# Civilwar Letterifier

> 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.

- Skill: `delorenj/civilwar-letterifier-2` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 32 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add delorenj/civilwar-letterifier-2`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/delorenj/civilwar-letterifier-2/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: Complete terms in LICENSE
- Author: delorenj (https://skillmd.com/u/delorenj)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/delorenj/civilwar-letterifier-2

---


# Civil War Letterifier

Two layers. Use only what the user asks for.

1. **Letterify (text → letter).** Rewrite the user's text as a mournful field dispatch. This is the default and is just prose — no tools needed.
2. **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 period prose (the only creative/agentic step)
   ▼
the note ──► scripts/build.mjs ──► out/letter.mp4
               │  1. ElevenLabs narration (hardcoded voice) → remotion/public/narration.mp3
               │  2. music bed (drop-in or auto-generated, optional)
               │  2b. ambient bed (assets/sfx, always-on atmosphere)
               │  3. props.json  (date auto-generated; signature/title fixed)
               └─ 4. Remotion render (parchment + script + Ken Burns + audio)
```

Three audio layers stack in the render: the **narration** (voice), the optional
**music bed**, and an always-on **ambient bed** (field atmosphere) underneath
both.

**The only thing you produce is the note text.** Everything else — narrator
voice, date line, signature, title, music, ambient, render — is deterministic
and handled by `build.mjs`. Don't write a date or signature; the script supplies
them (today's date as `"From the Encampment, this Nth day of <Month>"`, plus a
fixed signature and title).

### Step 1 — Write the note

Letterify the text (Layer 1). That period prose **is** the note — a salutation, a
body, and a closing line (no signature; the script appends one). Pass it straight
to the build as text, or save it to a `.txt` file. `\n\n` separates paragraphs;
keep it to a slow read (roughly ≤ 200 words for a tight clip).

### Step 2 — Render

```bash
# Prereqs: Node 18+, ffmpeg, and ELEVENLABS_API_KEY in env or .env.local
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=sk_...

# Pass the note inline (voice + music + ambient are all automatic):
node scripts/build.mjs --text "My dear colleagues, ...the period prose... Pray proceed without me." --out out/letter.mp4

# Or from a file:
node scripts/build.mjs --file note.txt --out out/letter.mp4

# Auto-generate a mournful music bed instead of using assets/music:
node scripts/build.mjs --file note.txt --auto-music

# Use a specific period track you dropped in:
node scripts/build.mjs --file note.txt --music assets/music/your-track.mp3

# Printed-dispatch typeface instead of script (config, not creative):
node scripts/build.mjs --file note.txt --font dispatch
```

First run installs the Remotion deps under `remotion/` automatically. The clip auto-lengths to the narration plus a title card and a fade-out. (`--spec letter.json` is still accepted for back-compat, but only its `letterText` is read.)

### Voice

The narrator is **hardcoded** — the custom **"Civil War Veteran"** voice
(`HvjKMFO0rjuPaM2f997g`), set as `VOICE_ID` in `scripts/narrate.mjs`. There is no
`--voice` flag and no env override: one note, one narrator. To change narrators,
design a new voice (see `references/voice-and-music.md`) and replace that single
constant.

### 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.

### Ambient bed

A separate, **always-on** atmosphere layer (crickets, wind, a distant camp) that
plays beneath the voice and music for the entire film — it is not an alternative
to the music bed; both stack. Drop an audio file in `assets/sfx/` (a file named
`ambient.*` is preferred; otherwise the first/random track is used) and it is
picked up automatically. Overrides:

- `--ambient <file>` — use a specific ambient track.
- `--ambient-volume <0..1>` — peak level of the bed (default `0.16`; it sits
  below the music's `0.22` so it never competes with the narration).

If `assets/sfx/` is empty and no `--ambient` is given, the layer is simply
skipped.

### Tuning the look

The composition lives in `remotion/src/CivilWarLetter.tsx`. Preview and tweak live with:

```bash
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).
- Ambient: always-on bed from `assets/sfx/` (skipped only if that folder is empty), layered under voice + music at `0.16`.
- Voice: hardcoded custom "Civil War Veteran" (`HvjKMFO0rjuPaM2f997g` in `narrate.mjs`); not parameterized.
- Date line / signature / title: deterministic (date from today; signature + title fixed). The note text is the only creative input.
- Output: 1920×1080, 30fps, h264 MP4.