| name | civilwar-letterifier |
| description | Rewrite any text as a solemn, slightly absurd 19th-century Civil War field dispatch (Ken Burns documentary voice), then optionally turn it into a multimodal video — period narration via ElevenLabs, the letter in fancy script on aged parchment, a mournful music bed, and a slow Ken Burns pan/zoom of the letter being read. Use when the user types /civilwar, asks to "civil-war-ify" or "Ken Burns" some text, or asks for a documentary-style letter video. |
| license | Complete terms in LICENSE |
Civil War Letterifier
Two layers. Use only what the user asks for.
- Letterify (text → letter). Rewrite the user's text as a mournful field dispatch. This is the default and is just prose — no tools needed.
- Letterify the multimodal extravaganza (letter → documentary clip). Narrated, scored, written in script on parchment, with a Ken Burns drift over the page. Triggered when the user wants audio/video ("make the video", "with the voice and music", "the full Ken Burns thing").
Layer 1 — The /civilwar command
When the user types /civilwar <text> (or asks to civil-war-ify / Ken-Burns something), rewrite that text as a solemn, slightly absurd Civil War-era letter or documentary narration.
Inviolable rules:
- Preserve the original meaning, names, facts, dates, numbers, requests, and logistics exactly. A blocked Jira ticket stays a blocked Jira ticket.
- Do not invent facts. Period-flavored metaphor is welcome; new commitments, dates, or details are not.
- Mournful field-dispatch register: read over banjo, fiddle, and candlelight. Address a recipient ("My dear colleagues"), sign off as an obedient, beleaguered servant.
- Keep professional messages still usable — the manager must learn the actual status.
Modes
| Mode | Trigger | Length & tone |
|---|
| standard | /civilwar <text> | Default. One sepia paragraph or two. Tasteful tragedy. |
| field-note | /civilwar field-note <text> | One or two sentences — short enough for Slack/SMS. |
| full | /civilwar full <text> | Maximum banjo, maximum plague. Open with a stage cue (*faint fiddle over distant thunder*). HR is concerned. |
| executive | /civilwar executive <text> | Grave dispatch from Antietam that still conveys the Jira ticket, the blocker, and the ask. Safe to send to a manager. |
See references/letter-style-guide.md for the full register, devices, and worked examples. Read it before writing if you want the voice exactly right.
Quick example
/civilwar full I can't make the meeting today because my stomach is wrecked and I need to lie down.
faint fiddle over the low murmur of distant thunder
My dear colleagues,
I regret to report that I shall be unable to attend our appointed council this day. A most grievous rebellion has commenced within my own constitution, and I have been compelled to retire from the field and take refuge upon the nearest horizontal surface.
Pray proceed without me, and know that I remain, though diminished, devoted to the cause.
Your obedient and intestinally besieged servant,
J.
Layer 2 — The multimodal extravaganza
Goal: a documentary clip where the letter, in elegant script on candlelit parchment, drifts slowly under the camera (Ken Burns) while a weathered period voice reads it over a mournful fiddle-and-banjo bed.
Pipeline (all local; renders on the user's machine):
user text
│ Layer 1 (you write the prose)
▼
letter.json ──► scripts/build.mjs ──► out/letter.mp4
│ 1. ElevenLabs narration → remotion/public/narration.mp3
│ 2. music bed (drop-in or auto-generated)
│ 3. props.json
└─ 4. Remotion render (parchment + script + Ken Burns + audio)
Step 1 — Write the letter spec
Letterify the text (Layer 1), then save it as a small JSON file the renderer understands:
{
"letterText": "My dear colleagues,\n\nI regret to report that I shall be unable...\n\nPray proceed without me.",
"dateLine": "Camp near the Sofa, this 30th day of June",
"signature": "Your obedient & intestinally besieged servant, J.",
"title": "A Letter from the Front",
"fontStyle": "script"
}
\n\n separates paragraphs. Keep it to what fits a slow read (roughly ≤ 200 words for a tight clip).fontStyle: "script" (Tangerine calligraphy — the default "fancy script") or "dispatch" (IM Fell English — a printed period typeface, better for longer text).
Step 2 — Render
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_...
node scripts/build.mjs --spec letter.json --voice Adam --out out/letter.mp4
node scripts/build.mjs --spec letter.json --voice Adam --auto-music --out out/letter.mp4
node scripts/build.mjs --spec letter.json --music assets/music/your-track.mp3 --out out/letter.mp4
First run installs the Remotion deps under remotion/ automatically. The clip auto-lengths to the narration plus a title card and a fade-out.
Voice
- Default stock voice:
Adam (documentary narrator). George (warm British storyteller) also fits. Override with --voice <name|id> or CIVILWAR_VOICE.
- For the authentic weathered, solemn 19th-century reader, design a custom voice — see
references/voice-and-music.md. Pass its voice id via --voice.
Music
Pick one; defaults to voice-only if you skip it:
--music <file> — a track you supply (recommended for the real thing). Drop files in assets/music/.--auto-music — synthesize an original mournful fiddle/banjo bed via ElevenLabs (no licensing worries, looped under the voice).
Licensing matters: the actual Ken Burns theme ("Ashokan Farewell") is copyrighted — do not bundle it. references/voice-and-music.md lists public-domain period tunes and royalty-free sources.
Tuning the look
The composition lives in remotion/src/CivilWarLetter.tsx. Preview and tweak live with:
cd remotion && npm install && npm run studio
references/composition-guide.md documents every knob (parchment, sepia grade, candle flicker, pan distance, fonts, pads).
Defaults this skill was built with
- Music: drop-in track if present, else auto-generated bed (so the pipeline always finishes).
- Voice: stock
Adam by default; custom-designed period voice recommended.
- Output: 1920×1080, 30fps, h264 MP4.
