Queen of Hearts: Episode #1 <4/15/09>

[Zankoku no Yami]

Romance of the Sky & Ocean Productions Presents
~Queen of Hearts: Game of Chance~

SYNOPSIS: Kenneth Hawkins, a boy who wishes for nothing more than to simply not be noticed. Amy Sullivan, the girl who insured this will never happen. This is the story about the two, and a little game called Chance. This game is what makes Amy the most popular girl in the school; a game in which she has ten hearts, and you either break them all, or win the grand prize; her heart. When this game becomes known to all, a little group forms within the school, all competing for not only the chance to play, but to win it. Ken, however, merely enters this game by chance itself and will find himself delving deeper into this game than anyone come before him; whether he really wants to or not. This is the story of the Game of Chance.

Episode #1: Game of Chance
Act #1: Med Quality | Low Quality
+Length: 9:00
+Size: 8.15

Act #2: Med Quality | Low Quality
+Length: 11:10
+Size: 10.2

Total Running Time: 20:10

Cast: <In Order of Appearance>
Kenneth: TamTu
Ann: Mochan
Zakk: Bryan D
Lunch Lady: Catoni15
Pro. Dorian: jr1138
Amy: Nikki Wright
Students 1+2: Andre (Act 2)

Music:
Immediate Music

SFX:
SFXsource
Sounddogs
Edwyn’s footsteps

Queen of Hearts – COPYRIGHT 2007-2010 Jeremiah Caudle All Rights Reserved

[Mochan]

I looooooooove this story! Omg. It's so original and just...fantastic! The characters are dynamic and the story is...just awesome. I love every little bit of it! The voice actors just *fit*, too. Everyone did such a great job! :3 My quality if baaaaaaad, though. x_x Oh well, anyway, SO AWESOME! I can't waaaaait for more! *_*

Nikki is cooooold. Hah. xD Love it.

Oh! Also, the music was a bit overpowering at times. And it seemed like there was too much music. There was music in every single scene when it felt like there didn't need to be.

But that was all the nit-picky-ness I have.

[veebee]

Nah! No way, Mo! Your mic sounded fine. Everyone's mic sounded perfect! I didn't notice anything, and I was wearing headphones!

I don't know where to start. First, let me get all the fanboy stuff out:

DAMMMMMMMMMMNNN! OMG! THAT WAS AWESOME! BRILLIANT! FANTASTIC! OMG! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I LOVE THE CAST! OMG! THE CAST! PERFECT! PERFECTO! PERFEITO! VOLLKOMMEN! 完全!

All right, no more fanboy. Seriously though, damn guys, great job! That opening was unbelievable! Probably the best I've heard on this site. It explains the story in so much detail in such a short time! Actually, the entire story was directed beautifully! The listeners are given just enough information to understand exactly what's happening in each scene. Which kept the story moving, never once was there a dull moment! It was just fun to listen to! The professionalism, from the acting to the mixing, was amazing! I mean, that shit was bananas!

And everything was so visual! I could just imagine myself sitting in a classroom watching all of that take place. The dialogue felt believable. Each character has their own unique quality which makes them relatable.

TamTu put me in the zone! I was right there with him the entire time. When he says, "this is my story of my first love," I was like, "hell yeah! right on, Ken! I'll embark on this journey with you! why the hell not?!"
Mochan had me laughing my ass off!
Bryan's like that one chill kid in high school, who's cool with everybody!
Catoni15, I almost forgot to add you in! The voice didn't match the character, but the acting was there. Splendid job!
jr1138 just has one of those intelligent sounding voices; every time he speaks you automatically tune your ears to what he has to say.
Nikki was a complete badass! Totally fit the role of the big cheese! I think *I* fell in love, with this entire production!

The only thing that I had trouble with, is when the two voices were overlapping each other. Although it was really believable and true to life, it kind of made it difficult to focus on what TamTu was saying. It's hard to tune jr1138 out, when he has such a powerful voice. It's not really a big deal, people can always rewind it, if they happen to miss something. I'm just nitpicking.

Overall: Superb job, all of you! Very inspiring! I can't wait to hear the next installment! I'm so proud of you guys! <3



This post is sarcasm-free, believe it or not.

[Motly Fool]

Wow... honestly not usually a fan of this kind of genera at all... but I gotta say i liked this. It was unique enough of an idea that I was interested and the writing was really quite excellent. It also didn't follow the usual kind of flows of these sorts of stories, so all in all if it was nothing else it was interesting. Of course it was a lot more then that. The acting was superb the voices were both attractive sounding and ear pleasing, and the mixing was extraordinary! Also... this might just be me, but when Kenneth went into monologue mode was anyone else reminded of Tidus from Final Fantasy X? Cause I every single time I hear that my mind just kinda going to FFX. To me anyway that was a good thing. I actually find myself wanting to listen to more of this! So... I supose what I'm building up to is great job keep up the good work!

[dragonknighttara]

A fantastic idea - I love this so far.

For mixing, the voices are at a perfect volume level, but the music did over power TamTu occasionally. It was especially noticeable just before he met Amy.

TamTu: You perfectly embodied the teenage boy - down to the voice inflections and mannerisms. A perfect choice to narrate the story.
Mochan: Your ranting was great - you definitely nailed that part and best of all it didn't seem to effect the quality of your recording either.
Zak was great, Amy sounded pretty good though I think Mochan outdid her in this episode. The lunchlady sounded a bit young, but the professor was good too.

Usually my personal pet peeve with original scripts or fanfic scripts is that the dialogue tends to be rather stiff and doesn't sound at all like the way normal people would talk. This script, however, pulled off all the lines perfectly. Everything really did sound natural and it flowed well. Kudos to whoever wrote this, and came up with the idea for that matter.

Can't wait to hear more!

[TamTu]

Seems like I've taught you well, Zank. ^^

::downloads::

[ValkyrieCeles]

I can't add anything critique wise that hasn't been said. I really liked this, it's an interesting spin on the generic high school story. I can't wait to hear more!

Mochan's role was played excellently. I loved the freak out scene. A good cast all in all, everyone did a great job!

Tamtu is the perfect high school student, I realy liked your voice! Nicki is going to be an excellent badass girl, I can tell.

You're not the only one who thought of Tidas Motley. When I heard Tamtu say "This is my story" it totally reminded me of Tidas from FFX. That's definitely a good thing.

I can't wait for the next episode. Rock on dudes!

[Zankoku no Yami]

I looooooooove this story! Omg. It's so original and just...fantastic! The characters are dynamic and the story is...just awesome. I love every little bit of it! The voice actors just *fit*, too. Everyone did such a great job! :3 My quality if baaaaaaad, though. x_x Oh well, anyway, SO AWESOME! I can't waaaaait for more! *_*

Nikki is cooooold. Hah. xD Love it.

Oh! Also, the music was a bit overpowering at times. And it seemed like there was too much music. There was music in every single scene when it felt like there didn't need to be.

But that was all the nit-picky-ness I have.

Haha, I tend to be a firm believer that there should almost never be a moment of silence (meaning, no music). Maybe I am different? But I absolutely cannot stand there to not be music playing. When playing games, listening to something, or watching something... the moments that do not have music bother the hell out of me. It makes everything feel slow and boring and uninspiring. To me, music gives everything everyone says more feeling and power; it emphasizes every word, every action. But hey, that could just be me~ either way, that’s why i choose to do it that way.

Hope that didn’t come off as making an excuse or ignoring what you said... because I certainly do appreciate the feedback! Just wanted to explain why i tend to do that in all my radio plays, haha.

Nah! No way, Mo! Your mic sounded fine. Everyone's mic sounded perfect! I didn't notice anything, and I was wearing headphones!

I don't know where to start. First, let me get all the fanboy stuff out:

DAMMMMMMMMMMNNN! OMG! THAT WAS AWESOME! BRILLIANT! FANTASTIC! OMG! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! I LOVE THE CAST! OMG! THE CAST! PERFECT! PERFECTO! PERFEITO! VOLLKOMMEN! 完全!

All right, no more fanboy. Seriously though, damn guys, great job! That opening was unbelievable! Probably the best I've heard on this site. It explains the story in so much detail in such a short time! Actually, the entire story was directed beautifully! The listeners are given just enough information to understand exactly what's happening in each scene. Which kept the story moving, never once was there a dull moment! It was just fun to listen to! The professionalism, from the acting to the mixing, was amazing! I mean, that shit was bananas!

And everything was so visual! I could just imagine myself sitting in a classroom watching all of that take place. The dialogue felt believable. Each character has their own unique quality which makes them relatable.

TamTu put me in the zone! I was right there with him the entire time. When he says, "this is my story of my first love," I was like, "hell yeah! right on, Ken! I'll embark on this journey with you! why the hell not?!"
Mochan had me laughing my ass off!
Bryan's like that one chill kid in high school, who's cool with everybody!
Catoni15, I almost forgot to add you in! The voice didn't match the character, but the acting was there. Splendid job!
jr1138 just has one of those intelligent sounding voices; every time he speaks you automatically tune your ears to what he has to say.
Nikki was a complete badass! Totally fit the role of the big cheese! I think *I* fell in love, with this entire production!

The only thing that I had trouble with, is when the two voices were overlapping each other. Although it was really believable and true to life, it kind of made it difficult to focus on what TamTu was saying. It's hard to tune jr1138 out, when he has such a powerful voice. It's not really a big deal, people can always rewind it, if they happen to miss something. I'm just nitpicking.

Overall: Superb job, all of you! Very inspiring! I can't wait to hear the next installment! I'm so proud of you guys! <3

This post is sarcasm-free, believe it or not.

Personally, I felt things moved too fast. But I am glad that you liked how it kept the story moving. It was actually bothering me that I did not write the script in a way that made it slow down a tad. But maybe I am really picky? Haha!

But yeah... I was worried that the two voices overlapping would take away from TamTu. I wanted to add a sense of realism by having the teacher heard in the background. However, I did feel that it was a little distracting. But, i wanted to hear what others thought as well. So I can agree with you on that!

Wow... honestly not usually a fan of this kind of genera at all... but I gotta say i liked this. It was unique enough of an idea that I was interested and the writing was really quite excellent. It also didn't follow the usual kind of flows of these sorts of stories, so all in all if it was nothing else it was interesting. Of course it was a lot more then that. The acting was superb the voices were both attractive sounding and ear pleasing, and the mixing was extraordinary! Also... this might just be me, but when Kenneth went into monologue mode was anyone else reminded of Tidus from Final Fantasy X? Cause I every single time I hear that my mind just kinda going to FFX. To me anyway that was a good thing. I actually find myself wanting to listen to more of this! So... I supose what I'm building up to is great job keep up the good work!

Oddly enough, I NEVER write things like this! In fact, this is my first attempt. I tend to be more sci-fi or fantasy. But I just felt like something different... so one day, out of nowhere, i began writing something. I ignored it and then came back to it another time. When I did... BAM, I suddenly got all these ideas for it and now you have this. I pride myself in being original and unique where i can. Even when working with a clichéd theme, I find a way to make it original once you underneath it all. I am just glad that you could see that aspect of it and enjoyed it!

A fantastic idea - I love this so far.

For mixing, the voices are at a perfect volume level, but the music did over power TamTu occasionally. It was especially noticeable just before he met Amy.

TamTu: You perfectly embodied the teenage boy - down to the voice inflections and mannerisms. A perfect choice to narrate the story.
Mochan: Your ranting was great - you definitely nailed that part and best of all it didn't seem to effect the quality of your recording either.
Zak was great, Amy sounded pretty good though I think Mochan outdid her in this episode. The lunchlady sounded a bit young, but the professor was good too.

Usually my personal pet peeve with original scripts or fanfic scripts is that the dialogue tends to be rather stiff and doesn't sound at all like the way normal people would talk. This script, however, pulled off all the lines perfectly. Everything really did sound natural and it flowed well. Kudos to whoever wrote this, and came up with the idea for that matter.

Can't wait to hear more!

I agree. The music was a bit overpowering at times (like Mochan also commented on~). I knew this was the case; but I was actually trying to attempt something, even though I knew this could happen. I did not want to lose the high quality of the music, and I often noticed that in movies, etc. that they would rather let voices be drowned out than compensate the quality of the music. Ever notice that yourself? Maybe I am the only one... but I was actually experimenting with this idea. I had a feeling it would overpower the voices at times... something I will have to be more careful of next time.

I know what you mean too. When writing anything, I do my best to try and emphasize on making my scripts more believable. I want people to sound believable and honest. To bring HUMANITY to them when they speak. In some cases, it may seem exaggerated, but it all stems from truth in my scripts. Making things sound natural and flow, is difficult, but something I like to do!

Oh, and I both wrote this and came up with the idea~ just like all my other ideas, it came to me out of nowhere!

Seems like I've taught you well, Zank. ^^

::downloads::

Hehe, well you gotta tell me what you think once you listen~

I can't add anything critique wise that hasn't been said. I really liked this, it's an interesting spin on the generic high school story. I can't wait to hear more!

Mochan's role was played excellently. I loved the freak out scene. A good cast all in all, everyone did a great job!

Tamtu is the perfect high school student, I realy liked your voice! Nicki is going to be an excellent badass girl, I can tell.

You're not the only one who thought of Tidas Motley. When I heard Tamtu say "This is my story" it totally reminded me of Tidas from FFX. That's definitely a good thing.

I can't wait for the next episode. Rock on dudes!

TamTu did voice Tidas before if memory serves correct... so that could be why!

---

Thank you everyone for your comments and critiques! I am glad that so many of you liked it. This was quite a challenging piece; mainly, to write, due to it being out of my field of expertise. So I am actually both shocked and pleased that everyone enjoyed it so much! I just hope I can keep it up. Always afraid of letting people down *dies* but I will try my best!

I will keep everyone’s comments in mind when continuing the mixing of this series~

[Mochan]

Haha, I tend to be a firm believer that there should almost never be a moment of silence (meaning, no music). Maybe I am different? But I absolutely cannot stand there to not be music playing. When playing games, listening to something, or watching something... the moments that do not have music bother the hell out of me. It makes everything feel slow and boring and uninspiring. To me, music gives everything everyone says more feeling and power; it emphasizes every word, every action. But hey, that could just be me~ either way, that’s why i choose to do it that way.

I definitely understand where you're coming from. Maybe if it were just turned down it wouldn't be such a big deal. Though, at the same time, your content should be able to carry the story along without there being music to make it "more" dramatic.

[Zankoku no Yami]

I definitely understand where you're coming from. Maybe if it were just turned down it wouldn't be such a big deal. Though, at the same time, your content should be able to carry the story along without there being music to make it "more" dramatic.

Yeah... I normally turn the music down more so that its not AS noticable but adds that feel. But i was attempting something as i mentioned by having it at a highter volume. A mere test. So I can see what you mean there. The loudness of the music could interfer as compared to my other radio plays when i chose to perserve voices over music and turned them down. Though I'll see what i can do with the music in the next act. I might keep the same rthyme for the next act, merely to keep the same consistancy for this episode then change on episode 2; or might not. I'll see what i can do in the next act though.

Haha, maybe. But I am a perfectionest. So I am never statisfied fully with my content and I feel incomplete without the music... also feel my stuff isnt justified as much. But like I said... I am a perfectionest, haha. Thanks again for your feed back~ I'll keep the level of the music in mind. Maybe if I do it right, it will not be as noticable even though its always there? Dunno. I'll try something~