git:20261021.e28e225 to git:20261025.11d01bf

---

name: dramatic-performance-direction

description: Build a replayable, provider- and modality-neutral Scene/Beat/Line performance direction from an approved dramatic scene; do not generate media or provider controls.

---

# Dramatic Performance Direction

Read [professional department architecture](../../docs/professional-departments.md).

## Role and authority

Performance direction: retain DPD psychological truth and author physical expression in a separate Performance Bible facet.

## Inputs and dependencies

Scene/Character/Dialogue, Director Performance Intent, Blocking and causal action constraints.

## Outputs

Performance Bible with DPD refs and the observable behavior needed by the current task; gesture, listening, breath or stillness are available choices, not a checklist.

## Forbidden authority

Do not rewrite character identity, speech, spatial paths or detailed force/contact mechanics. Voice execution belongs to voice-direction.

## Quality gates

Check actor and listener task, physical load, attention and continuity per beat. Choose outward scale from the situation; internal pressure and external control do not prescribe a gesture size or speed.

## Failure and escalation

Return path defects to Blocking, impossible mechanics to Action and source conflicts to Screenplay. No generation follows from performance design.

## Partners and groups are source-owned too (R3)

Read [full performance coverage and isolation](../../docs/full-performance-coverage.md). Every important listener needs its own sourced DPD task, obstacle and tactic, not a reaction label or a Director-invented psychology. Missing partner direction returns PARTNER_DPD_REQUIRED to this owner. Background listeners may use an existing BeatDPD group task; no Crowd Psychology. Candidate screenplay previews stay DESIGN_FIXTURE_ONLY, separately stored from formal DPD. Continuity summaries reference these DPDs without copying objective/subtext/knowledge/relationship truth.

Distinguish INTERACTIVE_PARTNER from NON_INTERACTIVE_DESTINATION in the approved

Performance projection scope. A destination is spatial presence only: no speech,

reciprocal action, authored response, listener task, objective, obstacle, tactic,

or dramatic exchange, with an explicit upstream prohibition on expanding its

behavior. It does not require an invented partner DPD. Only the Performance owner

may declare this scope against exact adopted Scene/Shot/Performance versions and

source evidence; a consumer cannot downgrade a missing listener. Keep that subject

in coverage as presence, and revalidate the declaration when any source changes.

New response/action/speech restores the interactive DPD requirement. Existing

interactive and full Book/AV gates continue to apply.

## One cross-modal performance truth (R2)

Read the [shared performance contract](../../docs/cross-modal-performance-direction.md) when projecting into body and voice. Scene/Beat/Line DPD and the composed snapshot remain the only owners of objective, obstacle, tactic, subtext, knowledge, relationship, internal activation, external control and interaction target. Preserve the source and composition fingerprints; an inconsistent snapshot requires DPD review.

The Director adds audience-facing performance scale and release, not another psychological layer. VisualPerformanceBrief and AudioPerformanceBrief reference the same DPD, Director intent, Beat and SpokenContent. Never translate HIGH internalActivation automatically into crying, shouting, shaking or whispering. Keep externalControl independent. Return an actual conflict in source psychology to this owner; execution mismatch alone belongs to visual/audio repair.

## Opt-in Director authority

DPD remains the canonical owner of objective, obstacle, tactic and subtext. Consume a Director request as pinned intent and constraints, not another psychological truth. Its Scene dramaticPurpose is a source-derived summary, not independently editable purpose. Return the original DPD snapshot/fingerprint, evidence and unmet requirements in CapabilityFeedback. Director may accept or return the proposal; conflicts with source dialogue require upstream review rather than a silent rewrite.

Build one compact `dpd-v1` direction for an approved Scene before modality-specific production. Read the [DPD Core contract](../../docs/dpd-core-contract.md) before composing it.

Load only the context needed to explain the current dramatic action. Start with `scene.get_scene`; use `episode.get_episode`, `script.get_script`, and `work.get_work` only for unresolved dramatic purpose, stable speaker identity, relationship, hierarchy, or historical/social constraint. Use `context.build_context` only when these direct reads cannot supply a required parent relation. Do not retrieve history independently or copy whole Character profiles into the direction.

Create three sparse layers in temporary Agent state:

- Scene DPD: dramatic purpose, active conflict, power structure, public/private context, and only material climate, urgency, information, or social constraints.

- Beat DPD: current actor, target, objective, obstacle, tactic, authority/relationship position, internal activation, external control, and transition trigger.

- Line DPD: the canonical `spokenContentId` and speaker, this line's dramatic action, observable intent, continuity/change, and only genuine Beat overrides.

In the typed handoff, scene-wide `socialConstraints` belongs directly to

`sceneDPD`; its nested `direction` carries the inheritable actor-direction values

and `performanceBoundaries`. Keep these existing layers distinct rather than

adding scene context keys to an actor-direction patch.

Compose `Scene → Beat → Line` with the typed Core. Missing and null fields inherit; v1 has no scalar-reset syntax. A supplied list replaces the parent list, and an empty list clears it. Line wins over Beat, Beat wins over Scene. Any mismatched Scene or Beat reference is invalid. Keep the resulting `DPDSnapshot` and fingerprint together so downstream work can replay the same decision without reinterpreting the whole script.

Use action and relationship language, not moral labels or a single emotion label. Realize the source-owned task through the existing Beat and Line: what does this person receive, seek, give or withhold from the actual or imagined addressee, and what relationship condition remains for the next beat? Connect continuation or change to an approved word, encounter or consequence; an anticipated response is not a response that has occurred. A tactic can serve one need while frustrating another. Locate the difficulty in doing or withholding something from this partner, not in displaying two emotions in sequence. When knowledge and objective seem opposed, compare an intentionally impossible desire with a misnamed task before returning a source conflict; do not silently replace either with concealment, victory or a setting activity.

At a consequential turn, read `changeFromPrevious` back from this Line's speaker:

what has this actor already received, and how does the present attempt continue

or change? Keep the partner's later answer or consequence with that partner's

own direction. A Beat transition may name its next release condition without

claiming it has happened. Distinguish a fact recalled in speech, an expectation

based on prior knowledge and a stimulus arriving now; each can affect acting,

but they do not give the pictured actor the same event to perform.

Realize that relation in the separate Performance Bible: the speaker's current

outward address, the listener's opportunity to receive or withhold, and what

continues into the next action. Select face, gaze, posture, activity or stillness

for this encounter. First read whether the already selected activity or stillness

carries the partner relation; a held instrument alone does not settle that question

and does not create an obligation to add a facial change. Neither a new expression

at every line nor a hidden emotion made visibly explicit is required. Where a

material receiving or attention relation remains omitted or ambiguous in the handoff, use the

[received-action and attention review](references/received-action-review.md)

to inspect the actual handoff, not just the completeness of the DPD.

Distinguish what a line does in the present exchange from what its words report about another time. A retrospective admission need not mean the remembered person admits it to a partner. Give the next owner the particular relation and unresolved cost, not merely "more pressure" or "greater restraint". To develop an expressive realization, compare how the partner's continuing task is affected by what is received, missed or left unfinished. A small reaction can become legible through that relation and its aftermath; its size, a pause or a breath does not name its meaning. The Performance owner can explore bodily realizations within approved action, then retain details that serve the task rather than illustrate a psychological caption. A forceful, comic or ordinary action can carry complexity too.

If rival readings produce the same realization, preserve their interpretive value without claiming distinct tactics. A montage, ritual or observational passage may sustain attention without a new turn in every beat; do not invent a response or movement to demonstrate development. Keep internal activation distinct from external control: high activation may remain highly controlled. `speakerKey` references identity; it does not duplicate age, rank, biography, personality, or Voice Profile.

Choose movement, stillness and timing from what the actor is doing with the

partner, object or thought. External control may appear as precise vigorous work,

a withheld response or a quiet hold. A pause need not contain a visible breath or

micro-action to be alive. Add secondary motion when it carries attention, load or

an observed physical response; use no universal lead body part or delay. Evaluate

the meaning at viewing speed before polishing small motion. Consult

[contextual movement methods](../action-choreography/references/movement-methods.md)

when reference or control limitations affect a bodily realization.

Locate each partner's receiving opportunity around a word or contact, including

sourced non-response. A held task needs meaning, not repeated business to fill

time. Body, Voice and Editorial share its trigger and release, not extra pauses.

Keep `physicalExpression` inside each Beat. If Action reuses that Beat, its

expression must hold in every selected unit; give stage-local changes and

concurrent partner expression to the current Action. Do not split a psychological

Beat just for a physical substep or put second-by-second timing in DPD. Whole-shot

SUBJECTS behavior remains context, not a second action track.

Do not add speech speed, pitch, loudness, pause milliseconds, articulation, voice identity, provider prompt, model settings, camera or framing to DPD. Reuse the existing DPD fields; the R2 nested playability witnesses add source/carrier evidence without a second psychological authority. The separately owned Performance Bible may author gaze, posture, gesture, breath behavior and physical-state expression; Blocking owns paths/positions and Action owns physical mechanics. Voice Direction consumes that common performance truth for vocal delivery. Do not generate Audio/Visual Media, persist a new business entity, or invent a DPD-specific Tool.

Finish when the three contracts validate, the effective direction is materially playable and distinct from character identity, and the canonical fingerprint is recorded. If essential objective, target, relationship, or historical/social constraint is unsupported or contradictory, report the missing input instead of filling it with stereotype or provider detail.

For a text-only candidate, pin the selected screenplay artifact revision and line locators instead of pretending it is an adopted Scene. Extract only its dramatic action; do not copy or rewrite its speech. Keep the same Scene/Beat/Line ownership and clearly local identities. An unapproved visual design does not block this offline interpretation or authorize production. See [whole-scene craft proof](../cinematic-screenplay-incubation/references/scene-craft-proof.md).

An explicit [visual route](../../docs/visual-route-contract.md) belongs to the downstream visual projection. Preserve this modality-neutral DPD and its fingerprint; the Performance Bible supplies physical realization while cinematic-direction projects its reviewed references without re-authoring it.

## Range and formal source safeguards

Author internalActivation and externalControl per actor and Beat; never assign a film-wide HIGH/HIGH default. Anti-overacting does not mean low physical energy. Director envelopes can permit high physical release while voice projection remains limited to the actual listeners. Distinguish forbidden emotional collapse from a scripted physical loss of support after its source action; source-exact physical consequences are scoped in Director intent and checked by validate_action_performance. Never use a global “no collapse” to contradict Script.

For formal review, SceneDPD must bind the current canonical Scene fingerprint, with real parent/Beat/SpokenContent and speaker bindings. Proposal previews cannot be relabeled formal; compose DPD anew after promotion. See [formal completion](../../docs/formal-book-completion.md).

## Observed adaptive direction

For evidence-based performance correction, useful unplanned results or adaptive

repair decisions, follow [adaptive director review](../../docs/adaptive-director-review.md).

Reuse FilmReview and Director feedback; separate intended authority, observable

facts and judgment. Resolve the production lineage before live review, preserve

UNSPECIFIED and good material, and pass only a minimal source-bound execution delta

to the existing owner. A dry-run never authorizes production or media adoption.

## Character Embodiment ownership

Use embodiment for stable physical tendencies and pressure/social transformations; author only scene/beat realization. Do not replace packaged character meaning with new psychology.

Read [Embodiment contract](../../docs/character-embodiment.md). Use the unified read-only `characters.embodiment.embodiment_handoff` with exact ref/version/checksum and route. Never create or overwrite embodiment in downstream execution. Comparisons are reasoning-only; they do not enter the generation prompt.

## Actor-playable screenplay handoff (Screenplay R2)

Read [screenplay playability and exact dialogue](../../docs/screenplay-playability.md). Consume the source-authored playable task and its line intent. Bind BeatDPD/LineDPD playability witnesses and exact dialogue hashes; do not infer a new objective from abstract emotion. Keep actor and listener tasks distinct.

For execution, LineDPD is a source for the existing physical and sound owners,

not a second Prompt track. Realize necessary current listening, waiting and release

in Beat physicalExpression when shared, Action when changing, or exact Sound

audio_events performance/attention/continuity when heard. Keep psychological

explanation, future reactions and a narrator's remembered action internal; do not

make the pictured actor enact them. Verify the chosen consequence in the final

request, rather than treating a complete DPD as proof of delivery.

## Preserve stage attribution through compilation

For changing expression or attention, keep the actor, received stimulus, current

spoken ID or action stage, partner and release condition together through the

existing Performance/Action/Sound handoff. A list flattened by field name must

not make a later answer precede the question. Put stage-local visible changes in

the current Action or speech event; keep only truly shared expression in reused

Beat fields. Inspect final execution text against the actual ordered exchange.

Do not invent a fixed emotion-to-face template, extra gestures or pauses to fill

each stage; retain meaningful listening and stillness where already sufficient.