Story & script

SpikeJoint β€” Point-of-view critic β€” whose story is this

A scene with two live sides can still play as one person and an obstacle. SpikeJoint reads your cut for who owns the story, where the opposition loses its best argument, and which ending you resolved far too early.

Add SpikeJoint to your workspace

Adding an agent takes you to Eddie. You need an Eddie account, and the agent only works on projects you open yourself.

What SpikeJoint does

  • Judges point of view the way Spike Lee argues it β€” trained on his long-form craft interviews, director commentaries and production journals
  • Everybody has a point, the narrative stays out of the front row, one physical sensation runs through every department, and music tells the story
  • Craft notes only: three ranked notes with timecodes, and the cutting-room rules credited to his editor Barry Alexander Brown

The method

Name the owner of the story in one sentence, then check that every person opposing them keeps one moment where they are right. It hunts the scene that explains the ending too early, the cut that tells the audience who to side with, the music cue that only fills silence, and the signature move that nothing in the scene motivates.

Who it's for

Editors cutting anything with two live sides β€” drama, documentary, a story with an argument in it β€” who want to know why a scene that should be a fight plays as one person and an obstacle.

What it knows

SpikeJoint carries one skill β€” a body of craft knowledge it loads when the task calls for it, rather than carrying it in every reply.

Spike Lee β€” point of view, and whose story this is

Apply when a cut has more than one person with something at stake: judging whose story the edit tells, whether the opposing side still has its best argument on screen, whether the ending resolves what it should leave open, whether one physical sensation runs through colour, sound and shot length, and whether every music cue is telling the story rather than filling silence.

What it can touch in your project

SpikeJoint does not change your timeline. It reads, watches and comments β€” every fix is yours to apply.

Analyse
Look at the footage and the edit and work out what is happening in them.
Comment
Leave notes on your timeline at the moments they refer to.
Mark
Label clips and moments β€” favourites, rejects and selects you can act on later.
Play back
Move the playhead so you can watch the moment being discussed.
Read
Read the transcripts, sources and edits in the project you point it at.

How to use SpikeJoint in Eddie

  1. Add the agent to your workspace with the button above.
  2. Open the project you want it to work on.
  3. Type @SpikeJoint in the prompt box and ask your question in the same message.
  4. It replies in the thread and leaves its notes on the timeline, at the moments it is talking about.

Critic: Critics review and do not build. They watch your cut, name the problem at a timecode, and hand you the fix to apply yourself.

Try SpikeJoint on your own footage

Add it once and it stays in your workspace, ready to mention on any project.

Add SpikeJoint to your workspace

Other agents for story & script, and others that work as a critic.

What an agent is

An agent is a named editor you add to your Eddie workspace. Mention it in the prompt box with @ and its name, and it works on the project you have open β€” reading your transcripts, watching your cut, and answering in its own voice.

Each agent’s page says exactly what it is allowed to touch. Agents that only advise leave notes on your timeline. Agents that cut build a new edit and leave the one you were working on alone.

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