Pipeline
Stage 07 / 12
Back to world Stage 07 · Visual Locations + cast + format locked

How it photographs.

Lens · film stock · lighting recipe per location · color grade. Lock these and every shot in the storyboard inherits them. This is where the show stops being words.

Style
Gritty Handheld
Cinematic realism
Format
9:16 · 60fps
5 × 2m · 1080p
Locations
6 places
3 int · 3 ext · monsoon
Now configuring
Visual
Lens · film · light · grade
Step 01 · Cinematography pillars

The four rules of the camera.

PILLAR 01 · CAMERA

Canon EOS 5D Mk IV

Full-frame sensor · natural color science · documentary-editorial fingerprint.

LENS KIT
28mm f/2.8 35mm f/2 50mm f/1.8 85mm f/1.8
Always wide open · 35mm = workhorse · eye-level default.
PILLAR 02 · FILM

4 stocks · varied

No two consecutive scenes share a film. Color identity rotates with weather and mood.

Portra 400
Portra 800
Superia 400
Tri-X 400
PILLAR 03 · FRAMING

9:16 vertical

Subject occupies the lower-third. Vertical negative space above carries weather and dread.

LOWER-THIRD
Subject anchor
PILLAR 04 · OPERATION

Handheld · shoulder

Documentary breath · no tripods · 70% operator-shake · static only when grief lands.

Handheld Locked-off Gimbal Slider
Step 02 · Lighting recipes per location

One recipe per room. None of them match.

6 / 10 used
LOC
PLACE
RECIPE
DESCRIPTION
STATUS
Vikram's apartment
INT · NIGHT
LR4
Single-Bulb Interior Noir
Hard warm tungsten pool · half-frame shadow · minimal fill.
Locked
Howrah Bridge
EXT · DAWN
LR3
Dawn / Ghat Pearl Light
Low-angle sun through river mist · pearl atmosphere · cool-warm balance.
Pending
Asha-di's chai stall
EXT · MORNING
LR5
Backlit Steam / Smoke Haze
Backlight through chai steam · particles glow · translucent layered atmosphere.
Pending
Choudhry's verandah
SEMI-EXT · LATE PM
LR9
Sidelit Golden-Hour Profile
Warm rake from the side · edge-light on hair and fabric · cool opposite shadow.
Pending
Riya's chambers
INT · LATE PM
LR6
Geometric Slit-Light Bars
Hard sunbeams through slatted shutters · architectural bars across face and papers.
Pending
Thana courtyard
EXT · NOON
LR1
Harsh Noon Chiaroscuro
Top-down midday sun · deep hard blacks · burned highlights · sculptural skin and fabric.
Pending
UNUSED · LR2 Monsoon Softbox LR7 Dusk Urban LR8 Hazy Midday Dust LR10 Blue-Hour Neon — available for added scenes
Step 03 · Color grade · No grading is the grading
Film simulation: ON
GRADE RULES
Saturation −30%
Contrast +12%
Highlight tint warm + 8
Shadow tint cool − 12
Black level lifted +6
PRINCIPLES
  • No grading is the grading — emulate, don't decorate
  • Lifted blacks · gentle highlight roll-off
  • Vary per scene · no global LUT applied to all
  • Film grain visible · do not denoise
FILM EMULATION
Portra 400 Portra 800 Superia 400 Tri-X 400 (B&W)
3 active · Tri-X reserved for memory inserts only.
Step 04 · Per-scene visual brief

EP04 climax · the bridge

LOCATION
Howrah Bridge
EXT · DAWN
Howrah Bridge
VISUAL BRIEF
Lens 35mm f/2 wide open
Film Fuji Superia 400
Lighting recipe LR3 · Pearl light
Operation Locked-off · static
Exposure Properly exposed
Black level Lifted blacks
DIRECTOR'S NOTES

The climax doesn't move. Camera is locked to the centerline of the bridge planks. Mira appears in the deep frame, soft-focus, barely there. Vikram is foreground silhouette, sharp.

Color must read cooler than it is. Suppress amber. Pearl on the planks. The single warm pocket of the distant sodium lamp is the only heat in the frame.

PALETTE PULLED
3 anchors active · terracotta suppressed
Visual snapshot
Lighting recipes
6 assigned
1 locked · 5 pending
Film stocks
3 active
Tri-X reserved
Grade direction
−30% sat
Lifted · gentle roll-off
Camera op
Handheld
Locked-off climaxes
Visual stack budget
6 recipes · film emulation · grade pass · per-scene briefs
28 credits
~ $2.80 · drafted
Back to World Lock visual · go to Stage 08 — Storyboard
Visual locks the look of every frame downstream
Storyboard inherits lens, light, and palette per scene. Render carries these settings into every generation. Edit grades against this stack.
4 stages downstream