Bow Tie Kreative VIDEO Grammar
API reference

The model

Quick reference

The whole grammar on one page: the change levels, the pipeline, the rule shape, the scoring model and where each part of the package lives.

This material is a specification and reference set with a reference rule engine. It is not an editing application, a rendering pipeline or a completed production, and the worked example is entirely fictional — it exists to demonstrate the method.

The production equation

SOURCE
→ TRANSCRIPT
→ CONTEXT GRAPH
→ CLIP CANDIDATES
→ STORY GRAPH
→ COVERAGE PLAN
→ EDITORIAL TIMELINE
→ GRAPHICS/AUDIO/COLOR/VFX
→ DELIVERY VERSIONS
→ QA + FEEDBACK

The atomic decision

DECISION
= Object
+ Conditions
+ Action
+ Tools
+ Resources
+ Outcome
+ Feedback
+ Constraints
+ Value
+ Failure Mode
+ LAKA Change Vector

Five change levels

BASELINE   preserve structure; repair and clarify
MINOR      vary one or two local dimensions
MAJOR      change treatment of a beat or scene
STRUCTURAL change order, coverage, or architecture
PARADIGM   change format, perspective, medium, or governing premise

Fourteen LAKA meta-variables

Magnitude, Rate, Direction, Scope, Depth, Duration, Frequency,
Acceleration, Variability, Detectability, Reversibility,
Propagation, Amplification, Accumulation

Transcript safety test

A transcript range is not standalone until these are resolved:

Who/what does every pronoun refer to?
What question establishes the answer’s scope?
Is negation retained?
Are qualifiers and self-corrections retained?
Are dates, units, populations, and baselines present?
Does a later sentence materially change the claim?
Does “this/here/that” depend on a visual?

Clip score

ClipScore
= hook + clarity + context + novelty + emotion + evidence
+ self-containment + visual potential + performance + audience fit
+ technical quality
- risk - redundancy - repair cost

Hard failures are removed before scoring.

Story grammar

State A
+ desire/question/disequilibrium
+ opposing force or uncertainty
+ attempts/discoveries/escalation
+ irreversible change
+ State B
+ meaning

Connect beats with:

BECAUSE / THEREFORE / BUT / DESPITE / UNTIL / UNLESS / WHICH MEANS

Camera grammar

SHOT
= subject
+ size
+ azimuth
+ elevation/height/roll
+ camera distance
+ focal length/format
+ focus/depth
+ exposure/frame rate
+ composition
+ movement/path/profile
+ blocking
+ duration
+ entry/exit state
+ narrative function

Do not move the camera unless it follows, reveals, compares, connects, isolates, intensifies, relieves, verifies, or transitions.

Lighting grammar

LIGHTING
= motivated source logic
+ source roles
+ direction/elevation
+ apparent size/quality
+ distance/falloff
+ intensity/ratios
+ color/white balance
+ modifiers/pattern
+ atmosphere
+ temporal behavior
+ material response
+ continuity

Generated-video grammar

PURPOSE
+ SUBJECT LOCK
+ ACTION
+ WORLD
+ CAMERA
+ LIGHTING
+ ART DIRECTION
+ TEMPORAL PHASES
+ ENTRY STATE
+ EXIT STATE
+ CONTINUITY LOCKS
+ NEGATIVE CONSTRAINTS
+ PROVENANCE

Generate coverage, not one uncontrolled long video.

Cut selection

IF incoming sound should prepare the idea → J-cut/prelap
IF outgoing emotion should linger → L-cut/postlap
IF action continues → cut on compatible action phase
IF listener reaction changes meaning → truthful reaction cut
IF time is compressed → retain temporal orientation
IF a transition encodes nothing → use a cut
IF a qualifier/question is removed → block the edit

Infographic grammar

QUESTION
→ INFORMATION TASK
→ RELATIONSHIP
→ VISUAL ENCODING
→ HIERARCHY
→ MOTION PHASES
→ SOURCE + UNCERTAINTY
→ ACCESSIBLE ALTERNATIVE

Use graphics for comparison, flow, hierarchy, mechanism, time, space, or uncertainty—not decoration.

Audio grammar

DIALOGUE
+ ROOM TONE
+ AMBIENCE
+ EFFECTS/FOLEY
+ MUSIC
+ SILENCE
+ PERSPECTIVE
+ LOUDNESS PROFILE

Protect intelligibility and natural phrasing before polish.

Multiformat grammar

ONE SEMANTIC TIMELINE
→ 16:9 / 9:16 / 1:1 / 4:5 / audio-only

Track faces, hands, objects, captions, graphics, and platform UI in normalized coordinates. Reflow rather than blindly crop.

Non-negotiable hard constraints

Never alter quote meaning through trimming.
Never detach a reaction from its true stimulus.
Never remove a material qualifier or negation.
Never present generated imagery as documentary evidence.
Never use an identifiable likeness or cloned voice without authorization.
Never publish a material factual claim without status/evidence review.
Never publish with unclear rights.
Never let captions or graphics hide essential information.
Never overwrite source media.
Never rank a hard-failing candidate as valid.

Minimal software loop

GENERATE
→ FILTER HARD CONSTRAINTS
→ SCORE UTILITY
→ SELECT DIVERSE CANDIDATES
→ HUMAN REVIEW
→ COMMIT VERSION
→ PROPAGATE
→ QA
→ LEARN SOFT WEIGHTS