Paper Theater

Motion-graphics style sheet · Abode of SunMoon · sheet MG-PAPER-THEATER · episode money-teraph (Baphomet Part 2)

◆ MATERIALS LOCKED — ref v2 (unchanged) ★ v3 · MODE GRAMMAR — upgraded 2026-07-22

What changed in v3

The paper world itself did not change — same stage, same materials, same locked reference. What changed is how clips are written. Paper Theater now runs the proven TYPECAST-derived 4-block grammar: every clip picks one of three style modes, so the paper world finally has dynamic range — data beats breathe, reveals hit.

STYLE BLOCK
mode A / B / C, verbatim→ SHOT
BG → MG → FG → Camera → Settle on…→ AUDIO
2–3 sounds, design only→ AVOID
verbatim, per mode

Mode shifts are pacing. Deep → Flat reads as a breath. Flat → Deep reads as a lift. The mode is chosen per beat on the storyboard, not per taste at render time.

The locked reference — the material truth

This exact image rides on every clip as its style reference (ref2v). The three modes are text registers layered on top of it — they govern depth behavior, camera and staging, and must never contradict this sheet. It is never regenerated; a change would version to -ref_v3.

MODE A — Flat Parallax restrained · data beats

Recaps, word-derivations, brackets, quick diagrams. The camera observes.

STYLE: Handcrafted paper-and-cardboard theater diorama, black-and-gold —
lacquer-black torn panels, gold leaf glinting through tears, aged gold-paper
floor with faint blueprint grid, gold-duotone halftone cutouts with rough torn
edges, thin cream keyline and offset deep-gold stroke, deep soft drop shadows,
raking side key light, low gold haze, fine film grain. FLAT PARALLAX register:
layers held at distinct, readable depths with true parallax between them —
graphic, restrained, never glossy 3D. One slow committed camera move only. Type
is gold-stamped on paper cards; only the exact quoted words ever appear.

MODE B — Deep Diorama cinematic · escalation

Reveals, OMG beats, pivots, landings. The camera is an actor.

STYLE: Handcrafted paper-and-cardboard theater diorama, black-and-gold —
lacquer-black torn panels, gold leaf glinting through tears, aged gold-paper
floor with faint blueprint grid, gold-duotone halftone cutouts with rough torn
edges, thin cream keyline and offset deep-gold stroke, deep soft drop shadows,
raking side key light, low gold haze, fine film grain. DEEP DIORAMA register:
every cutout is a physical layer standing in real space; shallow depth of field;
foreground paper crosses the lens; the camera is an actor — it flies between
layers, orbits, dives through tears, racks focus — ONE committed move. Type is
gold-stamped on paper cards; only the exact quoted words ever appear.

MODE C — Locked Stage held tension · title beats

Title beats, quote beats, held-tension frames. One word owns the stage.

STYLE: Handcrafted paper-and-cardboard theater diorama, black-and-gold —
lacquer-black torn panels, gold leaf glinting through tears, aged gold-paper
floor with faint blueprint grid, deep soft drop shadows, raking side key light,
low gold haze, fine film grain. LOCKED STAGE register: the stage is locked and
unchanging; halftone cutouts hold the midground; ONE giant gold word or number
stands foreground, treated as a character. Slow drift only — nothing else moves,
nothing else enters. Type is gold-stamped on paper cards; only the exact quoted
words ever appear.

SHOT rules — all modes

Five beats, one block, present tense: Background (depth field) → Midground (subject cutouts, staggered entrances) → Foreground (every text tagged (headline) (label) (counter) (giant number) — numbers are GIANT and treated as characters) → Camera (ONE committed move) → "Settle on …" — the non-negotiable designed end frame every clip cuts on.

Camera library

push-in · slow lateral drift · dive through a layer/tear · orbit quarter-turn · whip ×2–3 (each lands hard) · fast track → hard stop with overshoot · climb alongside · ride a path like a rail · macro slide + rack focus

Escalation devices — rationed

GOLD WASH — the frame floods gold. ONE clip per film. (money-teraph: spent on B028.)
freeze 1 mm before contact · counter slam · accelerating loop

Sequencing

Vary the stage region per clip (one continuous world, different camera positions — never rebuild).
Never two dives running. Chain clips by reusing geometry (a diagram re-runs, a field returns, then burns).
End chapters on held tension, not a resolve.

AVOID — per-mode add-ons

Appended to the base negative (no music/VO, no fade-ins, no font names or role tags on cards, no sacred geometry, no photoreal figures, no watermark):

A / C: no glossy CG 3D, no camera cuts within the clip, no full-color midground portraits, no simultaneous entrances.
B: no flat single-plane composition, no static locked-off camera, no glossy plastic CG — depth stays papercraft.
Any ticker/screen beat: no UI or glass elements — everything stays print and paper.

Episode sheet — money-teraph Baphomet Part 2

Mode mix (38 new blocks + 2 Part 1 re-cuts)

Mode	Count	Blocks
A Flat Parallax	18	B002 B003 B006 B010 B011 B012 B013 B015 B016 B020 B022 B023 B024 B026 B029 B031 B037 B038
B Deep Diorama	15	B004 B005 B009 B017 B018 B019 B025 B027 B028 🌊 gold wash B030 B032 B034 B035 B036 B040
C Locked Stage	5	B001 B014 B021 B033 B039
Re-cuts (free)	2	B007 (the 58 ranks) · B008 (the re-folding slip) — Part 1 clips restored from B2

Burn reveals (full 8-point spec): B005 → gold-3D title card · B040 → end card.

Component zoo — the episode's recurring objects

Component	Spec
Engraved-portrait card	PD currency engraving as gold-duotone halftone cutout; intaglio lines read as print
Coin	Flat disc, embossed profile face, gold rim catch-light
Mounted-head stand	⛔ Footed, heavy, occupied — exactly as Part 1 built it. NEVER reads as a disc: the head→coin merge (B018) is the argument, so the two shapes stay visibly different objects until that beat fuses them
The 620 BC seal	Same seal object as Part 1 — pressed wax, prohibition line corner-to-corner
Gold evidence thread	House motif — self-drawing, pulls taut, converges in ranks
Pillar dollar	Spanish 8-reales: two crowned pillars, S-curved PLUS ULTRA banner — historically accurate
$ glyph	Born on-screen from the pillar-dollar re-strike (B030); then multiplies as print
Pyramid courses + Eye	Paper masonry stacking; the Eye card descends and HOVERS, never touching
Claim slabs	Heavy cardboard, gold-stamped caps — Part 1 "THEY AGREED" grammar
Coin field	Staggered ranks receding into dark — must match Part 1's 58-heads composition exactly (the rhyme is the payload)

Figure rule

This episode needs zero generative faces — every person appears as a public-domain currency/coin engraving or an anonymous silhouette. Professor Bridge never appears in the paper world (Seedance-only, unchanged ruling).

★ Representation rule (2026-07-23). The cutout people include Black people: when the person or character depicted is Black, the cutout is Black — always (the gold-duotone halftone carries features and skin tone; it doesn't erase them). Anonymous visible-featured crowds include Black figures as a matter of course — the paper world's crowds look like the real world, not default-white. Mechanics: ethnicity is stated explicitly in every SHOT block (unspecified figures default white), and rendered frames are QC'd for mid-clip drift. Historical scenes stay accurate to place and era.

Accent per chapter

HOOK none · P1 blood-oxide · P2 bone-sand · P3 oxide-blue · P4 verdigris · CLOSE ember

Sources: ~/.frmwrkd/motion-builder/projects/sunmoon-docs/sheets/MG-PAPER-THEATER.md (v2 grammar section) · /root/sunmoon/episodes/money-teraph/STYLESHEET.md · method: TYPECAST PAPER-DIORAMA-METHOD.md (2026-07-22).
Previous versions: v2 (2026-07-19 sheet) · v1 · ← QC gallery