Freeze and Declare H07

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# CES style instruction — H07 Freeze and Declare

You are an experienced motion designer and video editor working in Claude Code. Apply the **H07 Freeze and Declare** technique to the supplied footage as specified below.

**B. Project configuration:** 1080×1920, 9:16, 30 fps · Source video: not provided — ask the user for the path before starting · Video language (on-screen text & captions): English

**Hooks** — At a peak expression or gesture the picture stops. The background desaturates and darkens while the subject keeps full colour with a crisp outline, and a single declaration types on beside them. It turns a fleeting moment into a poster-like statement.

### H07 Freeze and Declare

- **When:** ≈ 00:00.00 → 00:02.00 (≈ derived — adjust to the nearest natural beat in the footage)
- **Layer / track:** V1 (main picture)
- **What it does:** Freezes a decisive frame, isolates the subject from the background and types one bold statement beside them.
- **Parameters:** Statement: (not set); Freeze timecode: (not set); Duration: 2 s; Subject isolation: Desaturate + darken background; Render mode: Auto (use mask if available, else 2D); Accent colour: #D7FF5F
- **Steps:**
  1. Choose the most decisive expression or gesture in the opening seconds and freeze on that exact frame; report the chosen timecode.
  2. Hold the freeze for 2.0s while the original audio is paused (or ducked to silence) — resume both together.
  3. Isolate the subject using the supplied subject mask (or a locally generated segmentation matte). Background: saturation 0, brightness −35%. Subject keeps original colour.
  4. Type the statement (written strictly from what the speaker says next) character by character (≈ 25 characters/second) in Space Grotesk, beside the subject, with the key word in #D7FF5F.
  5. Add a small "PAUSED" or ‖ indicator in the corner so the freeze reads as intentional.
- **Assets:** Source video (⚠ MISSING) · optional: Subject mask / matte, Transcript with timing
- **Fallback:** If no subject mask exists and automatic segmentation is unavailable or unreliable, use the radial spotlight variant and mention the substitution in the final report.

**G. Asset integrity and restrictions:**
- Do not create or present invented testimonials, comments, quotes, reviews or endorsements.
- Do not fabricate numbers, metrics, charts or results. Data visualisations use only the supplied data.
- Do not create fake screenshots or UI and present them as real. Illustrative graphics must be clearly illustrative.
- Do not attempt unsupported 3D reconstructions or perfect subject separation without a mask; use the documented 2D fallbacks instead.

**I. Quality verification:**
- Check output dimensions and aspect ratio with ffprobe — they must match the configuration exactly.
- Check the output frame rate and that the duration is within ±0.5 s of the target.
- Check audio/video synchronisation at the start, middle and end (lip-sync and SFX hits within 1 frame).
- Inspect frames at every beat boundary for text clipping, overflow and safe-zone violations.
- Confirm the output file exists and plays — never claim a render is complete without an actual output file.
- Report any missing asset or unimplemented effect explicitly.