Visual Story 5 Exposition

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name: visual-story-5-exposition
description: STEP 5 of 8 in the sequential visual-story pipeline. Exposition / establishing shots. For each location, generate the wide establishing shot that opens its scenes and sets up the world (space, scale, palette, light, era) — the shot that "exposes" the location before any character coverage. Each establishing shot doubles as that location's master reference for the scene, attached to every subsequent shot there. Built from the locked location sheets, obeys the STYLE LOCK block. Run AFTER visual-story-4-references (design guide locked). Next step: visual-story-6-production.
---

# Visual story — Step 5: Exposition / establishing shots

Before covering a scene with character shots, every location needs its **establishing (exposition)
shot** — the wide frame that shows the space, its scale, palette, light, and era, and orients the
viewer. This is the shot that opens a scene and "exposes" the world. It's a distinct deliverable
between the reference bible and scene production: the reference sheets define what a location IS; the
establishing shot is the first real in-story frame of it, and it becomes that scene's **master**.

## Before you start: the room map
For every interior, run `location-room-map` first. One photo shows one wall; the establishing shot
and all later reverse shots need the whole room (4 walls, a door, windows on ≤2 adjacent walls, one
of each object). Generate the missing walls as references and use the right wall per camera
direction.

## What to produce

For each location the script visits, one (or a few) **wide establishing shot(s)**:
- Wide / extreme-wide framing that reveals the whole space and its composition (symmetry, depth,
  color-blocking — whatever the project's style dictates).
- Built from the location's approved **location sheet** (attach it) so the architecture matches, and
  obeying the **STYLE LOCK block** so palette/light/grain match the rest of the film.
- Include the atmosphere the location carries (haze, weather, time of day) — this is what every
  character entering the scene must then match (continuity/weather propagation, handled in step 6).
- Usually empty or near-empty of the main characters (it establishes the place, not the action) —
  though a small distant figure for scale is fine if the style uses it.

## Why it's its own step

- **It's the location master.** The approved establishing shot is attached as a reference to every
  subsequent shot in that scene, so the room/street never gets reinvented across coverage.
- **It sets the exposition rhythm.** Scenes generally open on the establishing wide, then cut in —
  having these first makes production (step 6) a matter of cutting in, not re-establishing.
- **It locks atmosphere.** Weather, light, time of day are decided here and propagate to every
  character shot in the scene.

## Order

1. For each location, take its locked location sheet + the STYLE LOCK block.
2. Generate the wide establishing shot; QC it against the sheet (same architecture) and the style
   (same palette/light/grain).
3. Approve it — it's now the scene's master. Save it into that scene's working folder AND note it as
   the location's establishing/master frame.

## When done

Every location has an approved establishing shot / master frame. **Next: `visual-story-6-production` —
cover each scene by cutting in from these establishing shots, attaching them as masters.**