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The Offer — Scene 1 Generation Sheet

PARKED — do not generate from this yet. Written against the outline; the

screenplay (`the-offer.fountain`) has since changed. Regenerate this sheet

from the final script before use.

Companion to `luthers-dilemma.md` (Scene 1 — Mystery in the Wittenberg print

shop). One entry = one AI video generation. Paste the BOILERPLATE block into

every prompt, then add the clip's own text. **Rule for every generated clip:

no legible writing anywhere in frame** — proof sheets, contracts, and posters

all read as texture only. The title card is made in the edit, not generated.


BOILERPLATE (paste into every prompt)

Live-action cinematic footage, Germany 1539. Warm interior daylight through small leaded windows, muted earthy colors, shallow depth of field, lively workshop realism.


Clips (in cut order)

(The title card — WITTENBERG, 1539 — goes over S1-01 in the edit.)

S1-01 — Cold open (wide, ~6s)

The shop at full tilt: presses working in rhythm, apprentices hurrying with stacks of sheets, two workers laughing at a joke mid-task. Cheerful, thriving, noisy. Camera: slow dolly through the room.

S1-02 — Good times (medium, ~5s)

A printer claps an apprentice on the shoulder; grins across the type cases; someone whistles while he works. Business has never been better. Camera: handheld feel, warm.

S1-03 — The door (medium-wide, ~5s)

The shop door bangs open. A printer strides in, a proof sheet in his fist, faces turning toward him. The energy holds for a half-beat — curious, still smiling. Camera: static on the door.

S1-04 — The news (medium, ~5s)

Seen from behind and beside him: he slams the proof sheet onto the long table. The nearest faces are quiet, expectant, half-smiling — waiting to hear what he has to say. Camera: over his shoulder so his mouth stays off-camera.

S1-05 — The mood breaks (reactions, ~5s)

A chain of faces as the smiles fade; a press is allowed to wind down; an apprentice lowers his stack of paper. The cheerfulness drains out of the room. Camera: slow pans across faces.

S1-06 — What's at stake (faces + idle press, ~6s)

Printers gathered near the stilled press, grim; one glances around the shop as if seeing it for the first time. Camera: medium group shot, slow push.

S1-07 — Later: the decision (wide → medium, ~6s)

Time has passed: the shop dim, presses silent, the masters seated around the long oak table, a candle or two lit. The head printer at the head of the table, resolved. Camera: slow push from wide to the head printer.

S1-08 — The plan (two masters, ~5s)

A younger master leans in, skeptical; the head printer answers without looking up from the blank contract before him. Camera: alternating over-shoulder angles work as one clip if the tool allows, else favor the listener.

S1-09 — He writes (close-up hands, ~5s)

The head printer's hand writes on the contract with a quill — but the page is angled away from camera; we see only the quill moving and his set face beyond it. Camera: low close-up past the paper's edge.

S1-10 — He shows the room (medium, ~6s)

He turns the paper around and holds it up facing the seated masters — the back of the sheet to camera. Reactions along the table: eyebrows shooting up, a low whistle, two masters exchanging an are-we-really-doing-this look. Camera: from behind the paper, shallow focus on the faces.

S1-11 — "This is what it'll take" (insert + medium, ~4s)

He folds the paper deliberately and places it in the center of the table. Everyone stares at it. Camera: top-down insert of the fold, or medium down the table length.


Continuity checklist (check every generation)