# Micro-drama — writing (series, season, episode)

Story craft comes from `references/filmmaking/scene-engine.md` (Goal → Obstacle → Tactic → Reversal → value shift). This file adds the micro-drama format and the anti-slop rules.

## Format

- Vertical, 45-90 s per episode by default (the user's kickoff answer wins). Length follows the story; never rush a scene to fit a credit number. If budget is tight, cut episodes, not pace.
- Write the full natural scene first, then split it into parts of about 15-25 s (one Seedance 2.5 generation each, max 30 s), at most four dialogue lines per part, with room for silent beats.
- **Works with the sound off.** A viewer must follow the episode from the picture: glances, props, geography, reactions. Dialogue is sparse and sharp. Proven serials carry an episode on 4-10 short lines.
- **Pace:** Episode 1 may breathe (longer takes for the meet or the setup). From Episode 2 the cut settles near 2 s per shot, with emotional beats on face close-ups and shot/reverse.

## Standalone reels (Instagram / TikTok format)

When the kickoff picks **standalone reels** instead of serial episodes, each post is one self-contained scene of about 38-45 s (the approved reference, Wrong Number "Ten Minutes" v7, Oct 2026, runs 45 s; 30 s cuts with packed lines felt rushed).

**Approved reference structure (Ten Minutes v7, 45 s, 8 lines):** 0.8 s sped-up prop insert → first line at 1 s on a two-shot → 3 quick exchanges (close-ups, about 2 s each) → the charged line → a 2-3 s SILENT reaction of the listener → the confession in 3 lines, each with a silent beat after it, emotion building to the last → the question and the answer → the prop turns the scene (a sound or a ring) → the payoff action in an over-the-shoulder insert → HIS reaction held → HER smile held to the end. Both faces react at the end; never end on one face only. On social, one-scene stories that stand alone outperform numbered serial parts, which lose viewers part after part (measured on a leading 90s-glamour micro-drama account, Oct 2026). A viewer who never saw the previous post must still get it.

| Time | Beat | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 s | First line or action already mid-conflict, no setup shot | Two-shot: who and where |
| 1-8 s | 2-4 short lines; one character is cold | Close-ups, 1.5-2.5 s each |
| 8-18 s | SILENT stretch (room tone + foley only): a prop or physical action turns the scene | One wide + an insert + reaction close-ups |
| 18-25 s | The flip: 2-3 lines, the cold one loses the upper hand | Tighter shot/reverse |
| Last 3-5 s | Payoff: a smile or near-kiss, held long | Tight two-shot or one close-up |

- About 15-17 shots per 30 s, close-ups for most of the runtime, one wide per reel.
- Ends on a **payoff, not a cliffhanger**. A light callback (a prop, a gesture) links the reels.
- The silent stretch is where the user's own song goes in the edit; keep it free of dialogue.
- Title each reel with a short noun ("THE DOOR", "THE COAT"); number it only in the post caption.

## Clarity rules (every format)

- **One scene says the backstory out loud.** Somewhere in the series a character plainly states who they are, why they left, and what the key prop means ("I found the ring in your coat. I ran from a wedding once, back in Ohio. So I ran again."). Mystery by implication alone reads as confusing, not intriguing.
- **Fill every gap the cut implies.** If a scene ends on "ten minutes", the audience wants those ten minutes. Write the scene that answers the obvious question before inventing a new location.
- **Every joke or charged line needs its setup** on screen or in the hook. "Gave it to a woman who was cold" only lands if we know whose coat she is wearing.
- **No hand-touch or finger "callback" gestures as the payoff** (palms raised to each other, fingertips meeting). They read as cringe. End on a face, a line, or a held look.
- **Emotion builds; it never starts at the peak.** In a confession or speech, the first line is composed or defensive, the middle line cracks (voice drops, eyes away), and only the last line reaches tears or glassy eyes. Write the build into the prompt line by line; generate the speech as one continuous take so the performance can build.
- **Cut to the listener during long lines.** A speech longer than about 2 s gets at least one reaction cutaway of the other person, with the speaker's voice continuing underneath (L-cut). Generate a silent listening shot of the other character for every key speech.
- **Pleasing hook and pleasing ending.** The winning reel built tension from frame 1 (faces, a charged situation) and ended on a warm physical payoff held long. Open on faces in tension, never on an object; end on a physical action that resolves the scene.
- **Leave breath between lines.** At most 3 lines per 12-15 s take, each followed by a written silent beat (a silent reaction shot or a held look), with the dialogue timings in the audio block spaced 2.5-4 s apart. Six lines packed into one 15 s take leave no pause to cut on, and the edit plays rushed.
- **Hook on the prop in action, fast.** If a prop drives the scene (a timer, a key), open on a sub-second close insert of it in use (sped up if needed), then the first line within about 1 s.
- **The ending action shows who does it and why.** A callback insert alone (a hand on the prop) reads as random; play it inside the scene: the line, the action in an over-the-shoulder insert with the other person in frame, then the other person's reaction held.
- Before approval, read the season as a stranger: for each reel, can you say in one sentence what is happening and why? If not, rewrite.

## Episode beat structure

| Beat | Job |
|---|---|
| Hook (0-2 s) | the situation in one image or one line only this character would say |
| Re-establish | answer last episode's question; show the geography / relationship |
| Tactic / counter-tactic | 2-4 short exchanges; want vs want; power shifts once |
| Stakes | someone or something could end it |
| Cliff | a reveal that adds a person or a fact; the last line implies, never explains |

Per part: name the **value shift** ("she arrives in control → leaves exposed"). If nothing turns, rewrite. Mark 2-3 **trailer moments** per episode (a striking entrance, a look, a one-line punch) that work out of context.

Deliverable per episode: beats table, dialogue timeline (`0.5s - NAME, delivery: "line"`), part split, continuity / final frame per part, trailer moments, value shift.

## Genre templates (starting points, not formulas)

| Genre | Engine | Hook | Cliff pattern | Look |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romance / revenge | hidden identity, betrayal, second chance, rival | a humiliation or a collision | the rival enters frame / the identity slips | warm glamour, practicals, rain, nostalgia |
| Thriller / mystery | a secret someone will kill for, a clock | a body, a message, a wrong number | a new fact reverses who we trust | cool night, hard light, reflections |
| Brand series | a recurring cast whose lives touch the product naturally | a relatable problem in 2 s | a personal stake left open, never a sales line | the brand's palette as the world grade |
| Comedy / sitcom | a fixed group, a fixed place, escalating misunderstandings | the absurd premise in one line | a callback or a worse misunderstanding | bright, even light, wider shots |

Brand series rules: the product is a prop in the story (it changes access or information), never a feature list; the brand name appears in the caption and key art, sparingly on screen; every claim about the product comes from the client's own material.

## Anti-slop rules

- **Names:** real names people of that origin and era have. Banned AI defaults: Elara, Lyra, Kael, Seraphina, Aria, Nova, Lucien, Orion, Zara, Luna, Kai, "Blackwood"-type surnames.
- **One odd true detail per character** (she counts stairs when nervous; he keeps a dead colleague's voicemail).
- **Lines only this character would say.** Kill swappable lines ("We shouldn't be doing this", "You don't know what you do to me").
- **Specific nouns** ("a 1994 Saab with a cracked tail light", not "a luxury car").
- **Props change access or information.** A card is thrown away, then retrieved; a key opens the wrong door.
- **Characters do concrete tasks** while they talk (sorting mail, packing a box), never stand and deliver.
- **Surprise test:** one moment per episode the viewer did not predict from the logline. A guessable cliff gets rewritten.
- **Audit before approval:** flag every generic line or name and replace it before production.

## Safety

Every character 21+ and visibly adult; no school or teen framing. Consent explicit in romantic beats. No real people; real companies stay unnamed unless the user owns the brand. Villains are not ethnic or religious stereotypes.