japanese-wabi-sabi

Imported from okou-ai/vm0-skills (video-template/japanese-wabi-sabi/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add okou-ai/vm0-skills --skill japanese-wabi-sabi. Copyright stays with the author.

Japanese Wabi-Sabi

A wabi-sabi lifestyle style, not a fixed scene. Keep the user's subject exactly as briefed — an object, a corner, a moment — and render it in the quiet, imperfect, softly-lit look below. The style supplies the mood; the user supplies the what. Tuned for Seedance (the platform's default video model): the prompt follows Seedance's subject → scene → motion → camera → light → style ordering.

Video preview

1. Before generating a video, prepare a few keyframes matching the user's subject, style, and aspect ratio. Reuse suitable supplied or already approved images.
2. Show the actual images through accessible links, briefly describe the intended motion, and ask the user to confirm. End the turn and wait; do not start a video job before confirmation. Revise the preview if requested.
3. After confirmation, generate the video. Use the approved images as first/last frames or references when supported by the selected model; otherwise follow the approved visual direction in the prompt. Reuse existing confirmation for an unchanged preview.

Keep the preview message short: the images, a brief motion description, and one confirmation question.

What this style is

The essence: find beauty in imperfection, age, and quiet — a small, humble subject held in soft light and empty space, unhurried. The goal is calm and intimacy (the beauty of the incomplete and impermanent), not spectacle or polish.

Touchstones: Japanese wabi-sabi philosophy, Muji / Kinfolk lifestyle films, slow-living and tea-ceremony aesthetics, soft natural-light still-life.

What makes it distinct: intimacy + imperfection + soft warm light. Small in scale and gentle — the opposite of grand or saturated. Aged organic materials, negative space, and a single hushed moment.

Style dimensions (locked)

• Visual tone — warm & natural, muted: soft warm morning light, understated muted colors; never punchy or saturated.
• Camera — slow push-in: a slow, gentle drift toward the subject; often a low, intimate angle; shallow depth of field.
• Editing pace — slow & meditative: long, quiet, breathing takes; no cutting.
• Narrative mode — observational: a quiet found moment; no narration.
• Production type — live action: photoreal, tactile real-world footage.
• Emotional tone — calm & meditative: serene, intimate, contemplative.
• Style reference — wabi-sabi: imperfection, aging, and quiet beauty in impermanence.

Prompt construction

Write one cohesive video prompt in your own words, adapted to the subject. Hit these beats in Seedance order:

subject (as briefed) → intimate setting with aged organic materials → small quiet motion (drifting steam, a falling petal, soft breeze) → slow gentle push-in, shallow focus → soft warm morning light → muted wabi-sabi calm

Always convey: natural imperfection and aged organic textures (wood, stone, moss, ceramic) · soft warm morning light · generous negative space · shallow depth of field · a quiet unhurried single moment · muted understated color.

Never: urban clutter, artificial/hard light, saturated punchy color, fast pacing, glossy perfection, busy composition.

Adapt the humble subject and its textures to the brief. Put aspect ratio, negatives, and seed in the params.

Generation parameters

• aspectRatio: 16:9 (or 9:16 for vertical lifestyle clips).
• resolution & model tier: pick a tier that supports the resolution — fast tiers cap lower (often 720p); 1080p needs a full tier.
• duration: 5–8s; let one small motion and the light breathe.
• negativePrompt: urban clutter, artificial light, hard light, saturated colors, fast pacing, glossy perfection, busy composition, low resolution.
• generateAudio: optional — soft ambient (birdsong, water, breeze) suits the calm.
• seed: mild lever for text-to-video; for look consistency use firstFrameImageUrl.
• firstFrameImageUrl: use the approved opening frame when the selected model supports this input.

How to apply

Hold the user's subject in soft warm light and empty space, small and quiet, with aged natural textures. If the brief wants something bold, bright, fast, or grand, this isn't the fit.

Worked examples

Same quiet wabi-sabi look; the subject changes.

1. "a cobblestone alley at dawn" → low-angle on a wet stone path, fallen cherry petals, moss and aged ceramics, soft warm light (the picker thumbnail).
2. "a cup of tea" → a weathered ceramic teacup on an aged wooden veranda, faint steam, soft morning light, shallow focus (see reference still).
3. "a potted plant by a window" → a single plant in soft diffused light, dust motes drifting, muted tones, negative space.
4. "handmade pottery" → an imperfect clay bowl on linen, gentle push-in catching the glaze texture, warm quiet light.

Reference output

The reference still holds the wabi-sabi look on a different subject (teacup vs. alley) — the style is subject-invariant. Use an approved frame of the user's subject when supported.