{
 "slug": "three-layers-per-line",
 "name": "Three layers per line",
 "category": "expression",
 "group": "Direction rules",
 "media": [
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-10-13",
 "effect": "Spoken lines with subtext, not flat readings.",
 "use_when": "Any scene with dialogue.",
 "phrase": "he glances over quickly, as though the other man is overreacting, and says the line dry, leaning on the word NOW",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "The as-though clause rides on a visible action; it never replaces one.",
   "evidence": "practitioner",
   "source": "Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [],
 "external_refs": [],
 "licensed": [],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "listener-acts",
  "accent-five-fields"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "film-craft",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"
 },
 "body": "",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/three-layers-per-line",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/expression/three-layers-per-line.md",
 "prompts": {
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): the subject glances over quickly, as though the other man is overreacting, and says the line dry, leaning on the word NOW",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: the subject glances over quickly, as though the other man is overreacting, and says the line dry, leaning on the word NOW",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The subject glances over quickly, as though the other man is overreacting, and says the line dry, leaning on the word NOW. The scene is [your setting].",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. The subject glances over quickly, as though the other man is overreacting, and says the line dry, leaning on the word NOW. Framing and subject stay as in the start image."
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}