DIRECTIVE — 5s cinematic single continuous take, 16:9, 24fps filmic motion cadence.
SUBJECT & STORY — [FORMAT] 16:9 aspect, 24fps, ARRI Alexa 35 capture, 17 stops of latitude, creamy highlight rolloff, natural skin rendition, Cooke S4/i glass, warm 'Cooke look', gentle skin falloff, soft creamy bokeh, 40mm near-normal, natural human perspective, mild depth separation, T2.8 aperture, photoreal live-action cinematography, real human skin texture, natural imperfections
[SCENE] INT. CORRIDOR, YOUTH HUB — MORNING. LOCATION LOCK — YOUTH HUB — CORRIDOR OUTSIDE AN INTERVIEW ROOM: A plain institutional corridor with one window used as a mirror, a closed door with a latch, strip light overhead. Photorealistic observational documentary cinematography, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 2020s. Real Kurdish faces from Duhok, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Halabja — never generic international casting, never Gulf, Levantine or Turkish features. No makeup on anyone, no stylist hair, no whitened teeth, natural skin texture with pores and flyaway hair. Muted grade: warm skin, cool blue shadows, dust. Anamorphic 2x, shallow depth, handheld only where noted. No text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. This exact set, unchanged, in every shot of the scene. Karwan waits outside a room nobody has called him into yet. He uses a window as a mirror because there is none. Adjusts the collar, ruins it, adjusts it again. Holds the CV folder with both hands. The film stops at the door and never enters the interview.
[SUBJECTS] KARWAN — KARWAN — 24-year-old Kurdish man from Sulaymaniyah. 1.78 m, thin but not athletic, the body of someone who has sat in front of a laptop for two years. Long face, prominent jaw, short beard trimmed with unusual care today. Short black hair with one stubborn strand on the right. Visible unconcealed dark circles under the eyes. CONSISTENCY MARK: the beard line is shaved razor-sharp on the neck — a yesterday haircut. Adjusts his collar, ruins it, adjusts it again. Photorealistic observational documentary cinematography, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, 2020s. Real Kurdish faces from Duhok, Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Halabja — never generic international casting, never Gulf, Levantine or Turkish features. No makeup on anyone, no stylist hair, no whitened teeth, natural skin texture with pores and flyaway hair. Muted grade: warm skin, cool blue shadows, dust. Anamorphic 2x, shallow depth, handheld only where noted. No text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. — wearing A pressed light-blue shirt whose collar is slightly too wide for his neck (cheap or borrowed), dark-grey cloth trousers ending a centimetre short at the ankle, polished black shoes with worn-down heels, a cheap watch on a leather strap. In scene 04 he carries a clear plastic folder of CV pages; in scene 08 the same shirt is open at the top buttons, sleeves rolled, folder gone. (identity locked to reference, do not alter face, hair, age or build)
[BLOCKING] ONE CONTINUOUS TAKE: this 5-second clip is a single uninterrupted shot. No cuts, no edits, no dissolves, no jumps in time or place — the camera never stops rolling. The camera may move — dolly, pan, reframe, follow the actors — but it stays one operator, one roll, one piece of film. Play the action straight through in real time so the take can be cut afterwards in the edit. FRAME CHAIN: the first reference image is the literal last frame of scene 3. Open this take on that exact frame and continue moving from it — same physical location, same set dressing, same lighting state, same wardrobe, same weather. Do not cut to a new place and do not rebuild the set. STORY CONTINUES: the previous scene ended with — A low camera that never rises: sandals, a wheelchair, a laptop in a cloth bag, a heavy school backpack. Dîlan enters from frame left, Rêbaz a few people later. They never speak to each other in the film.. This take picks the film up from there: same characters, same wardrobe, same world, later in the same story. Do not re-introduce anyone and do not restart the film. It has to hand over cleanly to the next scene — The hall is full, the trainer out of focus behind. Dîlan does not look at the trainer, she looks at her screen with the frown of someone who has just understood and is checking. Her shoulders drop two centimetres — that is the shot. The gir — so end the take on a frame that can cut straight into it. [REFERENCE MAP — bind each reference image to exactly one thing and never mix them] @image1 = the EXACT LAST FRAME of scene 3 of this same film — this take opens on this frame: same set, same camera position, same light, same wardrobe, same weather; @image2 = Karwan (lead) — canonical face, hair, body and age of this actor; @image3 = Karwan's ONLY approved wardrobe — Karwan — signature day outfit; exact garments, materials, accessories, fit and colors; @image4 = the LOCATION of this scene — Youth Hub — corridor outside an interview room (set, not a person). Each @image is that one subject only: do not merge two references into a new person, do not swap who is who, and do not invent anyone who is not in this map. [CAST + WARDROBE LOCK — SOLE AUTHORITY] The reference map contains the canonical identity portrait and the ONE approved wardrobe plate for every actor: Karwan (lead). Reproduce those exact faces, hairlines, bodies, skin tones, ages, garments, accessories, materials, fit and colors for the whole take and every scene. Never re-cast, re-age, beautify, re-style, change clothes, remove accessories, blend identities or invent a face. LIVED-IN WORLD: this is a real place on a real day, never an empty set. Populate the exterior with background life at cinematic depth: pedestrians crossing and reacting, parked and moving cars, taxis, a police cruiser, delivery vans, street signage, traffic lights, litter, wet asphalt reflections. Background people are unnamed extras: out of focus or turned away, correctly scaled, never mugging at camera and never resembling the named cast. The named cast in the reference sheets stay the foreground subjects, sharp and clearly readable at all times. ABSOLUTE CONTINUITY: same wardrobe, same light, same set, same time of day for the entire take.
[CAMERA] ARRI Alexa 35 capture, 17 stops of latitude, creamy highlight rolloff, natural skin rendition, Cooke S4/i glass, warm 'Cooke look', gentle skin falloff, soft creamy bokeh, 40mm near-normal, natural human perspective, mild depth separation, T2.8 aperture
[LIGHT] motivated morning light in a waiting space, practical sources visible in frame, soft falloff into shadow
[ACTION] ACTION (one take, straight through):
Karwan waits outside a room nobody has called him into yet. He uses a window as a mirror because there is none. Adjusts the collar, ruins it, adjusts it again. Holds the CV folder with both hands. The film stops at the door and never enters the interview.
[DIALOGUE] The characters speak their lines out loud on camera in English, with accurate lip sync, natural breathing and room acoustics. Generate the spoken dialogue as part of the clip audio. No narration, no subtitles, no on-screen text.
[GRADE] quiet, observational, restrained, human, hopeful without sentimentality, film-grade contrast curve, protected highlights, no digital clipping
[NEGATIVE] identity drift, different face between shots, wardrobe change mid-scene, extra fingers, deformed hands, warped faces, duplicated people, subtitles, captions, watermark, logo, text overlay, cartoon, 3d render, video game look, plastic skin, over-smoothed skin, oversaturated colours, fisheye distortion, motion blur smear, low resolution
CINEMATOGRAPHY — shot on ARRI Alexa 35 with anamorphic primes, T2.0, shallow depth of field, organic lens flares, motivated practical lighting: soft key, negative fill, hard rim for separation. Filmic contrast curve, rich blacks with retained shadow detail, subtle 35mm grain, natural skin tone