism ends in tragic irony when she is consumed by the mythical blue flame and transformed into the very monster she refused to believe in.
Content and Creation:
For The Skin and the Flame: The Vanishing of Amara, I used a mix of stuff I made myself and things I found online. I recorded my own voiceover and shot some of the video clips too, like the indigo jungle lighting, the peeling skin sequence, and the shot of Amara rolling her eyes. For the rest of the look and feel, I made some custom character and background pieces (saved on my Google Drive) and grabbed the historical photos, video clips, and background noises from free sites like Flickr, Openverse, and Freesound.org.
When it came to putting it all together, I used Canva to edit the video, arrange the clips, and get the timing just right. For the really specific parts of the story that I couldn’t shoot myself or find online, I used Gemini for AI image and video generation. Finally, I spent a lot of time on Freesound.org picking out the perfect sound effects to make the whole thing feel creepy and immersive.
Credits:
Photos
- “HOWL” by Dawn Ellner, is licensed underCC BY 2.0
- “Gloomy Forest.jpg” by JovanCormac, is licensed under CC BY 3.0
- “cacao beans” by Michael Eric Nickel, is licensed underCC BY-NC-ND 2.0
- “Artist’s impression of supernova 1993J” by Hubble ESA, is licensed under CC BY 2.0
- “tree roots” by joaquin uy, is licensed underCC BY 2.0
- “Floating Ball of Blue Flames” by Love_Haight, is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
- “Eye Flash Test with Reverse Ring 50mm Prime” by Cedric_Ramirez is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
- “0209” by Cia de Foto is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
- “Golden Ears Park Sunlight” by `James Wheeler is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
- “SisalJacaltenango.jpg” by ArtProf, CC BY 3.0
- “Sunrise over Zahmer Kaiser mountain range seen from Nußlberg near Kiefersfelden in Bavaria, Gemany” by UweBKK (α 77 on ) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
- “flame fractal 20” by lisafree54 is marked with CC0 1.0.
Videos:
- “Video of Eye Rolling – Amara ” by Kelly John-Strate is licensed under CCO
- “Video of pealing skin ” by Kelly John-Strate is licensed under CCO
- “Surrounding Jungle Video Indigo Light” by Kelly John-Strate is licensed under CCO
Audio/Words
- “Thailand – Cymbals & Drums” by Lenguaverde via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Fizz” by eqavox via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Soulful Woman Vocal Melody” by CVLTIV8R via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Sound of hell” by Victor_Natas via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- “more frogs.wav” by Tito Lahaye via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
- “woman humming cathedral” by Pennywind via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “walkingonautumnleaves.mp3” by morgantj via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- “Watermelon_Squelch10.wav” by lolamadeus via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Magic Glow” by IENBA via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Follow the Route – Action Movie Drums Beat Synth Drone Drum Drama Cinematic Folk World Music Surround.wav” by szegvari via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “cicadas.wav” by laughatlantic via freesound.org is licensed under CCO
- “Static Build and Scream Intense 1.wav” by ebcrosby via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 3.0
- “Hissing.wav” by indigocat via freesound.org is licensed under CCO.
- “Morning chirping of birds.wav” by dibko via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0
- “Creepy night in the abandoned warehouse” by Victor_Natas via freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- “Hiking Through Tall Dry Grass & Gravel.wav” by EverydayEldritch. via freesound.org is licensed under CCO.
- “End of Days” by Gustavo_Alivera via Freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- “Dark Mysterious Cinematic Soundscape.wav” by szegvari via Freesound.org is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- “VoiceOver-Script for Story.mp3” by Kelly John-Strate is licensed under CCO
Google Gemini-generated images/Videos (original content, Gemini API Additional Terms of Service):
- “Picture of Ma Evans” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Lopinot Estate at night” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Amara Opens window” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Hunched Over Silhouette ” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Picture of Discard Human Skin” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Picture of Amara by Window” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Image of Amara Scared and a face within the blue ball of light” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Video of Ma Evans looking for Amara in a doorway” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Charred circle on a floor and blue scale on floor” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
- “Picture of folded skin under dry leaves” by Google Gemini is licensed under CCO
Tags: Final Project
