short-film-forgelisted

# Short Film Forge A lean production system for AI video. Target: **≤250 generations per finished minute** (Hell Grind ran ~1,210/min at 1.0–1.5% acceptance; a short can afford tighter gates than a 14-day feature deadline allowed). **The one law:** every credit burned on a shot whose assets, space, and contract weren't locked first is a credit spent sampling noise. Front-load all uncertainty — identity, voice, behavior, space, style — so generation is execution, not exploration. ## Route first **Before anything else, read `references/quality-bands.md`** and classify the idea: Band 1 (passes as real — atmosphere, restrained single-character performance, narrated pieces, horror), Band 2 (high-end AI work — micro-films, cut-around dialogue, montage, implied action), or Band 3 (breaks at any budget — fast combat, interacting crowds, precise hand work, sustained lip-sync; must be re-designed into Band 1/2 coverage). Subject choice decides quality before prompt craft does. Then route by length: | Job | Read | Skip | |---|---|---| | One clip, a social post, or anything under ~2 min | `references/short-form.md`, then `prompt-spine.md` + `shot-craft.md` | the gates below except KEYFRAME | | Character drifts between shots or posts | `references/asset-lockdown.md` — this is an asset problem, never a prompt-wording one | — | | 2–20 minute film | the seven gates below | — | | 20+ min / feature-scale | the seven gates, with Pass 1/Pass 2 held strictly at 60/40 of calendar (the source