{"name":"Director Chair","url":"https://directorchair.ai","generated":"2026-11-13","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."},"categories":[{"id":"shot","label":"Shot size","group":"Camera","count":13},{"id":"angle","label":"Angle","group":"Camera","count":13},{"id":"move","label":"Camera move","group":"Camera","count":42},{"id":"rig","label":"Rig","group":"Camera","count":6},{"id":"lens","label":"Lens","group":"Camera","count":9},{"id":"focus","label":"Focus and depth","group":"Camera","count":4},{"id":"composition","label":"Composition","group":"Frame","count":13},{"id":"ratio","label":"Aspect ratio","group":"Frame","count":6},{"id":"light","label":"Light","group":"Light and look","count":11},{"id":"time","label":"Time of day","group":"Light and look","count":4},{"id":"look","label":"Colour look","group":"Light and look","count":13},{"id":"texture","label":"Film stock and texture","group":"Light and look","count":9},{"id":"style","label":"Art style","group":"Light and look","count":6},{"id":"character","label":"Character","group":"People and places","count":5},{"id":"expression","label":"Expression","group":"People and places","count":31},{"id":"setting","label":"Setting","group":"People and places","count":3},{"id":"motion","label":"Subject motion and speed","group":"Motion","count":8},{"id":"transition","label":"Transition","group":"Edit","count":21},{"id":"effect","label":"Edit effect","group":"Edit","count":41},{"id":"sound","label":"Sound","group":"Edit","count":14},{"id":"hook","label":"Hook","group":"Story","count":46},{"id":"script","label":"Script arc","group":"Story","count":10},{"id":"format","label":"Video format","group":"Story","count":11},{"id":"cta","label":"Call to action","group":"Story","count":5},{"id":"publish","label":"Test and publish","group":"Story","count":16},{"id":"preset","label":"Preset","group":"Recipes","count":28},{"id":"guide","label":"Prompt guide","group":"Recipes","count":11}],"models":[{"id":"nano-banana-pro","name":"Nano Banana Pro","maker":"Google","medium":"image","prompt_style":"full sentences joined into a paragraph","checked":"2026-09-29","best_for":"every still by default: scenes, product shots, start frames, character sheets; 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not run by us","not_for":"unknown","guide":null,"source":"Aicameracontrol.com model menu, 13 Oct 2026"},{"id":"wan-2.7","name":"Wan 2.7","maker":"Alibaba","medium":"video","prompt_style":"unknown to us","checked":"2026-10-13","best_for":"listed by Camera Control as a video model (13 Oct 2026); not run by us","not_for":"unknown","guide":null,"source":"Aicameracontrol.com model menu, 13 Oct 2026"},{"id":"minimax-hailuo","name":"Minimax Hailuo","maker":"MiniMax","medium":"video","prompt_style":"unknown to us","checked":"2026-10-13","best_for":"listed by Camera Control as a video model (13 Oct 2026); not run by us","not_for":"unknown","guide":null,"source":"Aicameracontrol.com model menu, 13 Oct 2026"},{"id":"grok-imagine-1.5","name":"Grok Imagine 1.5","maker":"xAI","medium":"video","prompt_style":"unknown to us","checked":"2026-10-13","best_for":"listed by Camera Control as a video model (13 Oct 2026); not run by us","not_for":"unknown","guide":null,"source":"Aicameracontrol.com model menu, 13 Oct 2026"}],"external_sites":[{"id":"aicameramovements","name":"AI Camera Movements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","policy":"licensed","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)"},{"id":"emotion-direction","name":"Emotion Direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","policy":"licensed","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)"},{"id":"aicameracontrol","name":"Camera Control","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","policy":"names-and-structure","credit":null},{"id":"shotdeck","name":"ShotDeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","policy":"link-only","credit":null},{"id":"flim","name":"Flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","policy":"link-only","credit":null}],"items":[{"slug":"3d-render-style","name":"3D render","category":"style","group":"3D","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Smooth, glossy and toy-like: playful and product-friendly.","use_when":"Mascots, tech products, playful explainers.","phrase":"3D render, smooth glossy materials, soft studio light, toy-like proportions","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["claymation-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"accent-five-fields","name":"Accent in five fields","category":"expression","group":"Direction rules","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Voices that sound like a place and a person, not a cartoon.","use_when":"Any generated dialogue with an accent or a regional voice.","phrase":"speaker: older man; region: Antwerp; pace: unhurried; energy: low; state: amused; then the line; natural, not exaggerated, not a comedy voice","pitfalls":[{"text":"Without the closing line the model plays the accent for laughs.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["three-layers-per-line"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"action-cam-rig","name":"Action cam","category":"rig","group":"Human","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Strapped to a body or a bike: raw speed and wide distortion.","use_when":"Sport, outdoor, adventure, product tests in the field.","phrase":"action camera strapped to her chest, very wide lens with curved edges, strong shake on every step","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["snorricam","fpv-drone"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"snorricam","name":"Body-mounted (snorricam)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Body-mounted (snorricam)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/24-snorricam-v2-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"action-dead-centre","name":"Action dead centre","category":"composition","group":"Placement","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"At a fast pace the viewer never has to find the subject again after a cut.","use_when":"Fast animated ads and montages.","phrase":"the subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it","pitfalls":[{"text":"At 1 to 2.5 seconds a scene, a subject that jumps around the frame costs the viewer the scene.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["centred-symmetry","shape-morph"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ai-as-test-bench","name":"AI as the test bench","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Cheap generated takes find the format; real people carry the version that gets the budget.","use_when":"Brands testing creator-style ads.","phrase":"test formats and openings with generated presenters first, then remake the winners with real creators before ad money goes in","pitfalls":[{"text":"No generated presenter posing as a customer giving a testimonial, and product screens come from real recordings.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},{"text":"The counterweight: a head of content at an AI company keeps AI off the final output viewers see, and his paid programme runs on human creators.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["label-generated-footage","trial-reels-hook-test","preset-ugc-one-table"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"anamorphic-lens","name":"Anamorphic","category":"lens","group":"Special","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The widescreen cinema signature: horizontal flares and oval bokeh.","use_when":"Brand films, night scenes with lights, premium ads.","phrase":"anamorphic lens, 2.39:1 frame, horizontal blue flares from the headlights, oval out-of-focus lights","pitfalls":[{"text":"Anamorphic wording adds horizontal flares and oval bokeh in Veo, per a model-syntax study.","evidence":"unverified","source":"2026 model-syntax study via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["portrait-lens","ratio-21-9"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"angles-before-hooks","name":"Angles before hooks","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Tests answer the bigger question first.","use_when":"Planning a round of creative tests.","phrase":"test two to five angles, each with its own natural hook, then three or four hooks inside the winning angle","pitfalls":[{"text":"A hook belongs to its angle and does not carry across angles; five hooks on one angle are one data point.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["test-matrix-one-variable","hook-three-jobs"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"anime-style","name":"Anime","category":"style","group":"Illustration","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Cel-shaded Japanese animation: expressive, youthful, energetic.","use_when":"Youth brands, gaming, explainer characters.","phrase":"anime illustration, cel shading, clean outlines, flat colour areas","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["vector-flat-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"anxiety","name":"Anxiety","category":"expression","group":"Fear","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Restless worry that will not settle.","use_when":"Problem statements, waiting for a result, relatable everyday stress.","phrase":"the brows stay knotted, the eyes dart left and right, the lower lip is caught between the teeth, the breath is quick and shallow, the hands grip each other while the weight shifts foot to foot","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Anxiety","text":"The eyebrows stay knitted, the eyes flick rapidly from side to side, the lower lip pulls between the teeth, and breathing remains shallow and quick. The hands grip together as the weight keeps shifting.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/18-anxiety.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Restlessness will not stop","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/18-anxiety-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["terror","suspicion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the thumb rubs the side of the finger, a lip bite, the eyes flick to the phone\n- **Medium:** the brows stay knotted, the eyes dart left and right, the lower lip is caught between the teeth, the breath is quick and shallow, the hands grip each other while the weight shifts foot to foot\n- **Explosive:** pacing in a small circle, both hands in the hair, the breath audible, the eyes darting to the door and back","shown_with":null},{"slug":"arc-shot","name":"Arc","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Circles part of the way around a subject; it gains dimension and importance.","use_when":"Hero moments, a product on a pedestal, a person at the moment of a decision.","phrase":"arc shot, the camera moves on a shallow curve a quarter of the way around her at the same distance and height","pitfalls":[{"text":"A partial arc holds the subject more consistently than a full orbit.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Arc right","text":"arc right. Movement: move on a shallow curved path around the main subject toward the right side. Speed: smooth measured curve. Framing: keep distance, height and subject readability consistent while the angle changes. End: finish from a new right-side angle.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/14-arc-right-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/14-arc-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/14-arc-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/14-arc-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/14-arc-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Arc left","text":"arc left. Movement: move on a shallow curved path around the main subject toward the left side. Speed: smooth measured curve. Framing: keep distance, height and subject readability consistent while the angle changes. End: finish from a new left-side angle.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/14b-arc-left-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/14b-arc-left-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/14b-arc-left-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/14b-arc-left-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/14b-arc-left-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Arc right","Arc left"],"related":["orbit","slider-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** curves part of the way around the subject\n- **Pace:** measured\n- **Keep:** the same distance and height while the angle changes\n- **Ends:** a new side of the subject","shown_with":null},{"slug":"awe","name":"Awe","category":"expression","group":"Joy","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Wonder at something bigger than the person; the viewer wants to see it too.","use_when":"Reveals, landscapes, a first look at a product or space.","phrase":"the gaze lifts, the eyes open wide with a relaxed brow, the mouth falls slowly open, the chin rises and the body leans in, the open look does not fade","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Awe / Wonder","text":"The eyes widen gradually without tension in the brow, the mouth opens little by little, the head tilts upward, and the body leans forward. The open, reverent expression never drops.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/15-awe.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Drawn toward wonder","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/15-awe.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/15-awe-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/15-awe.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/15-awe-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["realisation","laughter"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyes widen a little, the blinking stops, the lips part without a sound\n- **Medium:** the gaze lifts, the eyes open wide with a relaxed brow, the mouth falls slowly open, the chin rises and the body leans in, the open look does not fade\n- **Explosive:** a step forward without meaning to, one hand rises toward the thing, a sharp breath in that is held, the eyes glisten","shown_with":null},{"slug":"back-view","name":"From behind","category":"angle","group":"Viewpoint","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Keeps the person anonymous and puts the viewer where they are heading.","use_when":"Walking into a venue, looking at a view, any shot where the face must stay unrecognisable.","phrase":"shot from behind at shoulder height, we see her back and what she is walking towards","pitfalls":[{"text":"When a real person has to appear small in the frame, this is the safe choice: faces below about a tenth of the frame height do not keep their likeness.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["over-the-shoulder-shot","pov-shot","extreme-wide-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"belief-shattering","name":"Belief shattering","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Challenges something the viewer is sure of.","use_when":"Category education, contrarian founders.","phrase":"say the common belief, then contradict it with one fact: everyone says you need a film crew; we shot this on one phone","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"bioluminescent-light","name":"Bioluminescent","category":"light","group":"Colour","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Things glow from within: magic, fantasy, nature at night.","use_when":"Fantasy, kids, beverage and beauty concepts.","phrase":"the plants on the forest floor glow soft cyan from within, the only light in the dark forest","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Imbue the scene with a surreal bioluminescent glow, where organic elements emit their own vibrant, neon-colored light against a dark environment.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["neon-light","night"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"birds-eye-view","name":"Bird's-eye view","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows a whole place from high above, like a map, with people as dots.","use_when":"Venues, city squares, events, a festival site, aerial openings.","phrase":"bird's-eye view from high above, the square seen like a map, people as small dots","pitfalls":[{"text":"Faces smaller than about a tenth of the frame height stop looking like the reference person. Keep the person anonymous, or shoot from behind.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["extreme-wide-shot","top-down","high-angle"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"black-and-white-noir","name":"Black and white noir","category":"texture","group":"Monochrome","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Hard contrast and deep shadow: drama, timelessness, mystery.","use_when":"Fashion, premium editorial, crime and mood pieces.","phrase":"black and white, hard contrast, deep black shadows and bright edges, light through blinds","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Render the image in high-contrast black and white, reminiscent of classic film noir photography with deep blacks and stark whites.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["low-key-light","silhouette"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"blocked-frame","name":"Someone crosses the frame","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The room feels real because the camera is one of the people in it.","use_when":"Parties, streets, events, any crowded scene.","phrase":"a guest walks between the camera and the couple for a second, close and out of focus, and the operator leans to find them again","pitfalls":[{"text":"One behaviour per clip. Name its trigger in the scene and the operator's correction after it; follow it once and finish on its result.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Add a line that bans recording graphics: indicators, timestamps, battery icons, focus brackets, grids, borders and subtitles. Imperfection has to come from how the camera moves, focuses and exposes, never from drawn-on graphics.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Shown by a sponsored creator as straight out of Seedance 2.5 at 1080p; not yet run by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["human-operator-rule","foreground-layers"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"blue-hour","name":"Blue hour","category":"time","group":"Low light","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Cool twilight with the city lights coming on; calm, melancholy, urban.","use_when":"Cityscapes, hospitality at dusk, reflective moments.","phrase":"blue hour just after sunset, deep blue sky, the windows and street lamps already lit warm","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill (soft overcast key from frame left).","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Capture the scene during blue hour, utilizing cool, ambient twilight tones and soft, shadowless illumination.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["golden-hour","night"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"bokeh","name":"Bokeh","category":"focus","group":"Depth of field","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Turns background lights into soft discs; warm, dreamy, premium.","use_when":"Evening scenes, festive content, jewellery and beauty.","phrase":"the string lights behind him rendered as large soft round discs, only his face in focus","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shallow-focus","anamorphic-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"bold-claim-hook","name":"Bold claim","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A statement that invites disbelief makes the viewer stay to check it.","use_when":"Results that can be shown on screen.","phrase":"this thirty-second ad cost less than the coffee we drank while making it, and the receipt is coming up","pitfalls":[{"text":"It must be verifiable or shown.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"},{"text":"The same claim said with hype, casual confidence or disbelief is three different hooks; casual confidence suits founders.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["proof-first","self-proving-claim","data-reveal"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"boredom","name":"Boredom","category":"expression","group":"Physical","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Attention draining away; time dragging.","use_when":"Problem statements (the old way is dull), comedy, meetings.","phrase":"the lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Boredom","text":"The eyelids grow heavy, the gaze drifts and loses focus, a slow blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, and a long sigh lowers the chest. The head sinks and the body settles into stillness.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/12-boredom.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Attention drains away","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/12-boredom-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["exhaustion","eye-roll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the gaze drifts off, a slow blink\n- **Medium:** the lids grow heavy, the gaze drifts out of focus, one blink lasts too long, the jaw slackens, a long sigh sinks the chest, the head lowers and the body goes still\n- **Explosive:** the head slides down onto the hand and then onto the table, the eyes close, a yawn that does not end","shown_with":null},{"slug":"brand-as-the-twist","name":"The brand as the twist","category":"script","group":"Order","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The payoff feels true, and the brand arrives as the surprise inside it.","use_when":"Entertainment-led posts for local businesses and consumer brands.","phrase":"resolve the tension with something that feels true, then let the brand enter as the twist, inside or after the payoff, never in place of it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Say the payoff in one line without the brand name. If nothing is left, the payoff is an advert.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"A recreation that turned the payoff into a sales pitch showed 120,000 views against 12 million for the original. Figures as shown on screen by that account, not checked clip by clip.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"In its paired examples the imperfect take outran the polished one about six to one, and a child was more believable than an adult in the same gag. Figures as shown on screen by that account, not checked clip by clip.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["honest-tension","conflict-hook","cta-single-action"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"butterfly-light","name":"Butterfly light","category":"light","group":"Portrait","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A polished, flattering face for a talking head.","use_when":"Founders and presenters talking to camera.","phrase":"one soft key light directly in front of her and slightly above eye level, a small shadow under the nose, a softbox as the source","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rembrandt-light","softbox-light","format-face-cam","look-talking-head"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) (the set-up is established portrait lighting)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"bystander-caption","name":"Bystander caption","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The clip reads as something seen, not as an advert.","use_when":"Candid-looking moments posted from the brand's own account.","phrase":"one line in a bystander's voice over candid-looking footage, at the top of the frame in the platform's own text style","pitfalls":[{"text":"It sits on six of that account's top 20 posts and on two of its three weakest, so it needs stakes under it.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"A brand uses it on its own account and never poses as a real bystander. In the EU, advertising that hides that it is advertising is banned outright.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stakes-in-frame-zero","pov-title","honest-tension"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026) and Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"camera-handover","name":"Camera handover","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A steady shot turns personal in the middle of the take.","use_when":"Behind-the-scenes, a formal moment that becomes informal.","phrase":"a steady start on a tripod, then someone lifts the camera off it and the rest of the shot is handheld","pitfalls":[{"text":"One behaviour per clip. Name its trigger in the scene and the operator's correction after it; follow it once and finish on its result.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Add a line that bans recording graphics: indicators, timestamps, battery icons, focus brackets, grids, borders and subtitles. Imperfection has to come from how the camera moves, focuses and exposes, never from drawn-on graphics.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Shown by a sponsored creator as straight out of Seedance 2.5 at 1080p; not yet run by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["human-operator-rule","handheld-shot","static-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Handheld","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"camera-tone-light-texture","name":"Camera, tone, lighting, texture","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A still prompt that reads like a photograph being described, camera first.","use_when":"Realistic stills when no house template exists.","phrase":"four sentences in this order: the camera and framing, the tone, the lighting, the texture","pitfalls":[{"text":"Camera first: early words weigh most.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft) and Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"It is one creator's template. He picks image models by taste per image; that is his practice, not a measured ranking.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["framing-first","guide-nano-banana-pro","which-model-for-stills"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"canvas-move","name":"Camera move on one canvas","category":"transition","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer keeps the map of the whole while looking at one part.","use_when":"Step lists, tool tutorials, process explainers.","phrase":"one large board holds every step; a virtual camera pans and zooms to the step being named and holds there until the next one","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never a new slide per step. Both measured references keep one canvas for the whole video: the board moved 4.7 times per 10 seconds under a continuous speaker, and 2.86 times when every stop held a card that needed a second to read.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026 and Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"The move lands on the step at the moment it is named; a card reached after its name is the listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"The camera direction never reverses; move fast first, then slow for longer. First drafts are nearly always too quick.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) (the camera rules of his free skill)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["map-in-frame-zero","edit-red-board-list","edit-canvas-tour","loop-close"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"caption-chips","name":"Phrase captions on a chip","category":"effect","group":"Captions","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The muted viewer follows word for word, and the captions never cover the face or the board.","use_when":"Talking heads and split layouts.","phrase":"captions of two or three words, white bold sans on a dark box, timed to the words","pitfalls":[{"text":"Six of the nine measured reference edits use phrase captions of two or three words per chunk. More than three or four words in a chunk is a listed failure in the board styles.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (nine entries, measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"On a split layout the chip sits on the seam between the two zones, so the eye moves between face and board without crossing either.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"An automatic edit shows captions per chunk. A word that pops or colours on its beat needs an animated layer.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["caption-keyword-colour","stacked-speaker-board","caption-safe-zones"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts and Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"caption-keyword-colour","name":"Coloured keyword in the caption","category":"effect","group":"Captions","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer learns the one word that matters in each line, even with the sound off.","use_when":"Explainers that teach terms; any caption style that needs emphasis.","phrase":"captions of about three words in white, the term being defined in the brand accent colour at the moment it is said","pitfalls":[{"text":"Colour only the word being defined. In the measured product explainer a colour on any other word is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Four of the nine measured references highlight one word per caption by colour.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["caption-chips","edit-interface-as-teacher"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts and Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"caption-safe-zones","name":"Caption safe zones","category":"effect","group":"Captions","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Text stays readable because the platform's buttons do not sit on it.","use_when":"Every vertical video with text on it.","phrase":"keep all text out of the top 160, the bottom 480 and the right 120 pixels of a 1080 by 1920 frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"These are planning values from a 2026 research report, not figures published by the platforms, and the interfaces change. Check the preview in the app before posting.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Keep text off the area where the captions sit, and away from the frame edges; devices crop differently.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["screen-zones","ratio-9-16","text-first-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"unverified","source":{"url":null,"note":"Planning values our video QA checks, from Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},"body":"## Planning values on a 1080 by 1920 frame\n\n| Platform | Top | Bottom | Right |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| TikTok | 160 px | 480 px | 120 px |\n| Instagram Reels | 250 px | 320 px | 120 px |\n| YouTube Shorts | 380 px | 380 px | 120 px |\n\nNot published by the platforms. Treat them as a starting point and look at the in-app preview.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"caption-sentence-reveal","name":"Sentence captions, revealed word by word","category":"effect","group":"Captions","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Reads like a subtitle in a film: calm, and paced by the voice.","use_when":"Narrated stories and brand films.","phrase":"one sentence at a time, small white sans with no box, low centre, each word appearing as it is spoken","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on a 344-second story reel at 2.57 words per second, captions at about 76 percent of the frame height. Boxed, large or multi-sentence captions are the listed failures of this style.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-low-poly-parable","caption-chips"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"caption-slab","name":"Giant and knockout captions","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"For one line the caption itself becomes the picture.","use_when":"The loudest line of a talking-head video.","phrase":"the caption box grows into a slab across the lower half of the frame, the words cut out of a cream block so the footage shows through the letters","pitfalls":[{"text":"The effect fires on the word that names it. In the measured list reel an effect more than 0.2 seconds off its word is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["caption-chips","edit-does-the-word"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cast-block","name":"Cast block (identity lock)","category":"character","group":"Prompt blocks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Each person keeps their face, build and clothes across every shot of a job.","use_when":"Any video with recurring people.","phrase":"one line per person with only what never changes: build, hair, face features, clothing, plus where they are from and how their voice sounds, repeated word for word in every prompt","pitfalls":[{"text":"Only invariants in the cast block; what changes per shot goes in the shot.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (8 Aug 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"A fixed character in video needs the start frame and the character sheet in every job; the start frame shows only one angle.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["character-sheet-full-body","voice-line","global-look-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"centred-symmetry","name":"Centred symmetry","category":"composition","group":"Placement","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Formal, iconic, slightly uncanny; everything balances around the middle.","use_when":"Architecture, product hero shots, stylised brand films.","phrase":"perfectly centred, the corridor symmetrical on both sides, the person in the exact middle","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rule-of-thirds","top-down"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Film craft, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"chapter-bar","name":"Chapter bar under the frame","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees the structure of the video and where they are in it.","use_when":"Breakdowns, launch films, how-it-was-made posts.","phrase":"a labelled chapter bar with a moving playhead under the video frame, one label per beat","pitfalls":[{"text":"On the measured launch film the bar shows eight beats in 40 seconds, so viewers can see that the answer gets about 7 seconds and the channels about 11.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-launch-arc","show-the-making"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"character-sheet-face","name":"Face sheet","category":"character","group":"Sheets","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Holds the face, hair and expression range of a character across shots.","use_when":"Talking characters, close-ups, a persona that speaks to camera.","phrase":"a row of face views of the same person: front, three-quarter both sides, profile, a natural smile and a neutral look, same light, plain background","pitfalls":[{"text":"More solo photographs make the real person: three gave a plausible stranger, eight gave the person. Never a group photo.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"The layout template leaks its own person; put it last with a take-nothing-else-from-it line.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["character-sheet-full-body","real-person-references"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"character-sheet-full-body","name":"Full-body character sheet","category":"character","group":"Sheets","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"One identity document that every later still and video binds, so the character stays the same.","use_when":"Any recurring character, mascot or brand persona.","phrase":"five equal columns at 21:9, one photograph per column: front, side, back, front close-up, top-down, a height ruler on the right, detail swatches and one data line","pitfalls":[{"text":"Run five columns at 21:9; at 16:9 the model stacks extra panels in the leftover width.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Leave small details out of the sheet (a thin necklace, a small hat): they break at video resolution and shift the character.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft via Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Spell long labels letter by letter; never two-letter labels, they print the hyphens.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["character-sheet-face","cast-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Format from Rourke Heath's sheet and our measured runs, Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"chase-shot","name":"Chase shot","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Urgency: the camera struggles to keep up with fast action.","use_when":"Action, sport, a playful chase in an ad.","phrase":"chase shot, the camera runs behind him close and low, it lags, over-corrects and catches up again","pitfalls":[{"text":"For a camera that feels operated, describe how it fails: it lags behind, over-corrects, catches up.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (rig wording from tested prompts)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Chase shot","text":"chase shot. Movement: follow a moving subject quickly along the action route. Speed: fast, reactive and physically close. Framing: keep the subject visible while allowing energetic reframing. End: stay connected to the subject in motion.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/22-chase-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/22-chase-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/22-chase-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/22-chase-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/22-chase-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Chase shot"],"related":["follow-shot","handheld-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** runs after a fast subject, close\n- **Pace:** fast and reactive\n- **Keep:** the subject in view while the frame reframes roughly\n- **Ends:** still on the subject's heels","shown_with":null},{"slug":"checklist-tracker","name":"Checklist with a counter","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer watches the promise being kept item by item and stays to the end of the list.","use_when":"List videos: N tips, N tools, N effects.","phrase":"a checklist panel fills the right third from the first frame: numbered items, the current one highlighted in white, a counter 01 of 18 on top","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on the reference: 18 items in 20.5 seconds, 6.83 visual changes per 10 seconds, 8.3 percent of plays saved, 12 times the median of the account's other clips. The checklist is on screen from frame 0 and ticks on every item.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"No more items than seconds allow; faster than one item per second is the listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["visible-counter","edit-ticking-effects-list","map-in-frame-zero"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"chromatic-hit","name":"Glitch hit on a beat","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A two-frame jolt that marks the beat.","use_when":"Music-led edits, a hard reveal.","phrase":"a chromatic split of the colour channels for two to four frames on the downbeat","pitfalls":[{"text":"Tested on 26 Oct 2026: the default amount of 8 pixels is barely visible on a soft image. Spike the amount for 2 to 4 frames on the hit.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cut-on-the-beat","sfx-on-the-peak"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"claymation-style","name":"Claymation","category":"style","group":"3D","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Handmade stop-motion clay: warm, funny, tactile.","use_when":"Family brands, humour, food, kids.","phrase":"stop-motion clay figures, fingerprints in the clay, slightly uneven handmade movement","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Render the scene in a tactile claymation style, featuring fingerprint textures on the surfaces and slightly imperfect, stop-motion positioning.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["3d-render-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"close-up","name":"Close-up","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Emotion and detail: the viewer reads small changes in the face.","use_when":"The moment of a reaction, a product touching skin, a decision.","phrase":"close-up of her face from the chin to just above the hairline, the eyes in the upper third","pitfalls":[{"text":"Asking for a smile returns a generated smile. Describe what the eyes, mouth and breath do instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Perfect skin reads as AI. Ask for unretouched skin with pores and fine lines.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Compose a tight close-up that focuses intensely on the subject's expressions and features.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["medium-close-up","extreme-close-up","three-quarter-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"closer-than-you-think","name":"Closer than you think","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows the goal is nearer than the viewer assumed.","use_when":"Aspirational products, learning, fitness.","phrase":"you are one setting away from video that looks shot, not generated","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"confession-hook","name":"Confession","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"An admitted mistake lowers the guard; the viewer stays for what changed.","use_when":"Founders and experts, mid-funnel content.","phrase":"I told clients for three years that they needed a film crew. I was wrong, and this is what changed my mind","pitfalls":[{"text":"Name the wrong belief, who confesses and the resolution. Without the resolution it is clickbait.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["belief-shattering","mistake-calling"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"conflict-hook","name":"Conflict","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"An accusation as the first line makes the viewer wait for the answer.","use_when":"Local businesses, comedy, a twist that leads to the brand.","phrase":"do not book a roofer before you have asked him this one question","pitfalls":[{"text":"Real, or staged and played for comedy. The brand enters as the twist after the tension resolves, never as the target of the accusation in earnest.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"No fake news, fake emergencies or staged danger in real traffic. Show the trade's real risk safely, or generate the image and label it as AI.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["brand-as-the-twist","honest-tension","myth-exposure"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas and Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"confusion","name":"Confusion","category":"expression","group":"Surprise","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Something does not make sense; the viewer shares the question.","use_when":"Before an explainer answers it, a problem statement, comedy.","phrase":"one brow up and one down, the eyes search from point to point, the head tilts hard to one side, the mouth hangs a little open, the puzzled look grows instead of clearing","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Confusion","text":"The eyebrows become asymmetric, one raised and one lowered. The eyes search rapidly, the head tilts sharply, and the mouth hangs slightly open. The puzzled expression deepens instead of resolving.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/13-confusion.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Meaning will not settle","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/13-confusion.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/13-confusion-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/13-confusion.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/13-confusion-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["realisation","suspicion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the brows draw together slightly, the head tilts a few degrees, the eyes narrow\n- **Medium:** one brow up and one down, the eyes search from point to point, the head tilts hard to one side, the mouth hangs a little open, the puzzled look grows instead of clearing\n- **Explosive:** both hands open at the sides, the head pushes forward, the face scrunches, a look around the room for someone to explain","shown_with":null},{"slug":"contrast-hook","name":"Old way, new way","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Two states side by side let the viewer place themselves in the worse one.","use_when":"Tools and methods that replace a habit.","phrase":"the old way: three days in an edit suite. The new way: one take and a reference reel","pitfalls":[{"text":"Position against the old way or the whole category, not a named competitor; a split screen is the standard execution.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["high-contrast-hook","belief-shattering","match-cut"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"contrast-ladder","name":"Contrast in four levels","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Tells you before you generate whether an idea is strange enough to stop a scroll.","use_when":"Scoring a concept for a still or an opening shot.","phrase":"level 1, the delivery robot slumped at a bus stop; level 2, the same robot in a fur coat; level 3, holding a wilted flower and looking down the empty road","pitfalls":[{"text":"The four levels: in the place it belongs, in an unexpected situation, plus unexpected styling, plus feeling. The creator's claim is that social images stop the scroll from level 1 up; not measured by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["impossible-image","curiosity-object","semantic-compounding"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"corner-presenter","name":"Presenter in the corner","category":"effect","group":"Layouts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The content gets the whole frame and still has a face attached.","use_when":"Motion-graphics explainers with a host.","phrase":"the presenter as a cut-out in the bottom-left corner, about 30 percent of the width and the lowest quarter of the height, the caption chip to their right","pitfalls":[{"text":"The presenter stays in one corner for the full length and never covers the card being read.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-canvas-tour","format-green-screen"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"count-up-number","name":"Count-up number","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A number that climbs feels earned, and the viewer waits to see where it stops.","use_when":"Stats, results, a hook built on one figure.","phrase":"the number counts up from 0 to 87 inside a ring that fills, a soft tick on each step","pitfalls":[{"text":"A counter that sets its text on load shows the final number on frame 0. Review frame 0 and the frames either side of every cut.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous)"},{"text":"An exact figure reads as real and a rounded one as made up: 87, not about 100.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["data-reveal","ticking-number-hook","inline-tokens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics and Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cowboy-shot","name":"Cowboy shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A confident, ready-to-act stance; the frame stops just below the hands at the hips.","use_when":"Hero shots of a founder, a team lead or a character about to act.","phrase":"cowboy shot, framed from mid-thigh up, hands visible at hip height, the camera slightly below eye level","pitfalls":[{"text":"Name the cut line on the body (mid-thigh). A model that only hears the term often returns a medium shot.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Not measured yet, check on the first example"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Compose a cinematic cowboy shot, framing the subject from the mid-thighs up to emphasize their stance and immediate surroundings.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["medium-wide-shot","low-angle","full-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"crane-down","name":"Crane down","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Descends into the scene: arriving, focusing in from a wide view.","use_when":"Openings that land on the main character, arriving at a location.","phrase":"crane down, the camera descends from above the trees to eye level and lands on the couple at the table","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Crane down","text":"crane down. Movement: travel smoothly downward through open space. Speed: slow controlled vertical descent. Framing: keep the subject or location readable as the camera descends. End: finish with the lower subject or destination clearly visible.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/25b-crane-down-hq.mp4","group":"Drone/Crane","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/25b-crane-down-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/25b-crane-down-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/25b-crane-down-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/25b-crane-down-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Crane down"],"related":["crane-up","drone-push-in"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** descends through open space\n- **Pace:** slow\n- **Keep:** the subject readable as the camera comes down\n- **Ends:** at the subject's level","shown_with":null},{"slug":"crane-up","name":"Crane up","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Rises above the scene: release, scale, an ending.","use_when":"Closing shots, festivals, crowds, revealing a venue.","phrase":"crane up, the camera rises smoothly from head height to above the rooftops while still looking at the square","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Crane up","text":"crane up. Movement: travel smoothly upward through open space. Speed: slow controlled vertical lift. Framing: keep the subject or location readable as the camera rises. End: finish with the higher scale clearly visible.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/25-crane-up-hq.mp4","group":"Drone/Crane","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/25-crane-up-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/25-crane-up-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/25-crane-up-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/25-crane-up-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Crane up"],"related":["crane-down","pedestal","drone-pull-back"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** rises through open space\n- **Pace:** slow\n- **Keep:** the subject or place readable as the view grows\n- **Ends:** high, the scale of the place visible","shown_with":null},{"slug":"crash-zoom","name":"Crash zoom","category":"move","group":"Zoom and lens","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A jolt: sudden emphasis, often comic or dramatic.","use_when":"Reaction shots, mockumentary humour, a reveal that should feel like a punchline.","phrase":"crash zoom onto his face, a snap from medium shot to tight close-up in a fraction of a second","pitfalls":[{"text":"Crash zooms add chaotic energy; use one per sequence or they cancel each other out.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Crash zoom in","text":"crash zoom in. Movement: snap the lens rapidly toward the main visual target. Speed: very fast and punchy. Framing: keep the target readable through the sudden scale change. End: land on a bold tighter composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10.08}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Crash zoom out","text":"crash zoom out. Movement: snap the lens rapidly away from the main visual target. Speed: very fast and punchy. Framing: keep the target readable as the surrounding space appears. End: land on a bold wider composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/07b-crash-zoom-out-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/07b-crash-zoom-out-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/07b-crash-zoom-out-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07b-crash-zoom-out-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07b-crash-zoom-out-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10}}],"site_names":["Crash zoom in","Crash zoom out"],"related":["fast-zoom","whip-pan"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** snaps the lens in or out\n- **Pace:** near instant, punchy\n- **Keep:** the target readable through the jump\n- **Ends:** a bold frame at the new size","shown_with":null},{"slug":"creator-ads-on-performance","name":"Creator ads paid on performance","category":"publish","group":"Paid","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Many different ads from people who use the product, paid for by what performs.","use_when":"Self-serve products with organic pull and a Meta budget.","phrase":"pay each creator a share of the spend behind their own ads, with a monthly floor for a video quota, and give them the product and the news, not a script","pitfalls":[{"text":"One company's account of its own programme: 50 creators making 500 to 600 ads a month. The money figures are the builder's own and the spend behind them is not given.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},{"text":"Keep ads different in person, setting, words or format. Meta's own engineering post says similar ads get overlapping codes; the often-quoted 60 percent cut-off has no Meta source.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},{"text":"Choose creators for the gaps in the ad library, one per kind of buyer, not for follower numbers.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["plain-for-technical-buyers","ai-as-test-bench","preset-ugc-one-table"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"crying","name":"Crying","category":"expression","group":"Sadness","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Composure breaking; raw and very human.","use_when":"Emotional storytelling, reunions, charity.","phrase":"the eyes and nose redden, tears run over the lower lids, the breath stutters, the mouth pulls square, the chin crumples and shakes, the shoulders start to move","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Crying","text":"The eyes and nose flush red, tears spill over the lower lid, the breath catches in visible stutters, the mouth pulls into a square shape, and the chin crumples and trembles. The shoulders begin to shake.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/06-crying.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Explosive","cue":"Composure collapses","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/06-crying.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/06-crying-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/06-crying.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/06-crying-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["sadness","relief"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyes glaze and redden, the lips press together, one hard swallow\n- **Medium:** the eyes and nose redden, tears run over the lower lids, the breath stutters, the mouth pulls square, the chin crumples and shakes, the shoulders start to move\n- **Explosive:** the face folds completely, loud uneven sobs, the body curls forward, hands over the eyes, the shoulders heave","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cta-all-in-caption","name":"Everything is in the caption","category":"cta","group":"Call to action","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Giving the whole method away earns saves and trust.","use_when":"Tutorials and tool lists, when saves matter more than a list of contacts.","phrase":"no message needed, the full list is in the caption, said while pointing down","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on one tutorial: 11 percent of plays saved at 72 times the account's median, against 2.6 percent saved for a comment-keyword clip read the same week, which got seven times the comments.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},{"text":"Pick by the goal: saves and trust, or comments and a list.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cta-comment-keyword","cta-single-action","search-style-caption"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino) and Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cta-comment-keyword","name":"Comment keyword","category":"cta","group":"Call to action","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One word in the comments starts a private conversation and feeds reach.","use_when":"Organic posts that build a list.","phrase":"comment the word EDIT and I will send you the link, while a comment box on screen types the word","pitfalls":[{"text":"It trades saves for comments. Read in the same week: a keyword clip got 1.4 percent comments and 2.6 percent saves; a clip that gave everything in its caption got 0.2 percent comments and 11 percent saves.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},{"text":"A keyword needs something real behind it. In the measured clip the automated message only reached people who followed the account, which adds a step.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},{"text":"Organic only; in ads it wastes the moment of conversion.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cta-comment-question","cta-all-in-caption","platform-ui-receipts"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino) and Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cta-comment-question","name":"Comment question","category":"cta","group":"Call to action","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Starts a conversation that feeds reach.","use_when":"Organic posts only.","phrase":"end on a question the viewer can answer in one word, with the question on screen","pitfalls":[{"text":"Organic only; in ads it wastes the moment of conversion.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cta-single-action"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cta-search","name":"Search for it","category":"cta","group":"Call to action","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Sends the viewer to search, which signals intent.","use_when":"Apps, marketplaces, named products.","phrase":"tell the viewer the exact words to search for and show the search result on screen","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cta-single-action"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cta-single-action","name":"One clear action","category":"cta","group":"Call to action","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer knows exactly what to do next.","use_when":"Ads and conversion content.","phrase":"one spoken ask in the last three seconds, the same words on screen, the button or link shown","pitfalls":[{"text":"Do not ask for comments in a paid ad; it spends the conversion moment.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","cta-comment-question"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"curiosity-gap","name":"Curiosity gap","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Opens a question the viewer needs closed, so they stay for the answer.","use_when":"Explainers, reveals, before and after.","phrase":"start with the result and hold back how: this cost us 40 euro and replaced a whole shoot, here is the trick","pitfalls":[{"text":"Pay the gap off inside the video. An answer that never comes costs trust and comments.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"curiosity-object","name":"The object that should not be there","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One thing out of place makes the viewer wait for the explanation.","use_when":"Products and services with no natural drama.","phrase":"a three-seat sofa stands in the middle of a supermarket aisle and shoppers steer their trolleys around it","pitfalls":[{"text":"The honest brand version is the product in a place it does not belong, explained by the payoff.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"An interrupt with no link to the message loses viewers at 5 to 10 seconds.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["pattern-interrupt","impossible-image","contrast-ladder"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cut-on-action","name":"Cut on action","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Cuts that land during a movement feel fast and invisible.","use_when":"Face cam edits, B-roll sequences, the step from hook to content.","phrase":"cut in the middle of the hand movement and continue it from a different angle in the next shot","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hard cuts land on movement or a beat, never on a still pose.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Cut at the peak of the motion, not before or after it, and film the same action from at least two angles.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["whip-pan","hard-cut","jump-cut","match-cut"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) and the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"whip-pan","name":"Whip pan","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Whip pan","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"cut-on-sentence-end","name":"Cut on the end of a sentence","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The picture changes when the thought does, so a slow film still feels edited.","use_when":"Voice-over stories and brand films with long holds.","phrase":"hold each scene on a slow push and cut on the last word of the sentence","pitfalls":[{"text":"A story reel measured at 2.03 changes per 10 seconds with a median hold of 4.1 seconds cuts this way; a scene change in mid-sentence is its listed failure.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["slow-zoom-in","edit-low-poly-parable"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"slow-zoom-in","name":"Slow zoom in","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Slow zoom in","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"cut-on-the-beat","name":"Cut on the beat","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The edit feels locked to the music.","use_when":"Music-led montages, launch films, showreels.","phrase":"every cut and reveal lands on a beat of the music, and the big hits land on the first beat of a bar","pitfalls":[{"text":"Build to a grid from the tempo: at 120 beats per minute and 30 frames per second a beat is 15 frames, so a four-beat scene is 60 frames.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Lock the picture before the sound goes on. Any change after that breaks the timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Let one element react to the audio level. The whole frame reacting reads as a screensaver.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["sfx-on-the-peak","chromatic-hit","one-clock-for-sound"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"cut-to-new-angle","name":"Cut to a new camera on the line","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One take feels like a multi-camera shoot.","use_when":"Interviews and talking heads filmed on one camera.","phrase":"at 2.6 seconds, on the line that names the second camera, cut to a position 45 degrees to her right at eye height, the bookshelf now behind her","pitfalls":[{"text":"Let the dialogue direct the cuts: cut on a line or a clear action about every 3 to 4 seconds, and make back-to-back shots different sizes.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"In the creator's own demo it took three or four generations per sequence and one kept clip has a gesture that lands late. Keep the filmed take as the master and interleave the new angles.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Describe left and right by landmarks in the room; bare left and right flip.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-angle-pass","screen-direction","profile-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"data-reveal","name":"Data reveal","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shares numbers only the company has; authority and curiosity at once.","use_when":"Founders, B2B, launches.","phrase":"the founder holds up the dashboard to the lens: we looked at 10,000 orders, and one thing stood out","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"deep-focus","name":"Deep focus","category":"focus","group":"Depth of field","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Everything sharp from front to back; the viewer can look anywhere.","use_when":"Landscapes, architecture, a busy scene where context matters.","phrase":"deep focus, the flowers in the foreground and the mountains behind equally sharp","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Use a narrow aperture of f/22 to achieve deep focus, ensuring everything from the immediate foreground to the distant horizon remains perfectly sharp.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shallow-focus","wide-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"definition-card","name":"Definition card","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A term gets a plain definition the viewer can save.","use_when":"Product explainers and teaching series.","phrase":"a card with a question as its title, a one-sentence answer, and the address of the learn page in small type","pitfalls":[{"text":"Point the card to a written version on the site, so one explanation serves the feed and search.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-interface-as-teacher","caption-keyword-colour"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"demonstration-hook","name":"The result in the hook","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The promise is delivered before it is explained.","use_when":"Anything with an audible or visible before and after.","phrase":"she says this mic has nothing on it, and in the middle of the sentence the sound changes to the processed version; below her, six empty numbered slots wait","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on the reference file: across the hook line the noise floor drops 7.4 dB, and the empty six-slot list is already on frame 0. The clip reached about 50 times the median of the account's other recent clips.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["face-only-in-hook","edit-interface-as-teacher","proof-first","high-contrast-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd) and Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"depth-blur-layers","name":"Depth of field in a flat animation","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A coded scene looks shot on a camera.","use_when":"Interface and product animations built from flat layers.","phrase":"blur the layers behind and in front of the subject and keep the subject sharp","pitfalls":[{"text":"It does not need a 3D tool: blurring the layers behind and in front of the subject does it in a 2D template.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"3D transforms can blur text in a browser renderer; render at double scale or keep text off the depth axis.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shallow-focus","bokeh"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"determination","name":"Determination","category":"expression","group":"Drive","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Resolve settling in; the person is going to do it.","use_when":"Sport, founders, the turn in a story, call to action.","phrase":"the eyes lift and lock on a point ahead, a deep breath fills the chest, the jaw sets at the hinge, the eyes narrow, the shoulders roll back, one firm nod","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Determination","text":"The eyes lift and lock forward, a deep breath expands the chest, the jaw sets visibly at the hinge, the eyes narrow, and the shoulders roll back. One sharp nod completes the change.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/16-determination.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Resolve locks in","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/16-determination.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/16-determination-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/16-determination.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/16-determination-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["pride","rage"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the jaw sets, the gaze fixes forward\n- **Medium:** the eyes lift and lock on a point ahead, a deep breath fills the chest, the jaw sets at the hinge, the eyes narrow, the shoulders roll back, one firm nod\n- **Explosive:** the fists close, a sharp exhale, the body rises from the chair, the first step forward is already taken","shown_with":null},{"slug":"device-frame","name":"Screen in a phone or browser frame","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The interface reads as a real product on a real device.","use_when":"App and web product shots in an animated video.","phrase":"the app screen inside a phone frame that slides up into the shot, the screen scrolling inside it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Put a real screenshot or a screen recording in the frame; a drawn stand-in is the fallback, never the plan.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["pov-phone-scroll","spotlight-and-tooltip","preset-feature-drop"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"digital-clean","name":"Clean digital","category":"texture","group":"Capture","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Sharp, modern and noise-free; how a 2026 camera sees.","use_when":"Modern shops, tech, healthcare, corporate.","phrase":"sharp modern digital image, clean and noise-free, true colours","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["film-35mm"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words; era rule from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"direct-address","name":"Direct address","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Calls out one specific viewer, who then feels it is about them.","use_when":"Niche audiences, B2B roles, local targeting.","phrase":"point at the lens: if you run a shop with fewer than five people, this is for you","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"disgust","name":"Disgust","category":"expression","group":"Disgust","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Instant rejection of something revolting.","use_when":"Before shots, the competitor's product in comedy, food gone wrong.","phrase":"the nose wrinkles hard and drags the upper lip up, the eyes squint almost shut, the chin pulls in, the head turns away and back, the look of revulsion stays","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Disgust","text":"The nose wrinkles hard and pulls the upper lip upward, the eyes squint nearly shut, the chin draws in, and the head recoils and turns away. The revolted expression holds.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/05-disgust.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Full recoil","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/05-disgust.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/05-disgust-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/05-disgust.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/05-disgust-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["eye-roll","smug"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the nose wrinkles slightly, the upper lip lifts on one side\n- **Medium:** the nose wrinkles hard and drags the upper lip up, the eyes squint almost shut, the chin pulls in, the head turns away and back, the look of revulsion stays\n- **Explosive:** the whole body recoils, a hand over the mouth, a dry heave, a step back with the head turned away","shown_with":null},{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Draws the viewer closer; intimacy or rising importance, with real depth.","use_when":"The key line of an interview, approaching a product, entering a space.","phrase":"slow push in at chest height, the camera travels straight toward her from six metres to three and a half, her face grows in the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Write the move as behaviour with a start and an end (a slow straight push from six metres to three and a half). A bare move name drifts.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"},{"text":"A slow push in tends to get more emotional weight than the bare word dolly.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Dolly in","text":"dolly in. Movement: move the camera physically forward in a straight line toward the main subject. Speed: smooth controlled push. Framing: keep camera height, lens direction and subject position consistent while distance closes. End: finish in a tighter composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Dolly in"],"related":["dolly-out","slow-zoom-in","push-past"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels forward in a straight line toward the subject\n- **Pace:** slow and controlled\n- **Keep:** the same height and direction as the distance shrinks\n- **Ends:** a tighter frame with real depth","shown_with":null},{"slug":"dolly-out","name":"Dolly out (pull back)","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Pulls away and reveals; isolation, or the bigger picture.","use_when":"Endings, reveals of a location, showing a person alone in a large space.","phrase":"slow pull back at eye height, the camera travels straight backward and more of the room comes into frame around him","pitfalls":[{"text":"Write the move as behaviour with a start and an end (a slow straight push from six metres to three and a half). A bare move name drifts.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"},{"text":"Pull back is the move for reveals; say what the reveal shows at the end.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Dolly out","text":"dolly out. Movement: move the camera physically backward in a straight line away from the main subject. Speed: smooth controlled retreat. Framing: keep lens direction and camera height consistent while more environment enters frame. End: finish in a wider composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/09-dolly-out-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Dolly out"],"related":["dolly-in","slow-zoom-out","drone-pull-back"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** rolls straight back, away from her\n- **Pace:** slow and controlled\n- **Keep:** the same height and direction while more of the room comes in\n- **Ends:** a wider frame that shows the place","shown_with":null},{"slug":"dolly-zoom","name":"Dolly zoom (vertigo)","category":"move","group":"Zoom and lens","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The background stretches or shrinks around a subject who stays the same size: dread, shock, a world tilting.","use_when":"A moment of realisation or panic.","phrase":"dolly zoom: the camera moves toward her while the lens zooms out, she stays the same size and the background behind her stretches away","pitfalls":[{"text":"Models get this wrong when it is only named. Describe both halves and the visible result: the background warps, the subject stays the same size.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["dolly-in","slow-zoom-out"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels toward the subject while the lens widens, or the reverse\n- **Pace:** slow and continuous\n- **Keep:** the subject the same size the whole time\n- **Ends:** the background visibly stretched or squeezed","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly in (push in)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"draft-before-1080p","name":"Draft first, pay for 1080p once","category":"guide","group":"Which model","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Iteration costs a fraction, so more ideas get tried.","use_when":"Seedance 2.5 work where several attempts are expected.","phrase":"iterate on drafts at 480p, then finish only the chosen draft at 1080p","pitfalls":[{"text":"Priced by our CLI on 22 Oct 2026: a 10-second draft costs 30 credits, against 70 at 720p and 160 at 1080p.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"One creator shows the draft looking close to the 1080p version. Whether acting and timing carry over to the finished clip is not yet measured by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"generate in draft mode first; finish the chosen draft at 1080p from its job","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2026-10-22"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-video","guide-seedance-2-5","preset-angle-pass"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"drawn-as-spoken","name":"Drawn as it is said","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"It reads as someone drawing for you live, so a long explanation holds.","use_when":"Explainers, frameworks, system walkthroughs.","phrase":"each shape and word on the whiteboard appears stroke by stroke at the moment it is spoken, led by a cursor that carries the presenter's name","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never show a section finished before its point is spoken. The measured reference changes the big picture only 1.03 times per 10 seconds, with a median of 9.22 seconds, and still moves all the time in small strokes.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"A drawn element more than a second away from the word that names it is the listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-avatar-drawn-board","live-markup","edit-mock-client-call"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"drone-pull-back","name":"Drone pull back","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Flies away from a subject to reveal the scale around it.","use_when":"Endings, a person alone in a landscape, revealing the size of a site.","phrase":"drone pull back, the camera flies backward and up away from the swimmer until the whole bay is in frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Faces smaller than about a tenth of the frame height stop looking like the reference person.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Drone pull back","text":"drone pull back. Movement: fly smoothly backward away from the subject or destination. Speed: controlled aerial retreat. Framing: keep the subject readable as more landscape appears. End: finish on a wider aerial composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/26b-drone-pull-back-hq.mp4","group":"Drone/Crane","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/26b-drone-pull-back-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/26b-drone-pull-back-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26b-drone-pull-back-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26b-drone-pull-back-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Drone pull back"],"related":["drone-push-in","dolly-out","extreme-wide-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** flies backward away from a subject\n- **Pace:** a controlled glide\n- **Keep:** the subject readable as the land around it appears\n- **Ends:** a wide aerial view","shown_with":null},{"slug":"drone-push-in","name":"Drone push in","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Flies toward a place; anticipation and arrival.","use_when":"Venues, buildings, landscapes, real estate.","phrase":"drone push in, the camera flies forward and slightly down toward the farmhouse at the edge of the field","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Drone push in","text":"drone push in. Movement: fly smoothly forward through open space toward the subject or destination. Speed: controlled aerial glide. Framing: keep the route and destination readable as the camera approaches. End: arrive at a closer aerial composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/26-drone-push-in-hq.mp4","group":"Drone/Crane","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Drone push in"],"related":["drone-pull-back","crane-down","establishing-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** flies forward toward a place\n- **Pace:** a controlled glide\n- **Keep:** the destination readable as it approaches\n- **Ends:** a closer aerial view","shown_with":null},{"slug":"dutch-angle","name":"Dutch angle","category":"angle","group":"Tilt","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Tilts the horizon so the scene feels unstable, tense or playful.","use_when":"Tension, chaos or energy in music and sport content.","phrase":"dutch angle, the camera tilted so the horizon runs diagonally across the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Used throughout a video it reads as a gimmick. One or two shots per video.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Camera grammar"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Tilt the camera to a Dutch angle, creating a skewed horizon line that instills a sense of dynamic tension and disequilibrium.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["eye-level","pov-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"earth-zoom-out","name":"Earth zoom out","category":"move","group":"Specials","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"From one street to the whole planet: scale, reach, a global message.","use_when":"Brands with a worldwide footprint, endings, campaign claims about scale.","phrase":"zoom out from the shop on the corner, up through the city and the country until the earth fills the frame, the shop always in the centre","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Earth zoom out","text":"earth zoom out. Movement: pull upward from the starting point through street, city, landscape and planet scale. Speed: rapid expanding zoom out. Framing: keep the original location centered as scale grows. End: finish on a planet-scale view with the starting point still implied at center.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s4-earth-zoom-out-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s4-earth-zoom-out-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s4-earth-zoom-out-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s4-earth-zoom-out-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s4-earth-zoom-out-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Earth zoom out"],"related":["infinite-zoom","drone-pull-back"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** rises from street level to space\n- **Pace:** accelerating\n- **Keep:** the starting point always in the centre\n- **Ends:** the whole planet, the start point implied","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ease-never-linear","name":"Ease, never linear","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Movement feels physical.","use_when":"Every animated element.","phrase":"entrances start fast and settle slowly, exits start slowly and leave fast; nothing moves at a constant speed","pitfalls":[{"text":"Reference durations at 30 frames per second: routine moves 5 to 7 frames, entrances and exits 7 to 11, a hero moment 15 to 24.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Offset siblings by 3 to 6 frames so they do not land together.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["word-slide-up","slow-drift"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-avatar-drawn-board","name":"Presenter over a drawn board","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Every point is drawn at the moment it is said, so the board stays readable as notes.","use_when":"Explainers, frameworks, numbered ways or steps, course teasers.","phrase":"a presenter in one continuous shot on top, a hand-drawn whiteboard below that fills in stroke by stroke as the words are said, one numbered section at a time, two-word captions on the seam","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never show a board section finished before its point is spoken.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: 1.03 big changes per 10 seconds with a median of 9.22 seconds between them, because a section is drawn up gradually and only clears on the next number. The small strokes move all the time.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Under 45 seconds the drawing has no time to happen.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["drawn-as-spoken","stacked-speaker-board","caption-keyword-colour","format-stacked-board"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@pro.glitch/video/7698019645357346061","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @pro.glitch, posted 18 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 223.1 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 1.03 |\n| Median segment | 9.22 s |\n| First visual change | 9.17 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 3.26 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -14.2 LUFS |\n| True peak | -1.4 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -79.8 dBFS (clean silences, no music) |\n| Face in sampled frames | the presenter is a cartoon in every frame; the face detector counts 14 percent |\n| Plays, saves | 40,900 plays, 6.5 percent saved (read 23 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 6.9 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Stack the frame: the presenter on top at about 39 percent of the height, one continuous locked shot; a whiteboard canvas below at about 61 percent, hand-drawn style on white.\n2. Frame 0: the first board already drawn with the promise of the video in two or three shapes. The first word is on frame 0.\n3. For each numbered point: clear to a fresh area, write the number in a coloured circle and the heading, then draw each shape and word at the moment it is said, led by a labelled cursor. Type text letter by letter.\n4. A cleared section lands about once every 8 to 12 seconds, with small strokes all the time in between.\n5. End on a row of all the numbered circles as a recap, then the call to action.\n6. Captions of two words (one to three), white bold sans on a dark rounded box at the foot of the presenter zone, the spoken word in the accent colour.\n7. No music, no sound effects. Voice at -14 LUFS, true peak at or under -1.5 dBTP.\n\n## Not for\n\nEmotional stories, testimonials, product beauty, luxury brands, anything under 45 seconds.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-canvas-tour","name":"Canvas tour with a corner presenter","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer has the map and the part being explained on screen at once.","use_when":"Process explainers and step lists where every step has a real artefact to show.","phrase":"one canvas holds the whole process as linked cards, a virtual camera walks it step by step, a presenter cut-out talks from the bottom-left corner, two-word captions beside them","pitfalls":[{"text":"Each step lands on one real artefact: the tool's own panel, the prompt, the output. Never a stock icon.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: 2.86 moves per 10 seconds with a median hold of 2.2 seconds, calmer than a stacked board at 4.7, because each card needs a second to read.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"The source's true peak is -0.4 dBTP, which our QA fails. Keep the peak at or under -1.5.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["canvas-move","corner-presenter","map-in-frame-zero","loop-close","format-motion-graphics"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@pro.glitch/video/7699370338722860301","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @pro.glitch, posted 22 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 209.8 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 2.86 |\n| Median segment | 2.2 s |\n| First visual change | 7.2 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 3.18 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -14.1 LUFS |\n| True peak | -0.4 dBTP (too hot) |\n| Sound floor | -85.7 dBFS (clean silences, no music) |\n| Face in sampled frames | not usable: the detector counts the people pictured on the canvas |\n| Plays, saves | 31,200 plays, 6.2 percent saved (read 23 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 5.9 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Build one large canvas first: a title, then every step as a card in reading order, linked by dashed lines, each card holding the real artefact of that step.\n2. Place the presenter as a cut-out in the bottom-left corner, about 30 percent of the width and the lowest quarter of the height, for the whole video.\n3. Frame 0: the title and the full step map, readable. The first word is on frame 0.\n4. Move the camera to each card when its step is named and hold until the next: 2.5 to 3.5 moves per 10 seconds, each hold 1.8 to 2.6 seconds.\n5. Pin a dark pill with the step number and name at the top left, and show the step title large with its number in an accent circle.\n6. Zoom out to the whole canvas once near the end, then close on the map of frame 0 so the loop restarts cleanly.\n7. Captions of two words (one to three), white bold sans on a dark rounded box to the right of the presenter, the spoken word in the accent colour.\n8. No music, no sound effects. Voice at -14 LUFS.\n\n## Not for\n\nEmotional stories, testimonials, product beauty, live-action brands, anything under 30 seconds.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-deadpan-spec-ad","name":"Deadpan spec ad","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The scenes never wink, so two quiet title cards land the whole joke.","use_when":"Spec ads, portfolio pieces, reacting to a launch everyone knows.","phrase":"a product ad played completely straight in full-frame scenes with hard cuts on the action, no captions, a claim on a title card on black after the stunt and a payoff card on black at the very end","pitfalls":[{"text":"A scene that winks at the joke, a caption or a logo over the scenes, or the payoff card before the visual punchline: each is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Our export ran at -8.2 LUFS with a true peak of +0.4 dBTP, which clips. Export at -14 LUFS with the peak at or under -1 dBTP.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"A real brand needs parody framing and a trademark check before the film is used in anything sold.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["title-card-on-black","hard-cut","preset-spec-commercial","look-commercial","format-generated-scenes","ratio-16-9"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Our own film (generated with reference images, cut by hand, Oct 2026), measured by us. No clip is attached: it parodies a real brand."},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 25.0 s |\n| Aspect | 16:9 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 2.4 |\n| Median segment | 2.57 s |\n| First visual change | 3.1 s |\n| First spoken word | 2.7 s (the only spoken line, two words) |\n| Spoken words per second | 1.19 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -8.2 LUFS (too hot) |\n| True peak | +0.4 dBTP (clips) |\n| Sound floor | -35.5 dBFS (music-led) |\n| Face in sampled frames | 30 percent, middle third |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Full-frame scenes in the target ratio, no captions and no overlays.\n2. Open on the problem in one static shot, 0 to 3 seconds.\n3. Then the product moment and the stunt in two or three shots, cut hard on the action: 2 to 3 visual changes per 10 seconds, shots of 2.5 to 3 seconds.\n4. Put the claim on a title card on black right after the stunt: small white sans, centred, one line.\n5. Show the consequence in one shot.\n6. End on the payoff card on black in the same type, held at least 3 seconds. In our film it reads: Landing sold separately.\n7. One spoken line at most. Music-led, with a hit on the stunt.\n\n## Not for\n\nExplainers, tutorials, a real brand without parody framing.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-does-the-word","name":"The edit does what the words say","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees each claim performed at the moment it is said.","use_when":"Talking heads about a tool, a method or a result.","phrase":"when she says bigger the caption grows to fill the frame; when she says gone the product photo drops out of the picture","pitfalls":[{"text":"The effect fires on the word that names it. In the measured list reel an effect more than 0.2 seconds off its word is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"On the account that sells this style, three breakout clips reached 39, 12 and 10 times the median of the others. A re-shot winning script and a re-cut with a new opener both fell under the median: what travelled was a new format, not the same words.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["word-drop","caption-slab","edit-ticking-effects-list","self-proving-claim"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) and Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-interface-as-teacher","name":"Interface as teacher","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer hears the promise in the hook, then learns one concept per beat from the product's own screens.","use_when":"Product explainers and feature education for software with a visual interface.","phrase":"the face only in the first six seconds with an audible before and after, then the product's own interface on black teaching one concept per beat, a numbered list filling slot by slot, the defined term coloured in the caption","pitfalls":[{"text":"The face does not return after the hook, and no stock or generated imagery replaces the product's own interface.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: 2.0 visual changes per 10 seconds and a median segment of 2.93 seconds, slow on purpose against 3.57 spoken words per second. Faster than about one cut per two seconds and the components cannot be read.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"The reference runs at -18.7 LUFS; aim for -14.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["face-only-in-hook","demonstration-hook","caption-keyword-colour","definition-card","format-screen-led","voice-chain"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@thefranswah/video/7694150430359702797","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @thefranswah, posted 8 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 100.1 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 2.0 |\n| Median segment | 2.93 s |\n| First visual change | 1.63 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 3.57 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -18.7 LUFS |\n| True peak | -1.2 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -34.4 dBFS (something under everything) |\n| Face in sampled frames | 6 percent, top third |\n| Plays, saves | 791,000 plays, 5.0 percent saved (read 22 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | about 50 times, measured on 13 Oct 2026 |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Hook, 0 to 6 seconds: the speaker in the top 45 percent, black below with an empty numbered list of the steps to come. The voice starts on frame 0 with the bare version of the thing, then the processed one.\n2. After 6 seconds the face is gone: full-frame black, the product's own interface components in a band across the middle of the frame, one concept per beat.\n3. Light the active component and dim the rest; fill one slot of the numbered list per step.\n4. Captions of about three words, white bold sans, sentence case, no box, under the interface, with the term being defined in the accent colour.\n5. Hold each visual 2.5 to 3.5 seconds while the voice runs at about 3.5 words per second.\n6. Close on the full list and name the product once.\n\n## Not for\n\nProducts without a visual interface, testimonials, emotional stories, anything under 30 seconds.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-low-poly-parable","name":"Low-poly parable","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A hard subject becomes watchable as one person's story, while every turn rests on a source the viewer can see.","use_when":"Brand films, opinion pieces, future scenarios, awareness.","phrase":"a first-person narrated story in dated chapters, staged in a low-poly 3D world with anonymous figures, a figure holding the printed source to camera at every fact, sentence captions revealed word by word","pitfalls":[{"text":"No photoreal face anywhere: the anonymity is the point.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"People watch a story and keep a list: 1.6 percent of plays saved here, against 5 to 6.5 percent for the same account's step lists. Do not use it for a how-to or a lead magnet.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"The reference opens on a black frame 0, which is its thumbnail. Open on the first lit frame.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["source-to-camera","caption-sentence-reveal","cut-on-sentence-end","fade-from-black","3d-render-style","format-generated-scenes"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@pro.glitch/video/7698204515014577421","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @pro.glitch, posted 19 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 344.4 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 2.03 |\n| Median segment | 4.1 s |\n| First visual change | 0.43 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 2.57 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -15.2 LUFS |\n| True peak | -2.2 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -42.6 dBFS (a quiet bed is likely) |\n| Face in sampled frames | none: no presenter |\n| Plays, saves | 12,700 plays, 1.6 percent saved (read 23 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 2.1 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Write the script as one person's story in dated chapters, each turn anchored on a real source. Narrate in the first person at about 2.5 words per second.\n2. Build each chapter as a low-poly 3D set with soft light and shallow depth of field. Cast anonymous figures and one narrator figure.\n3. Hold each set with a slow push or drift and cut at the end of a sentence: 1.5 to 2.5 changes per 10 seconds, holds of 3 to 5 seconds.\n4. Whenever a fact is stated, cut to a figure holding the printed source page to camera, readable.\n5. Captions: one sentence at a time, small white sans with no box, revealed word by word, low centre.\n6. A quiet ambient bed under the voice; sound effects only where the story has an object. Voice at -14 LUFS.\n\n## Not for\n\nStep lists, tool tutorials, lead magnets, product demos, anything under 60 seconds.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-mock-client-call","name":"Mock client call","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer meets the problem as an overheard conversation before the solution is drawn.","use_when":"System walkthroughs, consultation demos, case explainers, proposal videos.","phrase":"a recreated video call: the client speaks first and names the problem, then the expert shares a screen and draws the system live, with speaker-labelled captions under it","pitfalls":[{"text":"The client speaks first, in her own words. The expert opening, or a narrator stating the problem, is the listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"It explains a whole system but is not saved like a list: 2.8 percent of plays saved at 0.6 times the account's median.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"A real client, a real person's face or a real vendor's logo needs written consent. Recreate a neutral call window.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["layout-switch","speaker-tag-captions","drawn-as-spoken","format-screen-led"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@pro.glitch/video/7695647708438220045","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @pro.glitch, posted 12 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 287.8 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 4.31 (mostly the captions) |\n| Median segment | 1.9 s |\n| First visual change | 1.57 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 2.88 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -14.2 LUFS |\n| True peak | -1.4 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -42.2 dBFS |\n| Face in sampled frames | 61 percent, top third (two cartoon tiles) |\n| Plays, saves | 3,445 plays, 2.8 percent saved (read 23 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 0.6 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Recreate a call window in 9:16: a title bar with both names and a running timer, the active speaker's tile outlined, a toolbar at the bottom.\n2. Frame 0: the client's tile large, with a two-line title card naming the problem. The client says the first line.\n3. During the conversation keep two stacked tiles, client above and presenter below, about a third of the height each.\n4. When the presenter says they will draw it, switch to two small tiles on top and a shared drawing board below; draw each element stroke by stroke as it is named.\n5. Captions in a band under the screen with a speaker tag above each line.\n6. Keep real scene changes to about one every 6 to 8 seconds; the captions carry the faster rhythm.\n7. Close on the presenter's tile with the offer. Voice at -14 LUFS, no music under the dialogue.\n\n## Not for\n\nQuick tips, anything under 90 seconds, product beauty, emotional stories, a real client without consent.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-red-board-list","name":"Red board list","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer always sees the whole list and where they are in it.","use_when":"Tool tutorials, step lists, how-tos with a screenshot per step.","phrase":"one continuous take of the speaker on top, a single brand-colour board below with every numbered step, a virtual camera walking the board to the step being named, three-word captions on the seam","pitfalls":[{"text":"The speaker zone must stay one continuous take; a cut or reframe there is the listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: the board changes 4.7 times per 10 seconds with a median hold of 1.44 seconds, the voice starts on frame 0 at 4.21 words per second, and there is no music.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Under 20 seconds there is no time to walk a board.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stacked-speaker-board","canvas-move","map-in-frame-zero","caption-chips","live-markup","format-stacked-board","cta-all-in-caption"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@paytonkaleiwahea/video/7696573490576493837","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @paytonkaleiwahea, posted 14 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 85.1 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 4.7 |\n| Median segment | 1.44 s |\n| First visual change | 9.39 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 4.21 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -14.7 LUFS |\n| True peak | -1.5 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -52.6 dBFS (clean silences, no music) |\n| Face in sampled frames | 100 percent, top third |\n| Plays, saves | 148,200 plays, 11 percent saved (read 22 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 71.9 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. Stack the frame: the speaker on top at 29 percent of the height, a locked camera, one take; one board canvas below at 71 percent in a saturated brand colour.\n2. Build the board first as one large canvas: a title, a row of examples, every numbered step with its number in a hand-drawn circle, its title in marker lettering and its screenshot beside it.\n3. Frame 0 shows the whole board zoomed out with the title readable. The first word is on frame 0.\n4. Move the virtual camera to each step as it is named and hold until the next: 4 to 5.5 moves per 10 seconds, each hold 1.2 to 1.8 seconds.\n5. Draw a circle by hand around any button or field the speaker describes.\n6. Captions of three words (two to four), white heavy capitals on a tight black box, centred on the seam.\n7. No music and no sound effects. Voice at -14 LUFS, true peak at or under -1.5 dBTP.\n8. End by zooming back out to the full board on the closing line.\n\n## Not for\n\nEmotional stories, testimonials, product beauty, anything under 20 seconds, a topic with no visual steps.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-selfie-with-receipts","name":"Selfie with receipts","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Nothing looks produced, so the proof on screen is believed.","use_when":"Build-in-public updates, proof of a result, a comment-keyword call to action.","phrase":"a handheld selfie at arm's length in the room as it is, a POV title on top, one-to-three-word captions on the chest, and every claim arriving with a receipt in the platform's own interface","pitfalls":[{"text":"Every number on a receipt is real and readable at phone size, and lands on the word that claims it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: 2.57 visual changes per 10 seconds, median segment 2.93 seconds. A steady tripod frame or studio light breaks the register.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"The reference runs hot at -10.3 LUFS; export at -14 with the true peak at or under -1 dBTP.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["platform-ui-receipts","pov-title","whip-transition","phone-selfie-rig","cta-comment-keyword","format-selfie-native","look-social"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@mino.mp4/video/7696916687039335710","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @mino.mp4, posted 15 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 31.2 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 2.57 |\n| Median segment | 2.93 s |\n| First visual change | 2.93 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 3.0 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -10.3 LUFS (hot) |\n| True peak | -1.0 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -32.8 dBFS (room noise or a quiet bed) |\n| Face in sampled frames | 69 percent, middle third |\n| Plays, saves, comments | 173,000 plays, 2.6 percent saved, 1.4 percent commented (read 22 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 10.3 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. A full-frame handheld selfie at arm's length, the face at about half the height, the room as it is with its own light. The first word is on frame 0.\n2. A POV title in the platform's own text style in the top fifth for the first half.\n3. Captions of one to three words, white medium sans, sentence case, no box, centred on the chest.\n4. Two or three handheld cutaways of 2 to 7 seconds to the screen where the work happens.\n5. Receipts float in the top fifth, each on the word that claims it: a card of a real post with its counter climbing, a comment box typing the keyword, the message the keyword triggers.\n6. Close on a time-stamp card and the next step of the diary.\n\n## Not for\n\nCorporate B2B, regulated sectors, a client's brand voice, any claim without real numbers.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-starter-styles","name":"Four starter edit styles","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A take gets a look that fits what kind of take it is.","use_when":"Editing a filmed talking head when there is no reference reel yet.","phrase":"centre captions for an opinion or a story; a screen teacher for a tutorial; a speaker over a board for an explainer with things to show; a fast list for tips","pitfalls":[{"text":"The pace is the reference clip's, not a promise: 2.6, 2.0, 4.7 and 6.8 visual changes per 10 seconds for the four starters. The fast cuts come from a take spoken in short lines.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"When there is no opinion, render the three closest as five-second openings and pick with the eyes, not from the names.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"What an automatic edit copies from a reference: caption words, case and box, the layout and how tight the pauses are. Not copied: moving captions, zooms inside a shot, colour, music and B-roll.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-edit-from-reference","edit-red-board-list","edit-interface-as-teacher","punch-in","caption-chips"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"## The four starters\n\n| Starter | What it looks like | Pace of the clip it was measured from | Use it for |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Centre captions | the take fills the frame, a light punch-in on every other segment, two-word captions in the middle on a black box | 2.6 changes per 10 s | an opinion, a founder update, a story |\n| Screen teacher | the take or the product screen full frame, three-word captions low, one keyword in the accent colour | 2.0 changes per 10 s | a tutorial or a product walkthrough |\n| Speaker over a board | the speaker in the top third, a board below for a list, a screenshot or a product | 4.7 changes per 10 s | an explainer with at least three things to show |\n| Fast list | a punch-in on every other segment, two-word outlined captions low | 6.8 changes per 10 s | tips, a list, a recap |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"edit-ticking-effects-list","name":"Ticking effects list","category":"preset","group":"Edit styles","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees a counted promise being kept in real time.","use_when":"Capability reels, list reels, launch teasers, portfolio reels.","phrase":"a locked medium shot, a checklist panel in the right third from the first frame, one item per second, each item's name appearing in its own effect on the word, the checklist ticking along","pitfalls":[{"text":"An effect more than 0.2 seconds off its own name, a checklist missing from frame 0, or a counter that does not advance: each is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured: the fastest pace in the library, 6.83 visual changes per 10 seconds with a median segment of 1.2 seconds, and only 36 spoken words. It never feels random because the counter explains every change.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["checklist-tracker","visible-counter","edit-does-the-word","type-behind-head","word-drop","format-every-line-an-effect"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":"https://www.tiktok.com/@justyn.ai/video/7697695105112755477","note":"Our own reading and measurement of a TikTok by @justyn.ai, posted 17 Oct 2026. The clip is a third-party reference and is not shown; the words here are ours"},"body":"## Measured on the reference\n\n| What | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Length | 20.5 s |\n| Aspect | 9:16 |\n| Visual changes per 10 s | 6.83 |\n| Median segment | 1.2 s |\n| First visual change | 0.97 s |\n| First spoken word | 0.0 s |\n| Spoken words per second | 1.78 |\n| Loudness, integrated | -14.1 LUFS |\n| True peak | -1.3 dBTP |\n| Sound floor | -31.6 dBFS (a bed under the voice) |\n| Face in sampled frames | 93 percent, middle third |\n| Plays, saves | 61,200 plays, 8.3 percent saved (read 22 Oct 2026) |\n| Against the account's median | 12 times |\n\n## The recipe\n\n1. A locked medium shot, the face at about half the height.\n2. A checklist panel fills the right third for the whole video: brand-colour ground, numbered items, the current item in white, a counter on top and a total at the bottom.\n3. Frame 0 carries the promise in large serif at the top left, a count and a duration, plus a two-line hook caption that is gone by 1.5 seconds.\n4. Then one item per 1.0 to 1.3 seconds: the speaker says the name, the name appears in the left two thirds in its own effect, the checklist ticks.\n5. Cut to a full-frame card only when the item is a card.\n6. A bed under the voice and a hit on each item. Voice at -14 LUFS, true peak at or under -1.3 dBTP.\n\n## Not for\n\nEmotional stories, testimonials, long explanations, regulated sectors.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"effort-compression","name":"Effort compression","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Promises a big result for a small effort of watching.","use_when":"Tutorials, tips, workflows.","phrase":"it took me three years to learn this, you get it in forty seconds","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"embarrassment","name":"Embarrassment","category":"expression","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Confidence folding inward; very human.","use_when":"Comedy, relatable mistakes, before and after.","phrase":"her face goes pink, she looks at the floor beside her, presses her lips into a tight awkward half-smile, ducks her head to the side and lifts a hand toward her mouth, and does not look up again","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Embarrassment","text":"Color rises in the cheeks, the eyes dart down and to the side, and an awkward pressed-lip half-smile appears. The head ducks and turns away while one hand rises near the mouth. The eyes stay lowered.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/21-embarrassment.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Confidence folds inward","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/21-embarrassment.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/21-embarrassment-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/21-embarrassment.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/21-embarrassment-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["guilt","nervous-fake-smile"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the cheeks colour, the eyes drop for a moment\n- **Medium:** her face goes pink, she looks at the floor beside her, presses her lips into a tight awkward half-smile, ducks her head to the side and lifts a hand toward her mouth, and does not look up again\n- **Explosive:** the face hidden in both hands, the body turning away, a pained laugh, the ears red","shown_with":null},{"slug":"emotion-as-behaviour","name":"Emotion as behaviour","category":"expression","group":"Direction rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Acting that reads as real instead of a generated face pulling an expression.","use_when":"Every prompt with a person showing a feeling.","phrase":"describe one body part per beat with a trigger: at the sound of the door her smile drops and her shoulders go still","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never write he is sad. Write the eyes, the jaw, the breath, with the moment that causes it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["no-default-smile","sadness"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"sadness","name":"Sadness","category":"expression","label":"Shown with: Sadness","site":"emotion-direction","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/19-sadness.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}},{"slug":"enter-on-one-plate","name":"One background plate, few cuts","category":"transition","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The film feels like one continuous space; things arrive, scenes do not change.","use_when":"Launch films for software, connectors and integrations.","phrase":"one blurred photographic sky plate with grain under the whole film; every card and headline enters on it with a blur-in","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on a 40-second launch film: two hard cuts in total, at 3.6 and 8.8 seconds. Everything else enters on the plate or morphs in place.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-connector-launch","shape-morph"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"environment-event-track","name":"Environment as events","category":"setting","group":"A living place","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Weather, waves and crowds that behave like a real place instead of a looping texture.","use_when":"Outdoor scenes, crowds, anything where the background should live.","phrase":"at 1.2 seconds a wave hits the rocks and the spray rises a tenth of the frame; at 3.8 seconds a gust bends the grass; irregular, never on a beat","pitfalls":[{"text":"Treat the environment as timed events with a size, at uneven intervals. Described as a texture it loops.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-way-state","static-shot"],"rights":"vendor-summary","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":"https://higgsfield.ai/blog/seedance-2-5-prompting-guide","note":"Own words from the Higgsfield guide summary"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"static-shot","name":"Static shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Static shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"establishing-shot","name":"Establishing shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Tells the viewer where and when the next scene happens, before anyone speaks.","use_when":"The first shot of a scene or after a change of location, such as the outside of the shop before the interview inside.","phrase":"establishing shot of the building from across the street at eye level, the entrance in the centre, the time of day clear from the light on the facade","pitfalls":[{"text":"Generated signs and logos come out misspelled or invented. Leave names off the building in the prompt and add the real logo in the edit.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["extreme-wide-shot","wide-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"example-before-explanation","name":"Example first, explanation second","category":"script","group":"Order","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees the thing and then wants to know why it works.","use_when":"Teaching content, breakdowns, tips.","phrase":"open on the example itself; name the idea and explain it only after the viewer has seen it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on one account's 20 most viewed posts: the first visual change comes at a median of 3.9 seconds, after the example. When the borrowed moment ran 10 seconds before the lesson, likes fell to 1.0 percent against a median of 5.1.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["name-it-prove-it","stakes-in-frame-zero","script-arc"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"exhaustion","name":"Exhaustion","category":"expression","group":"Physical","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Nothing left; the body is done.","use_when":"Problem statements, sport, late nights, work pressure.","phrase":"his eyes close for a second too long, his head nods forward and he pulls it back up, his mouth hangs a little open, he lets out one long empty breath, and his eyes open only halfway","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Exhaustion","text":"The eyelids drag downward, a long blink stays closed too long, the head drifts down and lifts again slowly, the jaw hangs slack, and one long breath empties out. The eyes reopen only halfway.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/22-exhaustion.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Nothing left to give","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/22-exhaustion.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/22-exhaustion-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/22-exhaustion.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/22-exhaustion-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["boredom","relief"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** a heavy blink, the shoulders sag\n- **Medium:** his eyes close for a second too long, his head nods forward and he pulls it back up, his mouth hangs a little open, he lets out one long empty breath, and his eyes open only halfway\n- **Explosive:** the body slides down the wall to sit on the floor, the head back against it, the eyes closed, the arms limp","shown_with":null},{"slug":"exposure-catch-up","name":"Exposure catches up","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The picture behaves like a phone camera moving between dark and bright.","use_when":"Walking from inside to outside, a door opening onto daylight.","phrase":"the camera follows her from the dark hallway into the sunlit garden; the picture blows out for a moment and then settles","pitfalls":[{"text":"One behaviour per clip. Name its trigger in the scene and the operator's correction after it; follow it once and finish on its result.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Add a line that bans recording graphics: indicators, timestamps, battery icons, focus brackets, grids, borders and subtitles. Imperfection has to come from how the camera moves, focuses and exposes, never from drawn-on graphics.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Shown by a sponsored creator as straight out of Seedance 2.5 at 1080p; not yet run by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["human-operator-rule","phone-selfie-rig"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"extreme-close-up","name":"Extreme close-up","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Isolates one detail so it carries the meaning: an eye, a fingertip, a texture.","use_when":"Product texture, ingredients, the detail that proves quality.","phrase":"extreme close-up, one detail fills the frame, the edges of the object run out of the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Perfect or flawless surfaces read as AI. Name the real texture: pores, fibres, scratches, condensation.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Frame the shot as an extreme close-up, isolating the minute details of the subject to fill the entire composition.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["close-up","insert-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"extreme-wide-shot","name":"Extreme wide shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The place becomes the subject and people turn into a detail in it, which reads as scale, isolation or wonder.","use_when":"Opening a video, showing where something happens, selling the size of a site, a venue or a landscape.","phrase":"extreme wide shot from far away, the landscape fills the frame, one person small in the lower third","pitfalls":[{"text":"Faces smaller than about a tenth of the frame height stop looking like the reference person. Keep the person anonymous, or shoot from behind.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["wide-shot","establishing-shot","birds-eye-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"eye-contact-pause","name":"Eye contact and a pause","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One second of silence to the lens reads as authority.","use_when":"Statements that need weight: a myth, a number, a verdict.","phrase":"the camera at eye level and close; he looks straight into the lens for one full second without speaking, then says the line","pitfalls":[{"text":"No camera movement during the pause.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"The framework credits the pause to the speaker's credibility: from a founder it reads as authority, not as awkwardness.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["eye-level","medium-close-up","myth-exposure","data-reveal","silence-before-reveal"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"eye-level","name":"Eye level","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Neutral and honest: the viewer meets the person as an equal.","use_when":"Testimonials, interviews, anything that has to feel trustworthy.","phrase":"camera at eye level, the lens at the height of her eyes, looking straight at her","pitfalls":[{"text":"Angles given in degrees and margins given as numbers are often ignored. Describe where the lens is against the body (at knee height, above her head) instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Capture the scene from a neutral eye-level perspective to create a sense of equality and realism.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["low-angle","high-angle","three-quarter-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"eye-roll","name":"Eye roll","category":"expression","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Patience running out; playful or dismissive.","use_when":"Comedy, relatable everyday moments, creator content.","phrase":"the eyes travel up in a slow full arc while the head tilts along, a breath pushes out through the nose, the lids come back half-closed, a flat look, then the gaze leaves","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Eye Roll","text":"The eyes roll in a full, slow arc while the head tilts with the movement. Air pushes out through the nose, the eyes return with lowered lids, and a flat stare holds before the gaze turns away.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/08-eye-roll.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Patience is gone","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/08-eye-roll.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/08-eye-roll-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/08-eye-roll.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/08-eye-roll-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["smug","boredom"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyes drift up and to the side for half a second and come back\n- **Medium:** the eyes travel up in a slow full arc while the head tilts along, a breath pushes out through the nose, the lids come back half-closed, a flat look, then the gaze leaves\n- **Explosive:** the whole head rolls with the eyes, the arms fold, a loud sigh, the body turns away","shown_with":null},{"slug":"face-only-in-hook","name":"Face only in the hook","category":"effect","group":"Layouts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The face earns trust in the first seconds, then gets out of the way of the lesson.","use_when":"Product explainers where the interface can teach.","phrase":"the speaker fills the top 45 percent for the first six seconds, then the face is gone and the product's interface carries the rest","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured: a face in 6 percent of the sampled frames, 2.0 visual changes per 10 seconds, 791,000 plays with 5.0 percent saved. The face returning after the hook is the listed failure.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-interface-as-teacher","demonstration-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"face-reframe","name":"Reframe around the face","category":"effect","group":"Zooms and reframes","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The speaker stays where the eye expects, whatever the aspect ratio.","use_when":"A wide take cut to vertical; any multi-format delivery.","phrase":"crop the wide take to 9:16 around the tracked face, the face centre at 38 percent of the height","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured face positions in the references: 18 percent of the height on a stacked board, 23 percent in a hook over a lower panel, about 48 to 50 percent in full-frame selfie and locked shots.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of four published shorts, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Without face detection the crop is centred: look at three preview frames for a whole head.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["punch-in","ratio-9-16","stacked-speaker-board"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"fade-from-black","name":"Fade from black (know the cost)","category":"transition","group":"Cards and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A calm, film-like entry that costs the first frame.","use_when":"Brand films and stories watched on purpose; not feed openers.","phrase":"open on a short fade from black into the first lit scene","pitfalls":[{"text":"A black frame 0 is also the thumbnail, and our video QA warns on it. A measured story reel opens from black with its first visual change at 0.43 seconds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"A slow fade-in as the opening gives a feed viewer nothing to stop for.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail","opening-failures"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"fast-zoom","name":"Fast zoom","category":"move","group":"Zoom and lens","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A quick, decisive change of scale that points the viewer at one thing.","use_when":"Highlighting a detail, a reaction in comedy, punchy social cuts.","phrase":"fast zoom in on the logo on the box, about one second from wide to tight, the camera stays in place","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Fast zoom in","text":"fast zoom in. Movement: quickly increase lens focal length toward the main visual target. Speed: quick decisive zoom. Framing: keep the target centered or clearly readable during the scale change. End: finish on a stable tighter composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/06-fast-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/06-fast-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/06-fast-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/06-fast-zoom-in-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/06-fast-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10.08}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Fast zoom out","text":"fast zoom out. Movement: quickly decrease lens focal length away from the main visual target. Speed: quick decisive zoom. Framing: keep the target readable as the surrounding space appears. End: finish on a stable wider composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/06b-fast-zoom-out-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/06b-fast-zoom-out-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/06b-fast-zoom-out-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/06b-fast-zoom-out-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/06b-fast-zoom-out-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10.08}}],"site_names":["Fast zoom in","Fast zoom out"],"related":["crash-zoom","slow-zoom-in"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** stays put while the lens changes quickly, in or out\n- **Pace:** about a second\n- **Keep:** the target in the centre through the change\n- **Ends:** a steady frame at the new size","shown_with":null},{"slug":"feed-a-breakout","name":"Feed a breakout","category":"publish","group":"Posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A hit becomes a higher baseline, not a one-off.","use_when":"The 48 hours after a post takes off.","phrase":"after a breakout, post the next piece on the same promise within 48 hours","pitfalls":[{"text":"The measured account posted two to five times in the 48 hours after each breakout.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Its earlier breakouts, at 62,000 to 139,000 views, left the median where it was.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-promise","read-two-numbers"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"film-16mm","name":"16mm film","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Rough, documentary texture: real, handmade, raw.","use_when":"Documentary, music, behind the scenes with character.","phrase":"16mm film, visible grain, slightly soft, documentary texture","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["film-35mm","handheld-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Handheld","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"film-35mm","name":"35mm film","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Fine grain and gentle colour: classic cinema, warmth, memory.","use_when":"Brand films, lifestyle, nostalgia.","phrase":"shot on 35mm film, fine organic grain, soft highlight rolloff","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["kodak-portra-400","film-16mm","vision3-500t"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"film-a-take-that-edits","name":"Film a take that edits well","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The edit can sharpen the take, because the take was good to begin with.","use_when":"Briefing whoever films a talking head.","phrase":"face a window, the phone within one metre, the first sentence is the reason to watch, two seconds of silence before the first word and after the last","pitfalls":[{"text":"Sound first: a clip-on microphone or wired earbuds lift the voice more than any camera upgrade.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"After a mistake, stop, breathe and say the sentence again from its start. The edit keeps the best one.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"Send the original file, not a messenger copy; a 4K source allows a sharp vertical crop and punch-ins.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["window-light","format-face-cam","insert-on-the-word","punch-in","voice-chain"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"film-finish","name":"Halation, vignette and grain","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Rendered or generated footage looks photographed.","use_when":"The last pass on code-rendered and 3D video.","phrase":"warm halation around the bright areas, a soft vignette, fine grain over everything","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain at 2 to 5 percent, and never two grain layers on top of each other.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Effects are the finish on a scene, never the idea.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["film-35mm","light-leak-cut","global-look-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics and Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"filming-from-cover","name":"Filmed from behind cover","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer feels they are watching something they were not meant to see.","use_when":"Candid moments, reveals, comedy.","phrase":"filmed from behind a half-closed door, the door edge covering a third of the frame; the operator leans out to uncover the two people at the table","pitfalls":[{"text":"One behaviour per clip. Name its trigger in the scene and the operator's correction after it; follow it once and finish on its result.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Add a line that bans recording graphics: indicators, timestamps, battery icons, focus brackets, grids, borders and subtitles. Imperfection has to come from how the camera moves, focuses and exposes, never from drawn-on graphics.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Shown by a sponsored creator as straight out of Seedance 2.5 at 1080p; not yet run by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["human-operator-rule","frame-within-frame","bystander-caption"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"first-person-walk","name":"First-person walk","category":"move","group":"Specials","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer walks through the space as the person.","use_when":"Store tours, a day-in-the-life, onboarding, real estate.","phrase":"first-person walk at eye height, her hands visible at the bottom edge, the camera moves forward into the kitchen","pitfalls":[{"text":"A hand that enters from the side gets a body attached; let the hands enter from the bottom edge.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"First-person view","text":"first-person view. Movement: move forward at human eye height from the character's perspective. Speed: natural walking or reaching pace. Framing: use visible hands, arms or body edges as the viewer's physical reference. End: arrive at the next point of action from the same point of view.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s1-first-person-view-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s1-first-person-view-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s1-first-person-view-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s1-first-person-view-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s1-first-person-view-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["First-person view"],"related":["pov-shot","follow-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** moves forward at eye height as the person\n- **Pace:** walking pace\n- **Keep:** the person's hands or body edges at the bottom of the frame\n- **Ends:** at the next thing they will touch","shown_with":null},{"slug":"five-shot-sequence","name":"Five-shot sequence","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A process can be cut as action, because every size and angle is there.","use_when":"Filming B-roll of someone at work.","phrase":"a close-up of the hands, a close-up of the face, a wide of the whole scene, an over-the-shoulder, and one unusual angle","pitfalls":[{"text":"Roll 8 to 10 seconds per take and hold still for 3 seconds at the start and the end; usually 2 to 4 seconds are used.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},{"text":"One move per shot, starting and ending still, and never a digital zoom.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},{"text":"Match the main footage: the same frame rate or a multiple of it, the same light direction and colour temperature.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["insert-shot","close-up","over-the-shoulder-shot","natural-sound-under-broll","preset-broll-pass"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on b-roll (a news and documentary practice)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"flirtation","name":"Flirtation","category":"expression","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Playful attraction held just under the surface.","use_when":"Dating, fashion, fragrance, romantic comedy.","phrase":"the chin dips, the gaze comes back with one slow deliberate blink, a small warm smile grows from one corner of the mouth, the eye contact does not break","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Flirtation","text":"The chin lowers, the gaze returns with a slow, deliberate blink, and a warm, playful half-smile grows at one corner of the mouth. The expression holds without rushing or breaking eye contact.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/10-flirtation.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Playful restraint","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/10-flirtation.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/10-flirtation-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/10-flirtation.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/10-flirtation-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["smug","pride"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** a look held a moment longer than normal, a slow blink\n- **Medium:** the chin dips, the gaze comes back with one slow deliberate blink, a small warm smile grows from one corner of the mouth, the eye contact does not break\n- **Explosive:** a laugh with the head turned away and the eyes coming back, the fingers touch the hair, a step closer","shown_with":null},{"slug":"follow-shot","name":"Follow shot","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer walks in someone's footsteps and sees where they are going.","use_when":"Arrivals, a tour of a venue, behind-the-scenes content.","phrase":"follow shot from behind at shoulder height, the camera trails two metres behind her as she walks into the hall","pitfalls":[{"text":"Seen from behind, a real person keeps no likeness, which makes this shot safe when the face must stay unrecognisable.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Follow shot / over-the-shoulder","text":"follow shot from behind. Movement: move behind the subject along their route at shoulder height. Speed: match the subject's pace. Framing: keep the back, shoulder or head as the foreground guide while the route ahead stays readable. End: continue following with the subject leading the frame.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Follow shot / over-the-shoulder"],"related":["back-view","tracking-shot","reverse-tracking-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels behind the subject at shoulder height\n- **Pace:** the subject's pace\n- **Keep:** the back of the head and shoulder as a guide in the frame, the route ahead readable\n- **Ends:** still following, the subject leading","shown_with":null},{"slug":"foreground-layers","name":"Foreground layers","category":"composition","group":"Depth","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Something soft in front, the subject in the middle, the world behind: real depth.","use_when":"Any shot that feels flat, slider and dolly moves.","phrase":"a blurred glass in the foreground left, the woman sharp in the middle, the bar soft behind her","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["slider-shot","shallow-focus"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Film craft, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"slider-shot","name":"Slider","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Slider","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/12-slider-right-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"format-broll-voiceover","name":"B-roll with voice-over","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The words explain, the images prove.","use_when":"Product demos, processes, places.","phrase":"a voice-over carries the script while each line gets its own shot of the thing it talks about","pitfalls":[{"text":"A text-to-speech voice-over has a known script: lay it on the pauses in the audio instead of transcribing it.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["insert-shot","format-mixed"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-every-line-an-effect","name":"Every line an effect","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The density of effects is the content.","use_when":"Capability reels and list reels.","phrase":"a talking head where the edit does what the words say on every line, with a visible counter or checklist tracking progress","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured reference: 6.83 visual changes per 10 seconds, 8.3 percent of plays saved.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Not for emotional stories, testimonials or long explanations.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-ticking-effects-list","edit-does-the-word","checklist-tracker"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-face-cam","name":"Face cam","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A person talking to the viewer; the most trusted short-form format.","use_when":"Founders, experts, creators.","phrase":"the speaker talks into the lens from a medium close-up, cuts on every new sentence, text of the key word on screen","pitfalls":[{"text":"A still body reads as dead; give the speaker one small secondary action.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["medium-close-up","phone-selfie-rig","three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-generated-scenes","name":"Generated scenes cut to sound","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A story or a gag told in images nobody filmed.","use_when":"Spec ads, brand films, parables.","phrase":"AI-generated shots with no talking head, hard cuts landing on the beat or on a sound effect, one look block holding the look across all shots","pitfalls":[{"text":"Two measured references: 2.4 and 2.03 visual changes per 10 seconds, shots of 2.5 to 4 seconds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026 and Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Since 2 August 2026 AI-generated people in content are a labelling question in Europe; label generated footage.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Jean Phil"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-deadpan-spec-ad","edit-low-poly-parable","global-look-block","guide-seedance-2-5"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-green-screen","name":"Green screen","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The speaker stands in front of the evidence: a screenshot, an article, a chart.","use_when":"Commentary, news reactions, data.","phrase":"the speaker small in the lower corner, the screenshot or article filling the frame behind them","pitfalls":[{"text":"Use real screenshots; generated screens carry invented text.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["format-face-cam"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-mixed","name":"Face cam plus B-roll","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Trust from the face, proof from the images.","use_when":"Most brand content.","phrase":"the face for the hook and the ask, B-roll for the body, switching on every new point","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["format-face-cam","format-broll-voiceover"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-motion-graphics","name":"Type and shapes carry it","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"No footage at all: the design is the film.","use_when":"Launch films, feature drops, animated explainers.","phrase":"kinetic type, interface renders, product shots and transitions cut to music, with no live footage","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on a 40-second launch film: eight beats, two hard cuts, music only.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},{"text":"Use the real logo and real screenshots; without them a coding model draws a fake app and rebuilds the logo from shapes.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-code-motion-ad","preset-connector-launch","shape-morph","edit-canvas-tour","word-slide-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-reaction","name":"Reaction","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer watches someone else experience it.","use_when":"Reviews, reveals, duets.","phrase":"split screen: the clip on top, the person reacting below, the reaction starting half a beat after the moment","pitfalls":[{"text":"Reactions that arrive in sync with the clip read as fake.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield's tested UGC prompt via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["reaction-hook","late-reactions"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-screen-led","name":"The interface carries it","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The product explains itself.","use_when":"Product explainers and system walkthroughs.","phrase":"the face in the hook and at the end, the product's own interface teaching one concept per beat in between, definitions as cards","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured reference: a face in 6 percent of frames, 2.0 visual changes per 10 seconds, 5.0 percent of 791,000 plays saved.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Build the screens from the product's real interface or recordings, never an invented one.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-interface-as-teacher","edit-mock-client-call","preset-product-walkthrough","pov-phone-scroll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-selfie-native","name":"Handheld selfie in platform dress","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"It reads as a person, not a production.","use_when":"Creator updates, proof of a result, organic calls to action.","phrase":"a phone at arm's length, the room as it is, text in the platform's own styles, and recreated platform interface as inserts: a comment, a message, a notification","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured reference: 2.57 visual changes per 10 seconds, 10.3 times the account's median.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Not for corporate B2B, regulated sectors or any claim without real numbers.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-selfie-with-receipts","phone-selfie-rig","format-face-cam","platform-ui-receipts"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"format-stacked-board","name":"Speaker over a board","category":"format","group":"Formats","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A face for trust and a board for the content, both on screen the whole time.","use_when":"Tool tutorials and step lists.","phrase":"the frame split horizontally: the speaker in the top third as one continuous take, a board or screen recording below that changes on every point, captions on the seam","pitfalls":[{"text":"Two measured references: the board changes 4.7 times per 10 seconds under a filmed speaker, and 1.03 times under a cartoon presenter whose board is drawn live.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026 and Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stacked-speaker-board","edit-red-board-list","edit-avatar-drawn-board","format-green-screen"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"fpv-drone","name":"FPV drone","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Fast, banking, through gaps: adrenaline and spectacle.","use_when":"Sport, venues, tours through a building, energetic brand films.","phrase":"first-person drone flight, fast and low, banking through the doorway and along the corridor","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["drone-push-in","pass-through"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** flies fast and low, banking through gaps\n- **Pace:** fast\n- **Keep:** the route ahead visible through every turn\n- **Ends:** through the last opening","shown_with":{"slug":"drone-push-in","name":"Drone push in","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Drone push in","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/26-drone-push-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/26-drone-push-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"frame-within-frame","name":"Frame within a frame","category":"composition","group":"Depth","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A doorway or window frames the subject; depth and focus.","use_when":"Interiors, voyeuristic or observational shots, storytelling.","phrase":"seen through the open doorway, the doorframe dark around the edges, her at the kitchen table inside","pitfalls":[{"text":"A viewpoint with a reason holds: say who is looking through the doorway.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["leading-lines","push-past"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Film craft, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"push-past","name":"Push past","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Push past","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail","name":"Frame 0 is the thumbnail","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The first frame already says what the video is about, in the feed and on the profile grid.","use_when":"Every video that will be judged by its cover.","phrase":"the hook line in large type behind the speaker's head, readable on the very first frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Show only the first frame for two seconds and ask what it is about. No answer means the visual hook fails.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"Eight of the nine measured reference edits start the first spoken word at 0.0 seconds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["type-behind-head","map-in-frame-zero","text-first-hook","two-second-frame-test"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) and Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"framing-first","name":"Framing first","category":"composition","group":"Rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The model keeps the frame you asked for instead of cropping to its favourite portrait.","use_when":"Every prompt where the framing matters.","phrase":"open the prompt with the framing and a test: full figure, if her shoes are not visible it is wrong","pitfalls":[{"text":"Without the framing as the opening block, a full figure is cropped to a portrait.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["full-shot","grid-position"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"framing-label","name":"Framing label","category":"composition","group":"Rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"One short line fixes the frame: how big, from which side, from which height, with which lens.","use_when":"The opening line of any shot prompt; a shared language between the brief and the prompt.","phrase":"medium shot, front three-quarter left, eye level, 35mm","pitfalls":[{"text":"Sizes: close-up, medium, medium-wide, wide. Sides: front, front three-quarter, profile, rear three-quarter, back. Heights: ground level, eye level, high angle. Keep this order every time.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage"},{"text":"Put the framing first in the prompt; without it a full figure is cropped to a portrait.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["framing-first","three-quarter-view","rear-three-quarter-view","ground-level"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Label structure from Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"frustration","name":"Frustration","category":"expression","group":"Anger","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Effort that keeps failing; very relatable.","use_when":"Problem-solution ads, tech that does not work, before and after.","phrase":"the eyes shut tight, the jaw grinds from side to side, a hard breath through the nose, one head shake, then the head drops back with a long defeated exhale","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Frustration","text":"The eyes clamp shut, the jaw slides from side to side, a sharp breath pushes through the nose, and the head shakes once. The head tips back as one long defeated breath leaves the tension in the face.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/17-frustration.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Effort turns to defeat","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/17-frustration.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/17-frustration-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/17-frustration.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/17-frustration-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["rage","exhaustion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** a sharp breath out through the nose, the lips press flat, a quick head shake\n- **Medium:** the eyes shut tight, the jaw grinds from side to side, a hard breath through the nose, one head shake, then the head drops back with a long defeated exhale\n- **Explosive:** both hands drag down the face, a groan, the phone pushed away across the table, the body slumps back in the chair","shown_with":null},{"slug":"full-shot","name":"Full shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows the whole body, so posture, outfit and the way someone stands carry the message.","use_when":"Fashion, uniforms and workwear, a person next to a product of human size.","phrase":"full shot, the person seen from head to shoes with a strip of floor below the feet","pitfalls":[{"text":"Without a framing rule the model crops a full figure to a portrait. Put the framing first, with a test: if the shoes are not visible, it is wrong.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["wide-shot","medium-wide-shot","cowboy-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"global-look-block","name":"The look block","category":"look","group":"How to use","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Several generations look like one film because each was told it is the same film.","use_when":"Any video made from more than one generation.","phrase":"one paragraph with the camera, the lens, the stock, the light and the grade, pasted word for word into every prompt of the job","pitfalls":[{"text":"Write it from a real reference frame and its data (camera, lens, stock, light, time of day), not from adjectives.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Name the look in the prompt and still grade in the edit: generated clips drift in colour between generations, and one matching pass makes them read as one film.","evidence":"measured","source":"The Director Chair colour grading guide"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["look-brand-film","screen-direction"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"golden-hour","name":"Golden hour","category":"time","group":"Daylight","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Warm, low, long-shadowed light: nostalgia, warmth, a good life.","use_when":"Lifestyle, outdoor brands, hospitality, real estate.","phrase":"golden hour, the sun low behind her on the left, long shadows across the grass, warm light on her hair","pitfalls":[{"text":"Not by default: use the light the place actually has. Golden hour on every scene reads as AI.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Bathe the scene in the warm, diffused light of golden hour, casting long, soft shadows and highlighting the subject with a honey-colored glow.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["blue-hour","rim-light","high-noon"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"grade-wipe","name":"Grade wipe (before and after)","category":"effect","group":"Zooms and reframes","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees what a look does in one sweep.","use_when":"Colour, retouching, any before and after on the same shot.","phrase":"a vertical line sweeps across her face from left to right, the ungraded footage on one side and the graded look on the other","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["high-contrast-hook","global-look-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured). No pitfall with evidence yet"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"grid-assemble","name":"Photo grid that assembles","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Many images arrive as one composed wall, with one hero among them.","use_when":"Portfolios, case montages, product ranges.","phrase":"a grid of photos assembles tile by tile with a small rise and fade, one tile twice the size of the rest, each photo drifting slowly","pitfalls":[{"text":"In our teardown of 30 showreel templates the repeated signatures were staggered spring entrances and a slow drift on every photo.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ken-burns-still","reel-grid-proof","ease-never-linear"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"grid-position","name":"Grid position","category":"composition","group":"Rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Puts things exactly where you want them in the frame.","use_when":"Layouts with room for text, product placement, matching a design.","phrase":"her feet on line 88 of 100 from the top, everything below empty","pitfalls":[{"text":"Positions on a grid landed first time where margins and angles in numbers were ignored over four rounds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["framing-first","negative-space"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ground-level","name":"Ground level","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The lens sits on the floor; the ground stretches toward the viewer and people tower.","use_when":"Sneakers, pets, kids' perspective, dramatic product shots on the floor.","phrase":"camera at ground level, the lens just above the floor looking forward, the floor running toward the lens","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ground level looks forward; a worm's-eye view looks up. Name which one.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["worms-eye-view","low-tracking-shot","low-angle"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Height value from Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"low-tracking-shot","name":"Low tracking","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Low tracking","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"guide-gpt-image","name":"Prompt guide: GPT Image 2.5","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Clean designed images with correct text.","use_when":"Images with words on them, mock-ups, layouts, a comparison image.","phrase":"say what the image is for, then the visible details, then the exact text in quotes with position, then a short list of what must not appear","pitfalls":[{"text":"Unlike Nano Banana, exclusions work here when they are short and grouped.","evidence":"vendor","source":"OpenAI image prompting guide via Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"A city name gave the wrong city. Describe the materials and the street instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-stills","guide-nano-banana-pro"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"vendor","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"## The prompt, in order\n\n1. **What the image is for:** a product photograph, an advertisement, a diagram.\n2. **The visible details:** materials, light, colours, medium, scale.\n3. **People:** framing of the body, relative size, where they look, what they do with objects.\n4. **Text:** the exact words in quotes, with position and type; unusual words and brand names spelled letter by letter.\n5. **Exclusions,** short and grouped: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.\n\n## Edits\nChange one thing per round and repeat the list of what must stay (identity, layout, light, labels) every round; details drift across repeated edits.\n\n## What we measured (Sep 2026)\nA city name drew the wrong city's architecture; name the materials instead (brick with blue stone).","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guide-kling-3","name":"Prompt guide: Kling 3.0","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Short shots that move cleanly without the camera wandering.","use_when":"Single shots of 3 to 10 seconds, start-to-end frame moves, a new setting behind a real person.","phrase":"the subject, what it visibly does, the scene, then the camera move, the light and the mood, in simple sentences","pitfalls":[{"text":"Kling says itself that its models are not sensitive to numbers; describe instead of counting.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-video","static-shot"],"rights":"vendor-summary","evidence":"vendor","source":{"url":"https://kling.ai/","note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## The prompt, in order\n\n1. **Subject** with the same descriptor every time it is mentioned.\n2. **Visible action:** what the body does, not what the person feels.\n3. **Scene.**\n4. **Camera language:** one main move.\n5. **Light and mood.**\n\n## Multi-shot\nGive each shot its duration, framing, angle, action and move. Label every speaker and write the action before the line.\n\n## Weak spots\nCounts are unreliable, complex physics is hard, and character drift is the biggest problem; repeat the same descriptor.","shown_with":{"slug":"static-shot","name":"Static shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Static shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"guide-look-from-film-still","name":"A look from a real film frame","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The colour grade and the camera feel sit in the prompt instead of being hoped for.","use_when":"Any job with a defined look: brand films, ads, a series of generations that must match.","phrase":"find the frame that has the register, read its data (camera, lens, stock, light, time of day, colours), and write the look block from that data, not from adjectives","pitfalls":[{"text":"Name what not to take from the still (its people, its place, its text); a foreign reference leaks its own content into the picture.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["global-look-block","look-brand-film","look-film-print"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Our workflow from Director Chair notes on Reference and inspiration sites for AI video (Rourke Heath's method); the sites are where you search"},"body":"## The steps\n\n1. **Find the frame.** Search a film-still library (ShotDeck, paid; Flim, a free tier with one download a day) or scroll it like a feed and keep the frames that stop you.\n2. **Read its data.** ShotDeck shows a data panel per still: colour, aspect ratio, format, lighting, time of day, camera, lenses, film stock. Note those values; on Flim, describe them yourself.\n3. **Write the look block:** the capture (camera, lenses, stock, ratio), the light (type, time of day), the grade as words with their place in the frame, the hex codes beside them for the edit.\n4. **Paste it word for word** into every prompt of the job.\n5. **Optionally attach the still** as a look reference: take its light, lens character and grade, none of its people or its place.\n\nA film still is someone else's copyright: a reference for the look, never material in the output, and never published.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guide-nano-banana-pro","name":"Prompt guide: Nano Banana Pro","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Stills that hold the reference and do not look generated.","use_when":"Every still made with Nano Banana Pro or Nano Banana 2.","phrase":"reference roles first, then one paragraph that opens on the register, then a capture line, then any text in quotes","pitfalls":[{"text":"Comma lists of tags work worse than full sentences joined into a paragraph.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Google's Nano Banana Pro prompting tips via Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"A ban on something the scene implies summons it. Describe what is there instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-stills","framing-first","window-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"vendor","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"## The prompt, in order\n\n1. **Reference roles,** one line each, including what not to take from each image (keep the face, do not take the background).\n2. **One paragraph of full sentences,** never a comma list: the register first (candid, editorial, documentary), then the subject in a physical state doing one thing, the real place, where the camera stands, the light and where it comes from.\n3. **A capture line:** lens, aperture or depth, grain or none, the grade, the direction of the light.\n4. **Text** in quotes with its position. Otherwise signs, screens and packaging carry no letters.\n\n## What we measured (June to Sep 2026)\n\n- Early words weigh most: the register goes in the first sentence.\n- Positive descriptions beat bans; an exclusion works for what not to take from a reference and for an attribute of a named object.\n- The same prompt in another ratio drifts; give the approved image back as a reference.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guide-seedance-2-5","name":"Prompt guide: Seedance 2.5","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Scenes of up to 30 seconds that hold their characters, look and timing.","use_when":"Multi-shot scenes, dialogue, ads with a story, edits on real footage.","phrase":"one continuous block in labelled sections: the look first, the scene, the cast, the place, the first frame and who stands where, then each shot on its own timecode, then optics, camera, physics, light, and the sound last","pitfalls":[{"text":"Skip a section and the output fails in a predictable way; the tested prompts include all of them.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"},{"text":"When the lines come back scrambled or the speech speeds up, the prompt asks for more than the duration holds; split the scene.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-video","global-look-block","cast-block","screen-direction"],"rights":"vendor-summary","evidence":"vendor","source":{"url":"https://higgsfield.ai/blog/seedance-2-5-prompting-guide","note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the Higgsfield guide summary"},"body":"## The prompt, in order\n\n1. **Global look:** camera, lens, stock, light, grade, one block, the same words in every prompt of the job.\n2. **Scene:** what happens, in two sentences.\n3. **Cast:** one line per person with only what never changes, plus their voice.\n4. **Place:** the location, its light, what is in it.\n5. **First frame and blocking:** who stands where, as positions in the frame.\n6. **Shots:** each with its own timecode, framing, action and the kind of cut into the next.\n7. **Optics and camera:** field of view in degrees plus distance; one main move per shot.\n8. **Physics and light:** what changes one way only, what repeats as a rule, where the light comes from.\n9. **Sound:** ambience, effects, music, the spoken lines with their delivery.\n\nEvery rule that must never break gets its own named lock (how many people exist, who stays on which side).\n\n## Lengths\nOne generation holds about 30 seconds. A longer script is split at a hand-off into parts that cut together, each carrying the same look and cast blocks.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guide-shot-from-first-frame","name":"Prompt a shot from your own first frame","category":"guide","group":"Which model","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Prompts that keep the camera, the picture and the acting apart, so you can swap one without breaking the others.","use_when":"Every image-to-video job and every still built shot by shot.","phrase":"start frame attached; then four separate parts: the subject, the place, the camera move, the look; and the action of the person on its own line","pitfalls":[{"text":"In image-to-video, spend the words on what happens; the start frame already carries the look, the identity and the composition.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["framing-label","what-moves-what-stays","global-look-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Structure as on the aicameramovements prompt builder and the Camera Control fields (both read 13 Oct 2026), in our own words"},"body":"## The parts, kept apart\n\n1. **First frame or blocking.** Attach your start image, or block the frame first in a 3D stage (Camera Control) and export it as the composition reference.\n2. **Subject** and **place**: only what the image does not already show.\n3. **Camera move:** one move, written as a move card (camera, pace, keep, ends).\n4. **Action:** what the person does, as behaviour with a trigger.\n5. **Look:** the job's look sentence, the same in every prompt.\n6. **Sheets:** say whether a character sheet or an environment sheet is attached, and give each its role.\n\nBoth free tools we point to work this way: the move library keeps the camera line apart from the scene, and the 3D stage asks for subject, environment, camera move and look as separate fields.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guide-veo-3-1","name":"Prompt guide: Veo 3.1","category":"guide","group":"Prompt guides","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The most realistic motion and sound from one start frame.","use_when":"One continuous action of 8 seconds or less from an approved still.","phrase":"the camera first, then the action in order with its pace, then the sound in its own sentence, then what stays as in the start image, then the look sentence","pitfalls":[{"text":"Veo has no end frame. For a shot that must land on a specific image, use Kling 3.0 with start and end.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Check the delivered resolution per run; one campaign came back at 1280 by 720.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["which-model-for-video","what-moves-what-stays"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"vendor","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## The prompt, in order\n\n1. **Camera first,** one move or a hold. The first thing named gets the most attention.\n2. **The action as behaviour, in order,** with its pace and where it ends.\n3. **The sound** in its own sentence: the ambience, the one effect that matters, the spoken line and how it is said.\n4. **What stays:** framing and subject as in the start image.\n5. **The look** as one sentence, the same in every clip of the job.\n\n## Notes\nThe start frame carries the look and the detail; keep the Veo prompt simple. For dialogue, keep speech under 8 seconds and ask for no subtitles.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"guilt","name":"Guilt","category":"expression","group":"Sadness","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The weight of having done something wrong.","use_when":"Confessions, honest brand stories, comedy of being caught.","phrase":"the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Guilt","text":"The mouth opens but no words come. The eyes slide down and away, the head lowers, a hard swallow moves through the throat, and one hand reaches to the back of the neck. The gaze stays on the floor.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/20-guilt.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"The truth weighs down","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/20-guilt-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["embarrassment","sadness"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyes slide away from the other person, the lips tighten, a small swallow\n- **Medium:** the mouth opens to speak and closes again, the gaze drops to the floor and stays there, the head lowers, the throat moves on a hard swallow, a hand rubs the back of the neck\n- **Explosive:** the face turns fully away, both hands cover the mouth, the eyes squeeze shut, the shoulders curl in","shown_with":null},{"slug":"hand-drawn-touch","name":"One hand-drawn touch","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A clean animation gets a human mark, so it does not feel sterile.","use_when":"Polished product videos and launch films.","phrase":"a hand-drawn underline swoops under one word of the headline as it lands","pitfalls":[{"text":"One deliberate touch, in two reference launch clips an underline and a handwritten signature. The same teardown puts the expensive look down to restraint plus craft, not busy effects.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["live-markup","word-slide-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Feels present and real, as if someone is standing there filming.","use_when":"Documentary, behind the scenes, testimonials with a real feel, creator-style content.","phrase":"handheld shot at the operator's chest height, small natural sway and micro-corrections, the subject stays readable","pitfalls":[{"text":"Handheld movement hides small generation artefacts in the motion; a stabilised camera can look floaty.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Handheld shot","text":"handheld shot. Movement: hold the camera at human operator height with natural body movement. Speed: responsive and organic. Framing: keep the subject readable while the frame has subtle sway and micro-adjustments. End: finish with a natural handheld composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Human Camera","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Handheld shot"],"related":["static-shot","phone-selfie-rig","chase-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** held by a person at chest height\n- **Pace:** natural, responsive\n- **Keep:** the subject readable with a little sway and small corrections\n- **Ends:** a natural handheld frame","shown_with":null},{"slug":"hard-cut","name":"Hard cut","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Nothing softens the change, so attention goes straight to what happens next.","use_when":"Ads played straight, talking heads, most short-form edits.","phrase":"hard cut on the action, no transition effect between the shots","pitfalls":[{"text":"Our own 25-second spec ad uses hard cuts only, each on the action: 2.4 visual changes per 10 seconds, median shot 2.57 seconds. Any other transition is listed as a failure of that style.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Hard cuts land on movement or a beat, never on a still pose.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cut-on-action","jump-cut","title-card-on-black"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 (our own film) and Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"helicopter-shot","name":"Helicopter shot","category":"move","group":"Drone and crane","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Wide, high, sweeping: the epic overview.","use_when":"Cities, coastlines, events, big openers.","phrase":"helicopter shot from high altitude, the camera sweeps slowly along the coastline, the town small below","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Helicopter shot","text":"helicopter-style aerial shot. Movement: move from high altitude along a broad gradual flight path. Speed: steady controlled aerial motion. Framing: keep the landscape or distant moving subject readable at wide scale. End: finish on a stable high-altitude composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/27-helicopter-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Drone/Crane","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/27-helicopter-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/27-helicopter-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/27-helicopter-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/27-helicopter-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Helicopter shot"],"related":["birds-eye-view","drone-pull-back"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** flies high on a long, broad path\n- **Pace:** steady\n- **Keep:** the landscape or a distant subject readable at large scale\n- **Ends:** a stable high view","shown_with":null},{"slug":"high-angle","name":"High angle","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Makes the subject smaller or more vulnerable, or gives an overview of what they are doing.","use_when":"Someone at work at a desk or table, a crowd, a moment of doubt.","phrase":"high angle, the camera above his head looking down at him at the desk","pitfalls":[{"text":"Angles given in degrees and margins given as numbers are often ignored. Describe where the lens is against the body (at knee height, above her head) instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Position the camera at a high angle looking down, emphasizing the subject's vulnerability or integration into the ground.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["top-down","birds-eye-view","eye-level"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"high-contrast-hook","name":"Before and after in one frame","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The difference is the message, and it is seen in one look.","use_when":"Transformations, price comparisons, old way against new way.","phrase":"split screen: the cluttered desk on the left, the same desk cleared on the right, the same framing and the same light","pitfalls":[{"text":"Position against the old way or the whole category, not a named competitor.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["match-cut","contrast-hook","grade-wipe"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"high-noon","name":"High noon","category":"time","group":"Daylight","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Harsh, bright and honest; short hard shadows, high contrast.","use_when":"Summer, sport, beach, heat, documentary truth.","phrase":"high noon, the sun straight overhead, short hard shadows under her feet, squinting eyes","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill (soft overcast key from frame left).","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Simulate the harsh, direct lighting of high noon, creating high-contrast scenes with short, sharp shadows and bright highlights.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["golden-hour"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"honest-tension","name":"Borrow the tension, never the lie","category":"hook","group":"The rule","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer gets the pull of a risky moment without being deceived, so the trust survives the reach.","use_when":"Any hook built on danger, conflict or a mishap.","phrase":"show the real risk of the trade safely: the roofer clipped to a harness at the ridge, the drop visible behind him","pitfalls":[{"text":"No fake news, fake emergencies or staged danger in real traffic. Show the trade's real risk safely, or generate the image and label it as AI.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"An advert is marked as one, and a brand speaks from its own account, never as a fake bystander.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Footage is your own, the client's or licensed. Learn from a viral clip, measure it, then recreate the structure with your own material.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stakes-in-frame-zero","conflict-hook","bystander-caption","brand-as-the-twist"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"hook-rate-and-hold-rate","name":"Hook rate and hold rate","category":"publish","group":"Reading the numbers","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Tells you which part of a paid video leaks.","use_when":"Reading Meta ad results.","phrase":"hook rate is three-second views divided by impressions; hold rate is the share that keeps watching past the opening","pitfalls":[{"text":"Practitioner bands for Meta, directional only since Meta publishes no benchmark: a hook rate under 25 percent is weak and 30 to 40 good; a hold rate under 15 percent is weak and about 25 good.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"TikTok's view rates divide by views, not impressions, so these bands do not transfer. Compare within one placement.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"Judge a creative on conversions, not on the hook rate of an ad that spent 200 dollars.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["read-two-numbers","test-matrix-one-variable"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"hook-three-jobs","name":"A hook has three jobs","category":"hook","group":"The rule","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The right viewer feels seen and stays; the wrong one leaves early.","use_when":"Writing and judging any hook.","phrase":"one short visual, one spoken sentence and one line on screen in the first three seconds, all saying the same thing to one kind of viewer","pitfalls":[{"text":"The three jobs: stop the scroll, filter the audience, earn the next five seconds. Without the filter it is clickbait; without the third it does not convert.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"},{"text":"When picture and text disagree, the picture wins the memory.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["three-layer-hook","setting-as-targeting","direct-address"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"human-operator-rule","name":"A person holds the camera","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Footage reads as filmed by someone who was there.","use_when":"Found-footage, phone and documentary registers.","phrase":"an unseen person films; the camera flinches back when the cup overflows and then re-centres; no recording graphics on the picture","pitfalls":[{"text":"One behaviour per clip. Name its trigger in the scene and the operator's correction after it; follow it once and finish on its result.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Add a line that bans recording graphics: indicators, timestamps, battery icons, focus brackets, grids, borders and subtitles. Imperfection has to come from how the camera moves, focuses and exposes, never from drawn-on graphics.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"A separate, unseen person films; the subject never holds the camera.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},{"text":"Shown by a sponsored creator as straight out of Seedance 2.5 at 1080p; not yet run by us.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["handheld-shot","lagging-handheld-rig","crash-zoom","whip-pan"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 realism (Dan Kieft)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Handheld","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"hyperlapse","name":"Hyperlapse","category":"motion","group":"Speed","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A moving time-lapse: the camera travels a long way in a few seconds.","use_when":"City tours, journeys, travel brands.","phrase":"hyperlapse, the camera moves along the canal from one bridge to the next while hours pass, steady and fast","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["time-lapse","tracking-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"time-lapse","name":"Time-lapse","category":"motion","label":"Shown with: Time-lapse","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"impossible-image","name":"The image nobody could film","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer stops for a picture that cannot exist, which is the reason to use generated video at all.","use_when":"Brand films, product launches, openers made with AI video.","phrase":"a river of oranges flows down the escalator of an empty shopping centre, filmed from the bottom step","pitfalls":[{"text":"The image has to lead to the message. An interrupt with no link to it loses viewers at 5 to 10 seconds.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Label generated footage as AI wherever it could be taken for real.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["contrast-ladder","curiosity-object","preset-spec-commercial"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (the pattern comes from a video-ad guide summarised there)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"infinite-zoom","name":"Infinite zoom","category":"move","group":"Specials","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"One unbroken dive from one world into the next.","use_when":"Transitions, storytelling openers, playful brand films.","phrase":"infinite zoom into the centre of the round window until the scene behind it fills the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Match cuts and dives need a shape rhyme: push into a round shape or an eye until it fills the frame, then come out in the next scene.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Infinite zoom","text":"infinite zoom. Movement: zoom continuously inward toward the exact center target. Speed: smooth accelerating zoom. Framing: keep the circular target centered as it expands. End: finish when the next visual world fills the frame.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s3-infinite-zoom-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s3-infinite-zoom-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s3-infinite-zoom-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s3-infinite-zoom-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s3-infinite-zoom-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Infinite zoom"],"related":["earth-zoom-out","pass-through"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** dives toward the exact centre without stopping\n- **Pace:** speeding up\n- **Keep:** the round target centred as it grows\n- **Ends:** inside the next world","shown_with":null},{"slug":"inline-tokens","name":"Live tokens inside the headline","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The sentence is the caption and the token is the proof, read in one glance.","use_when":"Launch films and product ads with real data.","phrase":"the headline swaps a word for a live element: their traffic, then a small sparkline with its figure, then the words a month","pitfalls":[{"text":"Build the tokens from the product's real data, marks and screens; an invented interface is a house failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["tool-call-label","count-up-number","preset-connector-launch"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"insert-on-the-word","name":"Insert on the word","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The thing appears when it is named, so the viewer never has to imagine it.","use_when":"Screenshots, product shots and logos in a talking-head edit.","phrase":"the screenshot of the repository appears on the board at the word GitHub and stays for three seconds","pitfalls":[{"text":"When filming, say this screen, this number, this photo. The edit places the insert on those words.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"Inserts are real assets: screenshots, the product's own interface, photos, logos from the brand's files.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"An insert never covers the face.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-broll-pass","live-markup","format-green-screen"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"insert-shot","name":"Insert shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows the viewer the one object the story needs them to notice.","use_when":"A phone screen, a label, a button being pressed, the hand placing the product.","phrase":"insert shot of a hand pressing the button, only the hand and the device in frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"A hand that enters from the side of the frame gets a body attached. Let it enter from the bottom edge.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Generated screens and labels carry invented text. Leave the screen content out of the prompt and place the real screen in the edit.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["extreme-close-up","pov-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"j-and-l-cut","name":"J cut and L cut","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Sound and picture change at different moments, so a cut feels like a conversation and not a switch.","use_when":"Dialogue, interviews, voice-over that leads into the next scene.","phrase":"J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face","pitfalls":[{"text":"An automatic word-based edit makes straight cuts only; our editor cuts every segment straight with an 8 millisecond audio fade and lists J and L cuts as not done.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["listener-acts","late-reactions"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Definitions from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"jump-cut","name":"Jump cut","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Takes the dead air out of one take; the speaker sounds quick and unpolished in a way viewers trust.","use_when":"Face cam, between sentences of the same take.","phrase":"jump cut between sentences of the same take, the framing unchanged, the pause between them removed","pitfalls":[{"text":"Propose the removals before cutting: pauses longer than 0.35 seconds trimmed to 0.12, filler words and restarted phrases. A false start can be the joke, so a person decides per cut.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing (our editing defaults)"},{"text":"Pair it with a punch-in on every other segment, for example 1.12 times, when the take is sharp enough to crop.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["punch-in","hard-cut","format-face-cam"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Definition from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos; use from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ken-burns-still","name":"Ken Burns on a still","category":"effect","group":"Zooms and reframes","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A photo gains depth and time.","use_when":"Photo galleries, case montages, archive material.","phrase":"a slow push and pan across the still photo, which resolves from blurred and dim to sharp as it appears","pitfalls":[{"text":"In our teardown of 30 showreel templates the repeated signatures were a slow Ken Burns on every photo and a blur-in on photo reveals.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["slow-drift","slow-zoom-in"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"slow-zoom-in","name":"Slow zoom in","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Slow zoom in","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"kodak-portra-400","name":"Kodak Portra 400","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Warm, soft skin tones and a nostalgic photo feel.","use_when":"Lifestyle portraits, fashion, weddings, travel.","phrase":"shot on Kodak Portra 400 film, warm natural skin, soft pastel colours, fine grain","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. 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On deeper skin an aggressive orange push over-saturates and loses shadow detail.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair colour grading guide (Lift Gamma Gain thread)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["look-blockbuster","golden-hour"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own synthesis in the Director Chair colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"look-training","name":"Training and instructional","category":"look","group":"By setting","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Clarity over mood: every control and sign easy to read.","use_when":"Training videos, how-tos, safety content.","phrase":"even bright light, accurate colours of controls and signs, no stylised contrast, nothing hidden in shadow","pitfalls":[{"text":"If the viewer notices the grade, it is too strong; dial it back about half when in doubt.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Vidar Andersen via the Director Chair colour grading guide"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["look-corporate","softbox-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own synthesis in the Director Chair colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"look-warm-nostalgia","name":"Warm nostalgia","category":"look","group":"Named looks","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Golden, soft and familiar: memory and comfort.","use_when":"Family brands, food, heritage, hospitality.","phrase":"warm golden tones, soft contrast, slightly lifted shadows, gentle grain","pitfalls":[{"text":"A tint, faded blacks, a strong split tone and grain on every pixel reads as an old phone filter, not as a grade. The work is local: face against background.","evidence":"measured","source":"The Director Chair colour grading guide (three rejected looks, 24 Sep 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film and ad stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["golden-hour","kodak-portra-400"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own synthesis in the Director Chair colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"loop-close","name":"Loop back to frame one","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The end hands over to the beginning, so a replay starts without a seam.","use_when":"Short explainers and posts that autoplay on repeat.","phrase":"the last frame returns to the opening frame: the same map of all seven steps, the presenter in the same corner","pitfalls":[{"text":"A measured step explainer ends on the map it opened with, so the loop restarts cleanly.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"For a looping post, rotate the render so frame 0, which the feed shows before playback, is the busiest moment.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["map-in-frame-zero","canvas-move"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"loudness-target","name":"Loudness target","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The video sits at the level of its neighbours in the feed and does not distort.","use_when":"Every export.","phrase":"export at -14 LUFS integrated with the true peak at or under -1.5 dBTP","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured across nine reference edits: integrated loudness runs from -18.7 to -8.2 LUFS, and six of them sit between -15.2 and -14.1.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (nine entries, measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"-14 LUFS is a common convention for social video, not a figure the platforms publish for uploads. The true peak matters most.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"Our own spec ad was exported at -8.2 LUFS with a true peak of +0.4 dBTP, over full scale, which clips.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["voice-chain","music-under-voice"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"low-angle","name":"Low angle","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Makes the subject bigger, stronger and more important.","use_when":"Hero shots of a product or a founder, architecture, sport.","phrase":"low angle, the camera below her at knee height looking up, the ceiling behind her head","pitfalls":[{"text":"Angles given in degrees and margins given as numbers are often ignored. Describe where the lens is against the body (at knee height, above her head) instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"A product meant to look tall needs its height against a person (it reaches her shoulder), not in metres.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Shoot from a dramatic low angle, looking up at the subject to make them appear dominant and powerful.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["worms-eye-view","cowboy-shot","eye-level"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"low-key-light","name":"Low-key contrast","category":"light","group":"Studio","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Mostly shadow with a few lit areas: drama, mystery, premium.","use_when":"Luxury products, drama, night portraits.","phrase":"low-key light, one hard light from high on the right, most of the frame in deep shadow, only her face and hands lit","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill (soft overcast key from frame left).","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rembrandt-light","silhouette"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec (its 'cinematic' setup), renamed to the physical description"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"low-tracking-shot","name":"Low tracking","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Puts the viewer at ground level with feet, paws or wheels; energy and texture.","use_when":"Shoes, skateboards, pets, product shots on the move.","phrase":"low tracking shot, the camera travels a hand's height above the ground next to her feet as she walks","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Low tracking","text":"low tracking shot. Movement: move at ground or below-waist height alongside the subject's movement path. Speed: match the subject, footsteps or wheels. Framing: keep the low detail readable while the ground plane moves through frame. End: finish with the low perspective clearly maintained.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/20-low-tracking-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Low tracking"],"related":["tracking-shot","worms-eye-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels close to the ground beside the subject\n- **Pace:** the pace of the feet or wheels\n- **Keep:** the ground rushing through the lower frame\n- **Ends:** still low, still moving","shown_with":null},{"slug":"macro-lens","name":"Macro","category":"lens","group":"Special","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Reveals texture the eye never sees: pores, fibres, droplets.","use_when":"Product detail, ingredients, beauty, nature.","phrase":"macro lens a few centimetres from the surface, the texture of the fabric filling the frame, a thin slice in focus","pitfalls":[{"text":"A macro shot pulls texture detail such as skin pores; combine it with an unretouched-skin line or it turns plastic.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Use a macro lens to reveal microscopic textures and details invisible to the naked eye.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["extreme-close-up","shallow-focus"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"magazine-cover-hook","name":"Magazine cover open","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The first frame looks designed and finished, like the cover of something worth opening.","use_when":"Talking-head reels, a series with a recurring look.","phrase":"a full magazine cover behind the speaker on the first frame: masthead, date line, three cover lines, the speaker as the cover photo","pitfalls":[{"text":"The cover lines have to be readable on frame 0 at phone size; that frame is the thumbnail.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail","type-behind-head"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from frames; no result for this effect was measured)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"map-in-frame-zero","name":"The whole list as a map in frame 0","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The thumbnail promises completeness, which is a reason to save.","use_when":"Step lists, tutorials, process explainers.","phrase":"the first frame shows the entire board zoomed out, the title and all ten numbered steps, before the camera goes to step one","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured: 11 percent of plays saved at 72 times the account's median for a ten-step board; 6.2 percent saved for a seven-step canvas.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026 and Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Frame 0 showing a single step is a listed failure of both styles.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["canvas-move","visible-counter","loop-close","edit-red-board-list"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"match-cut","name":"Match cut","category":"transition","group":"Cuts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Two different things read as one, because shape, position and movement line up across the cut.","use_when":"Before and after, old way and new way, one product in two states.","phrase":"match cut: end on the round lid filling the centre of the frame, start the next shot on the round table seen from above at the same size and position","pitfalls":[{"text":"For a true match cut the same element sits at the same position and scale at the end of one shot and at the start of the next.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"The short-form version is the same framing with different content: lock the camera and change only the subject.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cut-on-action","shape-morph","high-contrast-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"match-frame-to-footage","name":"Animation into real footage","category":"transition","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The animated product becomes the real one without a visible join.","use_when":"Animated ads that end on a filmed product or person.","phrase":"the animation ends on exactly this still, and the filmed clip starts on the same frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give the builder the target still first and design the ending backwards from it: pull the exact frame, measure the object in it, then check the frame-to-frame difference at the join.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"In the creator's own example the first render had the wrong product details. Hold the real product next to the render before trusting the join.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["match-cut","shape-morph"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"medium-close-up","name":"Medium close-up","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Puts the attention on the face while the shoulders and chest still show posture.","use_when":"Testimonials, the key line of an interview, a reaction.","phrase":"medium close-up, framed from mid-chest up, the eyes in the upper third of the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Describe the frame spatially (framed from mid-chest up). A ban such as no hands is often ignored.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["medium-shot","close-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"medium-shot","name":"Medium shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Conversational distance: the viewer sees the face and the hands, as if talking across a table.","use_when":"Interviews, talking-head ads, explainers in a creator style.","phrase":"medium shot, framed from the waist up, the person off-centre with a little space above the head","pitfalls":[{"text":"For a candid creator look, keep the person at 50 to 65 percent of the frame, not 85 to 95, and avoid eye contact unless they talk to camera.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (ad work)"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Frame the subject in a medium shot from the waist up, balancing their expression with a glimpse of the background.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["medium-close-up","medium-wide-shot","two-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"medium-wide-shot","name":"Medium wide shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Keeps body language and the space around the person while the face stays readable.","use_when":"Two people working together, a presenter beside a product on a table.","phrase":"medium wide shot, the person framed from the knees up, the table and what is on it in frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Describe where the frame cuts the body (from the knees up). A ban such as no feet tends to be ignored.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["full-shot","cowboy-shot","medium-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"mistake-calling","name":"Mistake calling","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Tells the viewer they are probably doing something wrong; they check.","use_when":"Tips, how-tos, product comparisons.","phrase":"you are writing your video prompts in the wrong order, and it is why the faces keep changing","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"movement-opener","name":"Movement opener","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Motion in the first frame catches the eye.","use_when":"Any opening shot.","phrase":"the speaker steps into the frame toward the lens on the first frame, never a static start","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["dolly-in","three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly in (push in)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"music-mood-by-content","name":"Music mood by kind of video","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The music says what kind of video this is before a word does.","use_when":"Briefing or generating a music bed.","phrase":"a subtle tension beat that builds, instrumental, under a data reveal","pitfalls":[{"text":"Describe the mood, not a specific track: trending sounds are short-lived.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"},{"text":"Music can be written to the cut: one section per scene, each with its own length, so the score changes on the cuts.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["music-under-voice","cut-on-the-beat"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"## Starting points\n\n| Kind of video | Mood |\n|---|---|\n| Data reveal, myth busting | a subtle tension beat that builds |\n| Review reaction | light, upbeat, curious |\n| How-to, tutorial | clean, energetic, modern |\n| User story | warm, acoustic, human |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"music-under-voice","name":"Music bed under the voice","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Carries the mood without costing a word.","use_when":"Stories, diaries and ads; often left out of teaching videos.","phrase":"an instrumental bed under the voice, lowered whenever she speaks","pitfalls":[{"text":"Three of the nine measured reference edits have clean silences between the words, a sound floor under -48 dBFS, so no continuous bed. They are the three teaching boards.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (nine entries, measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"The framework's rule of thumb is music at 10 to 15 percent of the voice. Our editor starts the bed at -18 dB and ducks it under the voice.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) and Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"Music only with a licence for the platform it goes to.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["loudness-target","cut-on-the-beat","format-broll-voiceover"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing and our measurements of published shorts"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"myth-exposure","name":"Myth exposure","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Names a myth in the category and promises the real story.","use_when":"Health, finance, beauty, any category with folklore.","phrase":"name the myth in five words, then a pause, then: here is what actually happens","pitfalls":[{"text":"Only expose a myth that is really false, with a source; a wrong debunk does lasting damage.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"House rule"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"name-it-prove-it","name":"Name it, prove it, keep it short","category":"script","group":"Order","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer leaves with one named idea and has seen its proof.","use_when":"Educational shorts of 18 to 45 seconds.","phrase":"one idea per beat with its name on screen, the proof shown as a number or a result, under about 90 spoken words, 18 to 45 seconds","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on one account's top 20: median length 26 seconds, 4.4 visual changes per 10 seconds, from no narration at all to 105 spoken words. Saves are a median 1.8 percent of plays: viewers keep the lesson.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["example-before-explanation","pace-visual-changes","script-30s"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"natural-sound-under-broll","name":"Natural sound under B-roll","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The cutaway feels real because it sounds like the place.","use_when":"Filmed B-roll of hands, tools, machines, rooms.","phrase":"keep the brush on the panel audible under the shot, and record 30 seconds of the room on its own","pitfalls":[{"text":"Natural sound under B-roll often sells the cut better than music.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["five-shot-sequence","format-broll-voiceover","room-tone-under-generated-voice"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"negative-space","name":"Negative space","category":"composition","group":"Placement","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Lots of empty space: calm, minimal, and room for text.","use_when":"Ads with copy, premium minimal brands, website heroes.","phrase":"the product small in the lower right, the rest of the frame plain empty wall","pitfalls":[{"text":"Say what the empty part is (plain wall, sky). A frame told to be empty fills itself with props.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Not measured yet"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rule-of-thirds","grid-position"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Film craft, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"neon-light","name":"Neon","category":"light","group":"Colour","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Saturated coloured light: nightlife, tech, energy.","use_when":"Bars, gaming, music, tech products, urban night.","phrase":"pink and blue neon signs reflecting on the wet street, the colour falling across his face","pitfalls":[{"text":"Keep generated signs without readable words; invented letters are a tell. Add real text in the edit.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["night","practical-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"nervous-fake-smile","name":"Nervous fake smile","category":"expression","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A smile with nothing behind it; the viewer senses the lie.","use_when":"Comedy, awkward situations, before shots in ads.","phrase":"the mouth stretches wide while the eyes do not crease at all, the blinking speeds up, a hard swallow, the gaze drops and the strained smile snaps back on","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Nervous Fake Smile","text":"The mouth stretches into a smile while the eyes stay flat, with no crinkling at the corners. Blinking speeds up, the throat makes a hard swallow, and the gaze drops before the strained smile snaps back into place.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/25-nervous-fake-smile.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Smile without warmth","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/25-nervous-fake-smile.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/25-nervous-fake-smile-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/25-nervous-fake-smile.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/25-nervous-fake-smile-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["embarrassment","anxiety"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the mouth smiles but the eyes stay flat, one quick swallow\n- **Medium:** the mouth stretches wide while the eyes do not crease at all, the blinking speeds up, a hard swallow, the gaze drops and the strained smile snaps back on\n- **Explosive:** a grin frozen too long, a laugh that comes out too high, the eyes darting for an exit, sweat on the temple","shown_with":null},{"slug":"night","name":"Night","category":"time","group":"Low light","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Only artificial light: intimacy, mystery, nightlife.","use_when":"Bars, events, cities, product glow, drama.","phrase":"night, the street lit only by the shop windows and one street lamp, deep shadows between them","pitfalls":[{"text":"Name each light in the scene (shop windows, one street lamp). Night without named sources turns flat and grey.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (named sources rule)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["blue-hour","neon-light","practical-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"no-default-smile","name":"No default smile","category":"expression","group":"Direction rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Faces that look calm and real instead of generated and forced.","use_when":"Ads, stock-like scenes, any group of people.","phrase":"faces calm and attentive, cheer comes from the light, the props and the colour, not from smiles","pitfalls":[{"text":"When joy is the point, describe it physically: one mouth corner higher, the lower lids pushing up, teeth of uneven length in a natural off-white.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["emotion-as-behaviour","laughter"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"laughter","name":"Laughter","category":"expression","label":"Shown with: Laughter","site":"emotion-direction","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/01-joy-laughter.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/01-joy-laughter-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}},{"slug":"normal-wide-lens","name":"Wide normal (35mm)","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Close to how we see a room; natural, documentary, present.","use_when":"Following someone, interiors, creator content, street.","phrase":"35mm lens at walking distance, natural perspective, a little of the surroundings around her","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"63 degree diagonal field of view, camera 2 to 3 metres from the subject, no lens drift","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-28"},{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"35mm lens","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-29"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["wide-lens","standard-lens","follow-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"follow-shot","name":"Follow shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Follow shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/17-follow-shot-over-the-shoulder-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"object-reveal","name":"Object reveal","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The product appears into frame and becomes the hook.","use_when":"Product videos, unboxing.","phrase":"a hand brings the product up from below the frame into the centre, close to the lens","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["insert-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"offer-hook","name":"Offer or news","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Says plainly what is new or what it costs, for viewers already close to buying.","use_when":"Launches, sales, product announcements.","phrase":"new this week: the whole kit is free until Friday","pitfalls":[{"text":"In one vendor dataset of more than 550,000 Meta ads, offer hooks had the top hit rates, but the window included Black Friday. Broad lifestyle statements and vague benefits rarely won.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas (Motion's hook guide and 2026 creative benchmark, vendor data)"},{"text":"The deadline has to be real, and paired with one specific next step.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["time-pressure","cta-single-action"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"oil-painting-style","name":"Oil painting","category":"style","group":"Painting","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Visible brushstrokes and rich colour: classic, artful.","use_when":"Premium editorial, art-directed campaigns, portraits.","phrase":"oil painting, thick visible brushstrokes, rich blended colour, canvas texture","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Render the image as a textured oil painting, with visible brushstrokes, rich blended colors, and a classical artistic finish.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["watercolour-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"one-clock-for-sound","name":"One clock for picture and sound","category":"sound","group":"Music and mix","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Every sound lands on its frame, and stays there when the edit is re-timed.","use_when":"Code-rendered video with typing, counters or many cues.","phrase":"one list of event times drives the animation, the key presses and the sound cues","pitfalls":[{"text":"In a 59-second 3D film one file holds the time of all 50 typed characters. The screen, the keys and the click track read it, which is why a key drops on the frame its letter appears.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"},{"text":"Name each sound cue by its event, not by a time, and print every cue's offset from its beat: more than one frame is a bug.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) (how his free skill does it)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["prompt-bar","cut-on-the-beat","voice-written-to-length"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2) and Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"one-promise","name":"One promise, a few formats, one slot","category":"publish","group":"Posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A stranger understands what the account is for from any single post.","use_when":"Running an account as a series.","phrase":"write the account's promise in one line; every post keeps it, in two or three repeatable formats, at one fixed time in the audience's evening","pitfalls":[{"text":"On one measured account the median of the ten posts after a change of promise was 33.6 times the ten before; the formats had not changed. One account cannot prove the cause; it is the only visible change.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"A step wears off: the median fell to about a quarter between the first and the second half of October, as the examples began to repeat. Change the sources before changing the format.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["feed-a-breakout","pain-prize-news","search-style-caption"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"one-way-state","name":"State that only moves one way","category":"motion","group":"Physics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Continuity across cuts: wet stays wet, a bitten apple never grows back.","use_when":"Any change that builds over a scene.","phrase":"the rain only soaks her jacket further from shot to shot, it never dries between cuts","pitfalls":[{"text":"State the direction of the change once as a rule; the model then holds it across shots.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["repeated-action-rule","environment-event-track"],"rights":"vendor-summary","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":"https://higgsfield.ai/blog/seedance-2-5-prompting-guide","note":"Own words from the Higgsfield guide summary"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"opening-failures","name":"Openings that lose the viewer","category":"hook","group":"The rule","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Knowing what wastes the first second is half of writing a hook.","use_when":"Checking a first cut before it is posted.","phrase":"no greeting, no logo and no context: the first frame is the moment itself, with the first word on it","pitfalls":[{"text":"A slow fade-in, a title card, a greeting, the brand name first, context before tension, a question nobody asked: each spends the first second on nothing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"The three weakest posts of a measured account open on a still face, a hand on a gimbal and walking legs. Those who did see them saved and shared them as much as the hits: the opening held them back, not the content.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"A hook whose energy does not match the content after it causes drop-off.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stakes-in-frame-zero","fade-from-black","three-layer-hook","two-second-frame-test"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) and Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"orbit","name":"Orbit","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A full circle around the subject; spectacle, a hero moment, the world spinning around someone.","use_when":"Product reveals, a dancer, a dramatic statement.","phrase":"orbit, the camera circles all the way around him at a steady distance, he stays in the centre while the background turns","pitfalls":[{"text":"Full orbits risk the subject changing on the far side. Give a character sheet or reference so the back of the subject is known.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Orbit clockwise","text":"clockwise orbit. Movement: circle clockwise around the main subject at a consistent radius. Speed: smooth controlled orbit. Framing: keep the subject centered while the background rotates around them. End: complete the intended arc or full circle with stable framing.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/15-orbit-clockwise-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/15-orbit-clockwise-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/15-orbit-clockwise-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/15-orbit-clockwise-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/15-orbit-clockwise-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Orbit counterclockwise","text":"counterclockwise orbit. Movement: circle counterclockwise around the main subject at a consistent radius. Speed: smooth controlled orbit. Framing: keep the subject centered while the background rotates around them. End: complete the intended arc or full circle with stable framing.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/15b-orbit-counterclockwise-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/15b-orbit-counterclockwise-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/15b-orbit-counterclockwise-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/15b-orbit-counterclockwise-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/15b-orbit-counterclockwise-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Orbit clockwise","Orbit counterclockwise"],"related":["arc-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** circles the subject at a fixed distance\n- **Pace:** smooth\n- **Keep:** the subject in the centre while the background turns\n- **Ends:** a full or planned part circle","shown_with":null},{"slug":"outlier-ratio","name":"Outlier ratio","category":"publish","group":"Reading the numbers","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One number says whether a video did well for that account, whatever its size.","use_when":"Choosing references and judging your own posts.","phrase":"plays divided by the median plays of the account's other recent clips","pitfalls":[{"text":"Leave the candidate out of its own baseline, and flag a small sample.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},{"text":"Seven of the nine reference edits in our Video library carry this ratio, from 0.6 to 71.9 times.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["start-from-an-outlier","read-two-numbers"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"over-the-shoulder-shot","name":"Over-the-shoulder shot","category":"shot","group":"People","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Puts the viewer inside a conversation, behind one person and facing the other.","use_when":"Dialogue, a salesperson with a client, someone looking at a screen.","phrase":"over-the-shoulder shot from behind his left shoulder, his shoulder and the back of his head soft in the foreground, her face sharp beyond it","pitfalls":[{"text":"A viewpoint with a reason holds better than a ban. Say whose shoulder it is and what that person is looking at.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Keep both shots of a dialogue on the same side of the two people, or they seem to swap places.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"The 180-degree rule, Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["two-shot","medium-close-up","back-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pace-visual-changes","name":"Pace in visual changes per 10 seconds","category":"script","group":"Pacing","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer always has something new to look at, at a rate the content can carry.","use_when":"Planning an edit and checking a render against a reference.","phrase":"something new on screen every two to three seconds: a cut, a punch-in, an insert or a board move","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured across nine reference edits: from 1.03 to 6.83 visual changes per 10 seconds. Fast is not the rule: the slowest is a drawn board that moves in small strokes all the time.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurements of published shorts (nine entries, measured 22 and 23 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"The 20 most viewed posts of one measured hook account run at a median of 4.4 changes per 10 seconds and 26 seconds long.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Visual changes are not cuts: a punch-in, a big graphic change or a board move counts. In a split layout the speaker can stay one take.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},{"text":"When a render of a filmed take is too slow, the fix is in inserts and punch-ins, not in cutting words.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","punch-in","canvas-move","insert-on-the-word"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts and Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"## Measured references\n\n| Edit style | Changes per 10 s | Median segment | Words per second |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Presenter over a drawn board | 1.03 | 9.22 s | 3.26 |\n| Interface as teacher | 2.0 | 2.93 s | 3.57 |\n| Low-poly parable | 2.03 | 4.1 s | 2.57 |\n| Deadpan spec ad | 2.4 | 2.57 s | 1.19 |\n| Selfie with receipts | 2.57 | 2.93 s | 3.0 |\n| Canvas tour | 2.86 | 2.2 s | 3.18 |\n| Mock client call | 4.31 | 1.9 s | 2.88 |\n| Red board list | 4.7 | 1.44 s | 4.21 |\n| Ticking effects list | 6.83 | 1.2 s | 1.78 |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pain-prize-news","name":"Pain, prize, news","category":"script","group":"Topics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A steady rotation of topics, each post with one job.","use_when":"A business account that posts often and wants leads from it.","phrase":"rotate the topic of the short post: a pain the customer has, the prize they want, or news that touches what you do; each short leads to one longer piece, and that piece to one form","pitfalls":[{"text":"Every day is the author's advice, not a measured result. His clip gives no numbers on what the rhythm produced, and the form is the step his own company sells.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Short form, long form, lead form (Daniel Priestley)"},{"text":"Where lead quality counts, put the form on the brand's own page.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Short form, long form, lead form (Daniel Priestley)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-promise","cta-single-action","long-form-first"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Short form, long form, lead form (Daniel Priestley) (the three words are Daniel Priestley's)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pain","name":"Pain (wince)","category":"expression","group":"Physical","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A sharp physical jolt the viewer almost feels.","use_when":"Sport, injury prevention, health, comedy of small accidents.","phrase":"he sucks air in through clenched teeth, screws his eyes shut, jerks his head away from the pain and hunches that shoulder up, and his face stays tight for a long moment before it softens a little","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Pain / Wince","text":"The eyes clamp shut, the teeth bare in a hard grimace, the head snaps to one side, and one shoulder rises toward the ear. The face stays contracted before easing only slightly.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/07-pain-wince.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Explosive","cue":"Sharp jolt","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/07-pain-wince.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/07-pain-wince-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/07-pain-wince.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/07-pain-wince-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["frustration","terror"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** a quick flinch, the eyes shut for a moment, a breath in through the teeth\n- **Medium:** he sucks air in through clenched teeth, screws his eyes shut, jerks his head away from the pain and hunches that shoulder up, and his face stays tight for a long moment before it softens a little\n- **Explosive:** doubling over, a hand grabbing the injured spot, a cry cut short, rocking on the spot","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pan","name":"Pan (left or right)","category":"move","group":"Pan and tilt","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Scans a space or follows something across it, like turning your head.","use_when":"Revealing a room, following a person who walks past, showing a row of products.","phrase":"slow pan to the right, the camera turns on its tripod and stays in one place, new space comes in from the right edge","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"A slow pan gives a landscape time to render detail; a fast one smears it.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Pan right","text":"pan right. Movement: rotate the camera horizontally from left to right from one fixed point. Speed: smooth constant rotation. Framing: keep the horizon level while new space enters from the right side of the frame. End: settle on a clear final composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/02-pan-right-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/02-pan-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/02-pan-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/02-pan-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/02-pan-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Pan left","text":"pan left. Movement: rotate the camera horizontally from right to left from one fixed point. Speed: smooth constant rotation. Framing: keep the horizon level while new space enters from the left side of the frame. End: settle on a clear final composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/2b-pan-left-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/2b-pan-left-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/2b-pan-left-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/2b-pan-left-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/2b-pan-left-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Pan right","Pan left"],"related":["whip-pan","truck","tilt-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** turns sideways on the spot, left or right\n- **Pace:** even and unhurried\n- **Keep:** a level horizon while new space slides in from the side you turn toward\n- **Ends:** a settled frame on what the turn was looking for","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pass-through","name":"Pass through","category":"move","group":"Specials","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Goes through a surface into a new space; a playful reveal.","use_when":"Through a window into a room, through a product into its inside.","phrase":"the camera glides toward the shop window and passes through the glass into the room behind it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Pass-through objects","text":"pass-through movement. Movement: move forward toward a visible object, surface or barrier and continue into the space beyond. Speed: smooth centered glide. Framing: keep the opening or surface centered as the transition point. End: arrive inside the revealed space beyond.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s6-pass-through-objects-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s6-pass-through-objects-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s6-pass-through-objects-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s6-pass-through-objects-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s6-pass-through-objects-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Pass-through objects"],"related":["push-past","infinite-zoom","fpv-drone"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels toward a surface and through it\n- **Pace:** smooth\n- **Keep:** the opening or surface centred until it passes\n- **Ends:** inside the space beyond","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pattern-interrupt","name":"Pattern interrupt","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Breaks the scroll with something the viewer did not expect.","use_when":"Crowded feeds, low-interest categories.","phrase":"open on an action nobody expects in this setting: the founder drops the product into a bucket of water and keeps talking","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pedestal","name":"Pedestal (up or down)","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Lifts or lowers the viewer's eye line without tilting; a calm vertical reveal.","use_when":"Rising from a table top to the person behind it, or lowering to a product.","phrase":"pedestal up, the whole camera rises straight up from table height to her face, the lens stays level","pitfalls":[{"text":"A tilt turns the camera; a pedestal moves it up or down and keeps the lens level. Name the one you want.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Pedestal up","text":"pedestal up. Movement: move the entire camera vertically upward in a straight line. Speed: smooth constant lift. Framing: keep the lens level and pointed in the same direction during the vertical move. End: finish with the higher framing clearly readable.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/11a-pedestal-up-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/11a-pedestal-up-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/11a-pedestal-up-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/11a-pedestal-up-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/11a-pedestal-up-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Pedestal down","text":"pedestal down. Movement: move the entire camera vertically downward in a straight line. Speed: smooth constant descent. Framing: keep the lens level and pointed in the same direction during the vertical move. End: finish with the lower framing clearly readable.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/11b-pedestal-down-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/11b-pedestal-down-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/11b-pedestal-down-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/11b-pedestal-down-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/11b-pedestal-down-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Pedestal up","Pedestal down"],"related":["tilt-up","crane-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** rises or sinks straight up or down\n- **Pace:** steady\n- **Keep:** the lens level, not tilting\n- **Ends:** the new height clearly readable","shown_with":null},{"slug":"phone-selfie-rig","name":"Phone selfie","category":"rig","group":"Human","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Reads as a real person filming themselves: direct, unpolished, believable.","use_when":"Creator content, testimonials, social ads that must not look like ads.","phrase":"phone held at arm's length, small wobble from the arm, tiny refocus moments, the front camera close to the face","pitfalls":[{"text":"A named cinema camera in a candid prompt reads as polished editorial, an AI tell of its own. Name the phone and its flaws.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"For candid stills: no eye contact unless they talk to camera, the phone tilted a few degrees, the person at 50 to 65 percent of the frame.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (ad work)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["handheld-shot","pov-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rig wording from tested prompts in Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Handheld","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"plain-for-technical-buyers","name":"Plain screen recording for technical buyers","category":"publish","group":"Paid","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"It looks like a user showing a tool, which is what this buyer trusts.","use_when":"Ads for developer tools and products bought by older or technical people.","phrase":"a plain 9:16 screen recording of someone using the product, 30 to 60 seconds, one line of text on top","pitfalls":[{"text":"A practitioner's claim from one programme: for technical or older buyers the plainer ad performs better. Match the polish to the buyer and let spend decide.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},{"text":"He also says a paid winner can rarely be planned; keep the bar to run an ad low.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["creator-ads-on-performance","pov-phone-scroll","format-screen-led"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"platform-ui-receipts","name":"Receipts in the platform's own interface","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Proof that looks like something the viewer has seen on their own phone.","use_when":"Results, social proof, a comment or message call to action.","phrase":"a card of the earlier post floats in the top fifth of the frame, its comment counter climbing as he says the number","pitfalls":[{"text":"Every number on a card is a real one, readable at phone size, and the receipt lands on the word that claims it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Measured on the reference: 2,382 comments on 173,000 plays, 1.4 percent, at 10.3 times the median of the account's other clips.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Use real screenshots; generated screens carry invented text.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["proof-first","cta-comment-keyword","edit-selfie-with-receipts","pov-title"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"polaroid","name":"Polaroid instant","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Flash, faded colours and a white frame: a personal, vintage snapshot.","use_when":"Party content, nostalgia, personal moments.","phrase":"Polaroid instant photo, direct flash, soft focus, faded colours","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["kodak-portra-400","vhs-tape"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"portrait-lens","name":"Portrait (85mm)","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Flatters faces and softens the background; the person is the subject.","use_when":"Close-ups, interviews, dialogue singles, headshots.","phrase":"85mm portrait lens, the face in close-up, the background soft and compressed behind her","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"29 degree diagonal field of view, camera 4 to 6 metres from the subject, no lens drift","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-28"},{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"85mm lens","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-29"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["standard-lens","telephoto-lens","close-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pov-phone-scroll","name":"POV phone scroll","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees exactly what using it looks like.","use_when":"Apps, shops, booking flows, anything done on a phone.","phrase":"over-the-shoulder on a hand holding the phone, the thumb scrolling the results and tapping one","pitfalls":[{"text":"Use a real screen recording for the interface. Product screens come from recordings in the edit, never from the video model.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["over-the-shoulder-shot","pov-shot","closer-than-you-think","swipe-transition"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pov-shot","name":"Point of view (POV)","category":"angle","group":"Viewpoint","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer becomes the person and sees through their eyes.","use_when":"Creator-style demos, first-person product use, what my day looks like.","phrase":"point-of-view shot, the camera is her eyes, her own hands visible at the bottom of the frame holding the product","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give the viewpoint a reason: this is taken from her own chair, the camera is her eyes, she is not in the picture. A motivated viewpoint holds where a ban is ignored.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"A hand that enters from the side gets a body attached. Let the hands enter from the bottom edge.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["insert-shot","back-view","eye-level"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pov-title","name":"POV title in the platform's style","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Frames the clip as a moment, in the feed's own handwriting.","use_when":"Selfie diaries, relatable openers.","phrase":"a two-line title that starts with POV in the platform's own text style, white with a black stroke, in the top fifth for the first half of the video","pitfalls":[{"text":"One 2026 research synthesis says TikTok viewers expect the platform's native text style while branded type does better on Reels. Not measured by us.","evidence":"unverified","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["relatability","bystander-caption","edit-selfie-with-receipts"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"practical-light","name":"Practical lights","category":"light","group":"Natural","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The light comes from lamps you can see in the scene; warm and lived-in.","use_when":"Homes, cafés, bars, evening interiors.","phrase":"lit by the lamps in the room: a desk lamp beside him and a pendant over the table, warm pools of light","pitfalls":[{"text":"Catchlights from a named source in the scene (overhead café lights) keep eyes believable.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Chase AI community library via Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["window-light","night"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-angle-pass","name":"More angles from one take","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One filmed take gains close-ups, low angles and profiles without a second camera.","use_when":"Founder videos and interviews shot on one phone.","phrase":"hold the person, the words, the lip sync, the room and the light exactly as filmed and change nothing but the camera; then one line per shot with its timecode and where the camera stands","pitfalls":[{"text":"Budget three or four generations per sequence and cut the good seconds from each; in the creator's own example the first two attempts kept the wrong angle.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Keep the prompt short, 120 to 200 words. His stated reason: long prompts drift back to the original angle.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Priced by our CLI on 22 Oct 2026 at 16 credits a second at 1080p: a 22-second sequence is about 350 credits per attempt.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Our own measurement in video edit mode found one camera change per run; the reference mode he uses is not yet run by us.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"the clip in the video reference slot, a duration one second longer than the clip, one scope line that locks everything but the camera, then one timecoded line per shot that says where the camera physically is","evidence":"practitioner","checked":"2026-10-22"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cut-to-new-angle","preset-character-replacement","draft-before-1080p","guide-seedance-2-5"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 infinite angles (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-broll-pass","name":"B-roll pass: show or explain","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Every line that needs a picture gets one, and the brand's library grows with each video.","use_when":"Any edit of a talking take or a script before a shoot.","phrase":"for each line ask whether a picture must show something concrete or explain something abstract; film the concrete, animate the abstract, and pitch at most three new ideas per video","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ideas only until approved: two or three directions as stills first, and only the chosen one is animated.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on B-roll that pitches itself (Josh Blatchford) and Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},{"text":"Search the brand's own footage and existing graphics before pitching anything new. Generation comes last, with the credits shown first.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on B-roll that pitches itself (Josh Blatchford)"},{"text":"Build a graphic as a template with its values as inputs, so the next video reuses it with new data.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},{"text":"A graphic stays on screen long enough to read: at least 1.5 seconds plus about 0.3 seconds per word on it. A house rule of thumb, not a measured norm.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["insert-on-the-word","five-shot-sequence","semantic-compounding","format-broll-voiceover"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on B-roll that pitches itself (Josh Blatchford) and Director Chair field notes on b-roll"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-character-replacement","name":"Shoot the performance, generate the rest","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Real acting and timing, with the person, room or costume replaced by the model.","use_when":"Ads where the budget goes to a performer, not to a set.","phrase":"film the performance in a cheap plain room, then replace the person, the costume or the setting with Seedance 2.5 video edit, keeping the mouth and the timing","pitfalls":[{"text":"When the face and lipsync must stay exactly real, no generative edit works: they re-render the person. Use a matte and composite instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["guide-seedance-2-5","real-person-references"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Seedance 2.5 character replacement"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-code-motion-ad","name":"Animated ad from code, four steps","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A product ad in motion graphics without a timeline.","use_when":"App and product ads of 8 to 20 seconds built by a coding model.","phrase":"ingredients in one folder, a numbered storyboard approved before anything is animated, the build, then sound last","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give it the real logo and real screenshots. Without them a coding model draws a fake app and rebuilds the logo from shapes.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Per shot the storyboard states the voice line, what moves and how the shot becomes the next one. Approve it before the build.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Hold the real product next to the render: the model cannot see it, and the creator's first render had the wrong details.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Thirty minutes for two dollars is the creator's own figure for one ad; what it covers is not said, and his examples are spec ads, not client jobs.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shape-morph","action-dead-centre","voice-written-to-length","cut-on-the-beat","format-motion-graphics"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-connector-launch","name":"Connector launch film","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees that setting it up costs one line, then sees real answers.","use_when":"Launching an MCP server, a connector or any integration.","phrase":"eight beats in about 40 seconds: a competitor's number ticking up, the pain, the turn, the install in the host's own dialog, the question typed, the answer, one result card per data source, the payoff","pitfalls":[{"text":"Every result card carries the tool call that produced it, and the headline swaps words for live tokens; both make the answers read as real output.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},{"text":"Build the host's dialog and chat from real screenshots, never an invented interface.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"The film it was measured from was posted behind a comment gate for a paid tool; the structure is visible in the film itself.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-launch-arc","tool-call-label","inline-tokens","enter-on-one-plate","format-motion-graphics"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics and Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"## The beats, measured off a 40-second film\n\n| Beat | Until | On screen |\n|---|---|---|\n| Hook | 4.8 s | a competitor's number ticking up |\n| Pain | 10.1 s | the manual way: searching, tabs piling up |\n| Turn | 13.1 s | the question that changes it, and the connector's name as a chip |\n| Plug it in | 15.4 s | the host's own add-connector dialog, the address typed |\n| Just ask | 18.4 s | the question typed into the chat |\n| The answer | 25.7 s | the first result cards |\n| Every channel | 37.1 s | one result card per data source |\n| Payoff | 40 s | connected, then the logo |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-edit-from-reference","name":"Edit a take in the style of a reel you like","category":"preset","group":"Production","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The edit starts from a look that already works, not from settings.","use_when":"Talking-head takes edited by an agent.","phrase":"send the reel whose edit you like, ask for your own take to be cut in that style, review the result, then save the process for next time","pitfalls":[{"text":"The tools are free; the taste is in the reference. Neither creator who shows the method gives a measured result beyond his own views.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},{"text":"An analysis done in one chat is lost when the chat ends. Capture the reference once: layout, caption style and timing, cut rhythm, inserts and effects, sound.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},{"text":"The cost figures, about 1.14 dollars for a whole edit, are one creator's own count on his plan.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-starter-styles","edit-red-board-list","pace-visual-changes","start-from-an-outlier"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on One prompt edit (Payton Kaleiwahea, Mino)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-feature-drop","name":"Feature drop","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One problem, one answer, and the real screen as the proof, in under half a minute.","use_when":"Announcing one feature of a software product, 15 to 25 seconds.","phrase":"hook, the problem, the reveal of the name, the product on screen, proof numbers ticking up, three features, the call to action","pitfalls":[{"text":"Beat lengths timed off two launch clips of 12 to 15 seconds: hook 2.5 seconds, problem 3, reveal 2.5, product 4, numbers 3, features 3, call to action 3.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Something readable by 1.5 seconds and a change every 1 to 2.5 seconds; never a fully static hold.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-launch-arc","count-up-number","word-slide-up","format-motion-graphics","preset-code-motion-ad"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-list-reel","name":"List reel: one shape, a new surface per item","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A long list goes by fast and still feels like one film.","use_when":"N tools, N workflows, N of anything, with the full list in the post text.","phrase":"one fixed mask holds the frame for the whole list, a horizon-shaped arc; each item is a new full-bleed texture inside it, cut hard on the beat, with a numbered two-line label at the bottom left","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on the reference: 20 items in about 11 seconds after a 2.2-second title, a cut every 0.45 to 0.9 seconds, music only at -14.0 LUFS.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on A motion studio in 20 open-source repos (Arminas Valunas)"},{"text":"Half a second per item only works when the list is also in the post text, so viewers can read it there.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cut-on-the-beat","hard-cut","visible-counter","format-motion-graphics"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics and Director Chair notes on A motion studio in 20 open-source repos (Arminas Valunas)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-objection-demo","name":"The product answers the objections","category":"preset","group":"Concepts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Turns the doubts people voice about a product into a demonstration.","use_when":"New products with sceptics, AI tools, anything people say cannot be done.","phrase":"list what people say the product cannot do; one short line per objection; the product performs each line on screen as it is said, with no claim in between","pitfalls":[{"text":"Collect the objections from real comments this week, not from imagination.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on a published campaign (mechanism)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-ugc-one-table","proof-first"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Mechanism in our own words from Director Chair notes on a published campaign; the creative itself is third-party and not used"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-odd-character","name":"One odd character, filmed plainly","category":"preset","group":"Concepts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A strange recurring character in ordinary places; doubt about whether it is real makes people share.","use_when":"Persona-led social accounts and campaigns.","phrase":"one silhouette and one routine that never change, filmed as if a phone leans against a kerb, in real everyday places","pitfalls":[{"text":"Since 2 August 2026 AI-generated people in content are a labelling question in Europe; disclose, or the audience turns when it finds out.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Jean Phil"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["phone-selfie-rig","static-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Format in our own words from the Jean Phil case file; nothing about the person is used"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"static-shot","name":"Static shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Static shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"preset-packshot-launch","name":"Packshot launch","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The product is on screen in almost every second, and each beat answers the buyer's next question.","use_when":"Launching a physical product from photos, 18 to 22 seconds.","phrase":"the promise, the packshot resolving from blur with a light sweep, real angle photos one per second, three callouts drawn to the details, the specs, the product in use, the offer card with the price","pitfalls":[{"text":"The beat lengths are designed from measured pacing but not yet timed off a film of this exact kind; replace them when such a film is measured.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"The order follows the buyer's questions: what is it, what does it look like, what does it do, what are the numbers, how do I live with it, what does it cost.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ken-burns-still","object-reveal","insert-shot","format-motion-graphics"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-problem-in-daily-life","name":"Problem in daily life","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"It opens on the problem already happening, so the product arrives as the answer.","use_when":"Physical products that fix an everyday annoyance, 15 to 20 seconds.","phrase":"frame 0 is a real in-use photo of the problem with one line of text; then the product enters, two callouts on the detail that solves it, one photo of the after, the offer","pitfalls":[{"text":"The beat lengths are designed from measured pacing but not yet timed off a film of this exact kind; replace them when such a film is measured.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"It follows the frame 0 finding of a measured short-form study: 18 of the 20 strongest clips open on something already happening.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["stakes-in-frame-zero","high-contrast-hook","preset-packshot-launch"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-process-reel","name":"Process reel for a service","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"An invisible service becomes visible as steps, a result and the people behind it.","use_when":"Service companies, agencies, trades, 20 to 25 seconds.","phrase":"the result photo with the promise on frame 0, the process as numbered steps joined by a drawn line, before and after behind a moving divider, three result numbers, one client quote word for word, the team, the call to action","pitfalls":[{"text":"The beat lengths are designed from measured pacing but not yet timed off a film of this exact kind; replace them when such a film is measured.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"A single real case told from before to after is more believable than a list of capabilities.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["high-contrast-hook","count-up-number","proof-first","preset-broll-pass"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-product-walkthrough","name":"Product walkthrough","category":"preset","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer watches one task done from start to finish and could repeat it.","use_when":"Feature education, onboarding, help content, 20 to 45 seconds.","phrase":"a cursor travels a path through one task; the camera zooms onto each control, a spotlight dims the rest, a numbered tooltip names the step and the state changes on screen","pitfalls":[{"text":"Three to five steps per 10 seconds, a confirmation at the end, then zoom out and reset so the loop closes.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Use the product's real screens or a recording; with a recording, the cursor and the click sound land on the recording's own click.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["spotlight-and-tooltip","format-screen-led","loop-close","pov-phone-scroll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-spec-commercial","name":"The commercial for a fear","category":"preset","group":"Concepts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Satire that makes a real worry visible by advertising its fake cure.","use_when":"Cause campaigns, awareness, brands with a sense of humour.","phrase":"take a fear the audience already talks about and make a proud, glossy commercial for a company that would profit from it, in the grammar of a real category ad","pitfalls":[{"text":"A green or purpose-driven audience can turn on AI-made creative itself; check the audience before using generated footage.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on a published campaign (comments)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["look-commercial"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Mechanism in our own words from Director Chair notes on a published campaign"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"preset-ugc-one-table","name":"UGC at one table, seven setups","category":"preset","group":"UGC","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A 15 to 25 second talking video that feels operated and alive, shot around one table.","use_when":"Creator-style product ads with one person and one product.","phrase":"seven lines, seven camera positions around one table, the camera at prop height, something near the lens in every shot, movement spent on the hook, calm by the end","pitfalls":[{"text":"For a restyle, shoot an empty room on purpose: plain walls, one table, one prop of the right shape; every object the model can map becomes part of the new world.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on UGC camera work (Higgsfield restyle demo, Abhinav Kalyan)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["phone-selfie-rig","pov-shot","format-face-cam"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Our filming card in Director Chair notes on UGC camera work (Higgsfield restyle demo, Abhinav Kalyan)"},"body":"## The seven setups\n\n| # | Camera | The person | Line |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| 1 | on the table at the near end, low and wide, pushing forward | stands at the far end with the product | the hook |\n| 2 | at the table end beside a board, at tabletop height, sliding out from behind it | leans in on the elbows, product near the lens | the problem |\n| 3 | across the table, starting tilted and ending level | leans on the forearms, product in both hands | the promise |\n| 4 | high, looking down from the table end | stands beside the table, looks up | step one |\n| 5 | flat on the tabletop | leans in and counts on the fingers | step two |\n| 6 | in the hand at arm's length, slightly below the face | talks and reaches toward the lens | the social proof |\n| 7 | on a tripod at chest height, three-quarter | ignores the camera and uses the product | the ask |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"pride","name":"Pride","category":"expression","group":"Drive","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Quiet satisfaction in something done well.","use_when":"Results, launches, team moments, testimonials.","phrase":"the chin lifts, the chest opens, a closed-lip smile spreads evenly, the shoulders go back, one slow satisfied blink, the arms fold while the smile stays","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Pride","text":"The chin lifts, the chest expands, and a closed-lip smile spreads slowly and evenly. The shoulders roll back, followed by one slow, satisfied blink. The smile remains as the arms fold.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/24-pride.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Satisfaction held quietly","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/24-pride.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/24-pride-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/24-pride.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/24-pride-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["determination","smug"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the chin lifts a little, a closed-mouth smile\n- **Medium:** the chin lifts, the chest opens, a closed-lip smile spreads evenly, the shoulders go back, one slow satisfied blink, the arms fold while the smile stays\n- **Explosive:** both arms up, a shout of yes, then a look around to see who saw it","shown_with":null},{"slug":"profile-shot","name":"Side profile","category":"angle","group":"Viewpoint","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows a person in thought or in motion, at a distance from the viewer.","use_when":"Someone walking, working or looking at something out of frame.","phrase":"side profile, the camera level with his face at a right angle to it, more space in front of his face than behind his head","pitfalls":[{"text":"Leave room in front of the face in the direction of the look. Without it the frame feels cramped.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Camera grammar"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["three-quarter-view","back-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"prompt-bar","name":"Prompt bar","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Shows the instruction that caused what follows.","use_when":"AI product demos, edits made by an agent.","phrase":"a chat input opens at the bottom of the frame, the instruction types itself, sends, and a check mark appears","pitfalls":[{"text":"Drive the letters and the key clicks from one list of character times, so every click lands on its letter.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-clock-for-sound","show-the-making"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured) and Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"proof-first","name":"Proof first","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Leads with the result, so the claim earns attention.","use_when":"Testimonials, case studies, product results.","phrase":"open on the number or the review, on screen and spoken: 190 ads in one quarter with four people","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"punch-in","name":"Punch-in","category":"effect","group":"Zooms and reframes","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A tighter crop on a line says this part matters.","use_when":"Face cam, on a key sentence or on every other segment.","phrase":"punch in to 1.12 times on every other sentence, the face staying at the same height in the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Punch-ins soften a 1080 pixel take. A sharp crop needs a source of 2160 pixels on the short side.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"},{"text":"Two of our four starter styles use a light punch-in on every other segment; the fast one was measured from a clip at 6.8 changes per 10 seconds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["jump-cut","face-reframe","crash-zoom"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Definition from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos; values from Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"crash-zoom","name":"Crash zoom","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Crash zoom","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10.08}}},{"slug":"push-in-on-still-speaker","name":"Push in on a still speaker","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The frame closes in while the person holds still, so the first line gains weight as it is said.","use_when":"Face cam openers where the speaker should stay calm.","phrase":"the speaker stands still and holds eye contact; the camera pushes in slowly from a medium shot to a medium close-up during the first line","pitfalls":[{"text":"Either the speaker moves or the camera does, never both at once.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["dolly-in","movement-opener","slow-zoom-in"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly in (push in)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"push-past","name":"Push past","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Moves through a foreground object into the scene, as if the viewer steps inside.","use_when":"Entering a shop through the door frame, past a plant to the person behind it.","phrase":"push past: the camera glides forward past the edge of the doorframe, the frame passes close to the lens and the room beyond opens up","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Push past / pass-by shot","text":"push past. Movement: move forward past a visible foreground object, edge or opening. Speed: smooth forward glide. Framing: let the foreground pass close to the lens while the space beyond becomes clearer. End: arrive inside or beyond the foreground layer.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/13-push-past-pass-by-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Push past / pass-by shot"],"related":["dolly-in","pass-through"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** glides forward past something close to the lens\n- **Pace:** smooth\n- **Keep:** the near object sliding past the edge while the space behind opens\n- **Ends:** inside or beyond what it passed","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rack-focus","name":"Rack focus","category":"focus","group":"Focus change","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Moves the viewer's attention from one thing to another inside one shot.","use_when":"Revealing a second person, from product to user, a quiet twist.","phrase":"rack focus: the cup in the foreground blurs as she, sitting behind it, comes into sharp focus","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give the trigger and explain the term in plain words: after he sits down, the foreground blurs as the background sharpens.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shallow-focus"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rage","name":"Rage","category":"expression","group":"Anger","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Anger breaking through control; powerful and dangerous.","use_when":"Drama, sport, a villain, a stunt with an over-the-top reaction.","phrase":"the brows drive down and in, the upper lip lifts off the teeth, the nostrils flare, the tendons in the neck stand out, the head pushes forward, hard breaths through the nose while the snarl holds","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Rage","text":"The eyebrows slam down and inward, the upper lip peels back from the teeth, the nostrils flare, the neck tendons tighten, and the head pushes forward. The snarl holds as hard breaths move through the nose.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/04-rage.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Explosive","cue":"Control breaks open","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/04-rage.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/04-rage-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/04-rage.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/04-rage-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["frustration","determination"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the jaw locks, the nostrils widen, the stare hardens without a blink\n- **Medium:** the brows drive down and in, the upper lip lifts off the teeth, the nostrils flare, the tendons in the neck stand out, the head pushes forward, hard breaths through the nose while the snarl holds\n- **Explosive:** a shout with the whole body, the fists come up, the face red, spit on the breath, the chest heaving between bursts","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-1-1","name":"1:1 square","category":"ratio","group":"Social","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Neutral and centred; works everywhere a thumbnail goes.","use_when":"Profile pictures, marketplace listings, carousels.","phrase":"1:1 square frame, the subject centred","pitfalls":[{"text":"The same prompt in another ratio drifts; give the approved render back as a reference.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Compose the image within a square 1:1 aspect ratio, focusing on central symmetry and balance.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-4-5"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-16-9","name":"16:9 landscape","category":"ratio","group":"Video","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The standard horizontal frame: YouTube, websites, TV.","use_when":"YouTube, website headers, presentations.","phrase":"16:9 landscape frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Set the ratio as a setting of the call as well as in the text. The same prompt in another ratio drifts; give the approved render back as a reference.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Compose this scene as a cinematic wide shot with a 16:9 aspect ratio, suitable for a movie screen.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-9-16","ratio-21-9"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-21-9","name":"21:9 ultrawide","category":"ratio","group":"Cinema","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The cinema widescreen: epic, premium, filmic.","use_when":"Brand films, website heroes, banners.","phrase":"21:9 ultrawide frame","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-16-9","anamorphic-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-3-2","name":"3:2 photo","category":"ratio","group":"Photo","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The classic camera-sensor shape: reads as a photograph.","use_when":"Editorial stills, press photos, blog images.","phrase":"3:2 photo frame","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-4-5","ratio-16-9"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-4-5","name":"4:5 portrait","category":"ratio","group":"Social","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Takes the most room in a feed without being full screen.","use_when":"Instagram and LinkedIn feed posts and ads.","phrase":"4:5 portrait frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"The same prompt in another ratio drifts; give the approved render back as a reference.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-1-1","ratio-9-16"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ratio-9-16","name":"9:16 vertical","category":"ratio","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Full-screen vertical: TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories.","use_when":"All vertical social video and story ads.","phrase":"9:16 vertical frame, the subject centred with room above and below for captions","pitfalls":[{"text":"9:16 is the tallest ratio Nano Banana makes; for anything taller, generate the nearest ratio and crop.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Frame the image as a vertical 9:16 poster, optimizing the composition for a mobile phone screen.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ratio-4-5","ratio-16-9"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"reaction-hook","name":"Reaction","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A real reaction on screen makes the viewer feel it too.","use_when":"Reviews, reveals, results.","phrase":"open on the face reacting to the result, then cut to what they are looking at","pitfalls":[{"text":"The reaction has to be physical and timed; a generated smile kills it.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shock","laughter"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"shock","name":"Shock","category":"expression","label":"Shown with: Shock","site":"emotion-direction","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/02-shock.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}},{"slug":"read-two-numbers","name":"Read two numbers, then decide","category":"publish","group":"Reading the numbers","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"You know whether to fix the opening, fix the body, repeat or drop.","use_when":"A post that has settled, about 72 hours after it went out.","phrase":"compare reach and engagement with the account's own medians, never with another account","pitfalls":[{"text":"Reach without engagement: a fake-news opener had 490,000 plays at 1.0 percent likes and 0.18 percent saves, and led nowhere.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Engagement without reach: the three weakest posts reached 7,600 to 11,700 views yet were saved at 0.9 to 3.4 percent, as much as the hits.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["outlier-ratio","feed-a-breakout","hook-rate-and-hold-rate"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"## The four outcomes\n\n| | Engagement at or above the median | Engagement under half the median |\n|---|---|---|\n| **Reach 3 times or more** | A winner. Post the next one on the same promise within 48 hours | The opening works, the body or payoff does not. Keep frame 0, fix what follows |\n| **Reach under half** | The body works, the opening did not stop people. New frame 0, re-cut, post again | Drop the idea |\n\nReach is views divided by the median of the account's ten posts before it. Engagement is likes, saves and shares per view against the account's own medians.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"real-location-regrade","name":"Real location, same grade","category":"setting","group":"Building a place","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A real place, made to match the look of the film without changing what is in it.","use_when":"Shooting a real shop or office and matching it to the job's look.","phrase":"this photograph, in the same environment with the same colour grade as the look reference, nothing added and nothing removed, followed by a list of the props that stay","pitfalls":[{"text":"A list of what stays is what the model holds on to; without it props move or vanish.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (8 Aug 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["location-plate","global-look-block"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"real-person-references","name":"Real person references","category":"character","group":"Real people","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A real person who actually looks like themselves in a generated scene.","use_when":"Founders, employees, clients appearing in AI content (with their consent).","phrase":"tight face crops of the real person (one frontal, one neutral), plus a full-body crop per person, and a likeness line: exactly alike, feature by feature","pitfalls":[{"text":"A generated character sheet is never the identity source for a real person; their real photographs go in directly.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"},{"text":"To keep a face exactly and the lipsync real, no generative video edit model works: they all re-render the person.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["character-sheet-face","two-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Our measured rules, a house rule"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"realisation","name":"Realisation","category":"expression","group":"Surprise","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The penny drops; the viewer feels the idea land.","use_when":"Explainers, the moment a benefit becomes clear, testimonials.","phrase":"a vacant thinking look breaks, the eyes sharpen and widen, the brows lift, a silent breath in through parted lips, then a slow nod with the stunned look still on","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Realization","text":"A blank thinking expression breaks as the eyes widen, the eyebrows jump, the lips part on a silent breath, and focus snaps back. A slow nod follows while the knowing, slightly stunned look holds.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/14-realization.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"The answer lands","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/14-realization.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/14-realization-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/14-realization.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/14-realization-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["confusion","shock"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the gaze stops moving, a small lift of the brows, a short nod to themselves\n- **Medium:** a vacant thinking look breaks, the eyes sharpen and widen, the brows lift, a silent breath in through parted lips, then a slow nod with the stunned look still on\n- **Explosive:** the hand slaps the forehead, the eyes go wide, the mouth opens on a word that does not come, then a laugh at themselves","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rear-three-quarter-view","name":"Rear three-quarter view","category":"angle","group":"Viewpoint","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer stands just behind the person and sees what they see, with a hint of their face.","use_when":"Someone looking at a screen, a view, a shelf; a quiet observational angle.","phrase":"rear three-quarter view, the camera behind her left shoulder and slightly to the side, the edge of her cheek and what she is looking at both in frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"The side of the face that shows is small; a real person keeps no likeness from this angle, which also makes it safe for anonymity.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["back-view","over-the-shoulder-shot","three-quarter-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Side value from Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"reel-grid-proof","name":"Grid of playing reels","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Many small playing videos say that many people do this.","use_when":"Social proof for a method or a format.","phrase":"the frame shrinks into a grid of nine playing reels, then snaps back to full frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Footage is your own, the client's or licensed. A grid of other creators' reels is reposting, and a rights risk.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["proof-first","platform-ui-receipts"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"relatability","name":"Relatability","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows a situation the viewer recognises from their own day.","use_when":"Everyday problems, creator content.","phrase":"open on the familiar moment, no words yet: three browser tabs of the same prompt, sighing","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"relief","name":"Relief","category":"expression","group":"Joy","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Tension leaving the body; the viewer relaxes with them.","use_when":"After a problem is solved, the result arrives, the product works.","phrase":"a long breath empties the chest, the eyes close for a moment, the forehead smooths, the shoulders sink, a small uneven smile arrives only after the breath","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Relief","text":"A large visible exhale empties the chest, the eyes close, the raised eyebrows drop to neutral, and the shoulders collapse downward. One hand rises to the forehead. A small, shaky smile appears only after the breath finishes.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/23-relief.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Pressure finally releases","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/23-relief.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/23-relief-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/23-relief.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/23-relief-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["laughter","exhaustion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the shoulders drop a centimetre, a slow breath out through the mouth, the jaw unclenches\n- **Medium:** a long breath empties the chest, the eyes close for a moment, the forehead smooths, the shoulders sink, a small uneven smile arrives only after the breath\n- **Explosive:** the knees give a little, both hands go to the face, a shaky laugh mixes with the breath out, the head drops forward and stays there","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rembrandt-light","name":"Rembrandt light","category":"light","group":"Portrait","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Classic, painterly portrait light with a small triangle of light on the shadow cheek.","use_when":"Founders, portraits, premium editorial.","phrase":"one key light high and to the side, a small triangle of light on her shadowed cheek under the eye","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill (soft overcast key from frame left).","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Illuminate the subject with classic Rembrandt lighting, positioning a single key light to create the signature illuminated triangle on the shadowed cheek.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["window-light","low-key-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"repeated-action-rule","name":"Repeated action as a rule","category":"motion","group":"Physics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"An action that looks the same every time it happens.","use_when":"Sport technique, a product mechanism, a magic effect, a signature gesture.","phrase":"rule for the whole video: she only pours from the left hand, one smooth tilt, never a splash; every pour follows it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Define the mechanic once with fixed parts, speed and result; otherwise the model invents a new version per shot.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-way-state"],"rights":"vendor-summary","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":"https://higgsfield.ai/blog/seedance-2-5-prompting-guide","note":"Own words from the Higgsfield guide summary"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"reporter-cam-rig","name":"Degraded reporter camera","category":"rig","group":"Human","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Found footage or news: raw, unfiltered, urgent.","use_when":"Mock news, found-footage concepts, stunt content.","phrase":"degraded news camera, autofocus hunting, rolling-shutter wobble, crude digital crop-zoom punches","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ask for the flaws by name. A clean camera with a vintage label still looks clean.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Not measured yet"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["handheld-shot","vhs-tape"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rig wording from tested prompts in Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"handheld-shot","name":"Handheld","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Handheld","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/23-handheld-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"reverse-tracking-shot","name":"Reverse tracking (walk and talk)","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The person walks toward the viewer while talking; confident, in motion, going somewhere.","use_when":"Founders and presenters talking while walking, a host leading a tour.","phrase":"reverse tracking shot, the camera moves backward in front of her at her walking pace, she walks and talks toward the lens, her face framed from the chest up","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Reverse tracking / walk-and-talk","text":"reverse tracking shot. Movement: move backward in front of the walking subject. Speed: match the subject's forward pace. Framing: keep front-facing face and body framing stable as the background moves behind them. End: hold a clear front-facing moving composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/18-reverse-tracking-walk-and-talk-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/18-reverse-tracking-walk-and-talk-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/18-reverse-tracking-walk-and-talk-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/18-reverse-tracking-walk-and-talk-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/18-reverse-tracking-walk-and-talk-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Reverse tracking / walk-and-talk"],"related":["tracking-shot","medium-close-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels backward ahead of the walking subject\n- **Pace:** the subject's walking pace\n- **Keep:** the face and chest framed steadily while the street slides behind\n- **Ends:** still walking, the face toward the lens","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rim-light","name":"Rim light","category":"light","group":"Portrait","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A bright edge around the subject separates them from the background.","use_when":"Dark backgrounds, night portraits, product silhouettes.","phrase":"a light behind him outlines his hair and shoulders with a thin bright edge against the dark wall","pitfalls":[{"text":"A rim that was never in the scene cannot be added in the grade; it has to be in the prompt or on set.","evidence":"measured","source":"The Director Chair colour grading guide"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["silhouette","golden-hour"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"room-tone-under-generated-voice","name":"Room tone under a generated voice","category":"sound","group":"Voice","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A generated line stops sounding generated between the words.","use_when":"Text-to-speech voice-overs.","phrase":"lay recorded room tone under every generated line, roll off the highs above 7 kHz, add light compression and a short room reverb","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on 28 Oct 2026: a generated line drops to digital zero between words, -240 dBFS in the quietest 50 milliseconds; a recorded line never does. With a stand-in room tone the quietest moment rose to -67.7 dBFS.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"The recipe is one studio's. Whether the result sounds natural is judged by ear, not by the meter.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["voice-chain","natural-sound-under-broll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Video from code at Anfloy (Dima Bilous) and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"rule-of-thirds","name":"Rule of thirds","category":"composition","group":"Placement","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A balanced but lively frame; the eye lands on the strong points.","use_when":"Portraits, landscapes, most everyday shots.","phrase":"the person on the right third of the frame, her eyes on the upper third line, open space to the left","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["centred-symmetry","negative-space"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Film craft, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"sadness","name":"Sadness","category":"expression","group":"Sadness","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Quiet hurt that asks for empathy.","use_when":"Problem statements, charity, honest testimonials.","phrase":"the inner ends of the brows rise and meet, the mouth corners pull down, the chin trembles once, the head and gaze sink together, a swallow that changes nothing","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Sadness","text":"The inner corners of the eyebrows pull up and together, the mouth corners drag down, the chin trembles once, and the gaze sinks as the head lowers. A slow blink and hard swallow fail to change the expression.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-3.vercel.app/videos/19-sadness.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Quiet hurt","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/19-sadness-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["crying","guilt"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the gaze lowers, the corners of the mouth sink slightly, one slow blink\n- **Medium:** the inner ends of the brows rise and meet, the mouth corners pull down, the chin trembles once, the head and gaze sink together, a swallow that changes nothing\n- **Explosive:** tears well and spill, the breath catches in short jerks, the face crumples and is hidden behind one hand","shown_with":null},{"slug":"scale-against-person","name":"Scale against a person","category":"composition","group":"Rules","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Makes the size of an object believable.","use_when":"Products, furniture, signage, installations.","phrase":"the top of the panel clears the top of her head by about a quarter of her height, a contact shadow under each foot","pitfalls":[{"text":"Metres mean nothing to the model; clearances against a person do. After two or three failed tries, add an object of known size or fix it in the edit.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["framing-first","low-angle"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"screen-direction","name":"Screen direction","category":"composition","group":"Continuity","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Keeps the viewer oriented across cuts: who is where, which way they move.","use_when":"Dialogue, chases, any sequence of several shots.","phrase":"the camera stays on the south side of the street, the sea always screen right, she always moves left to right","pitfalls":[{"text":"Declare the side and the direction once and keep it in every prompt of the job, or people and places swap sides between shots.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (tested prompts)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["over-the-shoulder-shot","side-tracking-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"side-tracking-shot","name":"Side tracking","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Side tracking","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/19-side-tracking-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"screen-then-face","name":"Screen first, then the face","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees what caused the reaction, then feels it with the person.","use_when":"Reviews, comments, data, press mentions.","phrase":"over-the-shoulder on the laptop showing the review, then cut to her face from the front as she reacts","pitfalls":[{"text":"Script the set-up, never the emotion.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"},{"text":"Use real screenshots; generated screens carry invented text.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["reaction-hook","over-the-shoulder-shot","format-reaction","late-reactions"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) and the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"screen-zones","name":"Screen zones for vertical video","category":"effect","group":"Layouts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Each layer sits where the eye and the interface leave room for it.","use_when":"Any talking-head video with a text hook and captions.","phrase":"text hook in the top fifth, the face in the middle, captions in the lower fifth above the platform's buttons","pitfalls":[{"text":"Keep text at least 10 percent away from every edge; devices crop differently.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Do not stack hook text, face and captions all in the dead centre.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["caption-safe-zones","text-first-hook","three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"script-15s","name":"15-second script","category":"script","group":"Durations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"One idea, said fast.","use_when":"Story ads, teasers, one tip.","phrase":"hook in the first 3 seconds, one point in the middle, the ask in the last 3; about 40 words","pitfalls":[{"text":"Count words before generating: spoken lines that do not fit come back rushed or scrambled.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","script-30s"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"script-30s","name":"30-second script","category":"script","group":"Durations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Room for a problem and its solution.","use_when":"Founder tips, product reveals, myth busting.","phrase":"hook 0 to 3 s, setup to 8 s, body to 20 s, proof to 25 s, ask to 30 s; about 80 words","pitfalls":[{"text":"Count words before generating: spoken lines that do not fit come back rushed or scrambled.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","script-15s","script-60s"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"script-60s","name":"60-second script","category":"script","group":"Durations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Space for a small story or a demonstration with proof.","use_when":"Explainers, case stories, tutorials.","phrase":"hook, setup, two or three beats of body each with its own visual, proof, ask; about 150 words; something new on screen every three to five seconds","pitfalls":[{"text":"One generation holds about 30 seconds; a 60-second script is two parts that cut together with the same look and cast.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","script-30s","guide-seedance-2-5"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"script-arc","name":"Short-form script arc","category":"script","group":"Arc","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A video that stops the scroll, makes its point and asks for one thing.","use_when":"Every short video of 15 to 60 seconds.","phrase":"hook, setup, body, proof, one call to action","pitfalls":[{"text":"One call to action. Two asks halve both.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-15s","script-30s","script-60s"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"script-launch-arc","name":"Launch film arc","category":"script","group":"Arc","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A viewer who has never heard of the product gets the pain, the turn and the proof in under a minute.","use_when":"Launch films for software, connectors and integrations.","phrase":"hook, pain, turn, proof, payoff; for a connector add two short beats that show the install and the question before the answer","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on a 40-second film: hook to 4.8 seconds, pain to 10.1, turn to 13.1, plug it in to 15.4, just ask to 18.4, the answer to 25.7, every channel to 37.1, payoff to 40.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},{"text":"Show the install before the benefit. Two beats of 5.3 seconds together tell the viewer that the cost is one line.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-arc","preset-connector-launch","chapter-bar","ticking-number-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"search-style-caption","name":"Search-style caption","category":"publish","group":"Posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The post is found by people looking for exactly this.","use_when":"Captions under educational and how-to videos.","phrase":"one sentence the viewer would type into search, holding the words of the account's promise","pitfalls":[{"text":"Within one account's breakout run, captions with the word steal had a median of 90,500 views against 35,900 without, and captions with the number 3 had 111,300 against 33,500. Correlation, not cause.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["one-promise","cta-search","cta-all-in-caption"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"self-proving-claim","name":"The video proves its own claim","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The claim is believed because the proof is playing while it is said.","use_when":"Tools and methods where the video itself is the output.","phrase":"an AI edited every effect you are about to see, said while the first effect plays behind her","pitfalls":[{"text":"Say the claim while the proof is on screen in the first second: shown, not asserted.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["bold-claim-hook","edit-does-the-word","proof-first"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"semantic-compounding","name":"Subject built from a symbol","category":"composition","group":"Meaning","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The idea arrives without a word, because the subject is made of what it means.","use_when":"Key visuals, ad stills, explainer graphics.","phrase":"the running shoe drawn entirely in city street maps, the outline of the shoe intact, on plain paper","pitfalls":[{"text":"The test: take the symbol away. If the meaning goes with it, the symbol was doing the work.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Semantic compounding (Jason Murray)"},{"text":"Text and logos come from the brand's files or are typeset. They are never generated.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on b-roll"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["contrast-ladder","preset-broll-pass"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Semantic compounding (Jason Murray) (the term is art director Jason Murray's, Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"setting-as-targeting","name":"The setting does the targeting","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The right viewer recognises their own world before a word is spoken.","use_when":"Niche audiences: a trade, a profession, a hobby.","phrase":"frame the speaker wide enough to show the edit desk: two monitors with a timeline, a control surface, headphones on a hook","pitfalls":[{"text":"The setting is read as a relevance signal before any word; an ad practitioner's example is editing gear in frame for an audience of editors.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["direct-address","medium-wide-shot","hook-three-jobs"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"sfx-on-the-peak","name":"Sound on the peak, not the start","category":"sound","group":"Hook and effects","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Picture and sound feel like one event.","use_when":"Every effect placed on a movement or a cut.","phrase":"the impact lands on the exact frame where the logo stops moving","pitfalls":[{"text":"Place the sound so its loudest moment falls on the frame where the motion peaks or the cut happens: a riser ends on its hit, an impact starts on it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"A whoosh into an impact on a hard cut reads as one hit. Five cues on one frame do not.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Measured in our renderer on 26 Oct 2026: with the newer audio tag an MP3 cue starts 25 milliseconds late where a WAV cue is exact.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["sfx-vocabulary","zoom-through","cut-on-the-beat"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"sfx-vocabulary","name":"Which sound for which event","category":"sound","group":"Hook and effects","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Each kind of event gets a sound the viewer already understands.","use_when":"Placing sound effects on an edit.","phrase":"a whoosh on the zoom, an impact as the title lands, a soft tick on each counted number","pitfalls":[{"text":"A stricter rule from one creator of coded ads: whooshes only for movement, a pop or a tick for a cut or a morph, no dings, bells or typing sounds, and never the same sample twice at the same pitch.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) (the sound rules of his free skill)"},{"text":"One effect per visual event at most. An effect on every caption is the style of a few references, not a default.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["sound-hook","sfx-on-the-peak","word-drop"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"The pairs come from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report), in our own words"},"body":"## The usual pairs\n\n| Sound | Event |\n|---|---|\n| Whoosh | a zoom, text sliding in |\n| Riser | tension before a reveal |\n| Click and impact | text or an object appearing |\n| Ding | a right answer, good news |\n| Cash register | money, a price |\n| Camera shutter | a scene change, before and after |\n| Shock | a pattern interrupt |\n| Buzzer | a mistake, a myth debunked |\n\nFrom a creator's TikTok series, collected in our hook framework. Pairs to start from, not rules.","shown_with":null},{"slug":"shallow-focus","name":"Shallow depth of field","category":"focus","group":"Depth of field","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Isolates the subject from a soft background; attention goes exactly where you want.","use_when":"Portraits, product hero shots, interviews.","phrase":"shallow depth of field, her eyes sharp, the café behind her a soft blur of shapes and lights","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Employ a wide aperture of f/1.8 to create a shallow depth of field, rendering the background in soft, creamy bokeh while keeping the subject razor-sharp.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["deep-focus","bokeh","portrait-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"shape-morph","name":"Shape morph (every shot becomes the next)","category":"transition","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The eye always has one thing to follow, so a fast animated ad never loses the viewer at a cut.","use_when":"Code-rendered product and app ads.","phrase":"the price tag folds into a circle, the circle becomes the app icon, the icon opens into the home screen; each shot turns into the next, no dissolve","pitfalls":[{"text":"Left alone, a coding model builds separate shots and joins them with a cross-dissolve. Ask per pair of shots how this shape turns into that shape, and write the answer in the storyboard before anything is built.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"Fill the growing shape with the next shot's background colour first, then ease the next shot in from 93 to 100 percent; give the source object a squash of about 8 percent one pose before it grows.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) (the style rules of his free skill, read 13 Nov 2026)"},{"text":"Review stills at three or four points inside every transition as well as at the holds.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["match-cut","zoom-through","action-dead-centre"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"shock","name":"Shock","category":"expression","group":"Surprise","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Sudden disbelief that stops time for a beat.","use_when":"Twists, price reveals, unexpected news, the punchline of an ad.","phrase":"the eyes go wide and the brows shoot up, the mouth drops open, the head pulls back an inch, everything holds still for a beat before the first blink","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Shock","text":"The eyes snap wide with white visible above the iris, the eyebrows shoot up, the jaw drops fully open, and the head jerks back. The face freezes in that expression before a single blink.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/02-shock.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Explosive","cue":"Sudden disbelief","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/02-shock-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["realisation","confusion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the eyebrows jump and settle, a quick double blink, the lips part slightly\n- **Medium:** the eyes go wide and the brows shoot up, the mouth drops open, the head pulls back an inch, everything holds still for a beat before the first blink\n- **Explosive:** the whole body jerks back, both hands fly up near the face, the jaw hangs fully open, a frozen stare that lasts well past comfortable","shown_with":null},{"slug":"show-the-making","name":"Show the making","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer sees the work behind the video, which makes a claim about the process believable.","use_when":"Videos about how something was made or edited.","phrase":"an editing timeline with tracks and waveforms builds under the speaker and a playhead runs across it","pitfalls":[{"text":"People keep how-it-was-made material: one 3D film's post, with its making-of linked under it, had more bookmarks than likes, 6,322 against 6,143.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["chapter-bar","prompt-bar"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured) and Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"side-tracking-shot","name":"Side tracking","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows motion as a clean line across the frame; speed and direction become graphic.","use_when":"Runners, cyclists, a car passing, a person walking along a wall.","phrase":"side tracking shot, the camera travels parallel to him at the same speed, he stays in profile in the middle of the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Keep the direction of travel the same in every shot (always left to right) or the viewer loses track.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Side tracking","text":"side tracking shot. Movement: move parallel beside the subject along their direction of travel. Speed: match the subject's motion. Framing: keep the subject in side profile or three-quarter profile at a stable distance. End: continue the parallel movement with clear horizontal motion.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/19-side-tracking-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/19-side-tracking-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Side tracking"],"related":["tracking-shot","profile-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels sideways alongside the subject\n- **Pace:** the subject's speed\n- **Keep:** the subject in profile at a constant distance\n- **Ends:** still moving across the frame","shown_with":null},{"slug":"silence-before-reveal","name":"Silence before the reveal","category":"sound","group":"Hook and effects","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A gap in the sound pulls attention forward to what comes next.","use_when":"The moment before a number, a result or a product appears.","phrase":"half a second of full silence before the reveal, then the sound returns with the picture","pitfalls":[{"text":"The framework gives 0.5 to 1 second and calls it stronger than a riser in dense content. That comes from a research report, not from a measurement of ours.","evidence":"unverified","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["eye-contact-pause","sfx-vocabulary","curiosity-gap"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"silhouette","name":"Silhouette","category":"light","group":"Contrast","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A dark shape against a bright background: mystery, iconography, anonymity.","use_when":"Openers, sunsets, anonymous people, logo-like shapes.","phrase":"silhouette, the woman a black shape against the bright sunset sky, no detail in her face","pitfalls":[{"text":"Faces stay anonymous, which also avoids the likeness problem with real people.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rim-light","back-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"slider-shot","name":"Slider","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A small, smooth sideways glide that adds depth to a still scene.","use_when":"Product shots, interviews, food, any static setup that needs a little life.","phrase":"slider shot, the camera glides half a metre to the left, the foreground glass, the bottle and the background shift against each other","pitfalls":[{"text":"Put something in the foreground. Without layers at different distances a slider move is invisible.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Slider right","text":"slider right. Movement: slide the camera a small distance to the right. Speed: slow controlled constant motion. Framing: keep foreground, subject and background layers readable as parallax shifts. End: finish on a refined composition with the new right-side angle visible.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/12-slider-right-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12-slider-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Slider left","text":"slider left. Movement: slide the camera a small distance to the left. Speed: slow controlled constant motion. Framing: keep foreground, subject and background layers readable as parallax shifts. End: finish on a refined composition with the new left-side angle visible.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/12b-slider-left-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/12b-slider-left-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/12b-slider-left-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12b-slider-left-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/12b-slider-left-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Slider right","Slider left"],"related":["truck","arc-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** glides a short distance sideways\n- **Pace:** slow and smooth\n- **Keep:** foreground, subject and background shifting against each other\n- **Ends:** a slightly new angle on the same subject","shown_with":null},{"slug":"slow-drift","name":"Never fully static","category":"effect","group":"Zooms and reframes","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A held frame stays alive.","use_when":"Any scene that holds longer than a second, animated or filmed.","phrase":"a slow continuous push from 1.0 to 1.06 over the whole scene","pitfalls":[{"text":"Keep it subtle: a scale creep of 1 to 2 percent, or a push to about 1.06. This is the never-static move, not a zoom.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"One creator's rule for coded ads is that something always moves, even if it is only the camera, slowly.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["slow-zoom-in","ken-burns-still"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"slow-zoom-in","name":"Slow zoom in","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Slow zoom in","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"slow-motion","name":"Slow motion","category":"motion","group":"Speed","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Stretches a moment so the viewer sees what the eye misses: water, hair, fabric, impact.","use_when":"Product splashes, a decisive moment, sport, beauty.","phrase":"slow motion, the splash rendered at high frame rate and played back slowly, every droplet visible","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ration it. Name the one or two moments in slow motion and keep the rest at normal speed, or it loses its weight.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (Runway enhancer, tested prompts)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["speed-ramp","time-lapse"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"time-lapse","name":"Time-lapse","category":"motion","label":"Shown with: Time-lapse","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"slow-zoom-in","name":"Slow zoom in","category":"move","group":"Zoom and lens","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Builds tension or focus without the camera moving; the background flattens.","use_when":"A realisation, a dramatic line, a product that should feel more and more important.","phrase":"slow zoom in on her face, the camera stays in place while the lens tightens the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"A zoom changes the lens and flattens the picture; a dolly moves the camera and keeps the depth. Say which one you mean.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Slow zoom in","text":"slow zoom in. Movement: slowly increase lens focal length toward a tighter frame. Speed: gradual and even. Framing: keep the main visual target readable as it becomes larger in frame. End: finish on a stable tighter composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/05-slow-zoom-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Slow zoom in"],"related":["dolly-in","slow-zoom-out","crash-zoom"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** stays put while the lens tightens\n- **Pace:** slow and even\n- **Keep:** the main subject readable as it grows\n- **Ends:** a calm tighter frame","shown_with":null},{"slug":"slow-zoom-out","name":"Slow zoom out","category":"move","group":"Zoom and lens","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Reveals context around a subject; what seemed central becomes small.","use_when":"Ending a video, showing a person is not alone, revealing the setting.","phrase":"slow zoom out from the cup on the table until the whole café is in frame, the camera stays in place","pitfalls":[{"text":"A zoom keeps the perspective of one spot. For a reveal with depth, a dolly out reads more natural.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Slow zoom out","text":"slow zoom out. Movement: slowly decrease lens focal length toward a wider frame. Speed: gradual and even. Framing: keep the main visual target readable as more surrounding space appears. End: finish on a stable wider composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/5b-slow-zoom-out-hq.mp4","group":"Zoom/Lens","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/5b-slow-zoom-out-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/5b-slow-zoom-out-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/5b-slow-zoom-out-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/5b-slow-zoom-out-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Slow zoom out"],"related":["dolly-out","slow-zoom-in"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** stays put while the lens widens\n- **Pace:** slow and even\n- **Keep:** the main subject readable as the surroundings appear\n- **Ends:** a calm wider frame","shown_with":null},{"slug":"smug","name":"Smug","category":"expression","group":"Social","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Quiet superiority; the person knows they won.","use_when":"Comparison ads, a winner, comedic confidence.","phrase":"she half-closes her eyes, lets a slow lopsided smirk creep up on one side, raises her eyebrows once, tips her chin up a touch, and keeps looking straight at him with that smirk","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Smug / Gloating","text":"The eyelids lower, one corner of the mouth pulls into a slow smirk, the eyebrows rise once and settle, and the chin lifts slightly. The smirk holds through unbroken eye contact.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-2.vercel.app/videos/11-smug-gloating.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Medium","cue":"Quiet superiority","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/11-smug-gloating.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/11-smug-gloating-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/11-smug-gloating.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/11-smug-gloating-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["pride","eye-roll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** one mouth corner lifts, the lids lower slightly\n- **Medium:** she half-closes her eyes, lets a slow lopsided smirk creep up on one side, raises her eyebrows once, tips her chin up a touch, and keeps looking straight at him with that smirk\n- **Explosive:** leaning back with the hands behind the head, a wide knowing grin, a slow nod, the eyebrows raised","shown_with":null},{"slug":"snap-transition","name":"Snap or clap","category":"transition","group":"Gesture and movement","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A gesture by the speaker triggers the change, so the cut feels caused.","use_when":"Face cam into B-roll.","phrase":"she snaps her fingers at the lens and on the snap the shot changes to the product on the table","pitfalls":[{"text":"Use one marker per kind of change and keep it for the whole video: a snap or clap from face to B-roll, a swipe between B-roll shots, a jump cut from face to face.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"},{"text":"As an opening, the honest version is a gesture that becomes the product shot.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["swipe-transition","format-mixed","cut-on-action"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"snorricam","name":"Body-mounted (snorricam)","category":"move","group":"Human camera","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The person is locked in frame while the world swings around them: disorientation, intensity.","use_when":"Music videos, sport, a character losing control.","phrase":"body-mounted camera fixed to his chest facing his face, he stays still in the frame while the street swings behind him","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Body-mounted camera / Snorricam","text":"body-mounted Snorricam. Movement: keep the camera fixed relative to the subject's torso or face while the subject moves. Speed: match the subject's body motion. Framing: keep the subject close, centered and facing the camera as the background moves around them. End: finish with the subject still locked in frame.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/24-snorricam-v2-hq.mp4","group":"Human Camera","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/24-snorricam-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Body-mounted camera / Snorricam"],"related":["handheld-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** fixed to the subject's body, facing them\n- **Pace:** the body's own movement\n- **Keep:** the subject locked in frame while the world swings\n- **Ends:** the subject still fixed in frame","shown_with":null},{"slug":"softbox-light","name":"Studio softbox","category":"light","group":"Studio","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Even, clean and flattering; the commercial studio look.","use_when":"Product packshots, headshots, e-commerce, clean ads.","phrase":"large softbox to the front left, even soft light, gentle shadow on the right, plain grey backdrop","pitfalls":[{"text":"Cinematic lighting says nothing to the model. Name the source, where it comes from and the fill (soft overcast key from frame left).","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Light the scene with a large softbox, providing even, flattering illumination with minimal shadows.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["rim-light","rembrandt-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"sound-hook","name":"Sound hook","category":"sound","group":"Hook and effects","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Catches the viewer who has the sound on, in the same second as the picture.","use_when":"The first second of every feed video.","phrase":"one sound event in the first second: a whoosh on the push-in, or an impact as the text lands","pitfalls":[{"text":"One sound per visual event. Sound supports the voice and never competes with it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Check it muted as well: the text layer has to carry the message with the sound off.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["three-layer-hook","sfx-vocabulary","text-first-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"source-to-camera","name":"Source held to camera","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A claim arrives with its source on screen, so a story can stay fiction while its facts stay checkable.","use_when":"Opinion pieces, future scenarios, awareness films.","phrase":"the figure holds a printed page of the report toward the lens, its title readable","pitfalls":[{"text":"A stated fact with no source page on screen is the listed failure of the measured story reel.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"Typeset the page or use the real one: video models smear long text.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on A Blender film from one request (Riley Brown, Claude Fable 5.2)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-low-poly-parable","proof-first"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"speaker-tag-captions","name":"Speaker-labelled captions","category":"effect","group":"Captions","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A muted viewer can tell who is talking.","use_when":"Dialogue, interviews, any two-voice format.","phrase":"a small name tag above each caption line, one colour per speaker, the spoken word in a highlighted pill","pitfalls":[{"text":"In the measured two-voice reference 243 of the visual changes sit in the caption band, against 49 in the call tiles and 46 in the shared screen. The captions carry the rhythm; the picture changes about once every 7 seconds.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-mock-client-call","caption-chips"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"speed-ramp-transition","name":"Speed ramp into the cut","category":"transition","group":"Gesture and movement","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Tension builds while the footage slows, and the change lands when it snaps back to speed.","use_when":"A reveal, an impact, the step from set-up to result.","phrase":"the pour slows to a crawl as the cup fills, then snaps to full speed on the cut to the finished drink","pitfalls":[{"text":"One speed ramp per video at most. It works best on a physical action.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["speed-ramp","slow-motion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) and the Director Chair script structure notes"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"speed-ramp","name":"Speed ramp","category":"motion","group":"Speed","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Speeds up and slows down inside one shot; rhythm and punch.","use_when":"Sport, fashion, energetic social edits.","phrase":"speed ramp: real time as he jumps, slowing to deep slow motion at the top of the jump, back to real time on the landing","pitfalls":[{"text":"State the trigger: at which moment the speed changes, and back.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["slow-motion"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"spotlight-and-tooltip","name":"Spotlight and numbered tooltip","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The eye goes to one control and knows which step this is.","use_when":"Product walkthroughs and onboarding videos.","phrase":"everything dims except the publish button, a numbered tooltip names the step, the cursor glides in and clicks","pitfalls":[{"text":"Three to five steps per 10 seconds, the state change shown on screen, then zoom out and reset so the loop closes.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-product-walkthrough","live-markup"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics (walkthroughs studied frame by frame, 28 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"stacked-speaker-board","name":"Speaker over a board","category":"effect","group":"Layouts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The face keeps the trust while the board shows the thing, and neither covers the other.","use_when":"Tool tutorials, step lists, explainers with things to show.","phrase":"split the vertical frame: the speaker in the top 29 percent as one continuous take, a board in a saturated brand colour in the lower 71 percent, captions on the seam","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured shares: speaker 29 percent over a board of 71 in one reference, 39 over 61 in another. In both the speaker zone never cuts; all the pace comes from the board.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026 and Director Chair measurement of a published short, 23 Oct 2026"},{"text":"Use it only with at least three things to show; with nothing to show the board is an empty area.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-red-board-list","edit-avatar-drawn-board","caption-chips","canvas-move"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from our measurements of published shorts and Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"stakes-in-frame-zero","name":"Stakes in the first second","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer wants to see how it ends before deciding to scroll.","use_when":"Feed openers for any business where something can go wrong on camera.","phrase":"the first frame is already mid-event: coffee leaving the cup toward the counter, a hand reaching to catch it","pitfalls":[{"text":"On a hook-teaching account, 18 of its 20 most viewed posts open on an event already under way in the first second; none of its three weakest does. One account in one niche: evidence, not a law.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"No fake news, fake emergencies or staged danger in real traffic. Show the trade's real risk safely, or generate the image and label it as AI.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"A caption can frame the moment. It never replaces the stakes.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["honest-tension","bystander-caption","opening-failures","pattern-interrupt"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026) and Director Chair notes on Viral Content Psychology (@thecreatorquest_)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"standard-lens","name":"Standard (50mm)","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Neutral, human-eye perspective: honest and unshowy.","use_when":"Observational and documentary shots, a whole film shot on one lens.","phrase":"50mm lens, natural human-eye perspective, nothing stretched or compressed","pitfalls":[{"text":"For stills, practitioners write a full capture line with an aperture (35mm, f/1.8); a 2025 study for Midjourney found f-stops ignored and plain words (blurred background) working. Plain words first, the number as support.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft (1 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on image prompting; Midjourney mapping in our own notes (2025, to audit)"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"47 degree diagonal field of view, camera 2 to 4 metres from the subject, no lens drift","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-28"},{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"50mm lens","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-29"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["normal-wide-lens","portrait-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"start-from-an-outlier","name":"Start from an outlier","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The idea begins from something that already earned attention.","use_when":"Choosing what to make next.","phrase":"start from a post at ten times or more its account's median; recreate its structure with your own material and change one thing","pitfalls":[{"text":"Look in this order: your own posts, the client's, then the category's.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Keep what made it work: the personal stakes, a character the situation makes believable, and an ending that pays off.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Recreate the structure, never the clip, the wording or the creator's story.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["outlier-ratio","honest-tension","preset-edit-from-reference"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026) and Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"static-shot","name":"Static shot","category":"move","group":"Pan and tilt","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Calm and observant; the action in the frame carries all the energy.","use_when":"Interviews, product on a table, a performance you want the viewer to watch without distraction.","phrase":"static shot on a tripod, the camera does not move for the whole clip, only the people in the frame move","pitfalls":[{"text":"Models like to add a slow drift. Say what stays fixed: the same height, the same angle, the same framing from first to last frame.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Higgsfield Seedance 2.5 prompting guide, read 28 Sep 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Static shot","text":"locked-off static shot. Movement: hold one fixed camera position for the full clip. Speed: still and steady. Framing: keep the same angle, height, lens distance and composition. End: finish with the same framing and camera position.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Static shot"],"related":["handheld-shot","time-lapse"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** on a tripod, not moving at all\n- **Pace:** none; only the scene moves\n- **Keep:** height, angle, lens and framing identical from the first frame to the last\n- **Ends:** exactly where it started","shown_with":null},{"slug":"steadicam-rig","name":"Steadicam or gimbal","category":"rig","group":"Studio","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A floating glide that follows people smoothly through space.","use_when":"Walk-and-talks, tours, events, weddings.","phrase":"steadicam, the camera glides smoothly at chest height following her, no shake","pitfalls":[{"text":"A stabilised camera can look floaty and unreal; a touch of handheld weight reads more operated.","evidence":"unverified","source":"2026 model-syntax study via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["tracking-shot","handheld-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"tracking-shot","name":"Tracking shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Tracking shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/16-tracking-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"studio-dolly-rig","name":"Studio dolly or tripod","category":"rig","group":"Studio","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Machine-smooth and deliberate: prestige, control, calm.","use_when":"Brand films, drama, premium product work.","phrase":"slow, deliberate, machine-smooth camera moves on a heavy dolly, no handheld jitter, no drone float","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["dolly-in","static-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Rig wording from tested prompts in Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly in (push in)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"suspicion","name":"Suspicion","category":"expression","group":"Fear","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Something is off and the person is not buying it.","use_when":"Comparison ads, a twist, detective or comedy tone.","phrase":"the chin lowers while the eyes stay up, one brow rises higher than the other, the head turns slightly so the look comes from the side, one mouth corner tightens, the stare holds","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Suspicion","text":"The chin drops while the eyes stay lifted. One eyebrow rises higher, the head turns slightly so the gaze lands sideways, and the mouth tightens at one corner. The stare holds without blinking.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/09-suspicion.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Subtle","cue":"Something does not add up","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/09-suspicion.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/09-suspicion-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/09-suspicion.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/09-suspicion-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["confusion","eye-roll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** one eye narrows a fraction, the head stays still, the gaze holds\n- **Medium:** the chin lowers while the eyes stay up, one brow rises higher than the other, the head turns slightly so the look comes from the side, one mouth corner tightens, the stare holds\n- **Explosive:** a slow lean in, the eyes narrow to slits, the finger points, the head shakes slowly while the stare never breaks","shown_with":null},{"slug":"swipe-transition","name":"Swipe","category":"transition","group":"Gesture and movement","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The new shot pushes the old one out in the direction of the movement.","use_when":"Between B-roll shots, phone and app content.","phrase":"the shot slides out to the left as the next one slides in from the right, in the direction the thumb swipes","pitfalls":[{"text":"Use one marker per kind of change and keep it for the whole video: a snap or clap from face to B-roll, a swipe between B-roll shots, a jump cut from face to face.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair script structure notes"},{"text":"In code-rendered video this is a push slide: the incoming scene pushes the old one out. It suits the scenes in the middle of a video.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["snap-transition","pov-phone-scroll"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair script structure notes and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"table-level-push","name":"Low push over the table","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Going from wide to medium in about a second, on the first word, gives the hook its energy.","use_when":"Creator-style product videos shot at a table.","phrase":"the camera sits just above the tabletop at the near end, wide; it pushes fast across the table toward him and holds as he says the first word","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on the reference: about 2.5 times closer in just over a second, eased out, then a hold. It is a physical move: the near edge of the table slides out under the lens.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on UGC camera work (Higgsfield restyle demo, Abhinav Kalyan)"},{"text":"Spend the movement on the hook. The camera calms down as the content gets denser.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on UGC camera work (Higgsfield restyle demo, Abhinav Kalyan)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-ugc-one-table","dolly-in","ground-level","movement-opener"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on UGC camera work (Higgsfield restyle demo, Abhinav Kalyan)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-in","name":"Dolly in (push in)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly in (push in)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/08-dolly-in-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"telephoto-lens","name":"Telephoto (135mm and up)","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Compresses distance: layers stack together, the viewer watches from far away.","use_when":"Two people stacked close, crowds, sport, a surveillance feel.","phrase":"telephoto lens from far away, strong compression, the people and the buildings behind them stacked close together","pitfalls":[{"text":"Long lenses make things look closer than they are; distances collapse.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"ShotDeck lens-size guide via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"18 degree diagonal field of view, camera 10 metres or more from the subject, no lens drift","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-28"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a 3D stage where this lens is 100mm at 14 degrees vertical field of view"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["portrait-lens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"terror","name":"Terror","category":"expression","group":"Fear","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Fear that will not let go; the viewer feels the threat.","use_when":"Horror, thriller, a stunt with real stakes.","phrase":"the brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow","pitfalls":[{"text":"Never ask for a smile or for an emotion by name; describe the muscles. Asked-for smiles come back generated and forced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting (client feedback, Aug 2026)"},{"text":"Put the trigger first (the door slams, she reads the message), then the performance. Without a trigger the reaction has no timing.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Dan Kieft and Higgsfield's tested prompts via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"emotion-direction","url":"https://seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app/","what":"a clip of this emotion performed in Seedance 2.5 (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"emotion-direction","name":"Terror","text":"The eyebrows pull up and together, the eyes lock wide open without blinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin tucks back, and the chest rises and falls with fast, shallow breaths.","credit":"Emotion Direction (seedance-emotion-direction.vercel.app)","source_url":"https://seedance-emotion-media-1.vercel.app/videos/03-terror.mp4","group":null,"intensity":"Explosive","cue":"Fear refuses to release","media":{"video":"/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.mp4","card":"/media/emotion-direction/03-terror-card.mp4","poster":"/media/emotion-direction/03-terror.jpg","card_poster":"/media/emotion-direction/03-terror-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":7.07}}],"site_names":[],"related":["anxiety","shock"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Families, intensities and emotion names from Emotion Direction (names and structure only, read 13 Oct 2026); the directions are our own words in its grammar: body parts in the order they move, ending on what holds. Rules from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## Three intensities\n\n- **Subtle:** the breath stops, the eyes fix on one point, the hands go still\n- **Medium:** the brows lift and pull together, the eyes stay wide and unblinking, the mouth stretches open, the chin pulls back, the chest rises and falls fast and shallow\n- **Explosive:** the body presses back against the wall, a scream with no sound, the hands claw at the surface behind, the eyes never leave the threat","shown_with":null},{"slug":"test-matrix-one-variable","name":"One variable per test","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A result you can read: you know why the winner won.","use_when":"Testing hooks and formats, organic or paid.","phrase":"each variant gets an id, a hypothesis, the one thing it changes, what stays fixed, a cost, an observation window and the result that would justify the next test","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ten creatives that differ in everything can find a winner and still not tell you why.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"Stage A explores formats. Stage B tests three hooks on one body, character, demo and call to action.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},{"text":"On one account a re-shot winning script, the same script with the tool's name swapped and the winning take with a new opener all landed under the median.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["trial-reels-hook-test","angles-before-hooks","read-two-numbers"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas and Director Chair notes on AI UGC army (Jake Castillo)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"text-first-hook","name":"Text on screen first","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Gives muted viewers a reason to stay before a word is spoken.","use_when":"Every feed video.","phrase":"a line of at most six words in high contrast above the speaker's head, on screen from the first frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Keep text inside the platform's safe zone; the interface covers the bottom and the right edge.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"three-layer-hook","name":"Three-layer hook","category":"hook","group":"The rule","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Catches the eye, the reader with the sound off and the listener in the same first second.","use_when":"The first one to three seconds of every short video.","phrase":"in the first second: something moves toward the camera, a bold line of at most six words appears above the head before the first word is spoken, and one sound effect hits","pitfalls":[{"text":"Text goes on screen before the speaker starts; a large share of feeds start muted.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["pattern-interrupt","text-first-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"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},{"slug":"three-quarter-view","name":"Three-quarter view","category":"angle","group":"Viewpoint","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The most natural angle on a face: depth and both eyes visible, without staring at the viewer.","use_when":"Portraits, interviews where the person talks to someone beside the camera.","phrase":"three-quarter view, her face turned halfway between the camera and the side, both eyes visible, looking just past the lens","pitfalls":[{"text":"For an interview look, name who she is looking at (the interviewer beside the camera). Otherwise the model makes her look into the lens.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Not measured yet, check on the first example"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["profile-shot","close-up","eye-level"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ticking-number-hook","name":"A number already moving","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A figure that is climbing when the video starts makes the viewer ask whose it is.","use_when":"Launch films, data products, competitor angles.","phrase":"open on a revenue figure ticking upward with a red trend line behind it and one line of text about whose number it is","pitfalls":[{"text":"From one 40-second launch film whose hook beat runs to 4.8 seconds; no retention figure is known.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},{"text":"An exact figure reads as real and a rounded one as made up. Never show an invented number as a real one.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["count-up-number","data-reveal","preset-connector-launch"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"tilt-down","name":"Tilt down","category":"move","group":"Pan and tilt","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Lowers the attention from the context to the detail that matters.","use_when":"From a shop sign down to the product in the window, from the sky to a person.","phrase":"tilt down from the sky to the man on the bench, the camera stays in place and only turns downward","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Tilt down","text":"tilt down. Movement: rotate the camera downward from one fixed point. Speed: smooth constant tilt. Framing: keep the vertical subject or architecture centered as the frame travels downward. End: land on the lower target.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/4b-tilt-down-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/4b-tilt-down-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/4b-tilt-down-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/4b-tilt-down-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/4b-tilt-down-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Tilt down"],"related":["tilt-up","crane-down"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** turns downward on the spot\n- **Pace:** steady\n- **Keep:** the subject centred as the frame lowers\n- **Ends:** the detail at the bottom","shown_with":null},{"slug":"tilt-shift-lens","name":"Tilt-shift","category":"lens","group":"Special","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Makes a real scene look like a miniature model.","use_when":"City views, playful brand films, a scene from above.","phrase":"tilt-shift view from high above, only the middle strip of the street is sharp, the top and bottom of the frame melt into blur, the cars look like toys","pitfalls":[{"text":"Shoot from high above; at eye level the miniature effect does not read.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Camera grammar"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Apply a tilt-shift photography effect with a narrow plane of focus, making the scene appear like a miniature scale model.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Tilt-shift","text":"tilt-shift miniature view. Movement: hold or glide from a high angled view over the scene. Speed: small precise movement. Framing: keep a narrow band of sharp focus across the key subject area with soft blur above and below. End: finish with the miniature-scale view intact.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s2-tilt-shift-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s2-tilt-shift-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s2-tilt-shift-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s2-tilt-shift-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s2-tilt-shift-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Tilt-shift"],"related":["birds-eye-view"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"tilt-up","name":"Tilt up","category":"move","group":"Pan and tilt","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Reveals height or importance, from a detail up to the whole.","use_when":"A tall building, a person from shoes to face, a product standing upright.","phrase":"tilt up from her shoes to her face, the camera stays in place and only turns upward","pitfalls":[{"text":"Pair it with a reveal (tilt up to reveal the tower). It then reads as intent, not as drift.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Tilt up","text":"tilt up. Movement: rotate the camera upward from one fixed point. Speed: smooth constant tilt. Framing: keep the vertical subject or architecture centered as the frame travels upward. End: land on the upper target.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/04-tilt-up-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/04-tilt-up-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/04-tilt-up-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/04-tilt-up-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/04-tilt-up-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Tilt up"],"related":["tilt-down","pedestal","crane-up"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** turns upward on the spot\n- **Pace:** steady\n- **Keep:** the subject or building centred as the frame climbs\n- **Ends:** the top of the thing it climbed","shown_with":null},{"slug":"time-lapse","name":"Time-lapse","category":"motion","group":"Speed","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Compresses time: clouds race, crowds flow, a day passes in seconds.","use_when":"Openings, construction, a shop through the day, before and after.","phrase":"locked-camera time-lapse, the street from morning to night in ten seconds, the camera never moves","pitfalls":[{"text":"Keep the camera fixed and say so. A moving camera turns a time-lapse into a hyperlapse.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Time-lapse","text":"locked-camera time-lapse. Movement: hold one fixed camera position while time moves rapidly forward. Speed: fast time compression with a stable camera. Framing: keep the same composition and horizon as motion passes through the frame. End: finish from the same camera angle with visible passage of time.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","group":"Specials","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/s5-time-lapse-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Time-lapse"],"related":["hyperlapse","static-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec and aicameramovements names"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"time-pressure","name":"Time pressure","category":"hook","group":"Textual hooks (what to say)","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Makes the moment feel limited.","use_when":"Offers, launches, events.","phrase":"this only works until Friday, here is why","pitfalls":[{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":[],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"title-card-on-black","name":"Title card on black","category":"transition","group":"Cards and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A quiet line on black lets the copy carry the joke or the claim with nothing competing.","use_when":"Spec ads, deadpan comedy, a break between sections.","phrase":"cut to a title card on black: one line of small white sans, centred, held three seconds","pitfalls":[{"text":"Put the payoff card last, after the visual punchline. In our own spec ad the claim card follows the stunt and the payoff card closes the film.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"As the opening of a feed video a title card gives no reason to stop. Keep it for inside the video and the end.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["hard-cut","edit-deadpan-spec-ad","preset-spec-commercial"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"tool-call-label","name":"Tool-call label on a result","category":"effect","group":"Overlays and inserts","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A number reads as live output from a tool, not as a mock-up.","use_when":"Launch films for connectors, integrations and AI products.","phrase":"a small label above each result card names the call that produced it, followed by a check mark","pitfalls":[{"text":"Seen on a 40-second connector launch film where every result card carries its call. It is the film maker's device; its effect on viewers was not measured.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["preset-connector-launch","inline-tokens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Launch video structure on Poolday (Raphael Guilhem)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"top-down","name":"Top-down (flat lay)","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Turns a table into a layout: objects become shapes in a graphic arrangement.","use_when":"Food, products laid out, unboxing, a workspace.","phrase":"top-down shot, the camera straight above the table looking down, the objects laid flat on the surface","pitfalls":[{"text":"Counts of named objects and positions on a grid land (three cups, the plate in the centre). Margins and spacing in numbers do not; fix exact layout in the edit.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Capture the scene from a direct top-down, bird's-eye perspective, flattening the depth to emphasize the geometric arrangement of the elements below.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["high-angle","birds-eye-view","insert-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"tracking-shot","name":"Tracking shot","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Keeps the viewer with a moving subject so the world slides past.","use_when":"Walking scenes, a product carried through a space, sport.","phrase":"tracking shot, the camera moves alongside him at his walking pace, he stays in the same place in the frame while the street passes","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Tracking shot","text":"tracking shot. Movement: move through the scene with the main subject. Speed: match the subject's pace. Framing: keep the subject consistently readable while the environment moves around them. End: maintain a clear moving composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/16-tracking-shot-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/16-tracking-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Tracking shot"],"related":["follow-shot","side-tracking-shot","reverse-tracking-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels through the scene with the subject\n- **Pace:** the subject's own pace\n- **Keep:** the subject in the same place in the frame\n- **Ends:** still moving, the subject still placed the same","shown_with":null},{"slug":"trial-reels-hook-test","name":"Trial reels as a hook test","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Strangers pick the opening before followers or the ad budget see it.","use_when":"Instagram accounts with several possible openings for one video.","phrase":"one body, two to six openings, each posted as an Instagram trial reel; read the views after about 24 hours and compare the batch with itself","pitfalls":[{"text":"Views from non-followers are a signal about the opening, not a forecast of paid results. The creator who teaches the method shows the six reels posted, never the outcome.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Trial reels as a hook test (Joey Mulcahy)"},{"text":"At a few hundred views per reel a small lead is noise. Count a winner only when it stands clearly apart.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Six openings on one body are near copies. Send only the winner to paid.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Paid UGC on performance (Hector Serrano, Wispr Flow)"},{"text":"Check eligibility in the app; third-party write-ups disagree on the follower minimum.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Trial reels as a hook test (Joey Mulcahy)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["test-matrix-one-variable","angles-before-hooks","three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Trial reels as a hook test (Joey Mulcahy) and Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"truck","name":"Truck (left or right)","category":"move","group":"Physical moves","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Slides past a scene like a window; layers in depth separate.","use_when":"Product rows, shelves, a team at desks, a reveal along a wall.","phrase":"truck right, the camera slides sideways along the shelf at a steady pace, it keeps facing the products while they pass through the frame","pitfalls":[{"text":"A pan turns the camera on one point; a truck carries the whole camera along a line. Only the truck gives parallax.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Truck right","text":"truck right. Movement: move the camera physically to the right on a straight horizontal path. Speed: smooth constant lateral travel. Framing: keep the lens facing the same direction while the scene slides across frame. End: finish on a clean lateral composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/10-truck-right-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/10-truck-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/10-truck-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/10-truck-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/10-truck-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Truck left","text":"truck left. Movement: move the camera physically to the left on a straight horizontal path. Speed: smooth constant lateral travel. Framing: keep the lens facing the same direction while the scene slides across frame. End: finish on a clean lateral composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/10b-truck-left-hq.mp4","group":"Physical Moves","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/10b-truck-left-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/10b-truck-left-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/10b-truck-left-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/10b-truck-left-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Truck right","Truck left"],"related":["pan","slider-shot","side-tracking-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** slides sideways on a straight line, still facing forward\n- **Pace:** steady\n- **Keep:** the lens pointing the same way while the scene slides past\n- **Ends:** a clean frame further along","shown_with":null},{"slug":"two-second-frame-test","name":"Two-second first-frame test","category":"publish","group":"Before posting","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"You learn whether the opening says anything before the feed tells you.","use_when":"Every video, before it goes out.","phrase":"show someone only the first frame for two seconds and ask what the video is about","pitfalls":[{"text":"No answer means the visual hook fails. The first frame is also the thumbnail on the profile grid.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},{"text":"Then play it muted. If the text layer does not tell the story, rework it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail","opening-failures","three-layer-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"two-shot","name":"Two-shot","category":"shot","group":"People","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows a relationship: two people and the space between them.","use_when":"Partners, a team, a host and a guest, before and after.","phrase":"two-shot, both people framed from the waist up, side by side at the table, both faces visible","pitfalls":[{"text":"Two real people need their own references each: face crops and a full-body crop per person. A group photo as reference makes the model invent a new scene.","evidence":"measured","source":"House rule"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["over-the-shoulder-shot","medium-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"type-behind-head","name":"Type behind the head","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One huge word between the speaker and the background turns a talking head into a poster.","use_when":"Emphasis on one word; the hook line on the first frame.","phrase":"one word in a large serif placed between the background and a cut-out of the speaker, so the head overlaps the letters","pitfalls":[{"text":"Type over footage is split light and dark against the picture, never outlined; no gradients, glows or glass.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (the kit's own craft rules)"},{"text":"The effect fires on the word that names it. In the measured list reel an effect more than 0.2 seconds off its word is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail","word-drop","edit-ticking-effects-list"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Definition from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos; use from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"ultra-wide-lens","name":"Ultra wide or fisheye","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Stretches space and bends edges; things near the lens look huge, the room looks bigger.","use_when":"Skate and action content, tight interiors, playful distortion.","phrase":"ultra wide lens close to the subject, strong curve at the edges of the frame, the room stretching away","pitfalls":[{"text":"Ultra wide makes subjects look much further away than they are; keep the important thing close to the lens.","evidence":"film-craft","source":"ShotDeck lens-size guide (8 Jul 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Shoot through a fisheye lens to create strong barrel distortion and a spherical, panoramic field of view.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames to search by framing and lens (paid, link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a 3D stage where this lens is 14 to 18mm at 63 to 90 degrees vertical field of view"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["wide-lens","action-cam-rig"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"vector-flat-style","name":"Flat vector","category":"style","group":"Illustration","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Flat colours and clean lines: clear, graphic, friendly.","use_when":"Infographics, explainers, icons, UI illustrations.","phrase":"flat vector illustration, solid colours, clean lines, no gradients or shading","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Create a clean vector illustration using flat colors, bold geometric shapes, and crisp lines, devoid of gradients or shading.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["anime-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"vehicle-tracking-shot","name":"Vehicle tracking","category":"move","group":"Dolly and track","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Keeps a moving vehicle steady in frame while the world rushes past.","use_when":"Car and bike content, delivery and mobility brands.","phrase":"vehicle tracking shot, the camera travels alongside the car at the same speed, the car steady in frame while the road and trees stream past","pitfalls":[{"text":"Give one main camera move per shot. Two moves at once, or orders that contradict each other, make the camera wander.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Kling camera guide and ByteDance Dreamina Seedance guide, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Vehicle tracking","text":"vehicle tracking shot. Movement: move with the vehicle along its route. Speed: match the vehicle's pace. Framing: keep the vehicle stable in frame while the road or environment moves past. End: maintain a clear moving vehicle composition.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/21-vehicle-tracking-hq.mp4","group":"Dolly/Track","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/21-vehicle-tracking-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/21-vehicle-tracking-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/21-vehicle-tracking-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/21-vehicle-tracking-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Vehicle tracking"],"related":["tracking-shot","chase-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** travels with the vehicle\n- **Pace:** the vehicle's speed\n- **Keep:** the vehicle steady in frame while the road streams past\n- **Ends:** the vehicle still centred in motion","shown_with":null},{"slug":"vhs-tape","name":"VHS tape","category":"texture","group":"Video","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Nineties home video: lo-fi, glitchy, nostalgic.","use_when":"Throwback content, music, playful brand stunts.","phrase":"VHS home video, tracking lines, colour bleeding, soft low-resolution picture","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["reporter-cam-rig","polaroid"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"visible-counter","name":"A finite promise with a counter","category":"hook","group":"Visual hooks and animations","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A countable promise turns the clip into something to finish, and to save.","use_when":"List videos and capability reels.","phrase":"18 effects, 20 seconds in large type at the top left of the first frame, and a checklist that ticks on every item","pitfalls":[{"text":"Measured on the reference: 8.3 percent of plays saved at 12 times the median of the account's other clips.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"},{"text":"A list concept without a tracker on screen gives the viewer no progress to watch.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["checklist-tracker","map-in-frame-zero","edit-ticking-effects-list"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and Director Chair field notes on hooks and ideas"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"vision3-250d","name":"Kodak Vision3 250D","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Clean daylight film: fresh colours, fine grain.","use_when":"Daylight brand films and lifestyle.","phrase":"35mm Kodak Vision3 250D, clean daylight colour, fine grain","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["vision3-500t","film-35mm"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Colour grading guide"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"vision3-500t","name":"Kodak Vision3 500T","category":"texture","group":"Film","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Tungsten night stock: deep, warm interiors and coarser grain.","use_when":"Night scenes and interiors in a cinema register.","phrase":"35mm Kodak Vision3 500T, warm tungsten interiors, visible grain, halation around the lamps","pitfalls":[{"text":"Grain, sensor noise and vignetting date an image: a shop scene with them read as a photo from 2008. Grain belongs to a film or snapshot register, not to realism as such.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting (Aug 2026)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["vision3-250d","night"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Colour grading guide; Rourke Heath's look line via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"voice-chain","name":"Six-stage voice chain","category":"sound","group":"Voice","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A phone or clip-on recording sounds like a broadcast voice.","use_when":"Every voice recorded outside a studio: creator video, a talking head, a podcast clip.","phrase":"run the voice through a high-pass at 100 Hz, a downward expander, a de-esser, a 3 dB lift around 3.5 kHz, a compressor and a limiter, in that order","pitfalls":[{"text":"The expander goes before the compressor. Otherwise the compressor lifts the room noise between the words again.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"},{"text":"Measured on the dry half of the source clip's own hook: the chain lowered the noise floor from -23.6 to -33.8 dB and kept the peaks under -1 dBFS. The values are starting points, not tuned to a room.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd)"},{"text":"Set the expander's threshold above the room's own noise, measured on a second of silence. Loudness is a separate last step.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on editing"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["loudness-target","room-tone-under-generated-voice","demonstration-hook"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Product UI as the explainer (Patchd) and Director Chair field notes on editing"},"body":"## The six stages, in order\n\n| # | Stage | What it does |\n|---|---|---|\n| 1 | High-pass at about 100 Hz | removes rumble, where there is almost no voice |\n| 2 | Downward expander | turns the quiet moments down further, so fans, keys and breaths drop between words |\n| 3 | De-esser | turns down only the sharp hiss of S sounds |\n| 4 | Lift of 3 dB around 3,500 Hz | the range where words get their clarity |\n| 5 | Compressor | narrows the gap between quiet and loud words |\n| 6 | Limiter | a ceiling, so a laugh or a shout does not distort |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"voice-first","name":"Voice first, then the face","category":"sound","group":"Voice","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The mouth is generated for the voice that ships, not for one that is replaced later.","use_when":"Generated people who speak: testimonials, ads, characters.","phrase":"generate the final voice line first, with its delivery, then give that audio to the video model as the audio reference for the face","pitfalls":[{"text":"Not yet run by us. The order comes from a vendor launch whose film is a showreel of chosen takes; no failure rate is given.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Chimera (ElevenLabs, Eleven v4 with Seedance 2.5)"},{"text":"A voice reference used directly in the video model is often inconsistent between takes; the vendor's post and our own skill agree on that.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Chimera (ElevenLabs, Eleven v4 with Seedance 2.5)"},{"text":"A cloned voice speaking another language than its source loses its accent by design. Test before relying on an accent.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Chimera (ElevenLabs, Eleven v4 with Seedance 2.5) (the vendor's own documentation, read 22 Oct 2026)"},{"text":"Use your own voice or one with written consent.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Chimera (ElevenLabs, Eleven v4 with Seedance 2.5)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["voice-line","guide-seedance-2-5","voice-written-to-length"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Chimera (ElevenLabs, Eleven v4 with Seedance 2.5)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"voice-line","name":"Voice line","category":"character","group":"Prompt blocks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The same voice in every generation of the film.","use_when":"Dialogue across several generations.","phrase":"voice: from Ghent, dry and clipped when frustrated, quiet and level when serious; with a voice recording bound as the reference","pitfalls":[{"text":"A voice recording as a reference keeps the voice stable across generations; text alone drifts.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Rourke Heath (25 Sep 2026) via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["cast-block","accent-five-fields"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"voice-written-to-length","name":"Voice-over written to the cut","category":"sound","group":"Voice","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The voice ends when the picture does.","use_when":"Ads with a fixed slot of 15 or 30 seconds.","phrase":"write the voice-over to fit this 15-second animation, one line per shot, about 2.2 words per second, the last two seconds left free for the end card","pitfalls":[{"text":"A line typed into a voice tool without the timings is a guess: one creator shows a six-second voice-over delivered for a thirty-second slot.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},{"text":"This order suits a fixed length. When the words lead, record the voice first and time the scenes to it.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath) and Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["script-15s","script-30s","voice-first","one-clock-for-sound"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"volumetric-light","name":"Volumetric light","category":"light","group":"Atmosphere","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Visible beams through haze: sacred, epic, atmospheric.","use_when":"Churches, forests, warehouses, product reveals in haze.","phrase":"light beams through the high windows, visible in the dust in the air, falling across the floor","pitfalls":[{"text":"Name what makes the beams visible (dust, haze, steam). Without it the model draws glowing stripes.","evidence":"unverified","source":"Not measured yet"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Enhance the atmosphere with volumetric lighting, rendering visible rays of light cutting through haze or dust motes in the air.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["window-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"watercolour-style","name":"Watercolour","category":"style","group":"Painting","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Soft, bleeding colour on paper: gentle, handmade.","use_when":"Kids, wellness, food, gentle brands.","phrase":"watercolour illustration, colours bleeding into each other, white paper showing through","pitfalls":[],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["oil-painting-style"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"The first Director Chair spec, own words"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"what-moves-what-stays","name":"What moves and what stays","category":"motion","group":"Image to video","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"An animated photo that moves only where it should and does not look AI.","use_when":"Animating a real photograph or an approved still.","phrase":"real footage from a camera on a tripod, the frame identical at the start and the end; the water flows and the branches sway; the facade, the windows and the sign stay still","pitfalls":[{"text":"Motivate the locked frame instead of banning movement, name what moves small and physical, then list what stays still element by element, and name the sky colour or it washes out.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"An element that keeps failing: take it out of the image and give an end frame instead of tuning the prompt again.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["static-shot","environment-event-track"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Our measured recipe in Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"static-shot","name":"Static shot","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Static shot","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/01-static-shot-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"which-model-for-stills","name":"Which model for stills","category":"guide","group":"Which model","media":["image"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Picks the image model by the job instead of by the hype of the week.","use_when":"Before writing any image prompt.","phrase":"Nano Banana Pro by default; Nano Banana 2 for cheap test rounds; GPT Image 2.5 when the image carries text or a layout","pitfalls":[{"text":"A tutorial's model advice is an argument, not a rule: tutorials three weeks apart named different best models for skin. Compare with one image before switching.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["guide-nano-banana-pro","guide-gpt-image"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own summary of Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"## The choice (checked 29 Sep 2026)\n\n| Job | Model | Why |\n|---|---|---|\n| Any still, by default | Nano Banana Pro | references hold best |\n| Test rounds before the final | Nano Banana 2 | close to Pro for a fraction of the cost |\n| Text, interface, typography on the image | GPT Image 2.5 | positioned for design and text |\n| Character sheets, a second opinion | Seedream 5 | one tutorial's pick, not measured by us |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"which-model-for-video","name":"Which model for video","category":"guide","group":"Which model","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Picks the video model by what the shot has to do.","use_when":"Before writing any video prompt.","phrase":"Seedance 2.5 for scenes with dialogue and characters; Kling 3.0 for short cheap single shots; Veo 3.1 for the most realistic motion from one still","pitfalls":[{"text":"A tutorial's model advice is an argument, not a rule: tutorials three weeks apart named different best models for skin. Compare with one image before switching.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Kling 4.0 was announced on 27 Sep 2026 and was in closed beta; check availability before promising it.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["guide-seedance-2-5","guide-kling-3","guide-veo-3-1"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"measured","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own summary of Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"## The choice (checked 29 Sep 2026)\n\n| The shot has to | Model |\n|---|---|\n| Hold characters and dialogue over 10 to 30 seconds, several shots | Seedance 2.5 |\n| Keep a real performance and change the person, the room or the costume | Seedance 2.5 video edit |\n| Put a real person in a new setting, 3 to 10 seconds | Kling 3.0 Omni Edit |\n| Move between a start frame and an end frame, flat animation, cheap | Kling 3.0 |\n| Several shots from one start frame, more motion, 4 to 15 seconds | Seedance 2.0 |\n| Look as real as possible in motion, 8 seconds or less, with sound | Veo 3.1 |","shown_with":null},{"slug":"whip-pan","name":"Whip pan","category":"move","group":"Pan and tilt","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"A burst of energy that jumps attention from one thing to the next.","use_when":"Transitions between two scenes, comedy beats, fast social edits.","phrase":"whip pan, the camera snaps sideways from the first subject to the second in under half a second, motion blur during the turn, both ends sharp","pitfalls":[{"text":"A whip pan also hides continuity errors between two shots, which makes it a useful transition.","evidence":"unverified","source":"A 2026 model-syntax study for a prompt builder, summarised in Director Chair field notes on video prompting, not measured by us"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameramovements","url":"https://aicameramovements.com/","what":"a looping example clip of this move and a free prompt card (link only)"},{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Whip pan right","text":"whip pan right. Movement: rotate rapidly from the starting direction toward a new target on the right. Speed: fast snap with brief motion blur during the rotation. Framing: begin on one readable composition and land on a second readable target. End: settle into a sharp final frame.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}},{"site":"aicameramovements","name":"Whip pan left","text":"whip pan left. Movement: rotate rapidly from the starting direction toward a new target on the left. Speed: fast snap with brief motion blur during the rotation. Framing: begin on one readable composition and land on a second readable target. End: settle into a sharp final frame.","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/3b-whip-pan-left-hq.mp4","group":"Pan/Tilt","intensity":null,"cue":null,"media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/3b-whip-pan-left-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/3b-whip-pan-left-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/3b-whip-pan-left-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/3b-whip-pan-left-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}],"site_names":["Whip pan right","Whip pan left"],"related":["pan","crash-zoom"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Move names and the seven groups from aicameramovements.com (names and structure only); behaviour and numbers in our own words from Director Chair field notes on video prompting and the first Director Chair spec"},"body":"## Move card\n\n- **Camera:** snaps sideways from one subject to another\n- **Pace:** a fraction of a second, blurred in the middle\n- **Keep:** a readable picture before and after the snap\n- **Ends:** a sharp second subject","shown_with":null},{"slug":"whip-transition","name":"Whip between two subjects","category":"transition","group":"Gesture and movement","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The blur of a fast swing hides the join and carries the energy from one subject to the next.","use_when":"Handheld cutaways from the face to the screen, loops, changes of place.","phrase":"handheld whip from his face to the monitor, the frame smearing for a few frames, landing on the screen","pitfalls":[{"text":"In a selfie diary measured at 2.57 visual changes per 10 seconds, the whip from the face to the monitor and back is the one camera move in the edit; everything else stays unproduced.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, 22 Oct 2026"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["whip-pan","phone-selfie-rig","edit-selfie-with-receipts"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026 and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"whip-pan","name":"Whip pan","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Whip pan","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/03-whip-pan-right-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"wide-lens","name":"Wide lens (24mm)","category":"lens","group":"Focal length","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Shows a lot of the place with a little drama in the perspective.","use_when":"Establishing shots, interiors, low wide angles, geography of a scene.","phrase":"24mm wide lens, the whole interior visible, the person a few metres away","pitfalls":[{"text":"Focal length only means something with a sensor size. For Seedance, write the field of view in degrees plus the distance.","evidence":"vendor","source":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},{"text":"Degrees mean different things per tool: Camera Control uses a vertical field of view (29 degrees is about 50mm), Higgsfield's tested prompts a diagonal one (29 degrees is about 85mm). Say which, or give the focal length.","evidence":"measured","source":"Camera Control (aicameracontrol.com), its framing label read on 13 Oct 2026 by placing the subject in the 3D stage and Director Chair field notes on video prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"seedance-2.5","phrase":"84 degree diagonal field of view, camera 3 to 5 metres from the subject, no lens drift","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-28"},{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"24mm lens","evidence":"vendor","checked":"2026-09-29"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"},{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ultra-wide-lens","normal-wide-lens","wide-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Field-of-view table from Higgsfield's tested Seedance prompts, via Director Chair field notes on video prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"wide-shot","name":"Wide shot","category":"shot","group":"Distance","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"The viewer understands the situation, the person and their surroundings, before any emotion.","use_when":"Setting up a scene, showing a product in use in its real place.","phrase":"wide shot, the person seen head to toe with the room around them, the camera about five metres away","pitfalls":[{"text":"Faces smaller than about a tenth of the frame height stop looking like the reference person. Keep the person anonymous, or shoot from behind.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},{"text":"Sizes in metres mean little to the model. Give scale against the person instead (the counter reaches her hip), with a contact shadow under each foot.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[{"model":"nano-banana-pro","phrase":"Establish a wide, panoramic shot that dwarfs the subject within a vast, expansive environment.","evidence":"unverified","checked":"2025-12-08"}],"external_refs":[{"site":"aicameracontrol","url":"https://aicameracontrol.com/","what":"a free 3D stage to place the person and set the lens before you generate"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["extreme-wide-shot","full-shot","medium-wide-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"window-light","name":"Window light","category":"light","group":"Natural","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Soft, directional, real: the most believable light there is.","use_when":"Interviews, home and office scenes, food, portraits.","phrase":"soft daylight from a large window on her left, the right side of her face falling into gentle shadow","pitfalls":[{"text":"Uneven light from a named source was the strongest single fix on a crowded indoor scene.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[{"site":"shotdeck","url":"https://shotdeck.com/","what":"real film frames tagged by colour, lighting, time of day and composition (paid, link only)"},{"site":"flim","url":"https://flim.ai/","what":"film, ad and music-video stills to search by text or image (free tier, link only)"}],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["practical-light","rembrandt-light"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on image prompting"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"word-drop","name":"Word drop","category":"effect","group":"Type and emphasis","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"One word lands with weight, and that is the word the viewer keeps.","use_when":"The single claim or number in a talking-head line.","phrase":"the key word falls in from above the frame and lands beside her head on the moment she says it","pitfalls":[{"text":"The effect fires on the word that names it. In the measured list reel an effect more than 0.2 seconds off its word is a listed failure.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026"},{"text":"One sound per visual event, under the voice.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (the kit's own craft rules)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["edit-does-the-word","type-behind-head","sfx-vocabulary"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured)"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"word-slide-up","name":"Words slide up, one after another","category":"effect","group":"Motion and finish","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"Text arrives in reading order and feels designed.","use_when":"Headlines in animated ads and launch films.","phrase":"each word rises into place from just below its line and sharpens from a slight blur, three to four frames after the word before","pitfalls":[{"text":"Our values: opacity 0 to 1, a rise of about 0.45 em, blur 10 pixels to 0, eased out, 3 to 4 frames between words. Let one key word dominate in size and accent colour.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"One creator's rule for coded ads: no bounce and no per-letter fades.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["ease-never-linear","inline-tokens"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"worms-eye-view","name":"Worm's-eye view","category":"angle","group":"Height","media":["image","video"],"checked":"2026-10-13","effect":"Exaggerates height and power: the ground sits at the lens and the subject towers above it.","use_when":"Sneakers, tall buildings, a jump, a dramatic product reveal.","phrase":"worm's-eye view, the lens on the ground looking straight up, the shoes in the foreground and the person towering above","pitfalls":[{"text":"Angles given in degrees and margins given as numbers are often ignored. Describe where the lens is against the body (at knee height, above her head) instead.","evidence":"measured","source":"Director Chair field notes on image prompting"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["low-angle","full-shot"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"film-craft","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words, from the first Director Chair spec and Director Chair field notes on video prompting; pitfalls from the sources named per pitfall"},"body":"","shown_with":null},{"slug":"zoom-reveal-hook","name":"Zoom reveal","category":"hook","group":"Camera-angle hooks","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"A one-second mystery: what am I looking at?","use_when":"Product details, before and after, a workspace.","phrase":"start on a macro of the weave of the fabric, then pull back in one move to show the whole jacket on its hanger","pitfalls":[{"text":"Done in the edit it is a digital zoom, which needs 4K footage.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},{"text":"Hooks are judged by the first two seconds of retention on the platform. Test two openings of the same video instead of trusting a formula.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["macro-lens","dolly-out","slow-zoom-out","belief-shattering"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"dolly-out","name":"Dolly out (pull back)","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Dolly out (pull back)","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/09-dolly-out-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/09-dolly-out-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":15}}},{"slug":"zoom-through","name":"Zoom through","category":"transition","group":"Motion graphics","media":["video"],"checked":"2026-11-13","effect":"The viewer flies into the product, and the next scene starts from inside it.","use_when":"From an overview into one feature; the punchiest change in a montage.","phrase":"the dashboard card scales up past the edges of the frame, blurred at the midpoint, and the next scene grows from small behind it","pitfalls":[{"text":"Put motion blur on the one or two fastest frames only; blur on every frame multiplies the render time.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},{"text":"Land the peak of the move on a whoosh or an impact.","evidence":"practitioner","source":"Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"}],"per_model":[],"external_refs":[],"licensed":[],"site_names":[],"related":["shape-morph","sfx-on-the-peak","crash-zoom"],"rights":"own-work","evidence":"practitioner","source":{"url":null,"note":"Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics"},"body":"","shown_with":{"slug":"crash-zoom","name":"Crash zoom","category":"move","label":"Shown with: Crash zoom","site":"aicameramovements","credit":"AI Camera Movements (aicameramovements.com)","source_url":"https://aicameramovements.com/previews/hq/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","media":{"video":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.mp4","card":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.mp4","poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq.jpg","card_poster":"/media/aicameramovements/07a-crash-zoom-in-v2-hq-card.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"duration":10.08}}}]}