Visual Story 3 Cast World

---
name: visual-story-3-cast-world
description: STEP 3 of 8 in the sequential visual-story pipeline. Cast & world development — the planning pass done BEFORE generating any reference sheet. Go character by character (people AND animals) and define each one's goal/tasks and arc, costume option(s), which locations they appear in, and which supplied references fit them; then enumerate every location and every recurring prop the story needs. The number of characters is driven by how many real references exist. Output is a written cast/world bible that the reference-generation step follows. Run AFTER visual-story-2-script. Next step: visual-story-4-references.
---

# Visual story — Step 3: Cast & world development

The planning/analysis layer between the finished script and generating any images. **Nothing is
generated here** — this is where you decide, per character and per location/prop, what will later be
built. Skipping it is why casts drift into "a new look with no reason to exist" and why locations get
invented differently each scene. Produce a written **cast & world bible**; step 4 (`references`)
generates sheets from it.

## Where the cast list comes from

The number of characters is **driven by how many real references exist** — the supplied
`01_References/Characters/` folders (each real face photo / persona folder) is the cast. Don't invent
more people than there are references, and don't leave a supplied reference unused: every reference
folder becomes a character with a defined role. **Characters can be animals, not only people** — a
dog, a goat, a cat gets the same treatment (goal, behavior, which scenes, reference).

## Per-character pass (do every character, one at a time)

For each character (person or animal), work out and write down:

1. **Role tier** — main / secondary / other. (Leads carry the arc; secondaries have a clear function;
   others are defined but lighter.)
2. **Goal / tasks** — what they want and what they concretely DO in the story. Every character needs a
   reason to be on screen. For an animal: its behavior and what it drives (the goat Areg milks, the
   dog that waits).
3. **Arc** (leads and key secondaries) — how they change from first to last appearance. Others may
   have no arc, just a consistent function — that's fine, state it.
4. **Costume option(s)** — discuss and choose the look, tied to the persona. If the story needs two
   looks (a work uniform + a "true self"), define both and WHERE each appears. Costume is chosen to
   serve the character's function, never bolted on decoratively.
5. **Locations they appear in** — list the scenes/locations for this character, so the
   location/costume/prop needs are traceable.
6. **Fitting references** — go through the supplied reference material and note which images/persona
   references fit this character (real face photo is mandatory ground truth; persona/mood images
   guide the look). Flag if a character has no usable reference yet (blocked until one is supplied).

Rule carried from the whole pipeline: **reassigning or reworking a character's persona means reworking
their narrative function too, in the same pass** — a new look without a new reason is not a finished
character.

## World pass — locations and props

After the cast, enumerate the world:

- **Locations** — every distinct place the script visits. For each: a short description
  (architecture, palette, light, era) and which characters/scenes use it. These become location
  sheets in step 4.
- **Props** — every recurring object that appears in more than one scene or is set up to reappear (a
  telephone, a cord, an invention, a vehicle, an animal's collar). For each: what it is and which
  scenes it recurs in. These become prop sheets in step 4.
- When it's unclear whether a background detail will recur, **ask the user** which details are worth
  locking down rather than guessing.

## Output — the cast & world bible (written)

A single document with three sections:
1. **CAST** — one entry per character (role tier / goal-tasks / arc / costume(s) / locations /
   fitting references), people and animals.
2. **LOCATIONS** — one entry per place (description / which scenes).
3. **PROPS** — one entry per recurring object (description / which scenes).

Plus the seed of the **NOTES FOR ART DEPARTMENT** (Tone / Time / Palette / Texture / Theme) — the
global art direction the whole bible obeys, later pasted into the Production Design Guide and the
STYLE LOCK block.

## When done

Every reference folder has a defined character (goal, arc, costume, locations, fitting refs); every
location and prop is enumerated; the art-direction notes exist. **Next: `visual-story-4-references` —
generate the Production Design Guide sheets from this bible.**