Kickstarter

The Story:

There are a few things which are certain: Heaven is in chaos, the line between good and evil is the thinnest of all, and blood will be spilled. At the heart of matters is a prophecy: once again, the Kingdom will be betrayed by one of its own. How everything will play out, who the traitor may be and who will survive is anyone's guess. Some angels fight to prove their loyalty, others try to uncover the traitor and still others flee to Earth.

Complicating matters are the dark secrets of the past, the future they hope to build and, of course, you can never count out Lucifer's influence.

Each episode is told from the point-of-view of one of the focal characters, leaving the audience to decide who is telling the truth and who is simply trying to rewrite history.

More About Serenade:

Serenade for the Fallen is a new CG animated webseries from the start-up Scorched Earth Media. Because of the mature nature of the subjects and language, we do not recommend this series for children.

Produced using a variety of graphical and 3D animation software. The result is highly detailed characters, dazzling special-effects, beautiful environments and unparalleled character animation. Great care has been put in to develop intriguing characters, and compelling action, allowing our fans to watch the characters develop in very unexpected ways as the story progresses: a story which raises strong questions about the nature of compassion and love.

Serenade’s first season will be delivered an episode per week through the SEM website and Youtube. 

We should also note, Serenade borrows from theology to create a fiction — we are not creating a "religious series" nor promoting/besmirching any particular faith.

While the description of exactly how we will be using your support may seem overly detailed, we believe it's very important for you to know why we're prioritizing in the way we are, and what that will enable us to do.

Hardware

We will be investing in some hardware, which we can utilize to vastly increase our render time and production quality. Additionally, we will be utilizing the hardware to produce a free mobile app, where our fans will be able to watch our videos, listen to our podcasts and post on our forums no matter where they are.

Sound Library and Music

We will pick up a sound library to create more realistic environments and sound effects. Everything from the flapping of wings, the clanging of weapons, a bird chirping, horns honking, the sound of wind in the trees... These may seem like nonsense, but for creating realistic environments they are supremely important.

Additionally, we are looking into several options for creating a series soundtrack. These options range from software such as Garage Band or Adobe Soundblaster to our current negotiations with a couple composers who can create an original and fantastic series soundtrack.

Inventory

As you'll notice in our rewards section, we will make several merchandise items available to our fans. By stocking an inventory, we will be able to fulfill our reward obligations, and make additional merchandise available to our fans at a far lower cost than going through a third-party, such as CafePress.

What Happens If We Exceed Our Goal?

Every bit of additional funding will help us recruit the best talent for voice-acting and series development. Currently, everyone involved in Serenade development works diligently, without a paycheck. While this speaks volumes for what we're creating and our excitement to be part of it, it is also restrictive in recruiting additional talent. The lion's share of any additional funding would go toward contracting on additional talent.

Scorched Earth Media was started in late 2011 with the idea of creating unique and powerful media. Once in a great while you see something that isn't just entertaining, but touches you in a meaningful way, and stays with you for years after: that's what we want to create here at SEM.

Working out of our home offices and juggling our "day jobs" and family, that's exactly what we're doing, and we're very proud of our work.

Leading SEM is Jeff Shetler, who has a diverse background, including graphic arts, computer sciences, technical theater and minor acting. As the creator of Serenade, he is responsible for the script, art, animation and recruiting additional talent.

Daneen McDermott heads our development of children's media, but is also working on Serenade as an editor, sounding board, artist and voice-actress. She has been a writer/editor for several MMO (massive-multiplayer online) video games, and has worked for some of the United States' largest toy and game developers.

We also have several people excited to be voice-acting various roles in Serenade, and we're all equally excited about the community we're building. In addition to our forum, social networking and podcasts, all of which are already live, we're planning some live events to accompany the release of each episode.

We expect to launch Serenade in the late summer of this year. Because we firmly believe in only providing definitive dates when we are certain we'll be able to hit them, we can be no more specific than that at this time. We expect to announce a definitive date in June.

The SEM website and forums contain additional information, not to mention our weekly podcast where we often discuss exactly what part of the series we've been working on over the past week. Though, honestly, a lot of it diverts into discussions about current events and random asides. (Please note, our podcasts often contain language and material which is suitable only for a mature audience). One particular podcast where we discuss the Kickstarter campaign can be found here.

If you decide to be a backer or not, we highly encourage you to join our community and connect with us through our forum, Twitter, Facebook and email.

To reduce clutter in the reward section, please use this as a reference for reward details and estimated deliveries.

Merchandise (Various)

All merchandise except the script and DVD will ship in June, 2012. To avoid spoilers, the DVD and script will ship at the conclusion of the series.

Credits ($1+)

Website listing will be available immediately after the end of this campaign, your listing in the video itself will be in the series credits, at the conclusion of Episode 20. In order to get your name listed, simply send us a message telling us how you would like your name to appear. For example: Jeff Shetler or Jeff S. (RTP, North Carolina), etc.

Links ($10+)

Links cannot contain pornography, bigotry or anything less tasteful than Jeff. These links will be available shortly after the campaign ends - please allow a few days for us to review links before we post them.

Sponsorship Account ($10+)

Sponsor accounts are a gateway to the section of our website which will allow downloading of each episode, two-day early access to each episode, and lots of bonus material — outtakes, behind the scenes, bonus videos and podcasts, etc. In order to give our sponsors the biggest bang for their buck, these year-long accounts will be activated one week prior to the release of Episode 1.

Season 1 DVD ($50+)

A Region-1 DVD will be mailed shortly after the season finale — includes the entire Season 1, commentary, and bonus material.

Script ($100+)

In order to avoid spoilers, your script will ship along with your DVD at the conclusion of the series. Your staff shirt will ship along with your other rewards in June.

Likeness & Voice Acting ($1,000+)

In order to render your likeness, we will need you to send several photos of yourself from several different angles. We will provide detailed notes and examples in advance.

For voice recording, you will be provided a partial script with your lines, notes and a sample recording for reference.

In order to ensure that you will be included in the first season of Serenade, we will need both the photos and recording within four weeks of the campaign ending. If a backer is unable to meet this timeline, they will have the option of being included in a role next season, in 2013.

Tablet Applications ($1,000+)

In addition to our online series, SEM is working to develop several children's application for Android and iPad tablets, what can best be described as "interactive storybooks," though that hardly does justice to what we're developing. The age-range of the applications stretches from pre-reader through elementary school and, eventually, well beyond that.

These backers will receive these applications at no cost, along with any others we develop, for the life of SEM.

Dinner and screening ($10,000+)

These backers have two options:

1) Jeff will personally travel anywhere in the continental US to thank you, treat you and a guest to both dinner and a private screening of the entire Serenade series, or

2) These backers and a guest will come to RTP, North Carolina, to be treated to dinner with the cast and crew of Serenade as well as a private screening. The second option will require that the backer provide their own travel and accommodations.

Both options will be available to the backer a few weeks prior to the end of the series. Meaning, these backers and a guests will be the first, outside of SEM, to see the entire series.