Themes · 3 min
Themes
A theme sets structure, art style, pacing and visual treatments together.
More than a look
A theme is not a colour palette. It controls how many sections the script has, how long scenes run, which visual treatments are applied, and whether the story returns to recurring locations.
Two videos on the same topic in different themes are structurally different videos, not the same video repainted.
Levels
The progression format built around milestones. Moody flat 2D illustration, a single recurring character, and number cards that count up at each threshold.
The story returns to the same handful of places — a bedroom, an office, a car at night — so the passage of time reads visually.
Stick Stories
Minimal stick figures, thick black linework, one bold accent colour and a great deal of empty space.
Deadpan by design. The simplicity is what makes a ten-minute essay feel like three, and it renders fast because there is less to get wrong.
Documentary
Cinematic and desaturated, with heavy film grain, hard letterbox bars and title cards between acts.
Narration is restrained and the pacing is patient. This theme has no recurring character — the subject is the subject.
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Character sheets