Manuscript cinematic scene audit

Manuscript Cinematic Scene Audit

You read each scene the way a film director reads a screenplay before shooting: visualizing it on a large screen in real time, tracking every person, every movement, every piece of environment, and every emotional beat a camera would need to capture.

If something would confuse a director on set — "wait, where is she standing when this happens?", "we never established they were outside", "the third character is still in this room and no one is acknowledging her" — that is a defect.

The target standard: a reader should be able to close their eyes after any paragraph and draw a rough diagram of the scene — who is there, where they are, what the space looks like, and what everyone is feeling.

STEP 0 — Resolve the project profile

From the current working directory, walk up for .manuscript/profile.md.

• Found → read it. Drivers for this pass: the POV character(s), the cast and any special spatial/mobility or sensory traits to track (set in the bible / canon_source / load_bearing / Notes), and any animal or non-human characters that occupy space.
• Not found → if the manuscript-profile-setup skill is installed (it ships with the Manuscript Editorial Suite), invoke it to create a profile, then continue. If it isn't installed (this skill can run standalone), don't block: ask the author for the few values this pass needs — the POV character(s), the cast, and any characters with special spatial/mobility/sensory or non-human traits — or audit from what's on the page and note the cast/traits were unset.

Load the cast and their physical traits, mobility patterns, and established dynamics from the profile's canon source if one exists — some characters have spatial needs (a wheelchair, a cane, low vision, a guide animal, a child carried) or are non-human (a working dog, a horse) and must be tracked physically every scene they're in, not treated as stationary props.

STEP 1 — Scope declaration

State what you're auditing: scene / chapter / span of chapters. For a full manuscript or many chapters, sample at minimum:

• An opening or establishing scene
• A scene with 3+ characters
• A high-tension / confrontation scene
• A quiet character moment

State which scenes you sampled. For a chapter-level or full request, work chapter by chapter.

STEP 2 — The Cinematic Audit (required output per scene)

## CINEMATIC AUDIT — [Scene / Chapter]
*Location: [where are we] | Characters present: [who is in this scene]*

### SCENE POPULATION
Who is physically present? List every named and unnamed character who should be in
the space. Flag anyone who:
- Was in the previous scene and vanished without exit
- Should logically be present but is never acknowledged
- Appears suddenly without having entered
- Is forgotten for long stretches while others interact

### BLOCKING & MOVEMENT TRACKING
Walk the scene chronologically; flag every place where:
- A character moves without that movement being accounted for (teleports)
- We lose track of where someone is standing / sitting / positioned
- Physical actions are inconsistent (she was sitting, now she crosses the room —
  was she ever established as standing?)
- Two characters do things that can't both happen (both reach for the same object
  from opposite sides of the room)
- A character with a tracked spatial/mobility/sensory trait navigates implausibly
  or that navigation goes untracked
- An animal or non-human character's position, attention, or behavior is dropped

### ENVIRONMENT & ATMOSPHERE ON SCREEN
What would a camera see? Flag any place where:
- The space has no visual, sonic, or atmospheric establishment (a floating void)
- We're in a named setting but it isn't present — architecture, light, weather,
  time of day, sound, season
- A location changes character mid-scene without explanation (noisy, then intimate —
  what happened?)
- Props or furniture are used without being established (a letter picked up that
  was never placed on the desk)

### EMOTIONAL REGISTER — WHAT THE CAMERA CATCHES
Would a skilled actor playing each character know what they're feeling here? Flag:
- A character reacting to significant news/confrontation/revelation with no visible
  response
- Emotions named in narration but not shown in body, face, or behavior
- A secondary character present for an emotionally charged moment with no reaction
  (they are furniture)
- Physical response inconsistent with the moment (calm body when panic would read)

### INTERNAL DEBATE — THE VOICEOVER TEST
For the POV character, flag any beat where:
- A significant decision is made with no visible internal deliberation
- They observe something suspicious and don't process it internally
- They're in conflict (want two things; don't want what they're about to do) and
  that conflict is absent from the narration
- A chance to show reasoning, doubt, or self-contradiction is missed
- The reader is ahead of the POV character, who seems not to process what the
  reader can see

### WHAT PLAYS PERFECTLY
1–3 specific moments that would land fully on screen — name them so they're protected.

### DEFECT SUMMARY
| Defect | Location (quote or beat) | Severity: STOP / FIX / NOTE |
|--------|--------------------------|------------------------------|
| [blocking gap] | "[quote]" | STOP / FIX / NOTE |
| [missing character] | [beat] | STOP / FIX / NOTE |
| [environment void] | [beat] | STOP / FIX / NOTE |
| [emotional absence] | "[quote]" | STOP / FIX / NOTE |
| [internal debate missing] | [beat] | STOP / FIX / NOTE |

STOP = breaks the scene; must fix before submission
FIX  = weakens the scene; should fix before submission
NOTE = worth revisiting; optional improvement

STEP 3 — Chapter / Pass Summary

# CINEMATIC AUDIT — PASS SUMMARY

## CRITICAL DEFECTS (STOP-level — fix before submission)
All STOP defects across the pass with chapter reference.

## RECURRING PATTERNS
Defect types appearing in 2+ scenes — habits, not isolated misses. Name the pattern
and the chapters where it appears.

## STRONGEST CINEMATIC MOMENTS
2–4 scenes or beats that play at full movie quality. Name them by chapter.

## TOP PRIORITIES
The 3 most impactful fixes across the whole pass, ordered by story impact.

Severity definitions

• STOP — a reader (or viewer) would stop and be confused: continuity break, impossible blocking, a forgotten character, a scene with no established location, an emotional absence during a major revelation.
• FIX — followable, but plays less vividly than it should: a tracked character's movement undertracked, a generic setting, a flat secondary presence in a charged moment.
• NOTE — the scene works; an opportunity to deepen, not a flaw.

What this skill does NOT do

• Not line-level craft, filter words, or immersion quality → manuscript-prose-immersion-audit.
• Not canon/consistency defects → manuscript-continuity-audit.
• Not mystery logic / clue fairness → manuscript-fair-play-audit.
• Not marketability / acquisitions → manuscript-publisher-critique.
• Not rewriting prose → the author's writing/voice skill.

Its sole job: does this scene play on a big screen?

Tracking notes (pull specifics from the profile)

• Characters with spatial/mobility/sensory traits. For each scene they're in, track where they're positioned, how they navigate the space, what they can and can't perceive, and whether any assistive person/animal is guiding or at rest. They are not stationary; their movement must be physically accounted for.
• Animal / non-human characters. A working animal in a scene is not a prop. Track its physical position, its behavioral reactions to strangers, tension, and environment, and when it's active vs. settled. It shouldn't vanish for long stretches.
• Ensemble scenes. When 3+ characters share a space, every character not explicitly written out should get some acknowledgment — a glance, a posture shift, a background reaction — or a clear note that they've stepped away.