From frame to performance#
Week 7 — SLOP4555
The anchor frame is a locked starting point#
Generated straight from the bible — not a fresh guess, not a new description. It matches everything already decided in Assignment 1.
Directing starts after the frame exists: not what’s in it, but what changes inside it over the next few seconds.
The moment before#
Judith Weston’s technique: invent the concrete circumstance just before the scripted action, instead of relying on a script’s bare “(pause).”
A moment-before names a fact. “She’s torn” names a mood — nothing to play.
A fact, not a mood#
| Mood word | Moment before |
|---|---|
| “More hesitant” | “His call interrupts her final packing task” |
| Nothing to play | A specific antecedent that directs the timing |
| Judged by whether it looks dramatic | Judged by whether the antecedent is legible in the take |
“Before It Stops”#
The medium shot: the phone lights up; Nadia looks, reaches and stops short. The final film still ends with acceptance and “Hey.”
Shared moment-before: his call interrupts her final packing task. Direction A: wait before reaching. Direction B: reach immediately. Same starting image and intended no-contact endpoint.
Jimeng candidates: A (2448) reaches around 4.5s; B (3477) around
2.5–3s, then holds. B still delays its response. Both show hovering in sampled
frames; screen appearance and hand pose also differ. Watch both in the lecture.
Audio and peer review remain unverified. Earlier rejected Sora footage stays
in Week 8; no exact one-variable comparison is claimed.
This week’s task#
Pick one shot from your Assignment 1 shot list. Generate its anchor image from your locked bible. Write a moment-before for its central beat, and keep that antecedent fixed while writing directions A and B varying one performance choice. Generate both takes, then screen them for a partner before revealing the directions — a dailies-review check on whether the direction actually reads.
What you leave with#
An anchor image and two takes that differ by exactly one directed choice, timed against a concrete antecedent.
The same discipline as week 1 — now with motion attached.