Anne Maria Clarke & Kate Beswick produced by David Johnson
'Absolutlely magical & mesmerizing!'
' A delightful tale that has nourished my heart & soul...'
More notes between the lines
We worked on it a lot in the run up to Christmas, recording the final scenes on Christmas Eve morning. Speaking the young woman’s words aloud to the accompaniment of Kate’s piano had a strange poignancy – especially the penultimate scene set on the very last night.
The young woman cannot sleep....for she knows that when dawn breaks -she must say her last goodbye to the nightingale.
'She rests her back against one of the oaks with the bird nestled in her lap, stroking and caressing it’s feathers, savouring every last moment, prolonging the dawn in her heart – and the trees look down upon her with great love and compassion and they sooth and lull her to sleep with the soft, soft swaying of their autumn leaves.'
From what I know of other writers - this poignancy at the end of a project, when we say good bye to the story-book characters we have come to know and love, sometimes more profoundly than some of the flesh and blood people in our 3rd dimensional lives – can be acute. It happens to book lovers too, as we have all experienced – because in some mysterious way – such characters are larger than life – and in rendering them, in bringing them to life – we are bringing ourselves to life too – and often very deeply. For in the realm of story and especially story in this particular genre – the characters resonate with inner, archetypal constellations expressing certain sets of difficulties that need to be brought into the light, to be faced and overcome before ever our beloved storybook characters can find their way toward the longed for Happily Ever After – and when and if they do arrive there – then we ourselves can be vicariously changed and strengthened in our resolve - to embark upon the perilous path ourselves!
The American analyst and great mythographer Joseph Campbell called this struggle toward greater consciousness – the hero’s journey.
It begins with the call to adventure!
On the final morning in the studio on New Year’s Eve – after David and I had listened to our story and agreed it was ready to go - to let go, I told him how creating it together as we have done over the months, with the lovely Katie & her magical piano – was a bit like being in love – the feeling - and I have known it many times before as an artist - even when the going gets tough, even when it feels like we have lost our way completely - there’s hardly anything on earth that comes anywhere close!
So if you have aspirations to tell stories, in whatever way - if you are young or have not yet begun – don’t delay – begin today – pick up your pen, your paint brush, your camera, your musical instrument - heed the call – follow your bliss, as the wise ones say and please, please, please...
Don’t die with the music still in you! Wayne Dyer
Happy New Year
Much love
Anne Maria Clarke
x x x
The tale is 34 mins long & we simply did not have enough images to work with effectively. All animators out there are welcome to try!
Much love & many thanks to Sam & Valerie & Kate Riddles for the lovely cover illustration.
please see more of their work:
https://vimeo.com/samanthamoore
www.valerieclaff.com
Subscribe to Anne Maria Clarke's YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/c/annemariaclarke
More faerie-stories & adaptations of myths & Legends by Anne Maria Clarke at
www.archivepublishing.co.uk
the call of the NIGHTINGALE
https://youtu.be/OeAgdlOTZ5k