DIRECTIVE — 30s 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. LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S COTTAGE — NIGHT. LOCATION LOCK — LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER'S COTTAGE: A cozy, lived-in cottage, rustic and sea-worn, with a warm glow emanating from within, silhouetted against a dramatic, brooding sky. This exact set, unchanged, in every shot of the scene. With a final, heroic effort, the ancient machine groans to life, and its powerful beam slices through the storm's fury.
[SUBJECTS] SARAH — A determined woman in her early 30s, practical and hardened by the sea, with sharp, intelligent eyes and a wary expression. (identity locked to reference, do not alter face, hair, age or build) | ELIAS — A weathered, stoic man in his late 60s, with a heavy-knit fisherman's sweater and a face etched by a lifetime of sea winds and solitude. — wearing Elias wears a heavy, cable-knit fisherman's sweater, worn soft from years of sea air, hinting at a life spent battling the elements. (identity locked to reference, do not alter face, hair, age or build)
[BLOCKING] ONE CONTINUOUS TAKE: this 30-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. [CAST LOCK — SOLE REFERENCE] The reference images are the canonical character sheets for Sarah, Elias. Those exact faces, hair, body types and wardrobe must appear for the whole take. LIVED-IN WORLD: this is a real place on a real day, never an empty set. Populate the interior with background life: staff behind counters, customers in queues, seated clients, security guards, desks with paperwork, monitors, signage, plants and clutter — and vehicles visible through the glass outside. 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 Camera package (identical for every shot): shot on ARRI Alexa 35, Cooke S4 spherical lenses, Kodak Vision3 500T film emulation, fine grain, subtle halation on highlights, subtle vignette, natural contrast, key light soft window key.
[LIGHT] motivated Night light in a Intimate, melancholic, lived-in space, practical sources visible in frame, soft falloff into shadow
[ACTION] ACTION (one take, straight through):
1. Elias grabs a massive iron pry bar. Whip pan with the tool as he wedges it into the heart of the machine. 2. Pure effort. Gritted teeth, bulging veins on his forehead, sweat pouring down his face as he heaves with all his might. 3. From beneath the gears. With a deafening CRACK, the jammed tooth breaks free. The gears begin to move, ponderously, right over the lens. 4. From the perspective of the rotating lens itself. The world turns as the massive gears engage. The brilliant lamp fires, and the first beam of light slices out into the storm. 5. From the lamp's perspective, Elias collapses against the machinery, silhouetted, then revealed, then silhouetted again by the sweeping beam. Exhausted, but triumphant.
[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] melancholic, hopeful, 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 tones, no CGI plastic sheen.
GRADE — low-key cinematic colour science, teal-leaning shadows, warm practical highlights, film-print halation on speculars.
CAMERA — one unbroken take, micro-handheld breathing, no cuts, no transitions; performance carries the shot.
SOUND — diegetic in-camera ambience, close-mic detail on the hero action, no music bed unless specified, no voice-over unless specified.
AVOID — a single slow drifting take, static talking-head boredom, warped hands or faces, morphing geometry, on-screen text, watermarks, logos, subtitles, stock-footage look, over-saturated HDR.