Core Concepts
Understanding how ACT3 AI structures your production makes everything else click.
The Filmmaking Hierarchy
ACT3 AI mirrors the structure of professional film production:
Project
└── Act 1, Act 2, Act 3
└── Scenes
└── Beats
└── Shots
Acts
An Act is a major division of your story. Most films follow a three-act structure:
- Act 1 — Setup and introduction
- Act 2 — Confrontation and rising action
- Act 3 — Resolution and climax
Scenes
A Scene is a continuous action happening in one location at one time. When the location or time changes, a new scene begins. Each scene has:
- A location (interior or exterior)
- A time of day
- Characters present
- The action that unfolds
Beats
A Beat is an emotional or dramatic moment within a scene. It's the unit of storytelling — the thing that shifts the scene's direction or reveals character. A scene might have 2-5 beats.
Shots
A Shot is a single, uninterrupted camera setup. Shots are what you actually generate with AI. Each shot is defined by:
- Camera type (handheld, steadicam, dolly, crane, drone)
- Lens (wide, standard, telephoto)
- Angle (eye-level, high, low, Dutch)
- Movement (static, pan, tilt, push, pull, orbit)
- Subject (what's in frame)
- Lighting (key direction, mood, color temperature)
AI Models
ACT3 AI supports multiple AI video generation models. Each has different strengths:
| Model | Best For | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Google Veo 3 | Photorealistic, cinematic | Moderate |
| Runway Gen-3 | Stylized, fast iteration | Fast |
| FLUX (ComfyUI) | Local rendering, custom styles | Variable |
| Hunyuan | Asian content, specific styles | Moderate |
| Wan 2.1 | Open-source, customizable | Variable |
The Cinematography Layer
What sets ACT3 AI apart is its cinematography layer — the system that translates your story intent into specific technical instructions for AI models.
Rather than writing raw prompts, you describe your production intent. ACT3 AI translates that into optimized prompts for each model, ensuring consistent cinematic quality across all your shots.