skills/visual-storytelling/SKILL.md

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name: visual-storytelling
description: Narrative architecture and visual storytelling specialist. This skill should be used when structuring dramatic narrative arcs, crafting multi-frame storyboards, applying classic storytelling frameworks (Story Spine, Sparkline, Freytag's Pyramid, Monroe's Motivated Sequence, Pixar Rules, Hero's Journey), or aligning visual pacing with complex emotional tiers.
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# Visual Storytelling

Visual Storytelling structures cinematic narrative arcs, storyboard progressions, and visual pacing to evoke precise emotional transformation in the viewer.

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## 1. The 6 Narrative Frameworks

1. **Kenn Adams' Story Spine**:
   - *Once upon a time... Every day... Until one day... Because of that... Because of that... Until finally... And ever since then...*
2. **Nancy Duarte's Sparkline**:
   - Continuous contrast between **What Is** (current frustrating reality) and **What Could Be** (transformed future state), ending with a New Bliss.
3. **Freytag's Dramatic Pyramid**:
   - Exposition $\rightarrow$ Inciting Incident $\rightarrow$ Rising Action $\rightarrow$ Climax $\rightarrow$ Falling Action $\rightarrow$ Resolution.
4. **Monroe's Motivated Sequence**:
   - Attention $\rightarrow$ Need $\rightarrow$ Satisfaction $\rightarrow$ Visualization $\rightarrow$ Action.
5. **Pixar's Rules of Story**:
   - Character desire over comfort; admiring a character for trying rather than for succeeding; simplifying focus.
6. **The Hero's Journey (Campellian/Vogler)**:
   - Departure $\rightarrow$ Initiation $\rightarrow$ Return with the Elixir.

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## 2. Emotional Specificity (Tier 1/2/3 Hierarchy)

Great storytelling avoids generic "positive/happy" states and targets distinct Tier 2 and Tier 3 emotional registers:

- **Tier 1 (Generic, score $\le 6$)**: Happy, sad, excited, angry.
- **Tier 2 (Specific, score 6–8)**: Nostalgic longing, defiant pride, quiet vindication, bittersweet relief.
- **Tier 3 (Complex / Dual, score 8–10)**: Bittersweet triumph, vulnerable defiance, ironic sincerity, anxious optimism.

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## 3. Cross-Skill Neural Connections & References

### Peer & Downstream Skills
- [Insight Mining](../insight-mining/SKILL.md) — Upstream emotional tensions & human truth
- [Composition Director](../composition-director/SKILL.md) — Visual pacing, focal paths, and frame hierarchy
- [Campaign DNA](../campaign-dna/SKILL.md) — Multi-frame continuity and sequential narrative rules
- [Creative Director](../creative-director/SKILL.md) — High-concept ideation & Cannes scoring
- [Designly Director](../designly-director/SKILL.md) — Lead orchestrator

### Domain References & Contracts
- [Storytelling Frameworks Guide](references/storytelling-frameworks.md) — 6 implementation cards and storyboard patterns
- [Emotion Hierarchy](references/emotion-hierarchy.md) — Tier 1/2/3 emotional register taxonomy
- [Inclusive Representation](../../shared/references/inclusive-representation-and-ethics.md) — Anti-stereotype character design
- [Signal Packet Schema](../../shared/contracts/signal-packet.schema.json) — Neural Mesh signal handoff
- [Design Context Schema](../../shared/contracts/design-context.schema.json) — Shared state context