The Master Guide / 06 Anchors and stills · Photoreal anchors (Nano Banana Pro)
Character sheets
One 16:9 image at 2K, three panels in one row, one wardrobe look per sheet, made in one generation.
One 16:9 image at 2K, three panels in one row, one wardrobe look per sheet, made in one generation.
The layout (decided), three panels that are themselves [proven]:
Left: a large face close-up, straight-on: the head square and level with the ears showing evenly, eyes to the lens, a neutral but alive face. Straight-on is the default [best available, not yet validated]; creators split between straight-on and a slight three-quarter.
Centre: the full body from the front, upright, arms relaxed, hands open and empty unless the wardrobe look carries a prop, both feet flat, cropped low on the neck, where it meets the shoulders, so the face is drawn only once, and large.
Right: the full body from the back, same scale and ground line, head kept, so the back of the hair, any headwear and the costume from behind are on the sheet.
The front-with-head layout. Option: use it when hair is the hero of the film (decided per project). The panels are a face-and-hair close-up, a full-body front with the head and the full hair length, and a full-body back. Two faces are then drawn, so check the small one against the close-up at full size.
Drawn and stylised characters use the style anchor and turnaround instead (see Stylised films (Seedream 5.0 Pro) → Turnaround, expression map, state sheets).
On every sheet: the layout
Only the close-up panel shows the face; say so in the prompt. In video, every role line maps the panels: face and hair from the close-up, wardrobe and body from the full-body panels, never the cropped front head (see Video with Seedance → The two identity blocks).
Write it as studio photographs (decided): three photos of one real person, side by side as one film sheet. Avoid "character reference sheet" and "painterly", which pull toward illustration.
Height and build in words, never printed. No text on the image.
On every sheet: the ground and the light
The ground: a flat mid-grey field (18% grey), one even tone, no gradient or vignette, written as a colour field, never a floor or a wall.
The light: shadowless and directionless, no rim light, overriding any light in the references; neutral white balance; no grain; a faint contact shadow under the feet only [best available, not yet validated]. A catchlight in the eyes and no glare on the hair are the rejection check. Skin matches in value and hue in every panel.
On every sheet: the person and the wardrobe
Skin and make-up as the day leaves them, and one wear sign per garment (the method and its labels: Making it feel real → Skin, make-up and wear with a history).
Wardrobe written once, top to toe, garment by garment: type, material, fit, where it ends, colour, wear sign. Copy the treatment's wording exactly. Then a palette lock, repeated once in the light sentence, and a line that clothing, colours and accessories match in every panel.
An accessory the character never removes appears in every panel and in the identity close-up; signature items get a "never removed" line; always-carried props appear in every full-body panel.
Special cases
A hero element beyond the body (hair in a hair film, nails, jewellery, a tattoo) gets its own detail anchor, made with the approved sheet as Image 1, never a fourth panel.
A real person: the chosen photos are Images 1 and 2, each owning the face, bone structure, skin tone, hairline and hair only, never the clothing, background, light or accessories; then the identity lock. Name each photo accessory that must not carry over.
Variants: a creature gets two or three panels (full body, head, head with the mouth open) on light grey; a recurring group, one line-up; recurring extras, their own sheet. A small face in a wide panel takes the same neck crop or is softened, never a sharp small face.
Template (written for this guide)
{Image 1 is the approved identity close-up of {role}: it gives the face, hair and skin only; leave out its grey backdrop and black top.} A film character sheet made of three studio photos of one real {man | woman}, side by side in one row with thin dividers, 16:9. {Age band}, {region}, about {height} cm, {build}. Match exactly {the identity structures}; keep them as Image 1 shows; do not reshape, slim, age, beautify or average. Hair: {texture, length, finish}. Up close the skin shows {two or three conditions of this life and this day}{; make-up as worn}. Wardrobe, the same in every panel: {every garment from head to feet, each with its wear sign}. Palette lock: {leading colour and material} leads, {support}, {accent} only on {item}; no {forbidden colours}. On the left, a large head-and-shoulders close-up, the face square to the lens, level, eyes on the lens, {an alive, neutral expression}. In the centre, the same {man | woman} standing face-on, arms loose, hands {open and empty | holding {item}}, feet flat, framed from where the neck meets the shoulders down to the floor, both feet visible; only the close-up on the left shows the face. On the right, the same {man | woman} from behind with the head kept, {the hair from behind}, framed head to floor at the same scale and ground line. A flat 18% grey field, one even tone, with no studio and no equipment. Shadowless even light, no rim light, neutral white balance, {the lead colour} unchanged, no glow on skin or hair; only a faint contact shadow under the feet. The skin matches in every panel. One person per panel, no text.
Example: the kiosk owner
Image 1 is the approved identity close-up of the kiosk owner: it gives his face, hair and skin only; leave out its grey backdrop and black vest. A film character sheet made of three studio photos of one real man, side by side in one row with thin dividers, 16:9. An Egyptian man of 60 to 65, lean, a little stooped, about 172 cm, long-armed. Match exactly his hooded brown eyes, the deep crease between his brows, his long nose, thin upper lip, hollow cheeks, short white moustache and the brown mole on his left temple; keep them as Image 1 shows; do not reshape, slim, age, beautify or average. Hair: thin, white, cut short and pushed back. Up close the skin shows deep sun lines at the eyes, knuckles cracked from rinsing glasses, and stubble missed under the jaw. Wardrobe, the same in every panel: a faded olive cotton shirt, sleeves rolled twice, the collar frayed; grey wool trousers gone shiny at the knees; an open brown cardigan with one button missing; dusty black shoes, the right heel worn on the outside; a white tea towel in the left back pocket, never removed. Palette lock: olive leads, grey and brown support, the white towel the only light accent; no bright green, no black cardigan. On the left, a large head-and-shoulders close-up, the face square to the lens, level, eyes on the lens, calm and watchful. In the centre, the same man standing face-on, arms loose, hands open and empty, feet flat, framed from where the neck meets the shoulders down to the floor, both feet visible; only the close-up on the left shows the face. On the right, the same man from behind with the head kept, the white hair and the towel visible, framed head to floor at the same scale and ground line. A flat 18% grey field, one even tone, with no studio and no equipment. Shadowless even light, no rim light, neutral white balance, the olive unchanged, no glow on skin or hair; only a faint contact shadow under the feet. The skin matches in every panel. One person per panel, no text.
Why: the independent creators who show their sheets, Davide Morando and JOEY, show the back view with its head, because it carries the back of the hair and the costume. Soulless, placed at Higgsfield's 2026 festival, is a stylised film whose sheets use a three-quarter close-up.