Turns a brief, script, scene breakdown, treatment, or story idea into ONE connected director's shotlist for Seedance 2.0 — a single editable HTML artifact with a global Style Prefix, an @-asset glossary, and named per-scene prompts (1a, 1b, 2a…) each in Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N form. Use whenever the user says 'make a shotlist', 'break this script into prompts', 'generate Seedance prompts for this ad/film', 'turn this brief into a shot list', 'director's shotlist', or wants many connected scene prompts rather than one. Also use to revise an existing shotlist (edit-once-propagates: 'change the style prefix everywhere', 'rewrite scene 4', 'split prompt 6'). Each prompt targets 15s; longer scenes split across 1a/1b/1c under one scene number.
Turns a brief, script, scene breakdown, treatment, or story idea into ONE connected director's shotlist for Seedance 2.0 — a single editable HTML artifact with a global Style Prefix, an @-asset glossary, and named per-scene prompts (1a, 1b, 2a…) each in Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N form. Use whenever the user says 'make a shotlist', 'break this script into prompts', 'generate Seedance prompts for this ad/film', 'turn this brief into a shot list', 'director's shotlist', or wants many connected scene prompts rather than one. Also use to revise an existing shotlist (edit-once-propagates: 'change the style prefix everywhere', 'rewrite scene 4', 'split prompt 6'). Each prompt targets 15s; longer scenes split across 1a/1b/1c under one scene number.
Turn a brief into one connected shotlist — not a pile of separate prompts.
The deliverable is a single editable HTML artifact the user opens in a browser,
ticks scenes off as they shoot, and comes back to you to revise. This is the
artifact-shaped workflow a fully-AI commercial actually runs on: lock a global
look once, declare the cast/props/locations once, then emit named per-scene
prompts that all inherit both.
This skill is the connected layer on top of higgsfield-seedance. It does
not reinvent the prompt grammar — every per-scene prompt obeys the six-slot
formula and the Prompt-Craft Laws in , and
every prompt is preflight-linted before delivery. What this skill adds is the
: the global Style Prefix, the -glossary, the per-scene numbering,
and the edit-once / per-scene-override semantics that keep 25 prompts in sync.
../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md
document
@
QUICK FACTS
Output = one self-contained HTML file (inline CSS/JS, no deps), not loose prompts →
Three structural layers, top to bottom: Global Style Prefix → @-asset glossary → named per-scene prompts→
Per-scene prompt law: Style → Characters → Scene → CUT 1..N; each prompt targets 15s; split long scenes as 3a/3b/3c→
[OFFICIAL] Density heuristic: group rows when ALL of {same cast, same location, one emotional unit, ≤15s, inside length limits}; split on ANY of {location cut, cast change, setup change, performance arc, insert} — don't fragment grief; complexity budget + auto-enrichment defaults for thin briefs →
Whole-sequence checks before delivery: tempo budget (cut durations sum exactly to runtime; one 6–8s hero hold) + monotony audit (no 3 consecutive cuts sharing shot size AND camera move) →
Continuity carries exits too: an Off-screen line (exit side + last state) per just-departed character keeps re-entry direction legal →
Edit-once-propagates: change the prefix once → it changes in every prompt; per-scene override lets one scene break the global look →
Differentiators over a bare shotlist generator: preflight linter, reference-role lanes, Elements @-auto-attach, failure-mode awareness, acceptance-rate logging→
English prompt text only (Seedance expects English), even if the user writes in another language →
What you produce
A single shotlist.html (saved to the user's outputs and presented). It is
self-contained — inline CSS, inline JS, zero external dependencies — so the
user can open it offline and it just works. Structure:
Title bar — project name (infer from the brief; "Untitled" if unclear).
Global Style Prefix — collapsible block at top, applied to every prompt.
@-asset glossary — the cast/props/locations declared once.
Scene list — numbered scenes, each with a checkbox (progress saved in
localStorage), a one-line scene description, and one or more copy-ready
prompt blocks (Prompt 3a · 15s, Prompt 3b · 15s).
A short "how to use" note (checkboxes auto-save; ask Claude to revise).
The Style Prefix appears once in the collapsible block and is prepended
verbatim to every prompt's copy-block — so the user copies one prompt into
Seedance and it works standalone, no reassembly.
The three layers
1. Global Style Prefix
A single style block glued to every prompt in the document — edit it once and it
changes everywhere. It locks the film's global look: format/resolution, lighting
doctrine, colour ratio, lens/shutter, skin realism, acting register, physics,
composition, continuity, frame rate, and audio convention.
Ship the reusable fill-in-the-blanks block from
../../templates/seedance/global-style-prefix.md.
Always check the conversation first — if the user pasted a custom prefix, use
that one verbatim. Otherwise use the template default.
2. @-asset glossary
Declare every recurring asset once, with a stable @-name, then register each
under Elements in Higgsfield with the same name so pasting a prompt
auto-attaches the right images:
@hero — main character @boss — side character
@headphones — product @sneakers · @bag · @skydancer — props
@kitchen · @stadium · @street — locations
@s_hero — athletic-look hero @s_hero_wet — sweaty post-run hero
@music_track (audio_1.wav) — motion locks to this beat
@street_schematic (image_1.png) — top-down position map
The slot→role discipline (@Image1 = character, @Image2 = costume, @Audio1
= rhythm…) comes from ../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md § Reference Roles →
Per-Image Role Convention. Multi-state variants get their own locked entry
(@s_hero_wet), built on purpose up front — asking the model to "sweat him up"
later makes it improvise and the face drifts.
Each glossary entry also carries a fidelity grade — a role says what job the
asset does, the grade says how much of it must survive into the pixels:
full-preserve / partial-preserve (name the parts) / attribute-transfer (name
the target it lifts onto) / loose-guide. One word per line is enough
(@headphones — product, full-preserve); the grades and their prompt phrasing
live in ../higgsfield-seedance-2-5/SKILL.md § Reference Roles → Fidelity.
Without a grade, "use @image4 for the coat" silently means whatever the model
felt like keeping that day.
3. Named per-scene prompts
Every scene is numbered (1, 2, 3…) and split into named 15-second prompts
(1a, 1b, 2a). One checkbox per scene, even when split across 3a/3b/3c.
Per-scene prompt law
Every prompt follows this exact order, top to bottom. (This verbatim-prefix
shape is the connected-shotlist regime[FIELD — 13-project harvest];
a standalone block-scaffold prompt instead distributes style into its home
blocks and opens on SCENE CONTEXT — ../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md
§ Distributed style. Which shape ships is decided by the workflow: shotlist →
this law; single standalone brief → distributed.)
[STYLE PREFIX — full block, verbatim (or the per-scene override)]
Characters:
[Only the characters in this prompt. @names + locked physical descriptors +
carried state — wet hair from the prior scene, strap on one shoulder, same
wardrobe unless it changed on screen.]
Off-screen (only when someone just left):
[Anyone in the PREVIOUS prompt but absent here: exit side + last visible state —
"Bo — exited frame-left, still carrying the crate." Carry for one prompt, drop
after two consecutive absent prompts.]
Scene:
[1–2 sentences. Where, when, and the geo-spatial blocking — where each character
sits relative to the location and to each other. "Hero at the kitchen island,
back to camera; the moka pot is on the left burner."]
CUT 1 — [framing, lens/FOV, camera move]:
[Beat-accurate action: gesture, eye-line, breath, micro-pause; what the camera
does; what the light does; diegetic SFX if relevant.]
CUT 2 — …
Each prompt targets 15s (Seedance generates a fixed-length clip — design the
cuts to fill it, don't pad with dead air). Most 15s prompts hold 1–3 cuts —
that is the live-action narrative norm; stylized registers run denser by
design (3D-animated 6 shots/15s, product montage 8–10 sections with 0.3s macro
cuts — ../higgsfield-style/SKILL.md § Style Recipes), and the flash-establish
/ insert durations in ../higgsfield-camera/SKILL.md § Shot duration by type
are what make dense shapes fit. If a scene runs longer, split it across
3a/3b/3c, each its own 15s block with the full Style Prefix and Characters
block, continuity holding across them.
Beat-by-beat choreography, not "he dances." Generic motion verbs mean nothing
to Seedance — spell the move out: "two crisp head nods on the beat, shoulders
rolling back one at a time, a soft knee-dip, a loose finger-snap, finishing on a
quarter-spin." (Full pattern: ../../templates/10-dance-music-performance.md.)
The Off-screen line is what keeps re-entries legal. Carried state covers who
is in frame; it says nothing about who just left, and re-entry from the wrong
side is a classic continuity break the viewer feels before they can name it.
One line per departed character buys the next prompt the correct entering side
and hand-state for free. [EMPIRICAL — MiniMax H3 skill corpus; re-derived]
Match-cut via a repeated anchor action. When independently-generated scenes
must cut together, end and begin neighboring scenes on the same gesture (the
ear-cup tap) — the reused motion lets them "cut on action" most of the time.
When those clips then sit on one timeline, plan the unifying finish pass and cut
placement per ../higgsfield-audio/SKILL.md § Cutting to music.
Prompt density — grouping shot rows into 15s envelopes
[OFFICIAL — Higgsfield shotlist-builder + seedance-2-pro-director skills, 2026-07] — the shotlist's hardest judgment call is how many script beats
share one 15s prompt. There is no fixed ratio (canonical productions ran
anywhere from 1.4 rows per prompt to 4.7); decide per scene with this
heuristic:
Group shot rows into ONE prompt when ALL of these hold:
Same character set in frame
Same location (or sub-area of it)
One continuous emotional/temporal unit — no time skip, no mood pivot
Stageable in ≤15 seconds of screen time
The combined prompt stays inside practical length limits (ZH: the
1,800-char hard cap; EN block prompts run much longer — see
../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md § Field calibration)
Split into separate prompts when ANY of these fire:
Hard cut between locations (apartment → flashback)
A major character entrance/exit changes the handle list
A lens/setup change that needs its own envelope (wide establish → tight
insert)
A performance arc that deserves its own 15 seconds — a reaction that
builds across 5–7 beats is never bundled with action. Don't fragment
grief: one continuous emotional collapse is ONE prompt even if the
script writes it as three rows.
An insert/cutaway to a prop or screen (those get their own ECU prompt)
Complexity budget per prompt (split triggers): more than 2 strong
actions · more than 2 camera moves · more than 3 important characters ·
more than 1 complex VFX event · more than 1 location change — any of these
means the scene wants another envelope. Duration ladder: 4–8s = one strong
action · 8–12s = one action + a reveal · 12–15s = 2–3 simple beats ·
complex fight/chase/transformation = multiple prompts. Reconciling the
ladder with the 15s target: 15s is the default envelope, not a
straitjacket — when a scene's beats genuinely fill only 4–8s of screen time,
generate a deliberately shorter clip (Seedance accepts 4–15s) rather than
padding dead air into 15; the prompt-law's "don't pad" rule wins.
When in doubt, err toward more prompts and shorter envelopes — Seedance
handles tight prompts better than overloaded ones, and the user can run them
in sequence.
Auto-enrichment for thin briefs. When a scene row is thin ("a guy in a
room, he's angry"), don't ask — fill in production detail with the default
cinematic choices, never details that change the meaning: 16:9 · one
clear physical action · slow controlled dolly-in or locked-off frame ·
a neutral-to-portrait lens (63°/47° FOV in Seedance block prompts — mm
vocabulary like "35–50mm" is for non-Seedance surfaces; 29° only if a
close-up needs it — ../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md § FOV anchors) ·
motivated practical light · subtle ambience + one meaningful SFX · a clear
final frame. Duration is never auto-defaulted — inside a shotlist the
envelope law above governs (target 15s, shorter deliberate clips per the
ladder); for a standalone prompt, ask — the seedance rule "always ask the
user for runtime, never default" stands.
Sequence tempo and variety
[EMPIRICAL — third-party director-skill evaluations 2026-08-09; re-derived heuristics, unmeasured here] — two whole-sequence checks that no per-prompt
rule can catch, run once before delivery:
Tempo budget — the arithmetic gate. Budget the piece before writing it:
total runtime at ~4–6s average per cut gives the cut count the piece can carry,
with one deliberately longer hero hold (6–8s) reserved for the money moment.
Rough bands: ≤15s → ~3 cuts · ~20s → 4–5 · ~30s → ~6 · ~45s → 7–8 · ~60s →
9–11. Then check the sum: stated cut durations must add up to the requested
runtime exactly. A budget that doesn't add up ships dead air or an impossible
cut, and the error is invisible until the timeline.
Monotony audit — read the column, not the prompt. After drafting, read only
the framing + camera-move line of every cut, top to bottom, as one column. No
run of three consecutive cuts may share the same shot size and the same
camera move; when every cut reads "medium, slow push-in", vary the shot's
function and scale — not just its duration. Per-prompt review can't see this
failure at all; it only shows when the column is read as a sequence, and it is
the single most common tell of a generated shotlist.
Edit-once and per-scene override
Talk to the user's revisions like an editor of one connected document, never 20
loose chats:
"Edit prompt 1a, do X" → change only that prompt.
"Change the style prefix to Y, apply everywhere" → propagate to every
prompt's copy-block in one pass.
Per-scene override → one scene can break the global look. Replace just that
prompt's Style Prefix lighting line (e.g. Scene 2 stadium: "bright, genuinely
sunny midday, strong frontal sun, deep blue sky, hard-edged shadows") while
every other scene keeps the soft global prefix. The override is a local edit to
one prompt's prefix, not a change to the global block.
When revising, re-render the same HTML file with the change applied — don't
describe the change in chat. Preserve scene numbering where possible (don't
renumber everything for a one-prompt edit), preserve the Style Prefix unless told
to change it. The user's checkbox state survives via localStorage keyed by
scene number, so stable numbering = no lost progress.
What makes this outclass a bare generator
A plain "script → prompts" generator stops at the document. This skill is wired
into the rest of the repo, which is the whole point:
Preflight every prompt. Before delivering the shotlist, run each prompt's
copy-block through the linter — python3 scripts/seedance_lint.py --preflight --regime block --model seedance_2_0 "<prompt>"
(../higgsfield-seedance/SKILL.md § Pre-flight Linter). Copy-blocks are
block-scaffold regime: the linter usually auto-detects this, but pin
--regime block so the short-form word caps can never fire on a
full-density scene prompt. Real names, brand/IP, age markers, conflicting instructions, shot-
count drift, and out-of-enum aspect/resolution/mode are caught before the
user burns credits. A shotlist of 25 prompts is 25 chances to ship a flagged
one. In the same pass run the § Sequence tempo and variety checks — the
linter sees one prompt at a time; the sum check and monotony audit see the
sequence.
Reference-role lanes. The @-glossary uses the stable slot→role
convention so @Image1 = character holds across all 25 prompts and nobody
re-checks which face the model expects at shot 47.
Failure-mode awareness. Flag high-risk shots at authoring time (reflections,
same-character doubles, crowds, compound camera moves, door-entry geometry) per
../higgsfield-seedance/ENGINE-RULES.md and
../higgsfield-seedance/FAILURE-MODES.md, rather than
letting them silently break a scene.
Acceptance-rate honesty. The finished ad is the best few seconds out of
many takes — keep candidates, test in motion, lock the winner, and log
kept/rejected outcomes to the ledger (higgsfield-recall). The shotlist is the
plan; iteration is still the skill.
Audio as a driver. When a @music_track locks the choreography, write the
beat-sync mapping per ../higgsfield-audio/SKILL.md § Audio as a Conditioning
Input; keep the prompt body diegetic-only and layer score in post.
Workflow
Read the brief as a director, not a transcriber. Find the dramatic shape —
where each scene turns, lands, and breathes.
Lock the Style Prefix. Custom from the conversation, or the template
default.
Build the @-glossary. One entry per recurring asset; multi-state variants
get their own locked entry.
Block the scenes. Number them; decide how many 15s prompts each beat needs
(honest assessment — a 40s confession is 5a/5b/5c).
Write each prompt in the per-scene law (Style → Characters → Scene → CUT
1..N), in English even if the user wrote in another language.
Preflight every prompt and flag high-risk shots.
Generate the HTML (skeleton below) and present it.
On revisions, re-render the file with edits applied; preserve numbering.
HTML skeleton
Self-contained, dark directing-room aesthetic. Inline everything. Checkbox state
persists in localStorage; each prompt has a Copy button; the Style Prefix is in
a collapsible block at the top and prepended to every prompt's <pre>.
Each scene block in {{SCENES_HTML}} (one checkbox per scene, data-scene =
scene number as a string):
<divclass="scene"><divclass="scene-header"><inputtype="checkbox"data-scene="3"><divclass="scene-num">3.</div><divclass="scene-desc">Hero grooves across the kitchen — the world goes quiet.</div></div><divclass="prompt-block"><divclass="prompt-label"><span>Prompt 3a · 15s</span><buttonclass="copy-btn">Copy</button></div><preclass="prompt">[FULL PROMPT — Style Prefix verbatim, then Characters, Scene, CUT 1, CUT 2…]</pre></div><divclass="prompt-block"><divclass="prompt-label"><span>Prompt 3b · 15s</span><buttonclass="copy-btn">Copy</button></div><preclass="prompt">[FULL PROMPT for the second 15s chunk of scene 3]</pre></div></div>
Related skills
higgsfield-seedance — the prompt grammar this skill emits (six-slot formula,
Prompt-Craft Laws, Reference Roles, preflight linter, engine + failure modes)
higgsfield-pipeline — upstream multi-shot production planning the shotlist
slots into
