# Animal character sheets, places, sounds and the edit (wordless short film)

## 1. Character sheet (one image per animal)
```
Character reference sheet of the same animated animal, {species, colours, markings, eyes, size, the body part he
can't control yet}, soft 3D animated wildlife-film style with big expressive eyes. Four tall vertical panels side by
side on one plain off-white background, separated by thin white gaps: panel 1 a close-up of the head looking at the
camera; panel 2 full body standing, front view; panel 3 full body standing, side profile facing left; panel 4 full
body standing, back view. Same face, colours, markings and proportions in every panel, friendly neutral expression,
soft even studio lighting, no text, no labels.
```
Ratio 16:9. Give every animal one marking nobody else has (patches, a dark tail tip, eye patches), and say it in
every clip prompt too.

## 2. Places: one picture per place AND per light
```
Soft 3D animated wildlife-film style, {the place}, {where the big things are: trees, rocks, water}, {the light: warm
afternoon / cold blue dusk / grey rain}, no animals, wide shot, no text, no logos.
```
Tags nobody uses for anything else: `locsavanna.jpg`, `locwaterhole.jpg`, `loctallgrass.jpg` (dusk). The colour
follows the mood: warm for the fun, cold for the danger, warm again at the end.

## 3. Voices (character library): sounds, not words
"{animal}, no words: {the sounds it makes - squeaks, hums, giggles, a growl}." Preview with a sample of sounds
("Whew! Hee hee!"), save. Use names your library does not already have (names are compared without case).

## 4. Clips
Omni / Veo components, 720p, duration tags `[4s]` (gags) and `[6s]` (emotion), 3-4 at a time, the character library
switch ON (check the first rows say they are resolving your characters). Pilot the hardest clips first (point of
view, two animals touching, the herd moment). Every prompt ends with a SOUND line; check every clip frame by frame.

## 5. Edit
- Gags: 2-3 s per clip, the fail in quick cuts, then a close-up reaction held a little longer.
- Emotion: 4-6 s per clip; the last minute uses long holds.
- About 20 cuts a minute overall in the original (faster in the chase, slower at the end).
- Keep the clip sound (the effects and voice sounds) and put gentle music underneath; no captions needed.
- A short title card on the first image, a channel end card at the end.

## 6. Problems we hit making the sample (and the fix)
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| "Seen along the baby's neck, from behind his head" drew TWO baby giraffes | No point-of-view shots of a body part. A low angle of the neck swinging against the sky, "only ONE giraffe anywhere in the picture" |
| A point-of-view shot from inside a tree could do the same | Shot of the leaves only: "no animal is visible", sounds from off-screen |
| The danger looked like the fun (same warm light) | A separate location picture for the tall grass at cold blue dusk, and the style sentence says "cold blue dusk light" in those clips |
| A wordless film felt flat with music alone | A SOUND line in every prompt (bonk, splash, hooves, giggles, a whew); the clips came back with sound in about 90% of the film |
| Group shots of the herd | Kept as wide shots: the herd is described in words, never tagged; only the hero is tagged |