What’s real on screen

The shot ladder Name the shot by what’s real.

Every AI shot keeps part of the shoot and makes the rest. The shot ladder names a shot by what is still real in the final frame.

Each step down keeps one more layer of the shoot: less stays free in post, and more must be locked on set. It sits next to our cost control scale: the Levels say what control costs, the ladder says what is real.

Tap a step to read it.Each row is a step. The detail of every step is under the chart.

Kept from the shoot
Made by AI
Plan the light before the shoot

Step 1GEN

Levels 1–5 · Mostly AICreated with AI

GEN: Nothing from the shoot. AI makes the whole frame.

No plate exists. The inputs are generated images, 3D layouts or motion guides.

Use for: Establishing, wide and extreme wide shots of places that don’t exist. A few seconds each.
Free in post: Everything.
Lock on set: Where the light comes from in the scene.

Before the shoot

Decide where the light sources are, and light the closer shots from that idea before you shoot them. If nobody plans it, VFX is left with two bad options:

A Light this shot badly, so it matches the other shots.
B Light it well, so it doesn’t match the light of the closer shots.

Label

Created with AI. IPTC: “Created using Generative AI”.

Consent

When a GEN shot shows a real actor, the face is generated: the actor’s contract must cover AI likeness.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

Yes

Generated again at sunset. Nothing fights it, as long as the close-ups were lit for sunset too.

Step 2REGEN

Levels 1–5 · Mostly AICreated with AI

REGEN: AI repaints every pixel, following the shoot.

The plate drives the model. It follows performance, timing, camera move and likeness; every final pixel is AI.

Use for: Wides and full shots, with the actors small or medium in frame. To relight, re-dress, move or restyle a scene.
Free in post: Light, costume, place and style.
Lock on set: Performance and camera move.

Variants

REGEN match Nothing changes on purpose, only better integration. The cheapest REGEN.
REGEN + relight
REGEN + wardrobe
REGEN + place
REGEN + style

Before the shoot

Avoid close-ups. The face is redrawn and can drift from the actor.

Label

Created with AI. IPTC: “Created using Generative AI”.

Consent

The actor’s face is generated, so the actor’s contract must cover AI likeness. Under the 2026 SAG-AFTRA deal, a replica built from the production’s own footage counts as a digital replica.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

Yes

Regenerated with sunset light. Performance and camera move stay as shot.

Step 3FACE

Level 6 · HybridEdited with AI

FACE: The face stays real. Body and world are AI.

The whole frame is regenerated as an intermediate step, then the face comes back from the plate.

Use for: Mids and close-ups where the face carries the performance and the body doesn’t.
Free in post: Body, costume and world.
Lock on set: Performance, camera move and the light on the face.

Before the shoot

Light the face 100% as the final world will light it. Bring references and 3D on set for accuracy.

Label

Edited with AI. IPTC: “Edited using Generative AI”.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

If lit for it

Only if the face was lit for sunset on set. Otherwise the real face won’t match the new world.

Step 4BODY

Level 6 · HybridEdited with AI

BODY: The people stay real. The world is AI.

The whole subject, full body (or a product), comes from the plate. The world is generated around it.

Use for: Action, dance, contact, any full-body performance. Actors on full green screen in a generated world, even small in frame. In an ad, a real product in a generated world.
Free in post: The world, matched to the light on set.
Lock on set: Performance, camera move, full-body light, shadows and contact points.

Before the shoot

Light the actors 100% as the final world will light them. Bring references and 3D on set. A green or blue screen means a key instead of rotoscoping whole bodies.

Label

Edited with AI. IPTC: “Edited using Generative AI”.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

If lit for it

Only if the actors were lit for sunset on set.

Step 5SET

Level 6 · HybridEdited with AI

SET: People and a built piece of the set stay real. AI extends the rest.

The classic set extension, done as AI outpainting. Part of the frame is plate, the rest is generated.

Use for: Set extensions, for example a real wall and floor with an AI street beyond.
Free in post: The extension, matched to the built set.
Lock on set: Everything in BODY, plus the built set, its light and its perspective.

Before the shoot

Place tracking markers and scan the built set, so the extension matches its light and perspective.

Label

Edited with AI. IPTC: “Edited using Generative AI”.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

If lit for it

Only if the actors and the built set were lit for sunset.

Step 6ADD

Level 7 · AI-enhanced VFXEdited with AI

ADD: The whole shot stays real. AI adds elements.

The plate is untouched. AI elements are composited into it.

Use for: An object on a table, a sign, a crowd in the background.
Free in post: Only the added elements.
Lock on set: Everything.

Before the shoot

Plan it as a VFX shot, with green screen where needed, tracking markers and references.

Label

Edited with AI. IPTC: “Edited using Generative AI”.

The change test

“Make it sunset.”

No. The plate stays as shot, and a grade only goes so far.

The ladder and the Levels

Two axes, not one. The Levels price it. The ladder names it.

The cost control scale says how much control a shot buys and what it costs. The ladder says what is real on screen. A shot carries both, for example Level 5 · REGEN + style.

Freedom and planning follow the ladder strictly; cost only roughly. One added object (ADD) can cost less than a BODY shot, so the price still comes from the Levels, shot by shot.
Use the lower steps on fewer shots, and decide which ones before the shoot.

The Generative Control Levels

Levels 1–5 · Mostly AIGEN REGENCreated with AI
Level 6 · HybridFACE BODY SETEdited with AI
Level 7 · AI-enhanced VFXADDEdited with AI
Levels 8–10No stepOff the ladder: no generated pixels on screen.

How to classify a shot

Name the shot by what’s real. Never by the technique.

01
The final-pixel rule. Classify a shot by what is real in the final frame, never by the technique. A green-screen key or an AI regeneration with the plate restored: if the same things are real in the end, it’s the same step.
02
One name per shot. Name it by the outermost layer kept from the shoot. Extra AI elements don’t change the step: a SET shot with an added AI object is still SET.
03
A set extension needs real set. If part of the built set is in the final frame, it’s SET. If only the people are real, it’s BODY.
04
Small actors on full green screen are BODY. However small they are in frame, with everything around them built by AI it’s an environment replacement, not an extension.
05
Half the frame real is SET. A real wall and the actor, the other half generated: it contains GenAI, but real pixels survive, so it’s edited with AI, not created.
06
SET or ADD? If AI replaces part of the background, it’s SET. If AI puts things into a background that stays real, it’s ADD.
07
Products count as BODY. In an ad, a real product kept from the plate inside a generated world is BODY.
08
Flag the performance and the likeness. No step changes them by design. Any change goes on the shot list in words, for example “REGEN + de-age (needs consent)”.

Illustrative example, not a real project

One scene, six steps. Decided before the shoot.

Labels and consent

Created or edited. The final frame decides.

Created with AI

GENREGEN

Nothing of the shoot survives in the final frame. IPTC: “Created using Generative AI” (trainedAlgorithmicMedia).

Edited with AI

FACEBODYSETADD

Real pixels of the shoot survive. IPTC: “Edited using Generative AI” (compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia), defined through inpainting and outpainting; an AI set extension is outpainting.

Consent

In REGEN, and in GEN when it shows a real actor, the actor’s face is generated: the contract must cover AI likeness. From FACE down, the face is real pixels. Any change to a performance or a likeness is flagged on the shot list.

Where it sits

As of October 2026 we know of no published standard that splits AI shots by what is real in the final frame. The existing ones say whether AI reached the screen, or protect the actor; the ladder fits inside them.

The IPTC Digital Source Type terms were checked on 28 October 2026. Labels, the EU deep-fake rule and consent in full: AI and the law. Not legal advice.

Q&A

The shot ladder in four questions.

Something else on your mind? Ask us on WhatsApp.

Is a set extension made with AI “AI-generated”?

No: it is AI-edited. A set extension keeps real pixels from the shoot (the people and a built piece of the set) and generates the rest, which is outpainting. On the shot ladder it is a SET shot, labelled “Edited with AI”, which matches the IPTC metadata term “Edited using Generative AI”.

A shot counts as created with AI only when nothing of the shoot survives in the final frame: GEN and REGEN.

What’s the difference between an AI-generated and an AI-edited shot?

An AI-generated shot has no pixel of the shoot in the final frame; an AI-edited shot keeps real pixels and generates or adds the rest. What decides it is the final frame, not the technique: a green-screen key and an AI regeneration with the plate restored are the same step if the same things are real in the end.

On the shot ladder, GEN and REGEN are generated (REGEN follows the filmed performance but repaints every pixel). FACE, BODY, SET and ADD are edited. In IPTC metadata the two are “Created using Generative AI” (trainedAlgorithmicMedia) and “Edited using Generative AI” (compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia).

Why must the lighting be planned before an AI shot?

Because the real pixels you keep can’t be convincingly relit later. When the face or the whole actor stays real (FACE and BODY), they must be lit on set exactly as the final, generated world will light them, with references and 3D on set for accuracy.

Even a fully generated wide (GEN) needs it: decide where the light comes from before the closer shots are filmed. Otherwise VFX is left with two bad options: light the wide badly so it matches the closer shots, or light it well so it doesn’t.

Can AI change an actor’s performance in post?

It can, but no step of the shot ladder does it by design: from REGEN down, the performance and the camera move are locked on set. Any change to a performance or a likeness goes on the shot list as its own flag, for example “REGEN + de-age (needs consent)”.

In REGEN the actor’s face is generated even though it follows the filmed performance, so the actor’s contract must cover AI likeness. More in AI and the law. This is not legal advice.

Planning a production?

Send us the shot list. We'll name every shot.

Share the script or the shot list on WhatsApp. You'll get a step and a level for each shot, and what must be locked on set, before the shoot.

Let's talk Connect on LinkedIn