Director Modes

What a mode is

A Director Mode is a complete visual grammar: per-beat camera movement, lens, angle, framing, lighting, blocking, and audio intent for the hook, each development beat, and the payoff. Modes are configuration, not code, so they are reviewable and extendable without a release.

The fourteen modes

Tentpole, Run and Gun, Architectural Precision, Atmospheric Tension, Character Intimacy, Mythic Heroic, Documentary Truth, Psychological Distortion, Comedy Timing, Action Choreography, Dream Surreal, Thriller Investigation, Musical Rhythm, and Minimalist Art House.

Auto selection

When you leave the mode on auto, Cadenza scores your brief against each mode's genre, emotion, and audience signals, picks a primary grammar, and pairs it with a secondary mode whose emotional register tints only the payoff. The choice is deterministic and comes with a human-readable reason. Your explicit choice always wins.

{ "raw_intent": "high energy sneaker ad", "director_mode": "auto" }

Guarantee

For the same brief, different modes produce measurably different encoded prompts on every model. That distinctness is asserted by tests, so modes are real grammars, not labels.