What Ozu does
Ozu reads your script, reacts to what it sees, and asks 2–5 focused questions. The questions are the kind a director might ask before pre-production:- “Is Sarah’s apartment in a city or a small town?”
- “Is this set in the present day, or somewhere else in time?”
- “Should the barista be the same age as Sarah, or older?”
- “What does Sarah carry with her when she leaves?”
When to use Ozu
Ozu earns its keep when your script has gaps. Skip it when your script is already precise.Use Ozu when
Your script is an early draft, a treatment, a prose description, or a loose outline. Ozu fills in details the page never states.
Skip Ozu when
Your script is a finished screenplay with confident scene headings, action, and dialogue. Ozu’s questions will mostly echo what’s already on the page.
How the consult flows
- Submit your script. Paste or upload it in the Script Node’s input stage.
- Ozu reads. The first read takes a few seconds. You’ll see a reaction message as Ozu processes what you sent.
- Questions arrive one at a time. Ozu asks a question; you answer; next question. Questions appear in a chat bubble UI.
- Hand it over or skip at any point. Ozu offers a Skip button if you want to jump straight to analysis. You can also say something like “you handle the rest” and Ozu will close the consult.
- Tap NEXT. When the questions are finished, a pulsing Next button appears. Tap it to kick off the full analysis.
What happens after you answer
Once you finish the consult (or skip it), the Script Node runs its full analysis. Ozu’s answers are merged into the analysis — so if you told Ozu the setting is winter, the Set node’s description will reflect that, and the wardrobe hints for Actors will lean warmer. Your answers don’t become hard rules. Ozu still analyzes the script itself; Ozu’s input is additional context, not a replacement for what the page says.If Ozu hits a snag
Occasionally Ozu can’t read your script cleanly — network hiccup, an unusually formatted file, a very long input. When that happens, Ozu retries once on its own. If the retry also fails, you’ll be returned to the input stage with an error message and can try again or skip the consult.Related
Writing Your Script
How to format a script so the Ozu consult has less work to do.
Analysis Results
What comes out the other side after Ozu and the full analysis run.
Scene, Shot, Beat
The structure Ozu’s consult helps Ozu extract cleanly.
Getting Started
The full first-project walkthrough — Ozu included.