# Character Sheet Examples — What "Locked" Looks Like

This is what you're aiming for at **Phase 2 Step 2.3** of the pipeline. A character sheet is one image (16:9, 3×2 grid of panels) that shows the same character from multiple angles, framings, and detail focuses — all generated in a single pass so identity stays locked across the panels. Once you have this, every Seedance shot of that character in Phase 5 can lean on it as the identity anchor, and you'll get consistent face, build, wardrobe, and styling across the whole film.

> **Why this matters so much:** without a multi-angle sheet, Seedance is stuck rendering your character from whatever single angle your initial reference happened to show. The most common failure: a producer uploads a side-profile reference, then gets back twelve shots that are all side-profile no matter what the prompt asks for. The sheet is the fix — it gives Seedance the visual data to render the character from any angle.

## Photoreal example — BMW M5 driver

This is the locked 6-panel character sheet for the driver character in the [BMW M5 black-tie commercial](../README.md#) at the top of the README. Built in ChatGPT using the locked base reference as the seed.

![Six-panel photoreal character sheet of a tuxedoed driver: full-body front · 3/4 turn · back · waist-up portrait · hands close-up · face close-up. Same person, same outfit, same lighting in every panel](images/example-bmw-driver-sheet.jpg)

**Panel layout (the photoreal default):**

1. **Top-left — Full body front** — straight-on neutral stance, full styling readable head-to-shoes
2. **Top-center — Full body 3/4 turn** — body angled 30° from camera, weight on back hip, full styling from a turned angle
3. **Top-right — Full body back** — straight back view, showing hair fall, jacket drape, accessory details from behind
4. **Bottom-left — Waist-up portrait** — head, shoulders, upper torso — face and upper styling lock-in
5. **Bottom-center — Hands detail close-up** — both hands forward, ring stack, nail finish, any held prop
6. **Bottom-right — Face detail close-up** — tight crop from collarbone up, ears, lips, skin texture, eyes

**Why it works:**
- Same person across all six cells. Face, build, hair, and outfit don't drift.
- Same seamless backdrop in every panel — identity stays locked when the environment is locked. (This example predates the 2.0 update and was built on white; **new sheets should use mid-gray seamless** — it lowers subject-to-background contrast, which means cleaner edges and less plastic when the sheet seeds video work.)
- Same uniform lighting in every panel. Lighting is half of identity perception in photoreal work.
- Each panel is composed within its cell as if it were its own shot, not a crop of a wider frame.

**How it was made:** locked base reference image (Step 2.2) + the simple ChatGPT identity-preserving prompt at Step 2.3 (updated here to the 2.0 mid-gray default):

> *"Create a 6 panel character sheet out of this character, showing different angles — full body front, full body back, left side-profile close headshot, right side-profile close headshot, front face close headshot, and one detail close-up (nails, jewelry, or held prop). Do not change how the character looks at all — keep the same face, build, hair, skin tone, outfit, and proportions. Single horizontal 16:9 frame, 3-column × 2-row grid, even neutral mid-gray seamless backdrop, soft diffused lighting, matte skin with no shine."*

Three attempts in ChatGPT — locked on the second try.

## Prop / vehicle example — BMW E39 M5 reference sheet

For hero props (vehicles, instruments, signature objects), the same multi-angle pattern locks identity across shots. This is the M5 reference sheet built from real-photo BMW press shots and detail captures:

![Six-panel reference sheet of a black BMW E39 M5: three-quarter front · profile side · rear · cockpit interior · dashboard close-up · shift gate detail](images/example-bmw-m5-prop-sheet.jpg)

**Panel layout (prop convention):**

1. **Three-quarter front** — the establishing angle
2. **Profile side** — silhouette lock
3. **Rear** — taillight signature, badge, exhaust detail
4. **Cockpit interior** — POV from driver seat
5. **Dashboard close-up** — gauge cluster typography, switchgear
6. **Signature detail** — for the M5, the H-pattern shift gate with M-tri-color stitching

**Why this approach beats AI-generating a prop sheet from scratch:** because the M5 is a real-world object, real photos are ground-truth identity at zero generation credits. The pipeline's principle is *real photos > AI plates whenever the subject exists in reality* — see [CLAUDE.md "Real-world references" section](../CLAUDE.md#) for the full reasoning. Greg assembled this sheet from real BMW press photos and Bring-a-Trailer detail shots; total cost was the five minutes of finding the photos.

## What multi-shot consistency looks like

Here's why the character sheet step matters in the finished product. These three stills are all from Joey's **CTRL** AI-generated K-Pop production — different shots, different scenes, different cinema modes, but the same locked character identity carries through because the character sheet was built before any Seedance shot was generated:

| On-stage performance | Tight subject portrait | BTS arcade scene |
|---|---|---|
| ![CTRL on stage](images/ctrl-performance.jpg) | ![CTRL subject portrait](images/ctrl-portrait.jpg) | ![CTRL arcade scene](images/ctrl-arcade.jpg) |

That cross-shot consistency is downstream of the character sheet. No sheet, no consistency.

## Cartoon / illustration example

*(Slot reserved — example to be added once a cartoon-register project lands a locked sheet. If you produce one with this pipeline and want to contribute it as the canonical cartoon example, drop it in `docs/images/example-cartoon-character-sheet.jpg` and we'll wire it in.)*

For the cartoon panel layout — front · 3/4 left · 3/4 right · expressions row · signature pose · detail close-up — see [ai-film-director Step 2.3, "Stylized illustration / cartoon" branch](../ai-film-director/SKILL.md#) for the full guidance and the pre-written ChatGPT prompt. The key difference vs. photoreal: **skip the rear-profile panel** (2D characters look off-model from straight back) and add an expressions row + signature pose instead.

## Anime / comic example

*(Slot reserved — same contribution path. Drop a sheet at `docs/images/example-anime-character-sheet.jpg`.)*

## How to read these examples during your own Step 2.3

When the orchestrator hands you the pause instruction for character sheet generation, you can ask to see these examples directly:

> *"Show me an example sheet."*

The orchestrator will open this file (`docs/character-sheet-examples.md`) in your viewer. Map what you see here to the prompt the orchestrator just composed — same panel structure, same identity-lock-across-cells discipline, just with your character and your wardrobe. Aim to land something at this level of consistency before moving to Phase 3.

If your first attempt drifts on a specific panel (most common — Banana Pro panel 3/back, or ChatGPT panel 5/hands), follow up with the orchestrator and we'll either prompt-refine the panel or branch to a tighter mode.

## See also

- [`ai-film-director/SKILL.md`](../ai-film-director/SKILL.md) **Step 2.3** — the orchestrator step that builds these sheets, including the cartoon / anime / hybrid register branches
- [`banana-pro-director/SKILL.md`](../banana-pro-director/SKILL.md) **Mode 2** — the specialist that composes the structured panel prompt
- [`CLAUDE.md`](../CLAUDE.md) — workspace overview, including the "real photos > AI plates" principle that's worth applying at this step when references exist