skills/pixverse-video-script/references/documentary.md

# Storytelling / Documentary

Apply `./genre-routing.md`. Resolve real events/sources, lane, runtime, present-companion
or composed-narrator register, and the unanswered question. Title reveals outcome means
withhold mechanism, not that known outcome. Three≤30s hooks can use a dated scene, real
stakes, misconception, record object+comparison, investigator's actual labor, archival
thesis or contradiction. State the title promise within30s without invented footage/thoughts.

Long structure: hook0–2%, stakes/source contract2–8%, rewind8–15%, first partial payoff
25–35%,3–5escalation chapters35–70%, cold-open replay with full context70–85%, hedged
verdict/meaning/kicker85–100%. Each chapter changes the stakes and hands off an unresolved
consequence. Partial reveals progress name→method→place only when supported by the story.

Lane variants: challenge has real rules/tally/twists and ends on winner reaction; scale
ladder advances monotonically with a comparison each rung; economic argument moves thesis→
data→history→mechanism→counterpoint→kicker; business epic earns why-care before chronology;
procedural follows evidence/reveals; comedy retelling uses staged humor without fabricated
facts. Default around145English words/min, with actual source footage budgeted separately.

Use present tense inside scenes and past tense for investigation; alternate short4–8word
impacts and20–30word explanation without two long runs back-to-back. Every large number
needs a familiar comparison, every term a quick gloss, and each early actor a role tag.
Track planted promises; only the central cold-open loop may stay unpaid beyond~5min.
Core-question refrains and real progress counters can orient long work. Exposition beyond
~60s needs an informative interruption, demonstration or puzzle, not generic animation.

Keep the largest claim's honest limitation, cite uncertainty and quarantine major verdict
until the last10–15% where appropriate. Never invent dialogue or private thoughts as fact.
No recap padding, neutral chapter reset or monetization inside a rising sequence. End
within seconds of emotional payoff, with at most one optional plain next-action line.

At≤4min: first-line scene/object hook0–10%, compressed chronology with one escalation
10–80%, one reveal80–95%, one-line kicker. One loop, no chapters/refrains/IOU stack,
no zoom-out essay. Around420–470words/3min; timestamp15–30s with3–5retention rows.
Deliver three hooks, complete spoken script, source/archival/map cues and actual payoff map.