--- name: higgsfield-shotlist-director description: "Turns a brief, script, scene breakdown, treatment, or story idea into ONE connected director's shotlist for Seedance 2.0 — a single editable HTML artifact with a global Style Prefix, an @-asset glossary, and named per-scene prompts (1a, 1b, 2a…) each in Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N form. Use whenever the user says 'make a shotlist', 'break this script into prompts', 'generate Seedance prompts for this ad/film', 'turn this brief into a shot list', 'director's shotlist', or wants many connected scene prompts rather than one. Also use to revise an existing shotlist (edit-once-propagates: 'change the style prefix everywhere', 'rewrite scene 4', 'split prompt 6'). Each prompt targets 15s; longer scenes split across 1a/1b/1c under one scene number." user-invocable: true metadata: tags: [higgsfield, seedance, seedance-2.0, shotlist, director, style-prefix, ad, commercial, artifact, html] version: 1.3.0 updated: 2026-09-26 parent: higgsfield --- # Higgsfield Shotlist Director Turn a brief into **one connected shotlist** — not a pile of separate prompts. The deliverable is a single editable HTML artifact the user opens in a browser, ticks scenes off as they shoot, and comes back to you to revise. This is the artifact-shaped workflow a fully-AI commercial actually runs on: lock a global look once, declare the cast/props/locations once, then emit named per-scene prompts that all inherit both. > **This skill is the connected layer on top of `higgsfield-seedance`.** It does > not reinvent the prompt grammar — every per-scene prompt obeys the six-slot > formula and the Prompt-Craft Laws in `../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md`, and > every prompt is preflight-linted before delivery. What this skill adds is the > *document*: the global Style Prefix, the `@`-glossary, the per-scene numbering, > and the edit-once / per-scene-override semantics that keep 25 prompts in sync. ## QUICK FACTS - Output = **one self-contained HTML file** (inline CSS/JS, no deps), not loose prompts [→](#what-you-produce) - Three structural layers, top to bottom: **Global Style Prefix → `@`-asset glossary → named per-scene prompts** [→](#the-three-layers) - Per-scene prompt law: `Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N`; each prompt targets **15s**; split long scenes as `3a/3b/3c` [→](#per-scene-prompt-law) - [OFFICIAL] Density heuristic: group rows when ALL of {same cast, same location, one emotional unit, ≤15s, inside length limits}; split on ANY of {location cut, cast change, setup change, performance arc, insert} — **don't fragment grief**; complexity budget + auto-enrichment defaults for thin briefs [→](#prompt-density--grouping-shot-rows-into-15s-envelopes) - Whole-sequence checks before delivery: **tempo budget** (cut durations sum exactly to runtime; one 6–8s hero hold) + **monotony audit** (no 3 consecutive cuts sharing shot size AND camera move) [→](#sequence-tempo-and-variety) - Continuity carries exits too: an **Off-screen line** (exit side + last state) per just-departed character keeps re-entry direction legal [→](#per-scene-prompt-law) - **Edit-once-propagates**: change the prefix once → it changes in every prompt; per-scene **override** lets one scene break the global look [→](#edit-once-and-per-scene-override) - Differentiators over a bare shotlist generator: **preflight linter**, **reference-role lanes**, **Elements `@`-auto-attach**, **failure-mode awareness**, **acceptance-rate logging** [→](#what-makes-this-outclass-a-bare-generator) - English prompt text only (Seedance expects English), even if the user writes in another language [→](#workflow) --- ## What you produce A single `shotlist.html` (saved to the user's outputs and presented). It is **self-contained** — inline CSS, inline JS, zero external dependencies — so the user can open it offline and it just works. Structure: 1. **Title bar** — project name (infer from the brief; "Untitled" if unclear). 2. **Global Style Prefix** — collapsible block at top, applied to every prompt. 3. **`@`-asset glossary** — the cast/props/locations declared once. 4. **Scene list** — numbered scenes, each with a checkbox (progress saved in `localStorage`), a one-line scene description, and one or more copy-ready prompt blocks (`Prompt 3a · 15s`, `Prompt 3b · 15s`). 5. A short "how to use" note (checkboxes auto-save; ask Claude to revise). The Style Prefix appears **once** in the collapsible block **and** is prepended verbatim to every prompt's copy-block — so the user copies one prompt into Seedance and it works standalone, no reassembly. --- ## The three layers ### 1. Global Style Prefix A single style block glued to every prompt in the document — edit it once and it changes everywhere. It locks the film's global look: format/resolution, lighting doctrine, colour ratio, lens/shutter, skin realism, acting register, physics, composition, continuity, frame rate, and audio convention. Ship the reusable fill-in-the-blanks block from [`../../templates/seedance/global-style-prefix.md`](../../templates/seedance/global-style-prefix.md). **Always check the conversation first** — if the user pasted a custom prefix, use that one verbatim. Otherwise use the template default. ### 2. `@`-asset glossary Declare every recurring asset once, with a stable `@`-name, then register each under **Elements** in Higgsfield with the **same name** so pasting a prompt auto-attaches the right images: ``` @hero — main character @boss — side character @headphones — product @sneakers · @bag · @skydancer — props @kitchen · @stadium · @street — locations @s_hero — athletic-look hero @s_hero_wet — sweaty post-run hero @music_track (audio_1.wav) — motion locks to this beat @staging_ACME_street_v1 — front-on position reference, attached LAST ``` A position map in the glossary is always the **front-on staging reference** (`../../templates/seedance/staging-reference.md`: outline figures, position only, attached after the photo references), named by that template's § Tag naming (`@staging_[PROJECT]_[scene]_[version]`; `ACME` above is a placeholder project). No slot filename goes beside it: slots are assigned by upload order, so a staging reference filed as `image_1` would sit in the character's slot. Elements auto-attach finds the right images, but nothing in this repo documents the order it attaches them in — when the staging reference must land last, check the attach order before firing, or attach it by hand after the photo references. A **top-down** floor plan is never registered or attached — it is an authoring aid whose output travels into the prompt as a written blocking note (`../../templates/seedance/top-down-map.md`). The slot→role discipline (`@Image1` = character, `@Image2` = costume, `@Audio1` = rhythm…) comes from `../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md` § Reference Roles → Per-Image Role Convention. **Multi-state variants get their own locked entry** (`@s_hero_wet`), built on purpose up front — asking the model to "sweat him up" later makes it improvise and the face drifts. **Each glossary entry also carries a fidelity grade** — a role says what job the asset does, the grade says how much of it must survive into the pixels: *full-preserve* / *partial-preserve (name the parts)* / *attribute-transfer (name the target it lifts onto)* / *loose-guide*. One word per line is enough (`@headphones — product, full-preserve`); the grades and their prompt phrasing live in `../higgsfield-seedance-2-5/SKILL.md` § Reference Roles → Fidelity. Without a grade, "use @image4 for the coat" silently means whatever the model felt like keeping that day. ### 3. Named per-scene prompts Every scene is numbered (`1`, `2`, `3`…) and split into named 15-second prompts (`1a`, `1b`, `2a`). One checkbox per **scene**, even when split across `3a/3b/3c`. --- ## Per-scene prompt law Every prompt follows this exact order, top to bottom. (This verbatim-prefix shape is the **connected-shotlist regime** `[FIELD — 13-project harvest]`; a standalone block-scaffold prompt instead distributes style into its home blocks and opens on SCENE CONTEXT — `../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md` § Distributed style. Which shape ships is decided by the workflow: shotlist → this law; single standalone brief → distributed.) ``` [STYLE PREFIX — full block, verbatim (or the per-scene override)] Characters: [Only the characters in this prompt. @names + locked physical descriptors + carried state — wet hair from the prior scene, strap on one shoulder, same wardrobe unless it changed on screen.] Off-screen (only when someone just left): [Anyone in the PREVIOUS prompt but absent here: exit side + last visible state — "Bo — exited frame-left, still carrying the crate." Carry for one prompt, drop after two consecutive absent prompts.] Scene: [1–2 sentences. Where, when, and the geo-spatial blocking — where each character sits relative to the location and to each other. "Hero at the kitchen island, back to camera; the moka pot is on the left burner."] CUT 1 — [framing, lens/FOV, camera move]: [Beat-accurate action: gesture, eye-line, breath, micro-pause; what the camera does; what the light does; diegetic SFX if relevant.] CUT 2 — … ``` Each prompt **targets 15s** (Seedance generates a fixed-length clip — design the cuts to fill it, don't pad with dead air). Most 15s prompts hold 1–3 cuts — that is the **live-action narrative norm**; stylized registers run denser by design (3D-animated 6 shots/15s, product montage 8–10 sections with 0.3s macro cuts — `../higgsfield-style/SKILL.md` § Style Recipes), and the flash-establish / insert durations in `../higgsfield-camera/SKILL.md` § Shot duration by type are what make dense shapes fit. If a scene runs longer, split it across `3a/3b/3c`, each its own 15s block with the full Style Prefix and Characters block, continuity holding across them. **Beat-by-beat choreography, not "he dances."** Generic motion verbs mean nothing to Seedance — spell the move out: *"two crisp head nods on the beat, shoulders rolling back one at a time, a soft knee-dip, a loose finger-snap, finishing on a quarter-spin."* (Full pattern: `../../templates/10-dance-music-performance.md`.) **The Off-screen line is what keeps re-entries legal.** Carried state covers who is in frame; it says nothing about who just left, and re-entry from the wrong side is a classic continuity break the viewer feels before they can name it. One line per departed character buys the next prompt the correct entering side and hand-state for free. `[EMPIRICAL — MiniMax H3 skill corpus; re-derived]` **Match-cut via a repeated anchor action.** When independently-generated scenes must cut together, end and begin neighboring scenes on the **same gesture** (the ear-cup tap) — the reused motion lets them "cut on action" most of the time. When those clips then sit on one timeline, plan the unifying finish pass and cut placement per `../higgsfield-audio/SKILL.md` § Cutting to music. --- ## Prompt density — grouping shot rows into 15s envelopes `[OFFICIAL — Higgsfield shotlist-builder + seedance-2-pro-director skills, 2026-07]` — the shotlist's hardest judgment call is how many script beats share one 15s prompt. There is no fixed ratio (canonical productions ran anywhere from 1.4 rows per prompt to 4.7); decide per scene with this heuristic: **Group shot rows into ONE prompt when ALL of these hold:** 1. Same character set in frame 2. Same location (or sub-area of it) 3. One continuous emotional/temporal unit — no time skip, no mood pivot 4. Stageable in ≤15 seconds of screen time 5. The combined prompt stays inside practical length limits (ZH: the 1,800-char hard cap; EN block prompts run much longer — see `../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md` § Field calibration) **Split into separate prompts when ANY of these fire:** 1. Hard cut between locations (apartment → flashback) 2. A major character entrance/exit changes the handle list 3. A lens/setup change that needs its own envelope (wide establish → tight insert) 4. A performance arc that deserves its own 15 seconds — a reaction that builds across 5–7 beats is never bundled with action. **Don't fragment grief**: one continuous emotional collapse is ONE prompt even if the script writes it as three rows. 5. An insert/cutaway to a prop or screen (those get their own ECU prompt) **Complexity budget per prompt** (split triggers): more than 2 strong actions · more than 2 camera moves · more than 3 important characters · more than 1 complex VFX event · more than 1 location change — any of these means the scene wants another envelope. Duration ladder: 4–8s = one strong action · 8–12s = one action + a reveal · 12–15s = 2–3 simple beats · complex fight/chase/transformation = multiple prompts. **Reconciling the ladder with the 15s target:** 15s is the default envelope, not a straitjacket — when a scene's beats genuinely fill only 4–8s of screen time, generate a deliberately shorter clip (Seedance accepts 4–15s) rather than padding dead air into 15; the prompt-law's "don't pad" rule wins. **When in doubt, err toward more prompts and shorter envelopes** — Seedance handles tight prompts better than overloaded ones, and the user can run them in sequence. **Auto-enrichment for thin briefs.** When a scene row is thin ("a guy in a room, he's angry"), don't ask — fill in production detail with the default cinematic choices, never details that change the meaning: 16:9 · one clear physical action · slow controlled dolly-in or locked-off frame · a neutral-to-portrait lens (63°/47° FOV in Seedance block prompts — mm vocabulary like "35–50mm" is for non-Seedance surfaces; 29° only if a close-up needs it — `../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md` § FOV anchors) · motivated practical light · subtle ambience + one meaningful SFX · a clear final frame. **Duration is never auto-defaulted** — inside a shotlist the envelope law above governs (target 15s, shorter deliberate clips per the ladder); for a standalone prompt, ask — the seedance rule "always ask the user for runtime, never default" stands. --- ## Sequence tempo and variety `[EMPIRICAL — third-party director-skill evaluations 2026-08-09; re-derived heuristics, unmeasured here]` — two whole-sequence checks that no per-prompt rule can catch, run once before delivery: **Tempo budget — the arithmetic gate.** Budget the piece before writing it: total runtime at ~4–6s average per cut gives the cut count the piece can carry, with **one deliberately longer hero hold (6–8s)** reserved for the money moment. Rough bands: ≤15s → ~3 cuts · ~20s → 4–5 · ~30s → ~6 · ~45s → 7–8 · ~60s → 9–11. Then check the sum: stated cut durations must **add up to the requested runtime exactly**. A budget that doesn't add up ships dead air or an impossible cut, and the error is invisible until the timeline. **Monotony audit — read the column, not the prompt.** After drafting, read only the framing + camera-move line of every cut, top to bottom, as one column. No run of **three consecutive cuts** may share the same shot size *and* the same camera move; when every cut reads "medium, slow push-in", vary the shot's *function and scale* — not just its duration. Per-prompt review can't see this failure at all; it only shows when the column is read as a sequence, and it is the single most common tell of a generated shotlist. --- ## Edit-once and per-scene override Talk to the user's revisions like an editor of one connected document, never 20 loose chats: - **"Edit prompt 1a, do X"** → change only that prompt. - **"Change the style prefix to Y, apply everywhere"** → propagate to every prompt's copy-block in one pass. - **Per-scene override** → one scene can break the global look. Replace just that prompt's Style Prefix lighting line (e.g. Scene 2 stadium: *"bright, genuinely sunny midday, strong frontal sun, deep blue sky, hard-edged shadows"*) while every other scene keeps the soft global prefix. The override is a local edit to one prompt's prefix, not a change to the global block. When revising, **re-render the same HTML file with the change applied** — don't describe the change in chat. Preserve scene numbering where possible (don't renumber everything for a one-prompt edit), preserve the Style Prefix unless told to change it. The user's checkbox state survives via `localStorage` keyed by scene number, so stable numbering = no lost progress. --- ## What makes this outclass a bare generator A plain "script → prompts" generator stops at the document. This skill is wired into the rest of the repo, which is the whole point: 1. **Preflight every prompt.** Before delivering the shotlist, run each prompt's copy-block through the linter — `python3 scripts/seedance_lint.py --preflight --regime block --model seedance_2_0 ""` (`../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md` § Pre-flight Linter). Copy-blocks are block-scaffold regime: the linter usually auto-detects this, but pin `--regime block` so the short-form word caps can never fire on a full-density scene prompt. Real names, brand/IP, age markers, conflicting instructions, shot- count drift, and out-of-enum aspect/resolution/mode are caught **before** the user burns credits. A shotlist of 25 prompts is 25 chances to ship a flagged one. In the same pass run the § Sequence tempo and variety checks — the linter sees one prompt at a time; the sum check and monotony audit see the sequence. 2. **Reference-role lanes.** The `@`-glossary uses the stable slot→role convention so `@Image1` = character holds across all 25 prompts and nobody re-checks which face the model expects at shot 47. 3. **Failure-mode awareness.** Flag high-risk shots at authoring time (reflections, same-character doubles, crowds, compound camera moves, door-entry geometry) per `../higgsfield-seedance/ENGINE-RULES.md` and `../higgsfield-seedance/FAILURE-MODES.md`, rather than letting them silently break a scene. 4. **Acceptance-rate honesty.** The finished ad is the best few seconds out of many takes — keep candidates, test in motion, lock the winner, and log kept/rejected outcomes to the ledger (`higgsfield-recall`). The shotlist is the plan; iteration is still the skill. 5. **Audio as a driver.** When a `@music_track` locks the choreography, write the beat-sync mapping per `../higgsfield-audio/SKILL.md` § Audio as a Conditioning Input; keep the prompt body diegetic-only and layer score in post. --- ## Workflow 1. **Read the brief as a director, not a transcriber.** Find the dramatic shape — where each scene turns, lands, and breathes. 2. **Lock the Style Prefix.** Custom from the conversation, or the template default. 3. **Build the `@`-glossary.** One entry per recurring asset; multi-state variants get their own locked entry. 4. **Block the scenes.** Number them; decide how many 15s prompts each beat needs (honest assessment — a 40s confession is `5a/5b/5c`). 5. **Write each prompt** in the per-scene law (Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N), in **English** even if the user wrote in another language. 6. **Preflight every prompt** and flag high-risk shots. 7. **Generate the HTML** (skeleton below) and present it. 8. **On revisions**, re-render the file with edits applied; preserve numbering. --- ## HTML skeleton Self-contained, dark directing-room aesthetic. Inline everything. Checkbox state persists in `localStorage`; each prompt has a Copy button; the Style Prefix is in a collapsible block at the top **and** prepended to every prompt's `
`.

```html

{{PROJECT_TITLE}} — Director's Shotlist


  
{{PROJECT_TITLE}}

  
Tick scenes as you finish — progress saves automatically.
    Copy any prompt (Style Prefix + Characters + Scene + Cuts). Ask Claude to revise.

  
Global Style Prefix (applied to every prompt)
    
{{STYLE_PREFIX_TEXT}}

  {{SCENES_HTML}}


```

Each scene block in `{{SCENES_HTML}}` (one checkbox per scene, `data-scene` =
scene number as a string):

```html


  

    
    
3.

    
Hero grooves across the kitchen — the world goes quiet.

  

  

    
Prompt 3a · 15s

    
[FULL PROMPT — Style Prefix verbatim, then Characters, Scene, CUT 1, CUT 2…]

  

  

    
Prompt 3b · 15s

    
[FULL PROMPT for the second 15s chunk of scene 3]

  



```

---

## Related skills

- `higgsfield-seedance` — the prompt grammar this skill emits (six-slot formula,
  Prompt-Craft Laws, Reference Roles, preflight linter, engine + failure modes)
- `higgsfield-pipeline` — upstream multi-shot production planning the shotlist
  slots into
- `higgsfield-audio` — `@music_track` beat-sync + diegetic-only convention
- `higgsfield-soul` — locked character sheets the `@`-glossary points at
- `higgsfield-recall` — log kept/rejected take outcomes as you shoot the list
- `../../templates/seedance/global-style-prefix.md` — the reusable prefix block +
  a per-scene override example