Vertical drama pacing — the 90-second shape
Vertical micro-drama is a different animal. The viewer's thumb is the threat — they'll scroll the moment the screen stops working for them. So we build for the thumb.
The 18-beat pacing template
The shape that consistently retains in user testing:
- 0:00–0:03 — visual hook (no dialogue, no logo, no preamble). A face. A weapon. A door closing.
- 0:03–0:15 — establish stakes (one line of dialogue, one prop, one location).
- 0:15–0:45 — first reversal. The protagonist learns something they didn't know.
- 0:45–1:15 — escalation. A second character appears and tightens the screws.
- 1:15–1:30 — cliffhanger. End on a question the viewer needs the answer to.
Everything outside this shape gets trimmed. Yes, even the funny bit you love.
Use the template grid
Every template on /new-project is built on this 18-beat structure. Fork The Throneless Heir or Empire of Glass and you get a working draft of the shape — then rewrite the dialogue to your story.
When to break the shape
Single-shot scenes. Genre pivots (period drama gets a bit more breath; sci-fi can spend longer on visual world-building). Sequels — once viewers know the world, the hook can be a callback instead of a tease.
Notes from the SceneWeaver studio — craft guides, platform signal, and product updates from the team building the vertical drama toolkit.
