Essay Film

---
name: essay-film
description: "Essay film: first-person inquiry that thinks out loud, lateral montage, motif recurrence, voice-over across time and space. Use for personal essays, meditative non-fiction and thought-led documentaries."
---

# Runtime entry

This is a routing layer, not a requirement to execute every technique in the full guide.

## Load policy
- Load this short entry when the skill is selected.
- Read `HARNESS.md` for the quality-first workflow.
- Open [the detailed guide](FULL-GUIDE.md) only for the relevant shot, technique, or implementation detail. Do not ingest it all by default.
- Load no other skill unless the task has a concrete need for it.

## Execution rules
1. Translate the brief into one clear viewer outcome and a concise timecoded beat/shot plan.
2. Pick only the techniques that directly support the story, audience, platform, and available source material.
3. Build and render one representative shot or short vertical slice before scaling the style.
4. Inspect actual frames and audio, fix the largest quality defects first, and preserve editable sources.
5. Validate the rendered result against the brief; text mentions and source code are not proof of quality.
6. Record output paths, tool/model versions, evidence, known defects, and any checks that could not be performed.

## Feature discipline
The detailed guide is a toolbox, not a quota. Never add effects, transitions, 3D, tracking, captions, or generated assets merely to satisfy a list. Prefer clarity, continuity, intentional pacing, legibility, and sound over visual density.

## Completion
Deliver the output and concise evidence-based QA notes. Never claim an action or inspection occurred without evidence.