skills/pixverse-explainer/references/styles-material-and-story.md

# Story And Tactile Looks: Cinematic Storybook, Claymotion, Fluffy Toy

Open only the selected look's section. Paste its FORMULA, MOTION, PALETTE LOCK and
NEGATIVE into the templates in `./production.md` (style key, roster) and
`./block-prompt.md` (video blocks), then stage shots from its devices and shot shapes.
A supplied style donor's observed palette and surface override the defaults here (a
paper-theatre donor, for example, replaces Storybook's painted medium).

## Cinematic Storybook

Hand-painted 2D fairy-tale animation: designed expressive characters, ornate costume
silhouettes, jewel-toned forests and halls, warm pools of light in deep shadow. Best on
myths, legends, folk tales, biographies told as a tale, and science framed as a quest.
One-line description for the user: "Cinematic storybook — hand-painted characters in
glowing lantern light, like a classic illustrated tale brought to life."

**FORMULA** (paste byte-identical into every image and video prompt)

> hand-painted 2D storybook animation with visible gouache brushwork: designed
> expressive characters with strong ornate costume silhouettes and clear readable eyes,
> soft painted edges with fine darker contour accents, shading in broad painted shapes;
> muted jewel palette of deep teal, plum, moss green and burgundy lit by warm amber-gold
> pools of light against deep blue-violet shadows; richly painted forest, village and
> gothic interior backdrops in layered depth planes; pose-to-pose character acting
> animated on twos while light motes, leaves and cloth keep drifting; painted
> illustration in every frame, never live action.

**MOTION**: `hand-drawn 2D animation on twos, strong pose-to-pose acting with held
drawings, drifting cloth, leaves and light motes, slow parallax between painted planes`

**PALETTE LOCK**: `muted jewel tones — deep teal, plum, moss green, burgundy — with warm
amber-gold light pools and deep blue-violet shadows; no neon, no pure white, no grain`

**NEGATIVE**: `opening on a reference image, static first frame, dissolves, fades,
readable text, letters, numbers, captions, photorealism, live-action footage, 3D render,
film grain, talking mouths, watermark`

If a clip comes back fully smooth, hold each picture for two frames in the edit at the
same fps and runtime; the audio and clip length stay as they are.

### Signature devices

- **The light pool** — a lantern, window, hearth or moonbeam whose amber glow lands on
  the hero; it is carried, snuffed, relit, or swings to the next character.
- **Parting planes** — foreground branches, curtains or arches slide apart in parallax
  and the scene is revealed between them.
- **Ridge procession** — silhouetted figures cross a hill or bridge against a glowing
  sky, one after another: journeys, armies, pilgrims, years passing.
- **The glowing object** — the through-line object gives off amber light as it is
  found, handed over, hidden under a cloak or snatched.
- **Looming shadow** — a shadow climbs a wall or spreads over the ground before the
  threat itself steps in; the impact beat.
- **Cloak and banner** — capes, sleeves, hair and flags sweep ahead of every movement
  and keep fluttering after the pose lands.
- **Drifting motes** — leaves, embers, snow, fireflies or dust cross every shot and
  swirl when something rushes past.

### Roster guidance

- **Cast (2:3)**: full-body painted characters, each with a unique silhouette (tall
  crown, hooded cloak, broad apron, antlers), a two- or three-colour costume from the
  palette, one signature item and a pose showing desire or trade. Later-age or
  transformed versions attach the first image ("the same woman, now in armour").
- **Stages (output aspect)**: painted locations with foreground, midground and
  background planes and one named light source — forest clearing with a lantern tree,
  great hall with a tall window, village square at dusk, cliff above a moonlit sea.
- **Props (1:1)**: the through-line object, tools, gifts, letters as blank folded
  parchment, a creature or mount when the story needs one.

### Shot language

Painted planes allow gentle staging depth: keep the camera level and mostly frontal,
change framing scale every shot — FULL STAGE → CLOSE-UP on a face and hands → MACRO
DETAIL on the object → MEDIUM two-shot — and use slow push-ins and lateral parallax
drifts. Each block moves desire → obstacle → choice → consequence. Good shot shapes:

- *Setting out*: the branches part, then the hero strides into the light pool, then the
  cloak sweeps round as they lift the lantern toward the path.
- *Discovery*: a hand brushes leaves aside, then the object starts to glow, then the
  hero's eyes widen and they lift it close.
- *Threat*: the motes scatter, then a shadow climbs the wall, then the rival steps into
  the doorway and the light pool shrinks.
- *Choice*: the hero looks from one hand to the other, then sets one thing down, then
  turns and runs with the other as banners whip behind.
- *Consequence*: the procession crosses the ridge, then lights kindle window by window
  in the village below, then the hero's silhouette joins the end of the line.

AUDIO cues: cloth rustle, footsteps on leaves or stone, lantern creak, a low whoosh and
thud on the impact, wind, night insects or hall echo. The clips carry no music; this
look adds a calm wordless instrumental bed in the edit, low and ducked under narration.

## Claymotion

Handmade stop-motion clay on a miniature tabletop: thumbprinted characters and props
that roll, squash, stretch and get re-sculpted in front of the camera. Best on science,
nature, body and food topics, how-things-work, and playful history. One-line description
for the user: "Claymation — hand-sculpted clay characters and sets with visible
thumbprints, moving in charming stop-motion."

**FORMULA** (paste byte-identical into every image and video prompt)

> handmade claymation stop-motion on a miniature tabletop set: hand-shaped modelling-clay
> characters and props with visible thumbprints, pressed seams, tool marks and slightly
> irregular edges, rounded sculpted proportions and simple bead eyes; matte clay with
> gentle soft highlights in brick red, mustard, leaf green, sky blue and cream; sets built
> from clay, card and painted board under soft warm studio light with firm contact
> shadows; everything moves in deliberate stop-motion increments with weighty contact,
> squash and stretch, clay rolling, stretching and re-shaping by hand; a handcrafted clay
> miniature in every frame, never live action.

**MOTION**: `stop-motion clay animation feel, deliberate pose increments, weighty
contact, squash and stretch, clay visibly re-shaping`

**PALETTE LOCK**: `matte clay colours — brick red, mustard, leaf green, sky blue, cream,
with chocolate brown and charcoal for detail — one consistent colour per character`

**NEGATIVE**: `opening on a reference image, static first frame, dissolves, fades,
readable text, letters, numbers, captions, photorealistic people, live-action footage,
smooth glossy plastic, liquid melting, camera shake, talking mouths, watermark`

### Signature devices

- **Roll-in ball** — a clay ball rolls into frame, stops, and is pinched and pulled
  into a character or object in three or four visible steps.
- **Clay coil** — a rope of clay snakes across the set as a road, river, pipe, root,
  nerve or route, and things travel along it.
- **The big press** — a giant thumb or palm comes down to flatten, stamp or dent
  something; the impact beat.
- **Cutter copies** — a cutter stamps identical shapes out of a rolled sheet and they
  stand up into a row: a population, a product run, a herd.
- **Wire slice** — a wire drops through an object and the halves part to show coloured
  layers inside: earth, a cell, a cake, an engine.
- **Knead-morph** — one lump is kneaded from form A to form B stage by stage: tadpole
  to frog, hut to tower, ore to coin.
- **Pellet piles** — pellets drop into a heap or columns of clay blocks rise side by
  side to compare amounts.

### Roster guidance

- **Cast (2:3)**: full-body clay characters, chunky and stable on wide feet, bead eyes,
  one colour per body plus one accessory, thumbprints visible. Creatures and objects
  keep their diagnostic shapes (beak, fins, wheels, funnel) so they read at a glance.
  Variants attach the first image ("the same clay figure, now holding a wrench").
- **Stages (output aspect)**: dressed tabletop sets with a clay ground, a painted-board
  sky and one large anchor (a clay volcano, a kitchen counter, a workshop bench, a
  pond). Keep one scale between cast and set.
- **Props (1:1)**: the through-line object, tools, the sliceable layered object with its
  inside colours decided, the cutter and rolled sheet, pellets and blocks.

### Shot language

A dimensional set: change angle as well as size. FULL STAGE tabletop wide → low-angle
MEDIUM on the character → top-down on the rolled sheet or coil map → MACRO DETAIL on
thumbprints, a seam splitting or pellets landing → lateral CLOSE-UP. Good shot shapes:

- *Sculpt-in*: the ball rolls in and stops, then fingers pinch out limbs and a head,
  then the new character blinks, hops and picks up its tool.
- *Process*: the character turns the crank, then the coil feeds through the machine,
  then finished pieces plop out and stack into a pile.
- *Inside*: the object lands with a squash, then the wire drops through it, then the
  halves part and a layer bulges and pulses.
- *Multiply*: the sheet rolls flat, then the cutter stamps along it, then the copies
  pop upright row by row.
- *Setback*: the character leans on the tower, then the big palm presses down, then
  the flattened disc peels up and rolls away as a ball.

AUDIO cues: soft clay squishes and plops, a rolling rumble, cutter thunks, a fat splat
on the impact, small crank clicks, quiet studio air.

## Fluffy Toy

Plush stop-motion on a felt tabletop: soft stitched toys with visible fibres acting out
the story among yarn, buttons, cardboard and cotton-wool clouds. Best on gentle science,
animals, feelings and habits, bedtime-calm history, product and how-to stories. One-line
description for the user: "Fluffy toy — soft stitched plush characters in a cosy felt
miniature world."

**FORMULA** (paste byte-identical into every image and video prompt)

> handmade plush-toy stop-motion on a miniature felt tabletop set: soft stuffed
> characters with visible short plush fibres, stitched seams, felt patches and
> embroidered-thread eyes, rounded huggable proportions at one steady toy scale; cosy
> palette of oatmeal, honey, soft rust, sage and dusty sky blue with one bright felt
> colour on the hero prop; backdrops of felt hills, yarn, buttons, cardboard and
> cotton-wool clouds under soft diffuse window light with gentle contact shadows; toys
> move in gentle stop-motion steps with soft squash on contact, floppy limbs and small
> hops; a handcrafted fabric miniature in every frame, never live action.

**MOTION**: `gentle stop-motion plush animation, soft squash on contact, floppy limbs,
small hops and tumbles, steady fibres`

**PALETTE LOCK**: `oatmeal, honey, soft rust, sage and dusty sky blue fabrics, cream
cotton clouds, ONE bright felt colour on the hero prop — no neon, no glossy surfaces`

**NEGATIVE**: `opening on a reference image, static first frame, dissolves, fades,
readable text, letters, numbers, captions, photorealistic people, real animals,
live-action footage, melting plush, new accessories, talking mouths, watermark`

Match a donor's fibre length and lighting when one is supplied, and describe them once
in the FORMULA's surface clause.

### Signature devices

- **Yarn line** — a strand of yarn unspools across the set as a route, a link, a river
  or a growth curve; toys follow it, tug it taut or tie things together with it.
- **Button counters** — buttons drop into rows, stack into towers or slide between two
  piles to show amounts and shares.
- **Needle and patch** — a needle dips in and out and a felt patch is stitched on: a
  wound healed, a part added, a region claimed.
- **Zipper reveal** — a zipper runs open across a hill, a belly or a wall and the
  inside layer shows: burrow, tummy, engine room.
- **Toy parade** — plush figures hop in one after another and line up, each with a
  small squash on landing.
- **The flop** — a toy tips over and lands with a soft bounce and a puff of stuffing;
  the impact beat.
- **Carry and hug** — toys lift, drag, share and hug the bright hero prop; every
  hand-off is a visible squash of two soft bodies.

### Roster guidance

- **Cast (2:3)**: full-body plush characters with a fixed silhouette, named seams and
  patches (a heart patch on the chest, one darker ear), thread eyes, short limbs.
  Variants attach the first image so the seams, patches and fibre length carry over.
- **Stages (output aspect)**: dressed felt tabletop sets with layered felt hills or a
  cardboard room, cotton clouds on threads and one large anchor (a cardboard rocket, a
  felt tree, a button-wheeled bus, a quilted bed).
- **Props (1:1)**: the bright hero prop, yarn ball, button piles, needle and patch,
  small felt food, tools and vehicles at toy scale.

### Shot language

A dimensional set: change angle as well as size. FULL STAGE tabletop wide → low-angle
MEDIUM at toy eye level → top-down on button rows or the yarn route → MACRO DETAIL on
fibres, a seam or the needle tip → lateral CLOSE-UP on a hug or hand-off. Good shapes:

- *Hello*: the hero toy hops in and squashes, then waves a floppy arm, then the bright
  prop rolls in and bumps its foot.
- *Journey*: the yarn unspools over the hills, then the toy hops along it, then cotton
  clouds slide aside as it reaches the anchor.
- *Count*: buttons drop into a row one by one, then a second row starts beneath, then
  the toy pushes three buttons across to the other pile.
- *Fix*: the patch lands on the torn spot, then the needle stitches round it, then the
  toy springs up and bounces twice.
- *Oops*: the tower of buttons wobbles, then the toy flops over with a puff of
  stuffing, then friends hop in and lift it upright.

AUDIO cues: soft fabric pats and thumps, yarn whirr, button clicks and clatter, a zipper
buzz, a muffled flop on the impact, warm quiet room tone.