Script Studio

Scene-level setup / payoff tracking

4 min read

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.

Slima Script Studio Scene Board as a visual reference; Setup / Payoff tracking sits inside Scene Detail Panel / scene-level notes

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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