> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.ozu.studio/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Scene, Shot, Beat

> The three levels of hierarchy Ozu uses to organize your story — borrowed from filmmaking, adapted for AI generation.

Every story in Ozu is organized into three levels: **Scenes**, **Shots**, and **Beats**. This vocabulary is borrowed directly from the film industry, with one AI-specific adaptation: **a beat is one rendered frame**.

Understanding these three levels is the single most useful piece of vocabulary in Ozu. Every other feature — storyboards, timeline, exports, asset reuse — refers back to them.

## The three levels

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Scene">
    A distinct story sequence. Typically one location, one continuous stretch of action. Example: `Scene 1 — INT. KITCHEN — MORNING`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Shot">
    A subdivision of a scene, usually defined by camera angle or framing. Example: `Shot 1 — Wide of the kitchen`, `Shot 2 — Close-up on the coffee cup`.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Beat">
    The atomic unit. One beat equals one rendered frame in your storyboard. Example: `Beat 1 — She pours the coffee`, `Beat 2 — She looks up`.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## How they're labeled

Ozu tags every beat with a three-number notation: `Scene.Shot.Beat`.

| Tag     | Meaning                                                |
| ------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `1.1.1` | Scene 1, Shot 1, Beat 1                                |
| `1.1.2` | Scene 1, Shot 1, Beat 2                                |
| `1.2.1` | Scene 1, Shot 2, Beat 1 (new shot, beat count resets)  |
| `2.1.1` | Scene 2, Shot 1, Beat 1 (new scene, everything resets) |

You'll see this notation everywhere in the app — on the Flow canvas, inside the Storyboard Node, on Timeline clips, in the Asset Library. It's the canonical address for any moment in your story.

## A worked example

Here's a short scene broken down:

```
Scene 1 — INT. COFFEE SHOP — DAY
  Shot 1 — Wide establishing
    Beat 1 — Empty shop, morning light
    Beat 2 — Door opens, SARAH enters
  Shot 2 — Medium on Sarah
    Beat 1 — She approaches the counter
    Beat 2 — She smiles at the barista
  Shot 3 — Close on the espresso machine
    Beat 1 — Steam rising
    Beat 2 — Coffee pouring
```

Ozu would label these seven beats as:

```
1.1.1  1.1.2  1.2.1  1.2.2  1.3.1  1.3.2
```

Seven beats = seven frames = seven images to generate.

## Why three levels?

Scenes and beats alone would be enough to tell the AI what to render. Shots are the middle layer where **cinematic intent** lives.

* **Scenes** answer: *where and when are we?*
* **Shots** answer: *how is the camera looking at this?*
* **Beats** answer: *what exactly is happening in this instant?*

Giving Ozu a shot's framing intent ("medium two-shot, Dutch angle, golden hour") produces dramatically better generation than beats alone. Shots are also the layer you'll most often edit — re-framing a single beat, or regenerating an entire shot.

<Tip>
  **Thinking in shots comes with practice.** If you're new to screenwriting, start by letting Ozu auto-extract shots from your script. Then adjust individual shots in the Script Node's analysis view — your instincts will sharpen fast.
</Tip>

## Scene, Shot, Beat in the UI

You'll encounter this hierarchy in several places:

* **Script Node analysis** — after you paste a script, Ozu auto-extracts scenes, shots, and beats from it. You can review and adjust before anything is generated.
* **Storyboard Node grid** — frames are laid out by scene/shot/beat, grouped visually.
* **Asset Library** — storyboard frames are organized under a scene/shot tree, with beats nested beneath.
* **Timeline tracks** — clips on the primary video track inherit scene/shot/beat tags, so you can navigate or re-order by structural position.

## Related concepts

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Frames and Animatics">
    A **frame** is the rendered image of a single beat. An **animatic** is the timeline assembly of all your frames into a playable video.

    [Read more →](/user/concepts/frames-and-animatics/)
  </Card>

  <Card title="Pipeline and Nodes">
    The Scene/Shot/Beat hierarchy is produced by the Script Node and consumed by every node downstream. This is how the pipeline stays coherent.

    [Read more →](/user/concepts/pipeline-and-nodes/)
  </Card>
</Columns>

## FAQ

**Can I have a scene with only one shot?**
Yes. Short scenes often have a single shot with multiple beats.

**Can I have a shot with only one beat?**
Yes, though most shots have 2–5 beats. Think of a beat as a moment worth its own frame; if the whole shot is a single moment, one beat is correct.

**What if I want to insert a new beat between two existing ones?**
Open the Script Node's analysis view and add a beat. Downstream beat numbers renumber automatically, but existing frames tied to specific beat IDs are preserved — so you won't lose work.

**Does beat count affect how many credits I use?**
Yes. Each beat generates one frame; each frame consumes credits. A 60-beat scene costs roughly 6× a 10-beat scene (modulated by model choice, resolution, and variant count). See [Credits](/user/concepts/credits/) for details.

**Is this the same as "scenes" in video editing software?**
Close but not identical. In most editors a "scene" is just a chunk of timeline. In Ozu, a Scene is a structural unit that propagates through the whole pipeline — script, assets, storyboard, timeline, and exports all know your scene boundaries.