Troubleshooting — GTA V Video Production
Diagnose why your video doesn't look or feel like GTA V, and how to fix it.

## Video Doesn't Look Like GTA V

Likely causes:

## Missing the teal-orange color grade

Wrong lighting — too neutral, too flat, too "YouTube"
Wrong framing — too centered, too safe
Generic environment descriptions in AI prompts
Fixes:

- Add to every AI prompt: teal shadows, amber-orange highlights, high contrast, crushed blacks, cinematic GTA V grade
- Specify golden hour or night neon — GTA V is almost never midday flat light
- Use GTA V location names in prompts (Rockford Hills, Sandy Shores, Vinewood) — they carry the aesthetic signal
- Go lower with camera angles — GTA V rarely shoots at eye level for power characters
- Read references/cinematography.md → Color Grade Specifications section
- AI Video Prompt Returns Generic Crime Scene

Likely causes:

- Prompt is describing crime generically rather than GTA V specifically
- Missing the style anchors

No camera movement specified — tool defaults to static
Fixes:

- Always include the style block: GTA V cinematic style, Rockstar Games aesthetic, teal-orange grade
- Add a specific camera movement to every prompt (slow dolly, low angle, aerial pull-back, handheld)
- Reference a specific GTA V mission or moment as a style anchor (e.g., "GTA V The Jewel Store Job aesthetic")
- Use the tool-specific templates in references/video-prompts.md — don't write from scratch
- Script Sounds Generic, Not Like Rockstar

Likely causes:

- Characters are saying what they mean directly
- Missing the contradiction that defines each character

No specific environmental detail — the world isn't talking
Fixes:

- Apply the subtext rule: characters almost never say what they mean directly. The real conversation runs underneath.
- Check the character is contradicting themselves — Michael wants peace, does heists. That gap IS the character.
- Add one environmental detail per scene that isn't plot-relevant but IS world-relevant (a billboard in frame, a radio line, a brand name visible)
- Read references/characters.md → relevant character profile, then rewrite their lines
- Shot List Feels Like a YouTube Vlog, Not a Film

Likely causes:

- All eye-level shots — no variation in angle
- Cutting too fast — not holding shots
- No establishing shot to open, no static wide to close
- Missing the GTA V 6 core shots

Fixes:

## Open every sequence with an aerial or wide establishing shot

Close every sequence with a static wide after the action — let it breathe 3-5 seconds
Use at least one low angle per character introduction
Aim for 4-8 second shot duration in dialogue scenes — GTA V doesn't rush
Read references/cinematography.md → The 6 Core GTA V Shots
Satirical Ad Feels Preachy or Too Obvious
Likely causes:

- The satire is being explained rather than embodied
- A character or VO is stating the critique directly

## The fake brand name is too on-the-nose

Fixes:

- Remove any line that explains what the ad is satirizing — the horror should emerge from the premise, not be announced
- The VO should BELIEVE in the product 100% — no irony in the delivery
- Apply the 5-step satire method: target → specific absurdity → committed fake brand → sincere copy → let horror emerge
- Read references/satire.md → 5-Step Satire Construction Method + Naming Rules
- Video Is Too Dark, No Humor

Likely causes:

- Writing toward pure crime thriller, losing the GTA double register
- No satirical environmental layer (no billboards, no NPC lines, no branded world)

## Action without absurdity

Fixes:

- GTA V is never pure crime thriller — the humor and the stakes coexist. Find the absurdity inside the darkness.
- Add one satirical brand or NPC line visible in the background of at least one shot
- Give one character a line that acknowledges the absurdity of what's happening without deflating the stakes
- Trevor is usually the fix — he will say the thing that makes you laugh before you've decided if it's okay to laugh
- Video Is Too Funny, No Weight

Likely causes:

- Characters are one-liners machines, not people
- No consequence to the action
- Missing the "real thing" underneath the surface event

Fixes:

## Apply the Dan Houser Equation: Location → Character → Conflict → Universal truth

Add one beat per scene that isn't funny — just true
Give Michael something genuine under the joke (he always has it — the humor is the armor, not the man)
The static wide at the end — hold it long enough that the audience feels the city not caring
Inconsistent Tone Across Scenes
Likely causes:

- Mixing GTA V register (urban, satirical, fast) with RDR2 register (rural, tragic, slow) unintentionally
- Different characters sounding the same
- No established visual anchor for the piece

Fixes:

- Decide your register before writing: GTA V (Los Santos, satirical, fast-paced) OR RDR2 (rural, melancholic, earned)
- Use the character voice differentiation test: could Franklin's line be Trevor's? If yes, rewrite.
- Establish the visual anchor early (the color grade, the location, the time of day) and hold it consistently
- Read references/examples.md → full pipeline example for the format you're working in
