Doing the arithmetic before a call is spent
Speech runs at a measurable rate and generated shots have published ceilings. Between the two there is a short sum that decides how a line has to be written, and doing it at the writing stage is the only cheap moment. As of 2026-09-12.
| Figure | Where it comes from | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| A pause at each end | How a shot is cut, not a model | How much of the shot is speech |
| A shot ceiling | The vendor documentation | How long one generation runs |
| A speaking rate | Published measurement | How many words fit that length |
Inclusion rule. Figures required to size a spoken line against a generated shot, and where each one is found. Order. Alphabetical by figure.
1Three words a second, minus the pauses
At roughly three words a second, a six-second shot holds about fifteen words once half a second is left before the line and after it. Dialogue written without that constraint reliably runs longer.
The consequence is either a rushed read or a line that does not fit the shot it was written for. Both are rewrites, and at generation time a rewrite also costs a call.
2The pauses are part of the count
Measured speaking rates that include silences run well below rates that exclude them. A shot list budgeting words at the faster figure produces lines with no room to breathe, which reads as hurried even when every word technically fits.
Leaving half a second at each end is a useful default and it is a cutting decision rather than a model property. It survives a change of platform, which most of this arithmetic does not.
3A fixed menu of lengths is easier to write to
Where a vendor publishes four, six or eight seconds, a writer can work in those units and everybody involved sees the shape of the thing being made. A wide range postpones the decision and moves the cutting to a worse moment.
Where a total is reached by extending a generation, the figure is a budget for an assembly rather than a take. Sizing a scene to it produces a line that spans a join, which is where a voice moves.
4Where the published detail is logged
What is described above is how the techniques work in general. Which models document which of them, in whose words, is kept in the speech controls table with a date on every field.
- Dialogue timing — the published figures behind the sum
- What sets the length — a menu, a range, or a take
A mechanism note rather than a documented field. Nothing here is attributed to a model, and nothing here is a claim about one. The sourced material is on the speech controls table. Related: A cast list, Writing the lines.
5Voices in a drama pipeline
For the speech side of “Sizing a scene”, SceneMixer's guides describe how lines are spoken:
A line lives inside the shot where it is spoken, in four parts: the speaker chip, the delivery note in round brackets, the words after the colon, and the voice chip after the words.
SceneMixer, Dialogue in the Storyboard: How to Write a Line, and What Save Tidies Up (read 2026-10-13)
The final cut ends on an end card: your main image plus four lines — Brand, Product name, Tagline, Call to action. The first two are read from your photo and your brief; the tagline and call to action are written with the script.
SceneMixer, The End Card (read 2026-10-13)