Guidelines from the edit bay
- Build the stage empty first. Get the set right with nobody in it, then add the creature, then yourself. Each step is easier to fix on its own.
- Start the creature at rest, head high. The swoop is only as big as the distance it travels. A bird already leaning in kills the scare.
- Stillness sells it. Tell the model you don't see it coming: lips closed, no gasp, no reaction until you're grabbed.
- Name what must never change. Your face, the hat staying on, the casque fixed to the bill. If it matters, write it down.
- Spell out the reveal. Say exactly which part opens and how, or the model invents its own hatch. A still of the open wing helps if it keeps drifting.
- Finish it in the edit. Your own voice, muted gasps and a face fix on the close-ups are edit decisions, not generation ones.
Stills first, then one 15-second take at 9:16. Test in Draft Mode, upgrade the takes you keep, and expect a few runs of the take.