skills/ai-film-pipeline-master/references/phase-03-shooting-script/vlb-decision-tables.md

# 14 — Decision Tables

From the Visual Language Bible. Name the change you want in the scene, take the technique it hands you, and read its card in the matching craft file.

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## 14 — Decision Tables


This is the section you open while you are working. You know what you want the viewer to feel;
the table hands you the technique.

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### 14.1 I want the viewer to feel… → use

| Target feeling | Technique | Prompt |
|---|---|---|
| **Empathy** | CU + eye level + 85mm + slow push | `close-up, eye level, 85mm, slow push-in` |
| **Judgement** | high angle + wide + locked off | `high angle wide, locked off` |
| **Fear of the unseen** | large negative space + long static + low key | `wide with large empty negative space, static, low key` |
| **Surprise** | smash cut after silence + crash zoom | `sudden hard cut after silence, crash zoom` |
| **Entrapment** | no looking room + long lens + reverse dolly zoom | `no looking room, 135mm, reverse dolly zoom` |
| **Grandeur** | low angle + tilt up + backlight | `low angle, slow tilt up, strong backlight` |
| **Loneliness** | EWS + clean single + empty frame | `extreme wide, tiny figure, empty frame held` |
| **Something is wrong** | dutch settle + micro zoom | `slowly cants to 10 degrees while creeping in` |
| **Realisation** | slow dolly in ending on a CU | `slow dolly push-in ending on a tight close-up` |
| **The world inverting** | dolly zoom | `dolly zoom, background warping` |
| **Energy** | handheld + fast track + cut on action | `handheld, fast tracking, cut on action` |
| **Time passing** | time-lapse / same angle, changed light / long dissolve | `same framing, light changed, long dissolve` |
| **Nostalgia** | diffusion + grain + golden hour + L-cut | `diffusion, 35mm grain, golden hour` |
| **Laughter** | static wide + snap pan + freeze | `static wide, snap pan, freeze frame` |
| **Luxury** | slow orbit + macro + rim light + slow motion | `slow orbit, macro detail, rim light, slow motion` |
| **A relationship breaking** | dirty OTS resolving to a clean single | `over-the-shoulder resolving into a clean single` |
| **A character is lost** | long lens + crowd + no progress | `200mm compressed, crowd, subject makes no progress` |
| **Sanctity** | volumetric light + symmetry + slow tilt up | `volumetric god rays, perfect symmetry, slow tilt up` |
| **Approaching danger** | unmotivated POV + micro zoom + silence | `unmotivated POV, imperceptible creep, silence` |
| **Freedom** | aerial + rise reveal + wide + score | `aerial rise reveal, vast landscape opening up` |

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### 14.2 I have a scene of this type → start with this coverage

| Scene type | Core coverage, in order |
|---|---|
| **Calm dialogue** | master two shot → OTS A → OTS B → single A → single B → insert |
| **Escalating argument** | two shot → OTS tightening each exchange → two clean singles → CU at the peak |
| **Interrogation** | OTS over the interrogator (high angle on the suspect) → low single on the interrogator → OTS push → ECU hands |
| **Confession / breakdown** | MS → very slow push → CU → hold the shot after the last word |
| **Reveal / twist** | an ordinary shot → rack focus or slow pan reveals → reaction → wide that resets the context |
| **Horror build** | long empty wide → a sound → micro zoom → a longer empty shot → smash |
| **Jump scare** | a calm shot → a calmer shot (the deception) → total silence → cut plus noise |
| **Foot chase** | geographic wide → trailing track → leading shot on the face → ECU obstacle → aerial → repeat, shorter |
| **Car chase** | geographic aerial → side-on crane arm → interior on the face → ECU wheel → impact |
| **Hand-to-hand fight** | full wide (mandatory) → medium engagement → ECU impact → reaction → wide to re-establish geography |
| **Large battle** | aerial of the line → wide of the rank → handheld inside it → ECU face → slow motion on one moment |
| **A character's death** | CU face → ECU hand → single on the witness → wide revealing the emptiness → empty frame held |
| **Character introduction** | a detail first (shoe, hand, object) → tilt or pan to the face → full shot → CU |
| **Group at a table** | wide master → singles of each → OTS for the key exchange → eating inserts → wide to close |
| **Speech to a crowd** | wide of platform and crowd → medium on the speaker → faces in the crowd → low angle on the speaker at the peak |
| **Time montage** | 5–9 shots, each 1–2 s, matched size or matched movement, continuous music |
| **Driving and talking** | side-on exterior → interior OTS from the back → profile singles → road POV |
| **Phone call across two places** | a single for each party, lit completely differently → accelerating cross cut → silence at the end |
| **Walk and talk** | lateral track → leading on the faces → trailing → when they stop, go static |
| **Dance / musical number** | full wide (do not cut mid-movement) → medium → ECU foot or hand → wide to finish |
| **Cooking / craft** | overhead → macro on the hand → medium on the face → macro on the result |
| **Ritual / ceremony** | wide establisher → macro on a symbol → faces in the crowd → low angle on the leader → aerial to close |
| **Dream / hallucination** | slow orbit + roll + wide lens + unnatural light + distorted sound |
| **Flashback** | ratio / colour / grain change + sound bridge + slower camera movement |
| **Opening shot** | either an establishing EWS or an enigmatic ECU that pulls back to reveal. Nothing in between. |
| **Final shot** | an empty frame, a back walking away, or a long dolly out |

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### 14.3 I need to move from… → use

| From → To | Transition |
|---|---|
| Shot → shot (same scene) | cut on action |
| Shot → shot (no movement available) | rack focus or eyeline cut |
| Building a long take in AI | object wipe, through black, or whip pan |
| Scene → scene (level energy) | hard cut plus J-cut |
| Scene → scene (energy rising) | pre-lap plus cut |
| Scene → scene (energy falling) | L-cut plus a short dissolve |
| Act → act | fade to black |
| Short time passing | 24-frame dissolve |
| Long time passing | time-lapse, or the same angle with changed light |
| World → world (dream, memory) | defocus, fade to white, ratio change |
| A poetic link between two things | graphic match |
| An epic leap | match cut |
| Advertising / short-form | flash, speed ramp, whip pan |
| Children's content | wipe, iris, a character crossing frame |

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### 14.4 The shot feels dead — what do I add?

Try these in order:

1. **Move something in the foreground** — a branch, smoke, a passing figure. (fastest fix)
2. **Add micro movement** — a 3% creep, or a breath.
3. **Add moving light** — fire, water reflection, a passing car.
4. **Add a depth layer** — something near, something mid, something far.
5. **Change the height** — drop to the knee or rise above.
6. **Add parallax** — even a small lateral camera move.
7. **Hold the shot one second longer** — sometimes what is dead is the early cut, not the shot.

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### 14.5 Quick Index — Every Term

**Sizes:** EWS · WS · FS · Cowboy · MFS · MS · MCU · CU · BCU · ECU · Insert
**Relational:** OTS · Clean/Dirty OTS · Two Shot · Stacked Two · Three Shot · Single · Profile Two · Frame in Frame
**Functional:** POV · Stalker POV · Reaction · Narrated
**Angles:** Eye Level · Low · Worm's Eye · High · Bird's Eye · Dutch · Dutch Settle
**Azimuth:** Frontal · Three-Quarter · Profile · 3/4 Back · Full Back
**Height:** Ground · Knee · Chest · Eye · Above · Balcony · Aerial
**Rotational:** Pan · Whip Pan · Tilt · Whip Tilt · Roll
**Translational:** Dolly In/Out · Pull-Back Reveal · Truck · Lead/Trail · Pedestal · Crane · Arc · 360 Orbit · Parallax Orbit · Diagonal Dolly · Reverse Dolly · Follow · Vertical Drop · Rise Reveal · Through-Object · Pendulum
**Lens:** Zoom In/Out · Snap Zoom · Crash Zoom · **Micro Zoom** · Rack Focus · Split Diopter · Snap Focus
**Signature:** **OTS Push** · Dolly Zoom · Reverse Dolly Zoom · Oner · One-Point Tracking · Designed Oner · Symmetrical Snap Pan · Locked Creep · Breathing Handheld · Chaos Handheld · Snorricam · Bullet Time · Hyperlapse · FPV Flow-Through · Drop Shot · Crash-In · Reveal Turn · Mirror Reveal · Trombone · Long Lens Push · Motion Control Repeat · Hero Orbit · The Sweep · Hidden Cut
**Micro:** Creep In · Breath · Sway · Drift · Settle · Hold-then-Move · Move-then-Hold · Stutter · Impact Shake
**Cuts:** Hard Cut · Cut on Action · Eyeline Match · Graphic Match · Match Cut · Smash Cut · Jump Cut · Cutaway · Cut-In · Cross Cut · Contrast Cut · Beat Cut · Concept Cut · Invisible Cut
**Audio:** J-Cut · L-Cut · Sound Bridge · Pre-Lap · Silence Cut
**Optical:** Dissolve · Fade to Black/White/Colour · Wipe · Iris · Flash · Glitch · Morph · Blur · Object Wipe · Through Black
**Rigs:** Dolly · Slider · Steadicam · Trinity · Gimbal · Crane · Technocrane · Russian Arm · Spidercam · Motion Control · Drone · FPV · Cineflex · Probe Lens · Body Mount · Underwater · High-Speed · Process Trailer · Poor Man's Process · LED Volume · Handheld · Locked Off

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