Scott - Gift of Music Storyboard

I didn't explain the last board, but I like this one better so I figured I would give some context. In this story, a young boy hears a tale about a forest sprite that lives near his village from his grandfather. In days gone by, the forest sprite gave mankind the gift of music and asked nothing in return. Over the years, the sprite became more reclusive until nobody had seen it for quite some time. The boy asks what would happen if he were to catch it, but the grandfather only smiles and says he isn't sure.

At this point the boy realizes the sun is setting and that he has to go home for dinner. He runs down the stairs and outside, waving goodbye to his elder. He runs through town where his mother pokes out from their home, yelling at him that he is late and that he should grab some water from the well. He responds, "Yes, mom!!" and carries on running down the road. She yells at him to slow down.

As he draws water from the well, he begins to hear soft flute playing coming from the bamboo forest around the well. He turns to see a glimmering light and drops his bucket to chase it into the woods. He carries on through the woods and crosses random obstacles until he finally sees it disappear over a hill and hears the music stop. He enters a clearing that appears empty and looks around. He then sees the sprite floating there, not moving. He approaches it, then imperiously demands to be given skill with music. The sprite stares at him. He stares back. After some time of the sprite not moving at all, he begins to become scared and steps back. As he does, the sprite leans back and reaches into it's flowing garments. It leans forward and gives him something. We see that it is a flute. The boy looks curiously up at the sprite, not sure what this means, then raises it to his lips to play a tune.

Only shrill notes come out. The boy looks up, startled and disappointed but finds that he has been left alone. He stands there for a minute, looking down at the flute in his hands and, finally, makes a stern expression. He raises the flute to his lips once more and begins to practice; trying to play the song he heard from the sprite. As he does, he turns off into the woods. We see him disappear eventually, but continue to hear him playing. The screen fades to black with him still playing as we hear him get a few notes right.