Multi-Shot Project Planner — Lock Consistency Before You Generate Shot 1

Original worksheet by jnMetaCode (MIT). Multi-shot pieces fail most often not because any single shot looks bad, but because the subject quietly changes across shots — a different scar, a swapped Portrait number, a motion direction that doesn't rhyme with the previous cut. Those failure modes are already named in multi-shot-narrative.md's Debugging tips and in the Skill's emotional-narrative rules — this file turns them into a worksheet you actually fill in, instead of a tip you remember too late.

How to use: copy this file (or just the tables) into your project notes. Fill it out before writing your first shot prompt. Re-check it before every new shot — not just once at the start.

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0 · Is this worksheet for you?

Skip it for single-shot pieces (15s-transformation, atmosphere-only pieces) — nothing to keep consistent across shots. Use it for anything edited from 3+ shots: multi-shot narrative, emotional/pet/family pieces, movie trailers, micro-drama, MVs.

1 · Subject registry (fill before Shot 1)

One row per subject that appears in more than one shot. This is the consistency lock — every shot's Character & Scene section must restate these exact details, not a rephrased approximation.

Portrait #	Role	Face / features (100% preserved wording)	Clothing / props (material-first)	≥2 imperfection anchors (must recur every shot)
Portrait1	e.g. protagonist
Portrait2	e.g. companion / animal
Portrait3	e.g. scene reference

Rule: Portrait numbering is fixed for the whole project. Portrait1 is always the same role in every shot's prompt — never renumber or swap mid-project (see multi-shot-narrative.md Debugging tip #4).

Tip: generate the first and last shot first to lock the look before filling the middle (this is how pet-lifetime-narrative.md and family-recipe-farewell.md were built) — it's cheaper to notice a drifted face on shot 1-of-2 than on shot 5-of-7.

2 · Atmosphere lock (must stay identical across every shot)

Fill this once. Paste the same wording into every shot's Stage 3 — don't rephrase it shot-to-shot; that's the #1 cause of color-drift in edited pieces.

Core theme tags: {{3–6 tags, | separated}}
Camera + lens combo: {{e.g. Sony Venice + Canon K-35 / IMAX + Panavision C-series}}
Color & tone: {{one locked description — write it once, copy verbatim}}
Grain / style core: {{}}

Rule: if you find yourself writing a slightly different color line for shot 4 than shot 1, stop — that's exactly what breaks a multi-shot edit in post. Go back and paste the Section-2 wording verbatim.

3 · Shot list (fill as you plan, check as you generate)

The Exit and next row's Entry columns must agree — motion reads as one continuous action across the cut only when they rhyme (multi-shot-narrative.md Debugging tip #2).

Shot #	Exit direction / state	Next shot's Entry (must match)
1	e.g. exits frame-right	—
2		must enter frame-right ✓/✗
3
…

Rule of thumb: 3–8 shots per edited piece; each shot generated independently at 5–10s, stitched in post (don't attempt one 30s+ generation — reroll success collapses past ~15s, see cheatsheet.md).

4 · Pre-flight checklist (before generating Shot 1)

[ ] Every subject that recurs has a Section-1 row with ≥2 imperfection anchors
[ ] Section-2 atmosphere wording is finalized — you will copy-paste it, not rewrite it, into every shot
[ ] Shot list drafted with exit/entry directions checked for rhyme
[ ] You've budgeted rerolls realistically — see "Reroll & budget expectations" in cheatsheet.md (roughly 5–10× your final shot count in generations, industry-reported)
[ ] You know which shot you're generating first to lock the look (usually shot 1, sometimes shot 1 + last shot together)

Less than full pass = you'll likely hit consistency drift by shot 3–4. Fill the gaps first.