# Director Chair

> A free, open library of 439 cards of video craft for AI video: shots, angles, camera moves, lenses, light, looks, transitions, effects, sound, expressions, hooks, scripts, formats, presets and which model for what. Every card carries a prompt per model, ready to paste.

Every card page has a markdown twin (add .md to its address) and a JSON twin under /api/. Text is CC BY 4.0; reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers and are shown with permission.

## Data

- [The whole library as JSON](https://directorchair.ai/api/library.json): every card, category and model
- [One card as JSON](https://directorchair.ai/api/move/dolly-in.json): the pattern is /api/category/card.json, with a prompt per model
- [Agent skill](https://directorchair.ai/director-chair-skill.zip): a skill file, the library and the prompt engine in one zip
- [Which model for what](https://directorchair.ai/models): 13 image and video models
- [Director's board](https://directorchair.ai/board): combine cards into one prompt

## Camera: Shot size

- [Close-up](https://directorchair.ai/shot/close-up.md): Emotion and detail: the viewer reads small changes in the face.
- [Cowboy shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/cowboy-shot.md): A confident, ready-to-act stance; the frame stops just below the hands at the hips.
- [Establishing shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/establishing-shot.md): Tells the viewer where and when the next scene happens, before anyone speaks.
- [Extreme close-up](https://directorchair.ai/shot/extreme-close-up.md): Isolates one detail so it carries the meaning: an eye, a fingertip, a texture.
- [Extreme wide shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/extreme-wide-shot.md): The place becomes the subject and people turn into a detail in it, which reads as scale, isolation or wonder.
- [Full shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/full-shot.md): Shows the whole body, so posture, outfit and the way someone stands carry the message.
- [Group shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/group-shot.md): A team, a family or a crowd reads as one body.
- [Insert shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/insert-shot.md): Shows the viewer the one object the story needs them to notice.
- [Medium close-up](https://directorchair.ai/shot/medium-close-up.md): Puts the attention on the face while the shoulders and chest still show posture.
- [Medium shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/medium-shot.md): Conversational distance: the viewer sees the face and the hands, as if talking across a table.
- [Medium wide shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/medium-wide-shot.md): Keeps body language and the space around the person while the face stays readable.
- [Over-the-shoulder shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/over-the-shoulder-shot.md): Puts the viewer inside a conversation, behind one person and facing the other.
- [Shot reverse shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/shot-reverse-shot.md): A conversation the viewer sits inside, cutting between the two faces.
- [Clean single](https://directorchair.ai/shot/single-shot.md): One person alone in the frame, nobody else's shoulder in it: full attention on them.
- [Two-shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/two-shot.md): Shows a relationship: two people and the space between them.
- [Wide shot](https://directorchair.ai/shot/wide-shot.md): The viewer understands the situation, the person and their surroundings, before any emotion.

## Camera: Angle

- [From behind](https://directorchair.ai/angle/back-view.md): Keeps the person anonymous and puts the viewer where they are heading.
- [Bird's-eye view](https://directorchair.ai/angle/birds-eye-view.md): Shows a whole place from high above, like a map, with people as dots.
- [Chest level](https://directorchair.ai/angle/chest-level.md): Close to eye level but a hair lower, so the person reads as present and a little taller.
- [Dutch angle](https://directorchair.ai/angle/dutch-angle.md): Tilts the horizon so the scene feels unstable, tense or playful.
- [Eye level](https://directorchair.ai/angle/eye-level.md): Neutral and honest: the viewer meets the person as an equal.
- [Front view](https://directorchair.ai/angle/front-view.md): Face to face: direct, confrontational or honest.
- [Ground level](https://directorchair.ai/angle/ground-level.md): The lens sits on the floor; the ground stretches toward the viewer and people tower.
- [High angle](https://directorchair.ai/angle/high-angle.md): Makes the subject smaller or more vulnerable, or gives an overview of what they are doing.
- [Hip level](https://directorchair.ai/angle/hip-level.md): A grounded, slightly low view that puts the hands and the body language in play.
- [Knee level](https://directorchair.ai/angle/knee-level.md): The person grows taller than they are, without the drama of a floor shot.
- [Low angle](https://directorchair.ai/angle/low-angle.md): Makes the subject bigger, stronger and more important.
- [Point of view (POV)](https://directorchair.ai/angle/pov-shot.md): The viewer becomes the person and sees through their eyes.
- [Side profile](https://directorchair.ai/angle/profile-shot.md): Shows a person in thought or in motion, at a distance from the viewer.
- [Rear three-quarter view](https://directorchair.ai/angle/rear-three-quarter-view.md): The viewer stands just behind the person and sees what they see, with a hint of their face.
- [Three-quarter view](https://directorchair.ai/angle/three-quarter-view.md): The most natural angle on a face: depth and both eyes visible, without staring at the viewer.
- [Top-down (flat lay)](https://directorchair.ai/angle/top-down.md): Turns a table into a layout: objects become shapes in a graphic arrangement.
- [Worm's-eye view](https://directorchair.ai/angle/worms-eye-view.md): Exaggerates height and power: the ground sits at the lens and the subject towers above it.

## Camera: Camera move

- [Arc](https://directorchair.ai/move/arc-shot.md): Circles part of the way around a subject; it gains dimension and importance.
- [Someone crosses the frame](https://directorchair.ai/move/blocked-frame.md): The room feels real because the camera is one of the people in it.
- [Camera handover](https://directorchair.ai/move/camera-handover.md): A steady shot turns personal in the middle of the take.
- [Camera roll](https://directorchair.ai/move/camera-roll.md): The horizon turns: disorientation, dream, a world tipping over.
- [Chase shot](https://directorchair.ai/move/chase-shot.md): Urgency: the camera struggles to keep up with fast action.
- [Crane down](https://directorchair.ai/move/crane-down.md): Descends into the scene: arriving, focusing in from a wide view.
- [Crane up](https://directorchair.ai/move/crane-up.md): Rises above the scene: release, scale, an ending.
- [Crash zoom](https://directorchair.ai/move/crash-zoom.md): A jolt: sudden emphasis, often comic or dramatic.
- [Dolly in (push in)](https://directorchair.ai/move/dolly-in.md): Draws the viewer closer; intimacy or rising importance, with real depth.
- [Dolly out (pull back)](https://directorchair.ai/move/dolly-out.md): Pulls away and reveals; isolation, or the bigger picture.
- [Dolly zoom (vertigo)](https://directorchair.ai/move/dolly-zoom.md): The background stretches or shrinks around a subject who stays the same size: dread, shock, a world tilting.
- [Drone pull back](https://directorchair.ai/move/drone-pull-back.md): Flies away from a subject to reveal the scale around it.
- [Drone push in](https://directorchair.ai/move/drone-push-in.md): Flies toward a place; anticipation and arrival.
- [Earth zoom out](https://directorchair.ai/move/earth-zoom-out.md): From one street to the whole planet: scale, reach, a global message.
- [Exposure catches up](https://directorchair.ai/move/exposure-catch-up.md): The picture behaves like a phone camera moving between dark and bright.
- [Fast zoom](https://directorchair.ai/move/fast-zoom.md): A quick, decisive change of scale that points the viewer at one thing.
- [Filmed from behind cover](https://directorchair.ai/move/filming-from-cover.md): The viewer feels they are watching something they were not meant to see.
- [First-person walk](https://directorchair.ai/move/first-person-walk.md): The viewer walks through the space as the person.
- [Follow shot](https://directorchair.ai/move/follow-shot.md): The viewer walks in someone's footsteps and sees where they are going.
- [FPV drone](https://directorchair.ai/move/fpv-drone.md): Fast, banking, through gaps: adrenaline and spectacle.
- [Handheld](https://directorchair.ai/move/handheld-shot.md): Feels present and real, as if someone is standing there filming.
- [Helicopter shot](https://directorchair.ai/move/helicopter-shot.md): Wide, high, sweeping: the epic overview.
- [A person holds the camera](https://directorchair.ai/move/human-operator-rule.md): Footage reads as filmed by someone who was there.
- [Infinite zoom](https://directorchair.ai/move/infinite-zoom.md): One unbroken dive from one world into the next.
- [Low tracking](https://directorchair.ai/move/low-tracking-shot.md): Puts the viewer at ground level with feet, paws or wheels; energy and texture.
- [Orbit](https://directorchair.ai/move/orbit.md): A full circle around the subject; spectacle, a hero moment, the world spinning around someone.
- [Pan (left or right)](https://directorchair.ai/move/pan.md): Scans a space or follows something across it, like turning your head.
- [Pass through](https://directorchair.ai/move/pass-through.md): Goes through a surface into a new space; a playful reveal.
- [Pedestal (up or down)](https://directorchair.ai/move/pedestal.md): Lifts or lowers the viewer's eye line without tilting; a calm vertical reveal.
- [Push past](https://directorchair.ai/move/push-past.md): Moves through a foreground object into the scene, as if the viewer steps inside.
- [Reverse tracking (walk and talk)](https://directorchair.ai/move/reverse-tracking-shot.md): The person walks toward the viewer while talking; confident, in motion, going somewhere.
- [Side tracking](https://directorchair.ai/move/side-tracking-shot.md): Shows motion as a clean line across the frame; speed and direction become graphic.
- [Slider](https://directorchair.ai/move/slider-shot.md): A small, smooth sideways glide that adds depth to a still scene.
- [Slow zoom in](https://directorchair.ai/move/slow-zoom-in.md): Builds tension or focus without the camera moving; the background flattens.
- [Slow zoom out](https://directorchair.ai/move/slow-zoom-out.md): Reveals context around a subject; what seemed central becomes small.
- [Body-mounted (snorricam)](https://directorchair.ai/move/snorricam.md): The person is locked in frame while the world swings around them: disorientation, intensity.
- [Static shot](https://directorchair.ai/move/static-shot.md): Calm and observant; the action in the frame carries all the energy.
- [Tilt down](https://directorchair.ai/move/tilt-down.md): Lowers the attention from the context to the detail that matters.
- [Tilt up](https://directorchair.ai/move/tilt-up.md): Reveals height or importance, from a detail up to the whole.
- [Tracking shot](https://directorchair.ai/move/tracking-shot.md): Keeps the viewer with a moving subject so the world slides past.
- [Truck (left or right)](https://directorchair.ai/move/truck.md): Slides past a scene like a window; layers in depth separate.
- [Vehicle tracking](https://directorchair.ai/move/vehicle-tracking-shot.md): Keeps a moving vehicle steady in frame while the world rushes past.
- [Whip pan](https://directorchair.ai/move/whip-pan.md): A burst of energy that jumps attention from one thing to the next.

## Camera: Rig

- [Action cam](https://directorchair.ai/rig/action-cam-rig.md): Strapped to a body or a bike: raw speed and wide distortion.
- [Lagging handheld](https://directorchair.ai/rig/lagging-handheld-rig.md): The operator cannot keep up: urgency, chaos, action.
- [Phone selfie](https://directorchair.ai/rig/phone-selfie-rig.md): Reads as a real person filming themselves: direct, unpolished, believable.
- [Degraded reporter camera](https://directorchair.ai/rig/reporter-cam-rig.md): Found footage or news: raw, unfiltered, urgent.
- [Steadicam or gimbal](https://directorchair.ai/rig/steadicam-rig.md): A floating glide that follows people smoothly through space.
- [Studio dolly or tripod](https://directorchair.ai/rig/studio-dolly-rig.md): Machine-smooth and deliberate: prestige, control, calm.

## Camera: Lens

- [Anamorphic](https://directorchair.ai/lens/anamorphic-lens.md): The widescreen cinema signature: horizontal flares and oval bokeh.
- [Fisheye lens](https://directorchair.ai/lens/fisheye-lens.md): Bent lines and a huge field of view: playful, skate, music video, surveillance.
- [Macro](https://directorchair.ai/lens/macro-lens.md): Reveals texture the eye never sees: pores, fibres, droplets.
- [Wide normal (35mm)](https://directorchair.ai/lens/normal-wide-lens.md): Close to how we see a room; natural, documentary, present.
- [Portrait (85mm)](https://directorchair.ai/lens/portrait-lens.md): Flatters faces and softens the background; the person is the subject.
- [Standard (50mm)](https://directorchair.ai/lens/standard-lens.md): Neutral, human-eye perspective: honest and unshowy.
- [Telephoto (135mm and up)](https://directorchair.ai/lens/telephoto-lens.md): Compresses distance: layers stack together, the viewer watches from far away.
- [Tilt-shift](https://directorchair.ai/lens/tilt-shift-lens.md): Makes a real scene look like a miniature model.
- [Ultra wide or fisheye](https://directorchair.ai/lens/ultra-wide-lens.md): Stretches space and bends edges; things near the lens look huge, the room looks bigger.
- [Wide lens (24mm)](https://directorchair.ai/lens/wide-lens.md): Shows a lot of the place with a little drama in the perspective.

## Camera: Focus and depth

- [Bokeh](https://directorchair.ai/focus/bokeh.md): Turns background lights into soft discs; warm, dreamy, premium.
- [Deep focus](https://directorchair.ai/focus/deep-focus.md): Everything sharp from front to back; the viewer can look anywhere.
- [Rack focus](https://directorchair.ai/focus/rack-focus.md): Moves the viewer's attention from one thing to another inside one shot.
- [Shallow depth of field](https://directorchair.ai/focus/shallow-focus.md): Isolates the subject from a soft background; attention goes exactly where you want.

## Frame: Composition

- [Action dead centre](https://directorchair.ai/composition/action-dead-centre.md): At a fast pace the viewer never has to find the subject again after a cut.
- [Centred symmetry](https://directorchair.ai/composition/centred-symmetry.md): Formal, iconic, slightly uncanny; everything balances around the middle.
- [Foreground layers](https://directorchair.ai/composition/foreground-layers.md): Something soft in front, the subject in the middle, the world behind: real depth.
- [Frame within a frame](https://directorchair.ai/composition/frame-within-frame.md): A doorway or window frames the subject; depth and focus.
- [Framing first](https://directorchair.ai/composition/framing-first.md): The model keeps the frame you asked for instead of cropping to its favourite portrait.
- [Framing label](https://directorchair.ai/composition/framing-label.md): One short line fixes the frame: how big, from which side, from which height, with which lens.
- [Grid position](https://directorchair.ai/composition/grid-position.md): Puts things exactly where you want them in the frame.
- [Leading lines](https://directorchair.ai/composition/leading-lines.md): Lines in the scene pull the eye to the subject.
- [Negative space](https://directorchair.ai/composition/negative-space.md): Lots of empty space: calm, minimal, and room for text.
- [Rule of thirds](https://directorchair.ai/composition/rule-of-thirds.md): A balanced but lively frame; the eye lands on the strong points.
- [Scale against a person](https://directorchair.ai/composition/scale-against-person.md): Makes the size of an object believable.
- [Screen direction](https://directorchair.ai/composition/screen-direction.md): Keeps the viewer oriented across cuts: who is where, which way they move.
- [Subject built from a symbol](https://directorchair.ai/composition/semantic-compounding.md): The idea arrives without a word, because the subject is made of what it means.
- [Short siding](https://directorchair.ai/composition/short-siding.md): The person looks toward the near edge of the frame: boxed in, uneasy.

## Frame: Aspect ratio

- [1:1 square](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-1-1.md): Neutral and centred; works everywhere a thumbnail goes.
- [1.43:1 (IMAX)](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-1-43.md): A tall, immersive cinema frame: scale and height.
- [1.85:1 flat widescreen](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-1-85.md): The everyday cinema frame: a touch wider than television, calm and filmic.
- [16:9 landscape](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-16-9.md): The standard horizontal frame: YouTube, websites, TV.
- [2:1 (Univisium)](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-2-00.md): Wide but not epic: a modern series and streaming frame.
- [2.76:1 ultra wide](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-2-76.md): A very wide band of image: landscapes and spectacle.
- [21:9 ultrawide](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-21-9.md): The cinema widescreen: epic, premium, filmic.
- [3:2 photo](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-3-2.md): The classic camera-sensor shape: reads as a photograph.
- [4:3 (1.33 and Academy 1.37)](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-4-3.md): The old television and early film frame: nostalgic, intimate, boxed in.
- [4:5 portrait](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-4-5.md): Takes the most room in a feed without being full screen.
- [9:16 vertical](https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-9-16.md): Full-screen vertical: TikTok, Reels, Shorts, Stories.

## Light and look: Light

- [Backlight](https://directorchair.ai/light/backlight.md): A glow around the edges separates the person from the background.
- [Bioluminescent](https://directorchair.ai/light/bioluminescent-light.md): Things glow from within: magic, fantasy, nature at night.
- [Butterfly light](https://directorchair.ai/light/butterfly-light.md): A polished, flattering face for a talking head.
- [Firelight](https://directorchair.ai/light/firelight.md): Warm, flickering, intimate light that moves on the faces.
- [Fluorescent light](https://directorchair.ai/light/fluorescent-light.md): Flat green-white overhead light: institutional, tired, uneasy.
- [Hard light](https://directorchair.ai/light/hard-light.md): Sharp-edged shadows and texture: tough, sunny, graphic.
- [High-key light](https://directorchair.ai/light/high-key-light.md): Bright, even, nearly shadowless: clean, optimistic, commercial.
- [Low-key contrast](https://directorchair.ai/light/low-key-light.md): Mostly shadow with a few lit areas: drama, mystery, premium.
- [Mixed light](https://directorchair.ai/light/mixed-light.md): Warm and cool sources meet in one frame: real, lived-in, urban.
- [Moonlight](https://directorchair.ai/light/moonlight.md): Cool, low, quiet night light where shapes still read.
- [Neon](https://directorchair.ai/light/neon-light.md): Saturated coloured light: nightlife, tech, energy.
- [Practical lights](https://directorchair.ai/light/practical-light.md): The light comes from lamps you can see in the scene; warm and lived-in.
- [Rembrandt light](https://directorchair.ai/light/rembrandt-light.md): Classic, painterly portrait light with a small triangle of light on the shadow cheek.
- [Rim light](https://directorchair.ai/light/rim-light.md): A bright edge around the subject separates them from the background.
- [Side light](https://directorchair.ai/light/side-light.md): Half the face lit, half in shadow: shape, texture and tension.
- [Silhouette](https://directorchair.ai/light/silhouette.md): A dark shape against a bright background: mystery, iconography, anonymity.
- [Soft light](https://directorchair.ai/light/soft-light.md): Gentle shadows that wrap around the face: calm, flattering, expensive.
- [Studio softbox](https://directorchair.ai/light/softbox-light.md): Even, clean and flattering; the commercial studio look.
- [Top light](https://directorchair.ai/light/top-light.md): Light from straight above: eyes sink into shadow, isolated and stark.
- [Underlight](https://directorchair.ai/light/underlight.md): Light from below turns a face strange and threatening.
- [Volumetric light](https://directorchair.ai/light/volumetric-light.md): Visible beams through haze: sacred, epic, atmospheric.
- [Window light](https://directorchair.ai/light/window-light.md): Soft, directional, real: the most believable light there is.

## Light and look: Time of day

- [Blue hour](https://directorchair.ai/time/blue-hour.md): Cool twilight with the city lights coming on; calm, melancholy, urban.
- [Dawn and sunrise](https://directorchair.ai/time/dawn.md): First light: fresh starts, quiet, a day about to happen.
- [Day for night](https://directorchair.ai/time/day-for-night.md): A night scene with the readability of daylight: the classic film night.
- [Fog and mist](https://directorchair.ai/time/fog.md): Depth fades into white; the world feels hushed or uncertain.
- [Golden hour](https://directorchair.ai/time/golden-hour.md): Warm, low, long-shadowed light: nostalgia, warmth, a good life.
- [High noon](https://directorchair.ai/time/high-noon.md): Harsh, bright and honest; short hard shadows, high contrast.
- [Night](https://directorchair.ai/time/night.md): Only artificial light: intimacy, mystery, nightlife.
- [Overcast](https://directorchair.ai/time/overcast-light.md): Soft, shadowless grey daylight: calm, honest, a bit melancholic.
- [Rain](https://directorchair.ai/time/rain.md): Wet surfaces, reflections and drops: drama, longing or grit.
- [Season](https://directorchair.ai/time/season.md): The time of year sets colour, clothing and mood at once.
- [Snow](https://directorchair.ai/time/snow.md): A quiet, clean, cold world; sound seems to drop away.
- [Storm and lightning](https://directorchair.ai/time/storm.md): Wind, rain and flashes: danger and release.

## Light and look: Colour look

- [Genre as a look](https://directorchair.ai/look/genre-as-a-look.md): A genre brings a whole visual grammar the viewer already knows.
- [The look block](https://directorchair.ai/look/global-look-block.md): Several generations look like one film because each was told it is the same film.
- [Bleach bypass](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-bleach-bypass.md): Gritty and metallic: tension, war, hard reality.
- [Red and cyan blockbuster](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-blockbuster.md): The contemporary big-studio look: clean, saturated, slightly cool.
- [Brand film](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-brand-film.md): The full film register: premium, narrative, emotional.
- [Commercial](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-commercial.md): Desire and recognition: brighter, cleaner, more vivid than real life.
- [Cool tension](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-cool-tension.md): Cool and drained: unease, focus, seriousness.
- [Corporate](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-corporate.md): Trust: people look healthy and credible, places look real.
- [Film print](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-film-print.md): What makes digital read as cinema: colour gets denser, highlights roll off softly.
- [Social content](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-social.md): Readable on a phone in daylight and recognisable in the first frame.
- [Talking head](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-talking-head.md): The person pops from the room without anything looking graded.
- [Teal and orange](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-teal-orange.md): Warm skin against cool shadows: the familiar blockbuster contrast.
- [Training and instructional](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-training.md): Clarity over mood: every control and sign easy to read.
- [Warm nostalgia](https://directorchair.ai/look/look-warm-nostalgia.md): Golden, soft and familiar: memory and comfort.

## Light and look: Film stock and texture

- [Black and white noir](https://directorchair.ai/texture/black-and-white-noir.md): Hard contrast and deep shadow: drama, timelessness, mystery.
- [Clean digital](https://directorchair.ai/texture/digital-clean.md): Sharp, modern and noise-free; how a 2026 camera sees.
- [16mm film](https://directorchair.ai/texture/film-16mm.md): Rough, documentary texture: real, handmade, raw.
- [35mm film](https://directorchair.ai/texture/film-35mm.md): Fine grain and gentle colour: classic cinema, warmth, memory.
- [Kodak Portra 400](https://directorchair.ai/texture/kodak-portra-400.md): Warm, soft skin tones and a nostalgic photo feel.
- [Polaroid instant](https://directorchair.ai/texture/polaroid.md): Flash, faded colours and a white frame: a personal, vintage snapshot.
- [VHS tape](https://directorchair.ai/texture/vhs-tape.md): Nineties home video: lo-fi, glitchy, nostalgic.
- [Kodak Vision3 250D](https://directorchair.ai/texture/vision3-250d.md): Clean daylight film: fresh colours, fine grain.
- [Kodak Vision3 500T](https://directorchair.ai/texture/vision3-500t.md): Tungsten night stock: deep, warm interiors and coarser grain.

## Light and look: Art style

- [3D render](https://directorchair.ai/style/3d-render-style.md): Smooth, glossy and toy-like: playful and product-friendly.
- [Anime](https://directorchair.ai/style/anime-style.md): Cel-shaded Japanese animation: expressive, youthful, energetic.
- [Claymation](https://directorchair.ai/style/claymation-style.md): Handmade stop-motion clay: warm, funny, tactile.
- [Oil painting](https://directorchair.ai/style/oil-painting-style.md): Visible brushstrokes and rich colour: classic, artful.
- [Flat vector](https://directorchair.ai/style/vector-flat-style.md): Flat colours and clean lines: clear, graphic, friendly.
- [Watercolour](https://directorchair.ai/style/watercolour-style.md): Soft, bleeding colour on paper: gentle, handmade.

## People and places: Character

- [Cast block (identity lock)](https://directorchair.ai/character/cast-block.md): Each person keeps their face, build and clothes across every shot of a job.
- [Face sheet](https://directorchair.ai/character/character-sheet-face.md): Holds the face, hair and expression range of a character across shots.
- [Full-body character sheet](https://directorchair.ai/character/character-sheet-full-body.md): One identity document that every later still and video binds, so the character stays the same.
- [Body pose in the blocking](https://directorchair.ai/character/pose-in-the-blocking.md): The body tells the story before the face does.
- [Real person references](https://directorchair.ai/character/real-person-references.md): A real person who actually looks like themselves in a generated scene.
- [Voice line](https://directorchair.ai/character/voice-line.md): The same voice in every generation of the film.

## People and places: Expression

- [Accent in five fields](https://directorchair.ai/expression/accent-five-fields.md): Voices that sound like a place and a person, not a cartoon.
- [Anxiety](https://directorchair.ai/expression/anxiety.md): Restless worry that will not settle.
- [Awe](https://directorchair.ai/expression/awe.md): Wonder at something bigger than the person; the viewer wants to see it too.
- [Boredom](https://directorchair.ai/expression/boredom.md): Attention draining away; time dragging.
- [Confusion](https://directorchair.ai/expression/confusion.md): Something does not make sense; the viewer shares the question.
- [Crying](https://directorchair.ai/expression/crying.md): Composure breaking; raw and very human.
- [Determination](https://directorchair.ai/expression/determination.md): Resolve settling in; the person is going to do it.
- [Disgust](https://directorchair.ai/expression/disgust.md): Instant rejection of something revolting.
- [Embarrassment](https://directorchair.ai/expression/embarrassment.md): Confidence folding inward; very human.
- [Emotion as behaviour](https://directorchair.ai/expression/emotion-as-behaviour.md): Acting that reads as real instead of a generated face pulling an expression.
- [Exhaustion](https://directorchair.ai/expression/exhaustion.md): Nothing left; the body is done.
- [Eye roll](https://directorchair.ai/expression/eye-roll.md): Patience running out; playful or dismissive.
- [Flirtation](https://directorchair.ai/expression/flirtation.md): Playful attraction held just under the surface.
- [Frustration](https://directorchair.ai/expression/frustration.md): Effort that keeps failing; very relatable.
- [Guilt](https://directorchair.ai/expression/guilt.md): The weight of having done something wrong.
- [Reactions arrive late](https://directorchair.ai/expression/late-reactions.md): Timing that feels live: people react like people, not like a chorus.
- [Laughter](https://directorchair.ai/expression/laughter.md): Real, uncontrolled amusement the viewer wants to share.
- [The listener acts too](https://directorchair.ai/expression/listener-acts.md): Both people in a dialogue feel alive.
- [Nervous fake smile](https://directorchair.ai/expression/nervous-fake-smile.md): A smile with nothing behind it; the viewer senses the lie.
- [No default smile](https://directorchair.ai/expression/no-default-smile.md): Faces that look calm and real instead of generated and forced.
- [Pain (wince)](https://directorchair.ai/expression/pain.md): A sharp physical jolt the viewer almost feels.
- [Pride](https://directorchair.ai/expression/pride.md): Quiet satisfaction in something done well.
- [Rage](https://directorchair.ai/expression/rage.md): Anger breaking through control; powerful and dangerous.
- [Realisation](https://directorchair.ai/expression/realisation.md): The penny drops; the viewer feels the idea land.
- [Relief](https://directorchair.ai/expression/relief.md): Tension leaving the body; the viewer relaxes with them.
- [Sadness](https://directorchair.ai/expression/sadness.md): Quiet hurt that asks for empathy.
- [Shock](https://directorchair.ai/expression/shock.md): Sudden disbelief that stops time for a beat.
- [Smug](https://directorchair.ai/expression/smug.md): Quiet superiority; the person knows they won.
- [Suspicion](https://directorchair.ai/expression/suspicion.md): Something is off and the person is not buying it.
- [Terror](https://directorchair.ai/expression/terror.md): Fear that will not let go; the viewer feels the threat.
- [Three layers per line](https://directorchair.ai/expression/three-layers-per-line.md): Spoken lines with subtext, not flat readings.

## People and places: Setting

- [Environment as events](https://directorchair.ai/setting/environment-event-track.md): Weather, waves and crowds that behave like a real place instead of a looping texture.
- [Interior or exterior](https://directorchair.ai/setting/interior-exterior.md): The first fact of any scene: inside or outside decides where the light comes from.
- [Landscape as the setting](https://directorchair.ai/setting/landscape-setting.md): The place does half the storytelling: scale, isolation, adventure.
- [Location plate](https://directorchair.ai/setting/location-plate.md): An empty, consistent place that every shot of the job can reuse.
- [Period setting](https://directorchair.ai/setting/period-setting.md): A decade read at a glance: clothes, cars, signs and film colour.
- [Real location, same grade](https://directorchair.ai/setting/real-location-regrade.md): A real place, made to match the look of the film without changing what is in it.

## Motion: Subject motion and speed

- [Hyperlapse](https://directorchair.ai/motion/hyperlapse.md): A moving time-lapse: the camera travels a long way in a few seconds.
- [Name what it lands on](https://directorchair.ai/motion/landing-surface.md): The right sound and bounce when something falls or is put down.
- [Long exposure](https://directorchair.ai/motion/long-exposure.md): Moving things smear into trails while the still things stay sharp.
- [State that only moves one way](https://directorchair.ai/motion/one-way-state.md): Continuity across cuts: wet stays wet, a bitten apple never grows back.
- [Repeated action as a rule](https://directorchair.ai/motion/repeated-action-rule.md): An action that looks the same every time it happens.
- [Slow motion](https://directorchair.ai/motion/slow-motion.md): Stretches a moment so the viewer sees what the eye misses: water, hair, fabric, impact.
- [Speed ramp](https://directorchair.ai/motion/speed-ramp.md): Speeds up and slows down inside one shot; rhythm and punch.
- [Time-lapse](https://directorchair.ai/motion/time-lapse.md): Compresses time: clouds race, crowds flow, a day passes in seconds.
- [What moves and what stays](https://directorchair.ai/motion/what-moves-what-stays.md): An animated photo that moves only where it should and does not look AI.

## Edit: Transition

- [Camera move on one canvas](https://directorchair.ai/transition/canvas-move.md): The viewer keeps the map of the whole while looking at one part.
- [Cut on action](https://directorchair.ai/transition/cut-on-action.md): Cuts that land during a movement feel fast and invisible.
- [Cut on the end of a sentence](https://directorchair.ai/transition/cut-on-sentence-end.md): The picture changes when the thought does, so a slow film still feels edited.
- [Cut to a new camera on the line](https://directorchair.ai/transition/cut-to-new-angle.md): One take feels like a multi-camera shoot.
- [One background plate, few cuts](https://directorchair.ai/transition/enter-on-one-plate.md): The film feels like one continuous space; things arrive, scenes do not change.
- [Fade from black (know the cost)](https://directorchair.ai/transition/fade-from-black.md): A calm, film-like entry that costs the first frame.
- [Hard cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/hard-cut.md): Nothing softens the change, so attention goes straight to what happens next.
- [J cut and L cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/j-and-l-cut.md): Sound and picture change at different moments, so a cut feels like a conversation and not a switch.
- [Jump cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/jump-cut.md): Takes the dead air out of one take; the speaker sounds quick and unpolished in a way viewers trust.
- [Layout switch](https://directorchair.ai/transition/layout-switch.md): The frame itself changes shape when the content changes mode, from talking to showing.
- [Light leak on the cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/light-leak-cut.md): A film flash covers the cut and gives it warmth.
- [Loop back to frame one](https://directorchair.ai/transition/loop-close.md): The end hands over to the beginning, so a replay starts without a seam.
- [Match cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/match-cut.md): Two different things read as one, because shape, position and movement line up across the cut.
- [Animation into real footage](https://directorchair.ai/transition/match-frame-to-footage.md): The animated product becomes the real one without a visible join.
- [Shape morph (every shot becomes the next)](https://directorchair.ai/transition/shape-morph.md): The eye always has one thing to follow, so a fast animated ad never loses the viewer at a cut.
- [Snap or clap](https://directorchair.ai/transition/snap-transition.md): A gesture by the speaker triggers the change, so the cut feels caused.
- [Speed ramp into the cut](https://directorchair.ai/transition/speed-ramp-transition.md): Tension builds while the footage slows, and the change lands when it snaps back to speed.
- [Swipe](https://directorchair.ai/transition/swipe-transition.md): The new shot pushes the old one out in the direction of the movement.
- [Title card on black](https://directorchair.ai/transition/title-card-on-black.md): A quiet line on black lets the copy carry the joke or the claim with nothing competing.
- [Whip between two subjects](https://directorchair.ai/transition/whip-transition.md): The blur of a fast swing hides the join and carries the energy from one subject to the next.
- [Zoom through](https://directorchair.ai/transition/zoom-through.md): The viewer flies into the product, and the next scene starts from inside it.

## Edit: Edit effect

- [Phrase captions on a chip](https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-chips.md): The muted viewer follows word for word, and the captions never cover the face or the board.
- [Coloured keyword in the caption](https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-keyword-colour.md): The viewer learns the one word that matters in each line, even with the sound off.
- [Caption safe zones](https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-safe-zones.md): Text stays readable because the platform's buttons do not sit on it.
- [Sentence captions, revealed word by word](https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-sentence-reveal.md): Reads like a subtitle in a film: calm, and paced by the voice.
- [Giant and knockout captions](https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-slab.md): For one line the caption itself becomes the picture.
- [Chapter bar under the frame](https://directorchair.ai/effect/chapter-bar.md): The viewer sees the structure of the video and where they are in it.
- [Checklist with a counter](https://directorchair.ai/effect/checklist-tracker.md): The viewer watches the promise being kept item by item and stays to the end of the list.
- [Glitch hit on a beat](https://directorchair.ai/effect/chromatic-hit.md): A two-frame jolt that marks the beat.
- [Presenter in the corner](https://directorchair.ai/effect/corner-presenter.md): The content gets the whole frame and still has a face attached.
- [Count-up number](https://directorchair.ai/effect/count-up-number.md): A number that climbs feels earned, and the viewer waits to see where it stops.
- [Definition card](https://directorchair.ai/effect/definition-card.md): A term gets a plain definition the viewer can save.
- [Depth of field in a flat animation](https://directorchair.ai/effect/depth-blur-layers.md): A coded scene looks shot on a camera.
- [Screen in a phone or browser frame](https://directorchair.ai/effect/device-frame.md): The interface reads as a real product on a real device.
- [Drawn as it is said](https://directorchair.ai/effect/drawn-as-spoken.md): It reads as someone drawing for you live, so a long explanation holds.
- [Ease, never linear](https://directorchair.ai/effect/ease-never-linear.md): Movement feels physical.
- [Face only in the hook](https://directorchair.ai/effect/face-only-in-hook.md): The face earns trust in the first seconds, then gets out of the way of the lesson.
- [Reframe around the face](https://directorchair.ai/effect/face-reframe.md): The speaker stays where the eye expects, whatever the aspect ratio.
- [Halation, vignette and grain](https://directorchair.ai/effect/film-finish.md): Rendered or generated footage looks photographed.
- [Grade wipe (before and after)](https://directorchair.ai/effect/grade-wipe.md): The viewer sees what a look does in one sweep.
- [Photo grid that assembles](https://directorchair.ai/effect/grid-assemble.md): Many images arrive as one composed wall, with one hero among them.
- [One hand-drawn touch](https://directorchair.ai/effect/hand-drawn-touch.md): A clean animation gets a human mark, so it does not feel sterile.
- [Live tokens inside the headline](https://directorchair.ai/effect/inline-tokens.md): The sentence is the caption and the token is the proof, read in one glance.
- [Insert on the word](https://directorchair.ai/effect/insert-on-the-word.md): The thing appears when it is named, so the viewer never has to imagine it.
- [Ken Burns on a still](https://directorchair.ai/effect/ken-burns-still.md): A photo gains depth and time.
- [Live markup](https://directorchair.ai/effect/live-markup.md): A hand-drawn circle or arrow points at the exact thing being talked about.
- [Receipts in the platform's own interface](https://directorchair.ai/effect/platform-ui-receipts.md): Proof that looks like something the viewer has seen on their own phone.
- [POV title in the platform's style](https://directorchair.ai/effect/pov-title.md): Frames the clip as a moment, in the feed's own handwriting.
- [Prompt bar](https://directorchair.ai/effect/prompt-bar.md): Shows the instruction that caused what follows.
- [Punch-in](https://directorchair.ai/effect/punch-in.md): A tighter crop on a line says this part matters.
- [Grid of playing reels](https://directorchair.ai/effect/reel-grid-proof.md): Many small playing videos say that many people do this.
- [Screen zones for vertical video](https://directorchair.ai/effect/screen-zones.md): Each layer sits where the eye and the interface leave room for it.
- [Show the making](https://directorchair.ai/effect/show-the-making.md): The viewer sees the work behind the video, which makes a claim about the process believable.
- [Never fully static](https://directorchair.ai/effect/slow-drift.md): A held frame stays alive.
- [Source held to camera](https://directorchair.ai/effect/source-to-camera.md): A claim arrives with its source on screen, so a story can stay fiction while its facts stay checkable.
- [Speaker-labelled captions](https://directorchair.ai/effect/speaker-tag-captions.md): A muted viewer can tell who is talking.
- [Spotlight and numbered tooltip](https://directorchair.ai/effect/spotlight-and-tooltip.md): The eye goes to one control and knows which step this is.
- [Speaker over a board](https://directorchair.ai/effect/stacked-speaker-board.md): The face keeps the trust while the board shows the thing, and neither covers the other.
- [Tool-call label on a result](https://directorchair.ai/effect/tool-call-label.md): A number reads as live output from a tool, not as a mock-up.
- [Type behind the head](https://directorchair.ai/effect/type-behind-head.md): One huge word between the speaker and the background turns a talking head into a poster.
- [Word drop](https://directorchair.ai/effect/word-drop.md): One word lands with weight, and that is the word the viewer keeps.
- [Words slide up, one after another](https://directorchair.ai/effect/word-slide-up.md): Text arrives in reading order and feels designed.

## Edit: Sound

- [Cut on the beat](https://directorchair.ai/sound/cut-on-the-beat.md): The edit feels locked to the music.
- [Loudness target](https://directorchair.ai/sound/loudness-target.md): The video sits at the level of its neighbours in the feed and does not distort.
- [Music mood by kind of video](https://directorchair.ai/sound/music-mood-by-content.md): The music says what kind of video this is before a word does.
- [Music bed under the voice](https://directorchair.ai/sound/music-under-voice.md): Carries the mood without costing a word.
- [Natural sound under B-roll](https://directorchair.ai/sound/natural-sound-under-broll.md): The cutaway feels real because it sounds like the place.
- [One clock for picture and sound](https://directorchair.ai/sound/one-clock-for-sound.md): Every sound lands on its frame, and stays there when the edit is re-timed.
- [Room tone under a generated voice](https://directorchair.ai/sound/room-tone-under-generated-voice.md): A generated line stops sounding generated between the words.
- [Sound on the peak, not the start](https://directorchair.ai/sound/sfx-on-the-peak.md): Picture and sound feel like one event.
- [Which sound for which event](https://directorchair.ai/sound/sfx-vocabulary.md): Each kind of event gets a sound the viewer already understands.
- [Silence before the reveal](https://directorchair.ai/sound/silence-before-reveal.md): A gap in the sound pulls attention forward to what comes next.
- [Sound hook](https://directorchair.ai/sound/sound-hook.md): Catches the viewer who has the sound on, in the same second as the picture.
- [Six-stage voice chain](https://directorchair.ai/sound/voice-chain.md): A phone or clip-on recording sounds like a broadcast voice.
- [Voice first, then the face](https://directorchair.ai/sound/voice-first.md): The mouth is generated for the voice that ships, not for one that is replaced later.
- [Voice-over written to the cut](https://directorchair.ai/sound/voice-written-to-length.md): The voice ends when the picture does.

## Story: Hook

- [Belief shattering](https://directorchair.ai/hook/belief-shattering.md): Challenges something the viewer is sure of.
- [Bold claim](https://directorchair.ai/hook/bold-claim-hook.md): A statement that invites disbelief makes the viewer stay to check it.
- [Bystander caption](https://directorchair.ai/hook/bystander-caption.md): The clip reads as something seen, not as an advert.
- [Closer than you think](https://directorchair.ai/hook/closer-than-you-think.md): Shows the goal is nearer than the viewer assumed.
- [Confession](https://directorchair.ai/hook/confession-hook.md): An admitted mistake lowers the guard; the viewer stays for what changed.
- [Conflict](https://directorchair.ai/hook/conflict-hook.md): An accusation as the first line makes the viewer wait for the answer.
- [Old way, new way](https://directorchair.ai/hook/contrast-hook.md): Two states side by side let the viewer place themselves in the worse one.
- [Contrast in four levels](https://directorchair.ai/hook/contrast-ladder.md): Tells you before you generate whether an idea is strange enough to stop a scroll.
- [Curiosity gap](https://directorchair.ai/hook/curiosity-gap.md): Opens a question the viewer needs closed, so they stay for the answer.
- [The object that should not be there](https://directorchair.ai/hook/curiosity-object.md): One thing out of place makes the viewer wait for the explanation.
- [Data reveal](https://directorchair.ai/hook/data-reveal.md): Shares numbers only the company has; authority and curiosity at once.
- [The result in the hook](https://directorchair.ai/hook/demonstration-hook.md): The promise is delivered before it is explained.
- [Direct address](https://directorchair.ai/hook/direct-address.md): Calls out one specific viewer, who then feels it is about them.
- [The edit does what the words say](https://directorchair.ai/hook/edit-does-the-word.md): The viewer sees each claim performed at the moment it is said.
- [Effort compression](https://directorchair.ai/hook/effort-compression.md): Promises a big result for a small effort of watching.
- [Eye contact and a pause](https://directorchair.ai/hook/eye-contact-pause.md): One second of silence to the lens reads as authority.
- [Frame 0 is the thumbnail](https://directorchair.ai/hook/frame-zero-is-the-thumbnail.md): The first frame already says what the video is about, in the feed and on the profile grid.
- [Before and after in one frame](https://directorchair.ai/hook/high-contrast-hook.md): The difference is the message, and it is seen in one look.
- [Borrow the tension, never the lie](https://directorchair.ai/hook/honest-tension.md): The viewer gets the pull of a risky moment without being deceived, so the trust survives the reach.
- [A hook has three jobs](https://directorchair.ai/hook/hook-three-jobs.md): The right viewer feels seen and stays; the wrong one leaves early.
- [The image nobody could film](https://directorchair.ai/hook/impossible-image.md): The viewer stops for a picture that cannot exist, which is the reason to use generated video at all.
- [Magazine cover open](https://directorchair.ai/hook/magazine-cover-hook.md): The first frame looks designed and finished, like the cover of something worth opening.
- [The whole list as a map in frame 0](https://directorchair.ai/hook/map-in-frame-zero.md): The thumbnail promises completeness, which is a reason to save.
- [Mistake calling](https://directorchair.ai/hook/mistake-calling.md): Tells the viewer they are probably doing something wrong; they check.
- [Movement opener](https://directorchair.ai/hook/movement-opener.md): Motion in the first frame catches the eye.
- [Myth exposure](https://directorchair.ai/hook/myth-exposure.md): Names a myth in the category and promises the real story.
- [Object reveal](https://directorchair.ai/hook/object-reveal.md): The product appears into frame and becomes the hook.
- [Offer or news](https://directorchair.ai/hook/offer-hook.md): Says plainly what is new or what it costs, for viewers already close to buying.
- [Openings that lose the viewer](https://directorchair.ai/hook/opening-failures.md): Knowing what wastes the first second is half of writing a hook.
- [Pattern interrupt](https://directorchair.ai/hook/pattern-interrupt.md): Breaks the scroll with something the viewer did not expect.
- [POV phone scroll](https://directorchair.ai/hook/pov-phone-scroll.md): The viewer sees exactly what using it looks like.
- [Proof first](https://directorchair.ai/hook/proof-first.md): Leads with the result, so the claim earns attention.
- [Push in on a still speaker](https://directorchair.ai/hook/push-in-on-still-speaker.md): The frame closes in while the person holds still, so the first line gains weight as it is said.
- [Reaction](https://directorchair.ai/hook/reaction-hook.md): A real reaction on screen makes the viewer feel it too.
- [Relatability](https://directorchair.ai/hook/relatability.md): Shows a situation the viewer recognises from their own day.
- [Screen first, then the face](https://directorchair.ai/hook/screen-then-face.md): The viewer sees what caused the reaction, then feels it with the person.
- [The video proves its own claim](https://directorchair.ai/hook/self-proving-claim.md): The claim is believed because the proof is playing while it is said.
- [The setting does the targeting](https://directorchair.ai/hook/setting-as-targeting.md): The right viewer recognises their own world before a word is spoken.
- [Stakes in the first second](https://directorchair.ai/hook/stakes-in-frame-zero.md): The viewer wants to see how it ends before deciding to scroll.
- [Low push over the table](https://directorchair.ai/hook/table-level-push.md): Going from wide to medium in about a second, on the first word, gives the hook its energy.
- [Text on screen first](https://directorchair.ai/hook/text-first-hook.md): Gives muted viewers a reason to stay before a word is spoken.
- [Three-layer hook](https://directorchair.ai/hook/three-layer-hook.md): Catches the eye, the reader with the sound off and the listener in the same first second.
- [A number already moving](https://directorchair.ai/hook/ticking-number-hook.md): A figure that is climbing when the video starts makes the viewer ask whose it is.
- [Time pressure](https://directorchair.ai/hook/time-pressure.md): Makes the moment feel limited.
- [A finite promise with a counter](https://directorchair.ai/hook/visible-counter.md): A countable promise turns the clip into something to finish, and to save.
- [Zoom reveal](https://directorchair.ai/hook/zoom-reveal-hook.md): A one-second mystery: what am I looking at?

## Story: Script arc

- [The brand as the twist](https://directorchair.ai/script/brand-as-the-twist.md): The payoff feels true, and the brand arrives as the surprise inside it.
- [Example first, explanation second](https://directorchair.ai/script/example-before-explanation.md): The viewer sees the thing and then wants to know why it works.
- [Name it, prove it, keep it short](https://directorchair.ai/script/name-it-prove-it.md): The viewer leaves with one named idea and has seen its proof.
- [Pace in visual changes per 10 seconds](https://directorchair.ai/script/pace-visual-changes.md): The viewer always has something new to look at, at a rate the content can carry.
- [Pain, prize, news](https://directorchair.ai/script/pain-prize-news.md): A steady rotation of topics, each post with one job.
- [15-second script](https://directorchair.ai/script/script-15s.md): One idea, said fast.
- [30-second script](https://directorchair.ai/script/script-30s.md): Room for a problem and its solution.
- [60-second script](https://directorchair.ai/script/script-60s.md): Space for a small story or a demonstration with proof.
- [Short-form script arc](https://directorchair.ai/script/script-arc.md): A video that stops the scroll, makes its point and asks for one thing.
- [Launch film arc](https://directorchair.ai/script/script-launch-arc.md): A viewer who has never heard of the product gets the pain, the turn and the proof in under a minute.

## Story: Video format

- [B-roll with voice-over](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-broll-voiceover.md): The words explain, the images prove.
- [Every line an effect](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-every-line-an-effect.md): The density of effects is the content.
- [Face cam](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-face-cam.md): A person talking to the viewer; the most trusted short-form format.
- [Generated scenes cut to sound](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-generated-scenes.md): A story or a gag told in images nobody filmed.
- [Green screen](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-green-screen.md): The speaker stands in front of the evidence: a screenshot, an article, a chart.
- [Face cam plus B-roll](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-mixed.md): Trust from the face, proof from the images.
- [Type and shapes carry it](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-motion-graphics.md): No footage at all: the design is the film.
- [Reaction](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-reaction.md): The viewer watches someone else experience it.
- [The interface carries it](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-screen-led.md): The product explains itself.
- [Handheld selfie in platform dress](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-selfie-native.md): It reads as a person, not a production.
- [Speaker over a board](https://directorchair.ai/format/format-stacked-board.md): A face for trust and a board for the content, both on screen the whole time.

## Story: Call to action

- [Everything is in the caption](https://directorchair.ai/cta/cta-all-in-caption.md): Giving the whole method away earns saves and trust.
- [Comment keyword](https://directorchair.ai/cta/cta-comment-keyword.md): One word in the comments starts a private conversation and feeds reach.
- [Comment question](https://directorchair.ai/cta/cta-comment-question.md): Starts a conversation that feeds reach.
- [Search for it](https://directorchair.ai/cta/cta-search.md): Sends the viewer to search, which signals intent.
- [One clear action](https://directorchair.ai/cta/cta-single-action.md): The viewer knows exactly what to do next.

## Story: Test and publish

- [AI as the test bench](https://directorchair.ai/publish/ai-as-test-bench.md): Cheap generated takes find the format; real people carry the version that gets the budget.
- [Angles before hooks](https://directorchair.ai/publish/angles-before-hooks.md): Tests answer the bigger question first.
- [Creator ads paid on performance](https://directorchair.ai/publish/creator-ads-on-performance.md): Many different ads from people who use the product, paid for by what performs.
- [Feed a breakout](https://directorchair.ai/publish/feed-a-breakout.md): A hit becomes a higher baseline, not a one-off.
- [Hook rate and hold rate](https://directorchair.ai/publish/hook-rate-and-hold-rate.md): Tells you which part of a paid video leaks.
- [Label generated footage](https://directorchair.ai/publish/label-generated-footage.md): Viewers who find out later do not feel tricked.
- [Long form first, then the clips](https://directorchair.ai/publish/long-form-first.md): The shorts come from the best moments, already found.
- [One promise, a few formats, one slot](https://directorchair.ai/publish/one-promise.md): A stranger understands what the account is for from any single post.
- [Outlier ratio](https://directorchair.ai/publish/outlier-ratio.md): One number says whether a video did well for that account, whatever its size.
- [Plain screen recording for technical buyers](https://directorchair.ai/publish/plain-for-technical-buyers.md): It looks like a user showing a tool, which is what this buyer trusts.
- [Read two numbers, then decide](https://directorchair.ai/publish/read-two-numbers.md): You know whether to fix the opening, fix the body, repeat or drop.
- [Search-style caption](https://directorchair.ai/publish/search-style-caption.md): The post is found by people looking for exactly this.
- [Start from an outlier](https://directorchair.ai/publish/start-from-an-outlier.md): The idea begins from something that already earned attention.
- [One variable per test](https://directorchair.ai/publish/test-matrix-one-variable.md): A result you can read: you know why the winner won.
- [Trial reels as a hook test](https://directorchair.ai/publish/trial-reels-hook-test.md): Strangers pick the opening before followers or the ad budget see it.
- [Two-second first-frame test](https://directorchair.ai/publish/two-second-frame-test.md): You learn whether the opening says anything before the feed tells you.

## Recipes: Preset

- [Presenter over a drawn board](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-avatar-drawn-board.md): Every point is drawn at the moment it is said, so the board stays readable as notes.
- [Canvas tour with a corner presenter](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-canvas-tour.md): The viewer has the map and the part being explained on screen at once.
- [Deadpan spec ad](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-deadpan-spec-ad.md): The scenes never wink, so two quiet title cards land the whole joke.
- [Interface as teacher](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-interface-as-teacher.md): The viewer hears the promise in the hook, then learns one concept per beat from the product's own screens.
- [Low-poly parable](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-low-poly-parable.md): A hard subject becomes watchable as one person's story, while every turn rests on a source the viewer can see.
- [Mock client call](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-mock-client-call.md): The viewer meets the problem as an overheard conversation before the solution is drawn.
- [Red board list](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-red-board-list.md): The viewer always sees the whole list and where they are in it.
- [Selfie with receipts](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-selfie-with-receipts.md): Nothing looks produced, so the proof on screen is believed.
- [Four starter edit styles](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-starter-styles.md): A take gets a look that fits what kind of take it is.
- [Ticking effects list](https://directorchair.ai/preset/edit-ticking-effects-list.md): The viewer sees a counted promise being kept in real time.
- [Film a take that edits well](https://directorchair.ai/preset/film-a-take-that-edits.md): The edit can sharpen the take, because the take was good to begin with.
- [Five-shot sequence](https://directorchair.ai/preset/five-shot-sequence.md): A process can be cut as action, because every size and angle is there.
- [More angles from one take](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-angle-pass.md): One filmed take gains close-ups, low angles and profiles without a second camera.
- [B-roll pass: show or explain](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-broll-pass.md): Every line that needs a picture gets one, and the brand's library grows with each video.
- [Shoot the performance, generate the rest](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-character-replacement.md): Real acting and timing, with the person, room or costume replaced by the model.
- [Animated ad from code, four steps](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-code-motion-ad.md): A product ad in motion graphics without a timeline.
- [Connector launch film](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-connector-launch.md): The viewer sees that setting it up costs one line, then sees real answers.
- [Edit a take in the style of a reel you like](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-edit-from-reference.md): The edit starts from a look that already works, not from settings.
- [Feature drop](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-feature-drop.md): One problem, one answer, and the real screen as the proof, in under half a minute.
- [List reel: one shape, a new surface per item](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-list-reel.md): A long list goes by fast and still feels like one film.
- [The product answers the objections](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-objection-demo.md): Turns the doubts people voice about a product into a demonstration.
- [One odd character, filmed plainly](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-odd-character.md): A strange recurring character in ordinary places; doubt about whether it is real makes people share.
- [Packshot launch](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-packshot-launch.md): The product is on screen in almost every second, and each beat answers the buyer's next question.
- [Problem in daily life](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-problem-in-daily-life.md): It opens on the problem already happening, so the product arrives as the answer.
- [Process reel for a service](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-process-reel.md): An invisible service becomes visible as steps, a result and the people behind it.
- [Product walkthrough](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-product-walkthrough.md): The viewer watches one task done from start to finish and could repeat it.
- [The commercial for a fear](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-spec-commercial.md): Satire that makes a real worry visible by advertising its fake cure.
- [UGC at one table, seven setups](https://directorchair.ai/preset/preset-ugc-one-table.md): A 15 to 25 second talking video that feels operated and alive, shot around one table.

## Recipes: Prompt guide

- [Camera, tone, lighting, texture](https://directorchair.ai/guide/camera-tone-light-texture.md): A still prompt that reads like a photograph being described, camera first.
- [Draft first, pay for 1080p once](https://directorchair.ai/guide/draft-before-1080p.md): Iteration costs a fraction, so more ideas get tried.
- [Prompt guide: GPT Image 2.5](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-gpt-image.md): Clean designed images with correct text.
- [Prompt guide: Kling 3.0](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-kling-3.md): Short shots that move cleanly without the camera wandering.
- [A look from a real film frame](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-look-from-film-still.md): The colour grade and the camera feel sit in the prompt instead of being hoped for.
- [Prompt guide: Nano Banana Pro](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-nano-banana-pro.md): Stills that hold the reference and do not look generated.
- [Prompt guide: Seedance 2.5](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-seedance-2-5.md): Scenes of up to 30 seconds that hold their characters, look and timing.
- [Prompt a shot from your own first frame](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-shot-from-first-frame.md): Prompts that keep the camera, the picture and the acting apart, so you can swap one without breaking the others.
- [Prompt guide: Veo 3.1](https://directorchair.ai/guide/guide-veo-3-1.md): The most realistic motion and sound from one start frame.
- [Which model for stills](https://directorchair.ai/guide/which-model-for-stills.md): Picks the image model by the job instead of by the hype of the week.
- [Which model for video](https://directorchair.ai/guide/which-model-for-video.md): Picks the video model by what the shot has to do.