> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.rewatch.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Describe your idea

> How to write a video idea that the AI screenwriter turns into a good story.

In “Create a video”, the “Story” tool offers two ways to start: “Describe your idea” and “Paste your script”. This page covers the first one: you give the idea, the AI writes the story, the lines and the shots.

The “Your idea” field accepts long text (up to 20,000 characters), but **three to six sentences are enough** in most cases. What matters is what they contain.

## The form that works

```text theme={null}
[Who] [does or discovers what], [where].
[What is wrong, or what they risk].
[The twist or the escalation, if you have one].
[How it ends, or the question left for the viewer].
Tone: [funny, unsettling, moving...]. Audience: [who should watch].
```

Each line feeds a precise step:

| Part | What it gives the AI |
| - | - |
| Who, what, where | The characters to draw and the setting for the whole video |
| What is wrong | The stakes of the hook, the ones that hold people in the first 3 seconds |
| The twist | The mid video hook, which avoids dead time |
| The ending | The payoff, and the reason to comment |
| Tone and audience | The register of the lines, the voice and the music |

## Before / after

> [tab] Weak
>
> ```text theme={null}
> A horror story in a haunted house, with a dark and scary mood, cinematic style.
> ```
>
> No character, no stakes, no ending. The screenwriter will fill the gaps with the most ordinary choices. “Cinematic style” is an image instruction, it has no place here.

> [tab] Strong
>
> ```text theme={null}
> A babysitter gets a text from the mother: “The kids are already asleep, don't come up.”
> But she hears both children laughing upstairs.
> She goes up anyway. The bedrooms are empty, the beds made.
> Her phone buzzes: “I told you not to come up.”
> Tone: slow tension, few words. Audience: teens who love horror.
> ```
>
> A character, a place, a rule set then broken, an escalation, an ending that leaves a question. Each sentence can become a shot.

## The “A theme” field and the “Random” button

If you don't have an idea yet, the “A theme” field takes a single sentence (300 characters at most), for example “the village that loses a memory every night”. The AI then invents the whole story around it. The “Random” button suggests one for you.

It is handy for exploring, but you control the result less: as soon as you know what you want to tell, switch to “Describe your idea”.

## What you can add to the idea

* **Lines of dialogue.** If you write at least four in the `Name: line` format, they are performed word for word. See [Paste your script](https://docs.rewatch.studio/video/script.md).
* **On-screen text.** Markers like `[CARD]` or `[COUNTER]` also work in an idea written in prose. See [On-screen overlays](https://docs.rewatch.studio/video/overlays.md).
* **A length.** If your idea mentions a length different from the one set, the app flags it (“Your idea asks for…”) and offers to apply it.
* **A staging constraint.** “Locked shot on the door for the whole scene”, “we never see the father's face”: the shot breakdown takes it into account.

## Common mistakes

> [accordion] Writing image keywords instead of a story
>
> “8K, ultra realistic, golden light” is useless in the idea. The look is set in “Style” and “Refine the style (optional)”. See [References and style](https://docs.rewatch.studio/video/references.md).

> [accordion] Telling three stories at once
>
> A 30 to 60 second video holds a single idea. Cut, or turn it into a [series](https://docs.rewatch.studio/series/create.md).

> [accordion] Starting with the context
>
> “In 1987, in a small village…” pushes the stakes back. Start with what is wrong: the date can come later.

> [accordion] Describing the characters in the idea and in the Characters field
>
> If you fill in “Characters” in the references, don't repeat their appearance in the idea: two descriptions that diverge give a face that changes.

> [accordion] Asking for exact on-screen text in prose
>
> “With ATTENTION written in big letters” is likely to be drawn by the image model, with typos. Use `[CARD] ATTENTION`.

## Settings that go with it

* **Video length**: the story is written for this length. Start short to test.
* **Language**: the language of the voice, the lines and the subtitles.
* **Tone**: replaces or refines the tone written in the idea.
* **Voice, music, subtitles**: in “Settings”.
* **Series**: attach the video to a series to reuse its characters and its style. See [Episodes](https://docs.rewatch.studio/series/episodes.md).

> [!NOTE]
>
> After the writing, you review the story shot by shot before the images are paid for. It is the best moment to fix things. See [Revising the story](https://docs.rewatch.studio/video/revise.md).


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