# Action dead centre

Frame / Composition / Placement. Checked 2026-11-13.

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
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/composition/action-dead-centre
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/composition/action-dead-centre.json

## Watch out

- At 1 to 2.5 seconds a scene, a subject that jumps around the frame costs the viewer the scene. (practitioner; Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath))

## Prompts

### Nano Banana Pro

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it.
```

### Nano Banana 2

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it.
```

### GPT Image 2.5

```
A photograph of [your subject] in [your setting].
People and framing: the subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it
Exclusions: no extra text, no watermark, no logo.
```

### Seedream 5

```
[your subject] in [your setting]. The subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it.
```

### Seedance 2.5

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
First frame: the subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it
Shot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot
```

### Seedance 2.0

```
Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].
First frame: the subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it
Shot 1: one continuous shot
```

### Kling 3.0

```
[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. The subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it.
```

### Veo 3.1

```
The subject of every shot sits in the exact centre of the frame and the effects play around it. [your subject] in [your setting]. Framing and subject stay as in the start image.
```

## Goes well with

- Centred symmetry: https://directorchair.ai/composition/centred-symmetry
- Shape morph (every shot becomes the next): https://directorchair.ai/transition/shape-morph

## Source

Own words from Director Chair notes on Motion graphics with Claude (Rourke Heath)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.