Tone & Style Reference Guide

Tone Profiles

🎬 Cinematic

Feeling: Epic, sweeping, emotionally resonant Language: Vivid action verbs, sensory details, dramatic pauses Narration style: Documentary-style voiceover. Authoritative yet intimate. Image style: Anamorphic lens distortion, golden hour light, wide establishing shots, movie still aesthetic Voice: Deep, measured, male or female (e.g., David Attenborough meets Hans Zimmer) Color palette: Golden ambers, deep blues, rich shadows, high contrast Example: "The city breathes. Seven million souls, each carrying their own private universe, converge at rush hour — strangers sharing the same moment, forever apart."

⚡ Dramatic

Feeling: Intense, high-stakes, emotionally raw Language: Short punchy sentences. Fragments. Urgency. Narration style: Present-tense crisis. Every word matters. Image style: Chiaroscuro lighting, heavy shadows, dark oil painting, single light source Voice: Intense, slightly faster pace, lower pitch Color palette: Blood red, ash grey, deep black, stark white Example: "The verdict falls. One word. Guilty. The courtroom erupts. History pivots on a single moment — and nothing will ever be the same."

🌈 Whimsical (For Kids)

Feeling: Magical, warm, curious, safe Language: Simple words, friendly analogies, occasional rhyme Narration style: Warm storyteller voice. Inclusive "we" and "you". Image style: Bright digital illustration, pastel colors, cute characters, soft edges Voice: Warm, expressive, slightly higher pitch, playful Color palette: Pastel rainbow, sunshine yellow, mint green, sky blue Example: "Deep inside every single leaf, something magical is happening right now! Tiny green helpers called chloroplasts are catching sunbeams and turning them into sugar — it's like cooking with sunshine!"

📚 Educational

Feeling: Clear, engaging, trustworthy, empowering Language: Accessible explanations, concrete examples, analogies Narration style: Confident teacher who loves their subject Image style: Clean diagram aesthetic, bright flat design, clear composition Voice: Clear, articulate, warm authority Color palette: Bright blue, white, yellow accents, clean backgrounds Example: "Photosynthesis is the original solar panel — plants figured out how to capture energy from light billions of years before we did. Here's how they do it."

🌙 Poetic

Feeling: Contemplative, beautiful, mysterious, moving Language: Rich imagery, metaphor, rhythm, white space Narration style: Lyrical, meditative, unhurried Image style: Impressionist or watercolor, soft dreamlike colors, impressionist strokes Voice: Soft, slow, reverent, like reading poetry aloud Color palette: Deep navy, soft gold, misty silver, rose Example: "A star dies the way a word dies — slowly, at first, then all at once. What remains is not nothing. It is everything it ever was, scattered across the cosmos like a story retold."

Audience Adjustments

General

Standard adult vocabulary. Assume curiosity, not expertise.

Children (audience: children)

• Max sentence length: 12 words
• No passive voice
• Use "you", "we", "let's"
• Analogies to everyday things: toys, food, animals
• Image prompts: friendly faces, bright colors, no scary elements

Professional

• Can use domain terminology (briefly explained)
• More analytical tone
• Data-driven language acceptable
• Image prompts: professional, clean, sophisticated