skills/pps-trailer/references/trailer-modes.md

# Two trailer modes

Choose the creative mode from the user's request. If ambiguous, offer these two options in plain language. Both combine PPS assets with a motion-graphics treatment matched to the available compositor.

## 1. Cinematic trailer

The audience should want to discover what happens. Start with an arresting image, consequential line, or unresolved event. Establish a person/world, introduce a threat or desire, escalate through connected moments, and finish with a memorable reveal or unanswered question and the title. Build this progression on the score's developing motif, musical phrases, rises, pauses, and final release. Read [cinematic-score.md](cinematic-score.md) for score-first planning and [cinematic-reference-notes.md](cinematic-reference-notes.md) for the supplied examples.

Create tension through contrast: intimate detail against scale, quiet against impact, held anticipation against a short burst of action. Give each title a story purpose. Use dialogue and voiceover selectively, placing essential lines where the musical arrangement leaves space. Escalation follows the score and story together; pauses create anticipation for the next, stronger arrival. Do not force characters to face the lens unless the selected PPS rendering workflow requires it; if that restriction compromises the concept, explain and choose a compatible production route.

## 2. Product demo / hype trailer

The audience should understand one compelling product promise and want to try it. Open on an outcome, a sharply stated frustration, an unexpected demonstration, or a confident benefit. Avoid a logo-only preamble unless explicitly requested. Build from hook to product reveal, then two or three concrete capability payoffs, a culminating result, and a crisp product name/CTA.

Choose a small narrative that connects the hook to the demonstration and payoff: a creator overcoming an obstacle, an urgent request in an unexpected setting, or a rough idea becoming a finished output. Return to the same person, object, or visual motif across demo inserts so the trailer feels like one piece. Read [product-reference-notes.md](product-reference-notes.md) when calibrating to the user's supplied examples.

Use real screenshots, recordings, supplied assets, or an accessible product for demonstrations. Show action and consequence: a prompt produces a scene, a selection changes the result, a timeline becomes a finished film. Crop and magnify to make the action readable. Agent-drawn UI must faithfully represent supplied evidence or be identified as conceptual; generated footage must not invent product controls or unsupported features. Ask for missing demo assets when they determine whether the product can be represented accurately, while developing independent music and graphics direction.

### Compose around music

Draft the energy curve first: immediate hook, groove, building feature sequence, brief break or tension lift, final payoff. Generate or reuse a catchy, upbeat, cinematic PPS music track; describe its bass, percussion, melody, tempo, texture, and arrangement. Request useful build/drop sections and transition risers as musical intent. Exact second-level events in a generated track are not guaranteed.

After the track is returned, inspect/listen and map the actual audible accents, phrases, builds, and breaks. Cut and animate to this cue map. For a regular track, estimate beat spacing as 60/BPM and verify it against the audio; do not treat an estimated tempo as evidence of every onset. Major reveals land on strong accents; smaller gestures can answer subdivisions. Vary cut density and leave readable holds. Do not cut on every beat or fill every transition with the same whoosh.

Risers begin before an important transition and resolve at its landing; impacts reinforce reveals; short whooshes follow directional motion. A brief sound reduction can make the next hit stronger. Keep speech intelligible and avoid stacking bass impacts until the mix distorts. Use a verified PPS sound source or an available effects/mixing environment; the currently inspected PPS MCP has music, voiceover, dialogue, and video audio but no dedicated SFX-generation endpoint. If precise layered risers are essential, confirm the custom compositor can place and mix them before production.

### Product motion language

Unify footage, UI, and typography using a small number of recurring graphic devices: a cursor movement motivates a camera push; an expanding product panel becomes a full-frame reveal; a UI selection becomes an emphasized title word; a masked type transition shares direction with the next shot. Titles carry concise benefits, demonstrations provide evidence, and generated footage shows the emotional or creative outcome.

Prefer confident large type, deliberate scale changes, clear foreground/background relationships, and transitions that preserve visual continuity. Build intensity through coordinated changes in rhythm, framing, and sound. Constant shake, tiny unreadable interfaces, and unrelated spectacular footage weaken the demo.

### Example custom 15-second structure

| Approximate time | Purpose | Picture / sound relationship |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 0–2 s | Hook | Immediate result or benefit; strong visual accent establishes the groove |
| 2–4 s | Product reveal | Name/UI enters on a musical accent and settles long enough to register |
| 4–8 s | Demonstrate value | Two clear action-to-result moments; supporting type answers the rhythm |
| 8–11 s | Build and payoff | Riser prepares the strongest result; impact lands with the reveal |
| 11–15 s | Brand and action | Hero product/title composition, readable CTA, musical resolution |

Adapt these intervals to actual music and content. This is a creative example for custom composition, not the fixed `pps_plan_ad` grammar. A longer trailer earns its duration with additional demonstrations or a deeper progression, not repeated claims.

## Review by mode

- Cinematic: Does the opening create curiosity? Are the stakes understandable? Does the score develop through distinct phases toward an earned climax? Do major edits and title reveals land on its actual cues? Is the final payoff stronger because of the preceding restraint? Is there a reason to watch the story beyond attractive footage?
- Product hype: Does the hook make a clear promise? Can viewers see the product fulfilling it? Do reveals and motion answer the actual music? Are key UI actions and the CTA readable? Do risers resolve purposefully?

Check both with sound and muted. The sound-on version should feel intentionally composed; the muted version should still communicate its core promise.