Scene-level setup / payoff tracking
The most distinctive use of scene-level notes: Setup / Payoff tracking. Mark scenes with "this plants X setup" / "this pays off Y setup" — see the whole script's setup-payoff map at a glance.
Why setup / payoff tracking matters
Writing into Episode 8 of a long series, finding "where did I plant that key prop from Episode 2?" gets hard. Scene-level setup / payoff lets you:
- Mark on the scene directly: this scene plants a setup (e.g. "an old photo on the lighthouse wall")
- Mark payoff in a later scene: this scene pays off the setup (e.g. "A. Smith recognises her father in the photo")
- Slima can list all unpaid setups or find matching payoffs
How to access
Usually from the Scene Detail Panel:
- Switch to the "Notes" / "Setup-Payoff" section
- + Add Setup: write a one-liner "what does this plant" + a tag (e.g.
#photo-setup) - + Add Payoff: in a later scene, mark "this pays off
#photo-setup"
Whole-script setup / payoff dashboard
Some versions provide a dashboard view:
- All Setups: what's planted, where, by which scene
- All Payoffs: what's resolved, where
- Unpaid Setups: red flag "no resolution yet"
- Orphan Payoffs: orange flag "no matching setup"
Integration with AI Coach
The AI Coach in Script Studio, when reading the whole script, ingests setup / payoff metadata — you can ask "Did I pay off the #photo-setup planted in E3?" and the AI answers using the metadata + dialogue.
Design intent
Long scripts easily lose track of setup / payoff alignment. Slima moves this from "author memory or external spreadsheet" to "annotated on the scene itself, cross-scene queryable" — massive cognitive-load drop for long-form narrative.
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