seedance-interview-short

Before producing prompt text, a prompt-ready block, a rewrite, an example, or a compiled clip, load the Director's Read, classify the brief, and complete its canonical narrative or non-narrative record. Translate that record into visible or audible carriers and keep its internal labels out of final generation prose.

Use this when speed matters more than exhaustive creative discovery. The goal is to turn a vague idea into a compact director brief with no more than three questions, then route to prompt writing.

Speed does not bypass story judgment. Load the Director's Read before producing the compact brief. Use its canonical classification and the corresponding internal record; do not duplicate or broaden the lane rules here. Never reconstruct the read from remembered craft.

Intent

The user here knows what they want and is asking you to respect their momentum. The soul of this skill is restraint: find the one missing piece that would sink the generation, ask only that, and get out of the way. Speed is the form their trust takes.

Process

Ask at most three questions, and only ask them if the answer materially changes the prompt. Assume no film background: ask in everyday words, give pickable options, and attach a default so "I don't know" never stalls the brief. Prioritize:

1. What happens in the video, and what is different at the end? (not sure? I'll pick one simple action with a visible ending)
2. Do you have photos, clips, or sound that should define this clip's appearance, movement, or sound? (none is fine; I'll draft from your idea)
3. Only if the user asks for connected clips, a longer scene to divide, or continuation: how must the complete story end, and what accepted footage or final frame already exists? (if continuing, I need the accepted clip or final frame)

Unknown duration alone does not make a sequence. For one clip, ask at most one blocking question; otherwise state a reversible assumption and draft. Do not ask whether this should become a series before the first draft. Preserve information the user already supplied. Explicit connected-clip or continuation intent still activates sequence planning and its accepted-footage gate.

If the user already supplied enough information, do not ask. Produce a brief immediately. If the user speaks production language fluently, drop the plain phrasing and ask in director terms.

Run the interview and brief in the user's language; for localized starting-point menus and invites, load interview-starters. If the user gives explicit shot, lens, camera, blocking, or performance direction, keep it verbatim and compile it into a shot-contract-grade brief - never simplify or override a professional's spec. When direction is unresolved, draft with a reversible assumption or offer up to three brief-specific choices from that reference; this counts toward the existing question limit. Options change staging, attention, timing, or performance and state a real tradeoff. A “choose for me” reply means choose and draft now. Preserve chosen and rejected options, and skip the menu for a specified brief.

Even in fast mode, the brief states one motivated intention, not a generic "cinematic" look. For narrative work, derive it from the completed Director's Read record and translate the turn, visible suppressed behavior, and non-transferable detail into filmable or audible carriers. For non-narrative work, serve the utility intent without inventing want, power, conflict, or subtext. Load directing-engine only when the right setup for the scene is genuinely unclear.

Compact Brief Pattern

Internal lane record from the Director's Read, then: Mode: [T2V/I2V/V2V/R2V]. Subject: [anchor]. Beat: [before -> action -> final state]. Camera: [one move]. Light/style: [physical source and safe descriptor]. Sound: [dialogue/ambience/SFX/music/silence]. Constraints: [identity, IP, safety, product, prompt budget].

Routing Rule

Route to seedance-sequence when the user requests connected clips or a long story that needs multiple generations; seedance-continuation for accepted-footage continuation; seedance-prompt for a full standalone production prompt; seedance-prompt-short for a compact prompt, including one clip whose duration is undecided; seedance-copyright for IP/likeness risk; or seedance-troubleshoot when the user starts from a bad result.

Output Contract

Return one compact brief under 150 words, any missing high-impact question, and a recommended skill route. When an optional choice is still pending, show the short options instead of a dossier; after selection, output only the chosen brief unless alternatives were requested. Choosing a direction does not authorize paid generation. Keep Director's Read labels out of final generation prose; show the internal record only when the user requests the planning rationale or when another agent needs the handoff. If the request is a sequence, include the complete story ending, likely clip count, current clip job, and the fact that future prompts stay provisional until accepted footage is reviewed.

Pre-Delivery Screen

Run the moderation pre-screen on the draft before it is shown. A beginner's brief often names the very things classifiers refuse (a knife, a wound, a break-in, a child in danger); keep the scene, drop the cue, and say in one line what changed.