Separate what never changes from what changes by scene

Lock the face, apparent age, proportions, default outfit, signature accessories, voice and personality. Change the location, pose, expression, weather and temporary props only when the scene requires it.

Your minimum reference pack

Save recurring locations too

Keep wide, dialogue, close-detail and reverse views of key locations. Record furniture, doors, light, weather, prop positions and who looks screen-left or screen-right.

The five-question episode test

1. Who wants what?
2. What gets in their way?
3. Why does it become funnier, stranger or more emotional?
4. What exact image or line delivers the payoff?
5. What reaction should the viewer leave on?

A clean 30-second structure

Minimum useful coverage

• Opening visual hook
• Main character close-up
• Evidence or reveal shot
• Second character reaction
• Final deadpan hold

Use a wide shot for place or arrival, a medium shot for body language, a close-up for speech and reaction, and an extreme close-up only for story evidence. For conversations, make separate speaking and reaction frames rather than one wide shot.

Image prompt order

1. Format and shot size
2. Approved reference lock
3. Who may appear in frame
4. Camera position and crop
5. Locked character identity
6. One physical action
7. Expression and exact eye target
8. Props and quantities
9. Background and light
10. Clay texture and negative instructions

Animation workflow

1. Approve the still completely.
2. Use it as the exact first frame.
3. Choose one main line or one main action.
4. Describe the face, eye target and small body movement.
5. Keep the camera static or give it one slow move.
6. Protect the face, outfit, props, background and style.
7. Name the only character allowed to speak.

1. Import approved clips only.
2. Put the strongest understandable hook first.
3. Trim delay before speech and cut before animation breaks.
4. Use close-ups for lines and reactions between them.
5. Hold the reveal long enough to understand.
6. Keep dialogue clearer than music and effects.
7. Add captions in the editor, not the generated footage.
8. Export vertical 9:16 at high quality.

Three final viewing tests

• Muted: does the visual story still work?
• Audio only: are dialogue, pauses and sound clean?
• Phone distance: are faces and captions readable?

Check at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 24 hours and 7 days

Record views, average watch time, completion, shares, comments and follows. Look for where retention dropped, which line people quoted, whether the payoff was understood and whether older episodes gained views.

Make the next-episode decision

• Keep: the character, topic, line, visual or pacing that worked.
• Change: one main weakness.
• Test next: one controlled experiment.
• Continue: the next logical part of the story.