Ready As I'll Ever Be
Ready As I’ll Ever Be is an animatic I created to the song Ready As I’ll Ever Be from Disney’s Tangled: The Series. It features characters and a story from a personal project I am working on titled The Hall of Heroes.
Prince Desmond has been captured by Tenebris and Ena. Ena, the shadow entity, urges Tenebris to “finish it,” but he hesitates, knowing it’s wrong. Meanwhile, Zosintha, driven by her love for Desmond, rallies the Hall of Heroes and must cooperate with his estranged father, King Sohan. Despite their differences, they join forces and confront Tenebris on the Shattered Plains.
Boards
In my storyboards, I use color to reinforce contrast and narrative themes. Tenebris is cast in a sickly dark green, reflecting the toxic and restrictive influence Ena has over him as well as his jealousy-driven descent into villainy. Ena is defined by red, symbolizing blood, death, and an overwhelming, aggressive presence that demands attention. In contrast, Zosintha and the Hall of Heroes are depicted in warm yellows, evoking sunlight, hope, and courage, and representing a legacy of bravery and moral strength even in the face of adversity.
Sequence 3, Shot 9
Sequence 3, Shot 10
At the end of the animatic, Tenebris shifts from green to red across two shots, with only his eyes retaining their original color. This transition marks the moment he gives in to the pressure and falls further under Ena’s control, visually signaling his loss of autonomy and deepening descent into her influence.
Sequence 1, Shot 17
Sequence 2, Shot 8
With this project, I also wanted to focus on creating character symmetry through similar shots. In the story The Hall of Heroes, Tenebris (shown above on the left) and Zosintha (shown above on the right) are meant to be foils of each other. Meaning they are very similar people but in different situations. I wanted to draw attention to that through the use of symmetrical shots. Tenebris is framed in darkness while Zosintha is framed in light. Tenebris extends his sword to harm while Zosintha offers her hand to help.