Sketch
Sketch, in sketch cinematography, is line on paper before paint: searching contours, hatching in the shadows, reserved paper in the lights, a drawing that still looks. Unfinished is the look, and a clean vector portrait is not.
Narrative function
Process, memory, a story being invented: hands and eyes can be tighter than the room. Photographic structure sits underneath so it remains a shot of a person.
Canvas is paint. Sketch is the step before.
It is the wrong tool when you need finished oil, luxury-ad polish, or full animation. If there are no searching lines, it is an illustration, not a sketch.
How it works
Portrait distance, 50mm to 85mm, lock-off. Paper-white as the highlight, graphite or ink line, hatching in shadow.
Do not finish into a clean illustration. Prompt: Sketch treatment of [Subject], line, paper tooth, unfinished hatching, a drawing that still looks.
When to use it
A process still, a memory being drawn, a story that is not finished. Do not use it as a clean vector cover.
Compared with similar shots
Canvas is oil with bristle and tooth. Animation may be drawn throughout as motion.
Sketch is unfinished line on paper, photographic structure underneath. Hand Paint is wet color in the act.
In film
Waltz with Bashir uses drawn line as living coverage. Loving Vincent's studies show the step before oil.
Unfinished is the point. Grammar, not a page to copy.
Prompt it
Stop before the paint. Sketch treatment of [Subject], line, paper tooth, unfinished hatching, a drawing that still looks.
Add paper white in the lights, hatching in shadow, searching lines, eyes tighter than the room. No clean vector.
What usually goes wrong
A clean vector portrait, or a finished Canvas. The tell is no searching line.
Fix it: hatching, reserved paper, unfinished contours, a face that still looks.
Questions
What is Sketch in film?
A pre-paint recipe: line, paper tooth, unfinished hatching, a drawing that still reads as a person. Unfinished is required.
Sketch vs Canvas
Canvas is finished oil. Sketch stops at line and hatching. If you see bristle and wet lights, you wanted canvas.
When should I use Sketch?
Process, memory, invention. Skip luxury covers and finished gallery stills.
How do I prompt Sketch for AI image or video?
Portrait lock-off, then: Sketch treatment of [Subject], line, paper tooth, unfinished hatching, a drawing that still looks. Demand searching lines and reserved paper.
Melies can generate this Sketch
Melies is the AI filmmaking workspace. This Sketch opens with the look prompt loaded, so you generate the format instead of chasing a trend name.