Pages

Ollie & Dot — Global Prompt Direction

Every scene prompt is built from: GLOBAL FOUNDATION + SCENE-SPECIFIC LAYER

1. STYLE FOUNDATION

CRITICAL STYLE: 3D PHOTOREALISTIC MACRO UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHY of tiny handcrafted figurines — real physical miniature sculptures photographed in actual ocean water. NOT 2D illustration, NOT watercolor, NOT painted, NOT animated, NOT cartoon, NOT Pixar, NOT CGI.

The characters are tangible physical objects made of hand-finished resin or polymer clay, photographed with a real underwater macro lens. They have hand-shaped imperfections, satin matte finish with wet specular highlights, and real subsurface scattering at their edges. They are IN the water, not composited onto it.

2. UNDERWATER SUBMERSION (Every Scene)

UNDERWATER SUBMERSION — The scene must look genuinely SUBMERGED in real ocean water with visible DEPTH between the viewer and the characters:

CAMERA DEPTH LAYER (closest): Out-of-focus water particles, marine snow, and subtle bubbles between the camera lens and the scene. This foreground water haze is what makes it feel like the viewer is underwater looking through real water.

CHARACTER DEPTH: Characters in focus with water particles drifting past them. Subtle color shift from water column. Light scattering visibly around their edges.

BACKGROUND DEPTH: Atmospheric perspective — distant elements fade into blue depth haze. Water absorbs warm colors at distance.

The water has WEIGHT and PRESENCE — visible suspended particulate, caustic light shimmer, natural color absorption with depth. Characters look genuinely IN water, not sitting ON TOP of a backdrop.

3. CHARACTER: OLLIE (Light Scenes)

For: Cover, Sunny Reef, Hide & Seek, Reef Edge, Down They Swam (upper portion), Celebration, Interactive

Ollie is a tiny 1-2 inch newborn baby octopus — a real handcrafted miniature sculpture photographed underwater. Tangible physical object made of hand-finished resin or polymer clay.

HEAD: Perfectly smooth round amber-gold dome. NO ears, NO horns, NO holes, NO openings, NO siphons, NO indentations. Only features: two eyes and one small mouth. NO TEETH.

SKIN: Fine pore and gold foil stipple micro-texture across amber-gold sculpted skin. Soft natural skin folds, hand-shaped imperfections. Satin matte finish with subtle wet specular highlights catching ambient underwater light. Real subsurface scattering glowing softly translucent at edges of body and tentacle tips. Soft pink hand-painted blush on cheeks.

EYES: Real glass-or-resin sphere eyes with GLOWING GOLD IRIS RINGS. Crisp pinpoint catchlights. Environmental reflections of the surrounding scene visible in the iris — the reef, the light, the water all reflecting in his glassy eyes. The eyes have DEPTH and SOUL — not flat, not painted on.

TENTACLES: Eight flowing soft-curved tentacles with individually sculpted dimensional suction cups along undersides. Dynamic, not stiff.

4. CHARACTER: OLLIE (Dark Scenes)

For: Glowing Fish, Giant Shadow, Dot Floats, Name It, Whale Reveal, Whale Song

Same physical construction as light Ollie, but:

SKIN: Dark brown (#3A2A1E) with fine SILVER foil stipple — the gold has dimmed to silver in the deep water. Silver micro-dots catch what little light exists.

EYES: Real glass spheres with SILVER IRIS RINGS — glassy, reflective, catching bioluminescent light and Dot's blue glow. Environmental reflections still visible but cooler/darker.

5. CHARACTER: DOT (All Scenes)

Dot is a tiny real Tahitian pearl — an actual photographed luxury pearl, indistinguishable from a real one. NOT a CGI sphere, NOT a glowing orb, NOT a painted ball.

SURFACE: Authentic deep layered nacre with true iridescent pearlescent luster and perfectly spherical curvature. Bright specular highlight at the top of her sphere. Live environmental reflections of the surrounding scene BENDING across her curved surface — the reef colors, the light, the water all distort as they wrap around her sphere.

SURFACE QUALITY: Slightly imperfect natural luster of a genuine cultured pearl. The nacre has subtle depth — you can almost see INTO the layers. Never plastic, never CGI, never flat. Her EDGES are soft where the pearl surface meets the water — NOT sharp cutout edges. She blends with the water naturally.

ONLY DESCRIBE HER COLOR AS: "iridescent", "pearlescent", "nacre" — the colors on her surface come from REFLECTING HER ENVIRONMENT, not from being painted. In warm scenes she reflects warm tones. In dark scenes she reflects blues. She is a mirror of her surroundings.

EYES: Glowing golden arc eyes shine warmly through her translucent nacre surface (light scenes) OR glowing blue inverted U-shaped eyes (dark scenes — GLOWING, luminous, not flat).

SIZE: About 20% of Ollie's size — a pebble-sized sphere beside him.

NO MOUTH on Dot. Ever.

6. SCALE RULES (Every Scene)

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY SCALE — This is A Bug's Life underwater:

- Ollie is 1-2 inches tall in reality
- The coral reef is at TRUE OCEAN SCALE — it's the real ocean, not a miniature set
- Anemones are AT LEAST 3x taller than Ollie's body, their tendrils reaching above him
- Real reef fish (tangs, clownfish, butterflyfish) are the SAME SIZE as Ollie or LARGER
- Coral colonies are 3-10x the height of Ollie's body, like buildings
- Sea fans stretch across large portions of the frame like cathedral windows
- A sea turtle is MASSIVE — like a bus passing overhead
- Reef structures extend BEYOND the edges of the frame — cropped from a larger world
- The characters are like insects in a vast forest — tiny in a giant world

7. REEF COLOR PALETTE — LOCKED IN

REEF COLOR PROFILE — LOCKED:

CORALS & REEF STRUCTURE:
- Branching staghorn coral: warm PEACH to BURNT ORANGE (like sun-bleached terracotta)
- Soft corals and anemones: DUSTY PINK to ROSE — not hot/neon pink, more like dried flowers
- Sea fans and gorgonians: DEEP PLUM PURPLE to MAUVE — rich but muted
- Table corals and massive formations: WARM SAND to GOLDEN BROWN
- Coralline algae crusts: DUSTY LAVENDER to MUTED VIOLET
- Cauliflower coral: WARM CREAM to PALE GOLD

PLANT LIFE & ALGAE:
- Macro algae: OLIVE GREEN to DEEP FOREST GREEN — natural, not lime/neon
- Micro algae films: SAGE GREEN, MOSS GREEN
- Sea grass: OLIVE to YELLOW-GREEN, natural sun-faded look

FISH & MARINE LIFE:
- Yellow tangs: VIVID GOLDEN YELLOW (this is the brightest natural pop of color)
- Clownfish: WARM ORANGE with clean white bars
- Blue tangs: DEEP COBALT BLUE (not electric/neon blue)
- Butterflyfish: WARM YELLOW with dark accents
- Anthias: SOFT PEACH-PINK in shimmering schools

WATER & LIGHT:
- Shallow water: CRYSTAL TURQUOISE to AQUAMARINE — clear, warm, inviting
- Mid-depth: CERULEAN to DEEP BLUE — clean ocean blue
- Deep water: NAVY to INDIGO-BLACK — profound, true darkness
- Caustic light: WARM GOLD with prismatic rainbow shimmer on wet surfaces
- God rays: WARM GOLDEN SHAFTS cutting through blue water

SAND & SUBSTRATE:
- Sandy bottom: WARM CREAM to PALE TAN — natural beach sand color
- Limestone: PALE CREAM-WHITE — ancient, colonized with growth

THE RULE: Every color must look like it exists in NATURAL OCEAN LIGHT. The palette is BRIGHT and COLORFUL but the brightness comes from natural saturation in sunlight, not artificial boosting. Think National Geographic, not Finding Nemo. Earthy warmth, not neon. The yellows and oranges are the warmest accents against a predominantly blue-green water column.

NEVER: Neon anything. Electric green. Hot pink (use dusty pink). Oversaturated primary colors. Cartoon color grading. Random bright creatures that don't exist in tropical reefs.

8. DETAIL DENSITY (Every Scene) UPDATED

THREE LEVELS OF DETAIL on every surface:
1. BROAD SHAPE: The overall form of each coral, rock, organism
2. MEDIUM TEXTURE: Growth patterns, ridges, polyp cups, branching patterns
3. MICRO DETAIL: Individual barnacles, tiny tube worms, coralline algae crusts, micro-organisms, mineral crystals in sand

ECOSYSTEM AT EVERY SCALE:
- MACRO LIFE: Sea turtle, fish schools, large fish species
- MEDIUM LIFE: Cleaner shrimp, nudibranch, small crabs, seahorse
- MICRO LIFE: Coral polyps extended for feeding, amphipods, tiny cleaner shrimp, small hermit crabs

A tiny realistic SNAIL is subtly hidden somewhere in every scene — an Easter egg for children.

9. BANNED ELEMENTS (Every Scene) UPDATED

ABSOLUTELY NEVER include:
- Teeth on Ollie
- Ears, horns, fins, or siphons on Ollie's head
- Mouth on Dot
- Spiral-shaped animals or cone-shaped creatures (includes Christmas tree worms, feather duster worms, spiral tube worms)
- Slug-like organisms
- Brain coral prominently featured
- Text or lettering anywhere
- Sponges of any kind (barrel, tube, vase, hollow shapes)
- Grid overlays
- Specific painted colors on Dot (no "peacock blue-green", "magenta", "champagne")
- Dry-looking scenes — everything must look genuinely underwater
- Neon or oversaturated colors on reef

10. DEPTH LAYER STRATEGY

5 DEPTH LAYERS in every scene:

LAYER 1 — FOREGROUND (pin-sharp or soft): Elements between camera and characters. Water particles, sand details, nearby coral. Creates the "looking through water" effect.

LAYER 2 — CHARACTER PLANE (sharp): The characters and their immediate environment. This is where the story happens.

LAYER 3 — MID-GROUND (moderately sharp): Major environmental features that establish scale — massive corals, large sea fans, big anemones towering over characters.

LAYER 4 — BACKGROUND (soft blur): Distant reef, fish schools, sea turtle, more environment. Colors shift cooler. Establishes the vastness of the world.

LAYER 5 — ATMOSPHERIC (heavily blurred): The furthest plane — open water, deep blue, atmospheric haze. Creates depth and draws the eye.

The transition between layers should feel NATURAL — like real depth-of-field from a macro lens, not artificial zones.

11. SCENE-SPECIFIC LAYER (What Changes Per Page)

Each scene adds ONLY:

• Composition: Where are the characters? What's the camera angle? What fills the frame?
• Story beat: What emotion? What's happening in the narrative?
• Character expression: Specific to this moment (joy, fear, awe, mischief, etc.)
• Lighting direction: Where's the light coming from? What mood?
• Unique elements: Scene-specific creatures, environmental features, color temperature
• Surface visibility: Can we see the ocean surface? (shallow scenes only)

SCENE TYPES

Source: projects/ollie-and-dot/2026-05-28_batch5e-generation/GLOBAL_PROMPT_DIRECTION.md (V1.2 — spirals removed from micro life, added to banned list)