# PREDICTED RATINGS · SAWED-OFF (X7, 28 Oct ~01:40, autonomous mode, per USER_TASTE.md §7 and §9)

## How it was judged
- **Renders:** every live sawed-off kill on 58k_sawedoff.html (41), from the live files, headless (one Chrome, common.cjs).
  - Each kill: a 10-frame strip from 0.3 s to the gore-5 final, plus the HIGH (g3) and LOW (g1) finals, 480 px.
  - Then close-ups at 800 px: the key frame and the XT final for every kill. 0.5 s runs for the doubtful ones: THE COUNT, GIBBET ROAD, THE PASS, DARK BELOW, BUBBLE NET, POINT BLANK, SAWN OFF and three mids.
- **Sheets:** `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/x7/pred/sawedoff/<key>.jpg`.
- **Close-ups:** `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/x7/pred/sawedoff/cl/*.jpg`.
- **Skipped:** sawedoff.silver, already on 58k_replace58.js.
- **Maps:** map counts are K58.mapCheck on the 17 dry maps. None of the rated kills is ≤ 8/17; the lowest is ROCKET JUMP at 11/17 (a generic high platform). DARK BELOW and BUBBLE NET are The Deep's own kills, so they STAY on map grounds.
- **Judged on what the page shows NOW:** the central faces-off, the zoom floor, the wide finals, A's gore ladder.
  - The ladder does NOT land on most sawed-off endings: about 20 XT finals end with the head whole.
  - These kills run C's own `s.ladderEnd` finals, or their own gore, which makes the ladder stand down.

**Counts (41 live): GOOD 7 · OK BUT 26 · REPLACE 8.**
- Sawed-off skews to REPLACE: C's lane is set-piece and pun heavy.
  - THE BARBER, SHOTGUN WEDDING, LAST CHORD, GET OFF MY LAWN and LAST SONG each ink in a prop set that does not exist in the map during gameplay, and that set IS the kill (the revolver MARQUEE rule).
  - THE MASK is built on faces.
- The GOODs are the clean weapon ideas: the bubble column, the barrels sawn shorter, the salt pillar, the reed ambush, the smoke, the starter's shot, the kick that sits Faris down.

| key | name | rating | note (exact chip phrases) | why (what I saw) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sawedoff.occupied | THE COUNT (cinematic DUEL by C) | ok | bones are showing, remove them · too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · head explosion needed · confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the climax at 21-22 s is near black) · body marks (the painted cut on Faris's cheek) | C's DUEL, built under the OLD rules. The spine is strong: the count out loud, the slide under the spread, the hook, the breech snapped shut on her forearm (the forearm is still clamped in his gun at the end). But for most of 26 s the figures are small and dark. 11-17 s is standing and circling, and the climax is almost black. The final is her chest opened into a cavity with white ribs, the head whole. All six levels end on that same opened body: there is no ladder, and LOW still shows the ribs. 16/17 (rooftops skip). Plan below. |
| sawedoff.gibbet-road | THE GIBBET ROAD (DEATH REALM) | ok | confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the realm is a grey murk) · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the hooded figure's glowing green eyes) · body marks (red dots on the tarred pieces) | Crossroads realm: he is tarred, the gibbet cage takes him up, and both barrels go up through the grating. Most of the realm is dark grey haze, and the cage and body barely read. Back home the cage drops and he lies in black tarred pieces dotted red. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.the-pass | THE PASS (DEATH REALM) | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) · bones are showing, remove them (the travellers' skull faces) · confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the death is hidden behind the crowd) | A snowbound wagon-train realm. Starving hooded travellers with skull faces kneel over him after the shot, and Faris ladles into their pot. The death itself is hidden behind them. Home: pieces on the roof. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.the-barber | THE BARBER | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · no facial expression needed (the blood death-mask face IS the payoff) | A barber's chair, a striped pole and a mirror ink in for the film, and they ARE the kill. The payoff is a face printed in blood on the towel (eyes, teeth), with the head sheared to a bowl. Remove the set and the face and nothing is left. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.twins | TWINS (2 victims) | ok | bones are showing, remove them · too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · head explosion needed | Real action: the twins clinch Faris from both sides ("ha ha ha") and he fires one barrel into each at once. But both end kneeling head to head, chests blown open into red cavities with white ribs, heads whole. 16/17. |
| sawedoff.shotgun-wedding | SHOTGUN WEDDING | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · head explosion needed | A pun gag: a wedding arch and a cake ink in, and the victim in a veil says "I DON'T...". BLAMBLAM folds him over the cake, and he ends intact, draped on it. The arch, cake and veil are the whole kill. 16/17. |
| sawedoff.rocket-jump | ROCKET JUMP | ok | bones are showing, remove them (the teeth in the crushed head) · head explosion needed | A real sawed-off move: Faris blasts the floor, rocket-jumps onto the platform and stomps him (HUFF KRRUNCH), with a REPLAY of the lift-off. The head ends as a cracked disc with a row of white teeth instead of bursting. 11/17 (a high platform: generic). |
| sawedoff.acid-rain | ACID RAIN | ok | body marks (green acid blisters dotted over the torso) · head explosion needed | An acid shell fired up; the green cloud rains on him (FWUMP) and he melts on his knees. The torso is covered in green and yellow blister dots. He ends lying, the head whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.possessed | POSSESSED | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the demon's eyes and mouth, the eyes on the dead husk) · head explosion needed · costume (party hat) | Possession horror: the crawl, SKREEE, the black demon bursting out. The demon is one big face (white eyes, red mouth). The dead body turns into a spiky dark husk that keeps its white eyes. No head burst. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.narrow-escape | NARROW ESCAPE | ok | head explosion needed · not realistic, needs weight and cause and effect (the split pole stands up as an A-frame) | He hides behind a cast pole, and the arms he sticks out get shot ("MY ARMS"). Then KRAKK: the pole splits and the halves stand like an A-frame over him. He ends lying under it, the head whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.dark-below | THE DARK BELOW (The Deep) | ok | confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (he sinks into the black and dies out of sight) · head explosion needed | Underwater-only (stays). After the shot he sinks into the dark under Faris, and nothing reads for about 3 s. Then a bled-white body floats up with a red mark on the head. |
| sawedoff.bubble-net | BUBBLE NET (The Deep) | good | (keep; small: the cat-ears costume) | Underwater-only (stays). Striking and clear: a ring of shots builds a bubble column that spins him up, Faris dives under it and fires straight up in slow-mo (OOMPH), and he blows apart in the old style, the pieces drifting up. |
| sawedoff.point-blank | POINT BLANK | ok | too zoomed in overall, zoom out through the whole film · there is camera movement bug (the camera rolled about 30° through the fall) · bones are showing, remove them (white vertebrae on the neck stump) · costume (party hat) | He clings and begs ("please", click). They wrestle and tumble on a rolled camera, then BLAMM: the head bursts and the headless body kneels under a blood fan (a payoff the user loves). But the struggle is tight and tilted, and the neck stump shows white vertebrae. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.last-chord | LAST CHORD | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · no facial expression needed (the dead face on the keys) | An upright piano slams down for the film and IS the kill ("shave and a haircut", then "two bits" through the case). He ends face-first on the keys with a drawn face. 11 s, mostly static. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.the-mask | THE MASK | replace | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the whole kill is masks and faces) | The kill is built on faces: a stitched hockey mask is shot off, a smiling face-mask is under it ("hi."), and the crafted finals use the faces. Remove the faces and nothing is left. He ends in pieces with the masks on the roof. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.hanging-on | HANGING ON | replace | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the red screaming mouth) · head explosion needed · costume (cat ears) | The OLD def is still live: "please please" at the lip, one shot, then a long static hang on a red mouth hole. No action, no payoff. C's approved wave-1 slot exists (DEATH REALM, THE LEAD HAIL), but it was written under the old rules (hands stripped to the bone, a front riddled with holes), so it must be re-scripted. 15/17 (an edge). |
| sawedoff.sawn-off | SAWN OFF | good | (keep; small: keep Faris in frame for the last 2 s, thin out the captions) | Weapon-specific and clever. Out of range and mocking, he gets the spread laid out; Faris kneels and saws the barrels shorter on the spot. The spread widens, and the slow-mo blast shreds him into a line of limb pieces across the floor, old style. 15/17. |
| sawedoff.amateur | AMATEUR | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the eye in the caved face) · head explosion needed | He takes the gun, loads clumsily and fires one-handed: the kick slams it into his own face (a slapstick premise). The caved face shows a drawn eye. He ends in pieces among broken glass, the helmeted head whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.out-of-range | OUT OF RANGE | ok | explode limbs, body and head in the old game style, scaled to the gore level (full at extreme) (jagged yellow chunks) · body marks (dark pellet dots on the body) | The line-in-the-sawdust taunt: the first spread falls short and he spits. Faris loads a slug and blows him into jagged chunks that read like peel, not the game's pieces. Small dark dots are painted on his body before that. 15/17. |
| sawedoff.pillar-of-salt | PILLAR OF SALT | good | (keep; small: no facial expression needed on the salt head) | A striking transformation: a rock-salt shell turns him into a white salt figure, the leg drops off and blood runs down the white. At HIGH he crumbles to a salt heap. The salt head has red eyes and teeth drawn on: remove that face and keep the pillar (policy §8). 17/17. |
| sawedoff.the-nudge | THE NUDGE | ok | head explosion needed | Poke, poke, to the lip; the windmill and "phew, ha!"; then both barrels send him across the gap in a burst of limbs. He lands in pieces on the next roof, but the head in the beanie stays whole. 15/17 (an edge). |
| sawedoff.kickback | KICKBACK | ok | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · bones are showing, remove them · confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the EQUAL AND OPPOSITE diagram insert) | Equal and opposite: Faris skids back in two furrows while he slides away on a long red track, and a diagram panel explains it. He ends with the torso opened into pink organs and white ribs. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.hot-hulls | HOT HULLS | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the burnt face with a red eye while he kneels) · head explosion needed | A clever sawed-off trick: he charges the open breech, Faris tips the two hot hulls into his face, and the half second is the reload. He kneels with a drawn burnt face before the second load blows him into pieces; the head piece stays whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.floorboard | FLOORBOARD | ok | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead (the opened back) · head explosion needed | Boot on his back, both barrels down through him into the boards. He hangs in the hole with his legs in a crawlspace cutaway and the back opened pink, the head whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-classic | GET OFF MY LAWN | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it | A porch, a picket fence, a KEEP OFF THE GRASS sign and boots on the pickets ink in for the film. He ends impaled on the fence with his head on a picket: the cast set IS the kill (a grumpy-old-man gag). 16/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-taped | HANGFIRE | ok | bones are showing, remove them (the skull face) · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) · head explosion needed | Click, click, he laughs, then the hangfire goes off in his face. The payoff is the face peeled to a white skull with eye sockets and teeth while he kneels. The misfire-then-hangfire idea still works with a head burst instead. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-camo | TWO REEDS | good | (keep; small: no facial expression needed on the eyes peeking out of the reeds) | A themed ambush: Faris in his own reed blind, the barrels two more reeds. The man searches ("come out, come out") and is blown apart from inside the reeds, old style. Two white eyes peek out of the reeds before the shot. 16/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-cartoon | BANG! | ok | head explosion needed | The cartoon flag gag: barrel one pops a BANG! flag and he laughs; barrel two fires the flag's stick through his head. He kneels, intact, with the stick in. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-ice | BLACK ICE | replace | confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening · head explosion needed · costume (party hat) | A strip of black ice in a cast snow field: he slips, Faris slides in and fires. The cause and effect is unclear, and he ends flat on the ice, intact. Weak beyond a fix (C also rated it the weakest skin). 16/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-neon | LAST SONG | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · head explosion needed | A neon jukebox inks in for the film and IS the kill ("last request", "one last time"), then BLAMBLAM into it. He ends kneeling against it, intact. Same case as revolver MARQUEE. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.skin-gold | GOLD DUST | ok | body marks (gold dust streaks painted on the wounds) · head explosion needed | The shells trickle gold dust. He crawls in the gold with gold streaks painted down his body and dies face-down, intact. A flat ending. 15/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-scattered | SCATTERED | ok | explode limbs, body and head in the old game style, scaled to the gore level (full at extreme) (blocky pink cubes) · costume (party hat) | Quick: two KA-BLAMs scatter him across the floor, but as blocky pink cubes, not the game's pieces with round wet caps. 15/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-smokescreen | SMOKESCREEN | good | (keep) | One clear idea: barrel one misses and its cloud hangs. He comes through it with a knife; Faris reloads in the smoke (CLACK) and barrel two blows him apart, old style. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-twirl | TWIRL | ok | bones are showing, remove them · too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · head explosion needed | The gun twirled round the finger fires on the turn and unzips him from hip to collarbone, on a rolled camera. He ends with the flank open over white ribs and pink, the head whole. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-empty-shell | EMPTY SHELL | ok | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · bones are showing, remove them · head explosion needed | "Everything inside goes out of his back": a pink gut coil and lungs fly, and he kneels hollow, with white ribs in the open chest. The concept leans on organs. The hollow-husk idea can stay, with the old explosion instead of the organs. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-harmonica | HARMONICA | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the mouth path drawn at the harmonica, listed in bone_face_sweep) | A gag premise: his dying breaths play chords through the harmonica at his lips. The shots are plain stand-and-shoot. The end is already the old explosion (white pieces). 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-false-start | FALSE START | good | (keep) | One clear idea, quick: he drops into a sprinter's crouch and breaks, and Faris is the starter. The shot as he runs (the FALSE START / DQ stamp) blows him apart in the old style, with brain bits at XT. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-both-down | BOTH DOWN | good | (keep; small: the white rib piece among the pieces, the party hat) | One clear weapon idea: the one-handed kick sits Faris down hard. The wounded man comes at him on his knees with a knife, and Faris fires up between his own boots (the insert) and blows him apart, still sitting. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-lasso | LASSO | ok | confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening · not realistic, needs weight and cause and effect | YEEHAW: a rope from nowhere lassos him, then a close of two huge purple fists, then the point-blank blast. He ends as an upright torso stub tied in the rope among the pieces: hard to read. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-trust-fall | TRUST FALL | ok | bones are showing, remove them (the teeth in the burst) | A trust-fall gag: he falls back onto the barrels (a giant back-of-the-head close), then KA-BLAMM. The burst leaves pink brain and a row of white teeth. 17/17. |
| sawedoff.mid-headlock | HEADLOCK | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (Faris's big drawn eye in the close-up) · too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · head explosion needed | Caught in a headlock, Faris looks back (a huge close of his head with a drawn eye) and fires back under his own arm. The man kneels with the belly opened, the head whole. Note: the backward under-arm shot is now BLIND FIRE's key move (smg). Keep this old kill, but never reuse the move. 17/17. |

## THE COUNT (sawedoff.occupied): the re-judgement under the new rules, and my fix plan
Rated OK BUT. The DUEL spine is worth keeping: the count, the slide under barrel one, the hook and the butt-stroke, the breech trap that takes the forearm.
- **Keep:** the choreography beats and the forearm left clamped in the closed breech (the strongest image).
- **Replace the payoff:** no torso opening, no ribs, no gut.
  - The last barrel at the lunge is LIMB OFF + SPRAY (the sickle arm whole at the shoulder), then the head explosion.
  - The full ladder via K58.STYLE per §9: XT explode with brain bits, VH/H limbs and head, MED one limb (sometimes the head), LOW a spurt and a slump, VL the soft stand-in.
  - Every level lands at the same payoff moment.
- **Readability:** lift the night grade so both fighters read at every beat. The climax at 21-22 s must be clearly lit.
- **Props:** make the sickles bigger and drawn like THE X's knife.
- **Faris:** no painted cut on his cheek; use a spurt at the hit instead.
- **Pacing:** cut the 11-17 s circling dead air to quick, fast THE X-style exchanges. Target about 18-20 s, down from 26.
- **Finish:** the 0.1 s continuity audit, the 18-map grid, perf, playall.

## HANGING ON (REPLACE): the slot
C's wave-1 concept for this key (THE LEAD HAIL, a DEATH REALM, approved 27 Oct 16:15) was written before the STYLE PICKS. As written it uses hands stripped to the bone and a front riddled with hundreds of holes, which are now banned. I will offer either:
- a re-scripted LEAD HAIL: the realm and the umbrella-shield kept; the hail takes the spear arm whole (LIMB OFF + SPRAY), the last volley pops the head; nothing painted; or
- a new idea.

I will send this in my beat-summary message for the REPLACE slots.

## Shared / central notes (for A or the coordinator)
- **The gore ladder misses most sawed-off endings:** about 20 XT finals end with the head whole. C's crafted `s.ladderEnd` finals, or the kill's own gore (opened torsos, char, acid), make STYLE.ending stand down. I will fix these per kill in my FIX step: def.ending58 / an explicit STYLE.ending at the payoff, with the crafted LOW/VL rungs kept where they fit §9.
- **Costumes on victims:** party hats (Hiba, Mikku), cat ears (Fida), the veil.
- **The stitched-hide mid zone opener** (harmonica, headlock) and the gold sigil opener are shared mid openers, not these kills; no eye seen on them here.

## Fix order (my queue, after COORD merges)
1. **Bugs:** POINT BLANK's rolled camera; LASSO's unreadable end.
2. **Hand-drawn faces / bones / organs / marks:**
   - Faces: POSSESSED demon, PILLAR OF SALT face, TWO REEDS eyes, HOT HULLS burnt face, AMATEUR eye, HANGFIRE skull, HEADLOCK eye, GIBBET ROAD eyes, THE PASS skull faces.
   - Ribs and organs: TWINS, KICKBACK, FLOORBOARD, TWIRL, EMPTY SHELL, HEADLOCK, THE COUNT.
   - Teeth: ROCKET JUMP, TRUST FALL. The POINT BLANK neck vertebrae.
   - Marks: ACID RAIN blisters, GOLD DUST streaks, OUT OF RANGE pellet dots, GIBBET ROAD dotted pieces.
   - Shotgun pellet wounds become small tears only.
3. **Head explosions where STYLE.ending doesn't land** (§9: XT always, H/VH usually, MED sometimes, never LOW).
4. **Zoom and confusing staging:** POINT BLANK, KICKBACK diagram, DARK BELOW, GIBBET ROAD murk, SCATTERED / OUT OF RANGE pieces to the game look.
5. **THE COUNT rework** (plan above).
6. **The 8 REPLACE builds:** one beat-summary message first, then build each on the OK.