# PREDICTED RATINGS · SPEAR (X7, 28 Oct ~12:40, autonomous mode, per USER_TASTE.md §7 and §9)

## How it was judged
- **Renders:** every live spear kill on 58k_spear.html (24), rendered headless from the live files (one Chrome, through _tools/render_slot.sh), 0 page errors.
  - Each kill: a 10-frame strip from 0.3 s to the gore-5 final, plus the HIGH (g3) and LOW (g1) finals.
  - Then a level sheet per kill: the frame 1.5 s before the final and the final, at every gore level g5..g0. This was needed because the spear lane gives VH and H their own "insert camera" endings (see Bugs).
  - Then 800 px close-ups for the doubtful frames: PINNED, MAYPOLE, FOREST, TAPPED, LED BY THE NOSE, FIRE DRILL, CLOTHESLINE, SNAPPED, YOURS I THINK, POINTER, MELTWATER, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and the mids at g3.
- **Sheets:**
  - strips and finals: `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/x7/pred/spear/spear.<key>.jpg`;
  - level sheets: `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/x7/pred/spear/lv/<key>_lv.jpg`;
  - close-ups: `/Volumes/Workspace/Scratch/x7/pred/spear/cl/*.jpg`.
- **Not rated** (already on 58k_replace58.js): the-narrow-way, top-of-the-pole, the-cue, the-bindle, fended-off, skin-taped.
- **Maps** (K58.mapCheck on the 17 dry maps): none of the rated kills is ≤ 8/17.
  - The lowest are PINNED and TAPPED at 13/17 (they need a wall: generic) and SPOKES at 15/17.
  - FLOUNDER and KELP are The Deep's own kills (UNDERWATER, 0/17 dry), so they STAY on map grounds.
- Judged on what the page shows NOW, with the central fixes live: faces off via K.FACES, the zoom floor, wide finals, the gore ladder.
  - The ladder does NOT land here: every spear film writes its own per-level endings (the "THE LADDER: XT ... VH ... H ..." blocks), so the ladder stands down.
  - Not one XT final ends on a head explosion.
- **Hats:** identity hats stay and are not flagged. Face-area pieces are flagged: Nitha's headphones in THE DOOR, the nose ring in LED BY THE NOSE.
- The chip phrases in the note column are the exact rating-bar phrases (58k_rate.js QUICK).

**Counts (24 rated): GOOD 4 · OK BUT 11 · REPLACE 9.** With the 6 already on replace58, that is 15 REPLACE slots of 30.
- The spear lane leans on set pieces and gags. The film inks in, or Faris casts, the thing that IS the kill:
  - a door, a bicycle, a rug, a sentry box, a gallows scaffold, a show ring with a nose ring;
  - the victim's own gut wound round the spear as a maypole ribbon.
- It also often ends on a heart-monitor inset or a face close-up instead of a body.
- The GOODs are the kills built on the spear itself:
  - the stake raised in a forest of stakes;
  - the tapped man drained to a husk into a sap bucket;
  - the snapped spear driven back in as two stakes;
  - the point sent down the gun barrel.

## Bugs seen while rendering (fix first, in the FIX step)
- **The per-level "insert" endings (the lane's biggest problem).** Many spear films cut, at VH and/or H (and once at VL), to a giant close-up or a silhouette for the final. These shots have drawn faces, lose Faris, and break the wide-final rule. At XT the same films end wide.
  - **CLOTHESLINE:**
    - VH: a huge front close-up of him sitting, with star eyes and an open mouth.
    - H: a huge close-up of his purple face (eyes, mouth) with the crushed ring round the neck.
    - The XT final head is also purple, with a red bulging eye.
  - **THE TAP:**
    - VH: a giant heart-monitor inset over his huge purple face with an eye.
    - H: a black silhouette with a white eye.
  - **TRAPDOOR:**
    - VH: an insert straight down the hatch, of her splayed with a face in a blood star.
    - H: her giant dark head with an eye, filling the left of the frame.
    - VL: a giant pink head close-up (party hat) under the scaffold.
  - **POINTER:**
    - VH: straight down on him, a big cyan figure with eyes and a mouth.
    - H: a dark macro with a huge teal head disc filling the left and the body a smudge.
  - **FLOUNDER:**
    - VH: a yellow face with an eye, close.
    - H: a black silhouette held up on the spear.
  - **KELP:** H is a tight macro of the kelp ball; Faris is only a plate.
  - **SNAPPED:** H dims to a vignette glow on the body (minor).
- **THE DOOR, VH final** (A's item, confirmed): the door is shut on the final and Faris is hidden behind it. At XT, H and L he stands in the doorway.
- **SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, 6.2 s:** the camera cuts to a giant crop of Faris's head and shoulder, with the crown cut off by the top edge (about 1 s).
- **SPOKES, finals:** so wide that Faris and the victim are tiny at opposite edges, the victim a smudge under the bike. LOW looks the same as XT (no alive cue).
- **Victim colours:** cyan victims (KELP, LED BY THE NOSE, POINTER) and white victims (PINNED, THE SENTRY, HALL OF THE SLAIN, CLOTHESLINE) sit close to blue Faris (WEAPON_QUEUE NEWS: contrasting victims).

| key | name | rating | note (exact chip phrases) | why (what I saw) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| spear.forest-of-stakes | THE FOREST OF STAKES (DEATH REALM) | good | (keep; small: head explosion needed at XT per §9, the pieces are already there) | Real spear action into a striking realm. The thrust (red crack), then he is raised high on the shaft into a dusk forest of stakes full of grey impaled dead, and slides down it. Home: he lies in pieces with the soul rising, and LOW sits him down. The head piece stays whole. 16/17. |
| spear.pinned | PINNED | ok | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · head explosion needed | The thrust pins him to the wall, then he walks himself up the shaft at Faris ("hhnnh"), drawing a long pink gut loop off the wall behind him. He ends kneeling at Faris's feet, the head whole. The walk up the shaft is strong. The gut loop is the problem. 13/17 (needs a wall). |
| spear.fire-drill | FIRE DRILL | ok | head explosion needed · confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the bow-drill on his back reads only as a blur of smoke and flame) | Faris drives the spear down into him like a bow drill until he catches fire and burns, with a spark burst at the end. The body is hidden in the flames for the last 3 s, and the final is a fireball, no body read. 16/17. |
| spear.maypole | MAYPOLE | replace | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead · not realistic, needs weight and cause and effect | The concept IS the organs: the point snags his gut, and he runs round the planted spear, winding his own intestine round it like a maypole ribbon until he is bound to it. Take the gut away and nothing is left (§4, a concept built on what the user removes). The final shows him intact, wrapped on the pole. 16/17. |
| spear.the-door | THE DOOR | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · head explosion needed · camera movement bug (jumps, jitters, loses the action or frames the wrong thing) (VH final: Faris hidden behind the shut door) | Striking light: each thrust through the door puts a beam of light through the dark room. But the door inks in for the film on every map, and it IS the kill (the MARQUEE rule). The victim wears Nitha's headphones. He ends slumped by the open door, intact. 17/17. |
| spear.flounder | FLOUNDER (The Deep) | ok | head explosion needed · too zoomed at the end, zoom out (VH face close-up, H silhouette) · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (VH insert) | Underwater-only (stays). He lies buried in the sand like a flatfish, eyes peeking. Faris spears down into the sand and lifts him up on the point. The XT final is clear (him on the spear above Faris), but VH and H cut to inserts. |
| spear.kelp | KELP (The Deep) | ok | head explosion needed · too zoomed at the end, zoom out (H macro on the kelp ball) | Underwater-only (stays). He hides in the kelp, the kelp knots round him into a green ball, and Faris spears the ball and lifts it. The death happens inside the ball, so you see only a red cloud. Cyan victim next to blue Faris. |
| spear.tapped | TAPPED | good | (keep; small: head explosion needed at XT per §9; no facial expression needed on the husk's dark eye dots) | A striking transformation, practical props only (a bucket from behind his back, a crate). Pinned to the wall, he is tapped like a maple: plink, plink into the bucket while Faris sits and waits, and he greys and shrinks to a brown husk on the spear. In the DUST DEVIL family. 13/17 (needs a wall). |
| spear.led-by-the-nose | LED BY THE NOSE | replace | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the nose ring the whole kill hangs on) · head explosion needed | A livestock-show gag: the point hooks a ring through his nose, and Faris leads him round the cage ring like a bull (BEST IN SHOW), then poleaxes him with the butt. The ring through the face is the kill, and the payoff is a man lying on the floor. Cyan victim. 16/17. |
| spear.three-to-one | THREE TO ONE | ok | head explosion needed | Real reach-versus-blade action: a swordsman with blades comes in, and the spear keeps him out, parries, sweeps and runs him through. He ends kneeling over his swords, cut, the head whole. Readable, and it could go GOOD with a real payoff. 16/17. |
| spear.swept-under-the-rug | SWEPT UNDER THE RUG | 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 rug inks into the saloon, Faris sweeps him under it with the spear like a broom, and stamps the lump flat (THUD). The death is hidden under the rug, and the final is Faris sweeping a flat rug. 16/17. |
| spear.spokes | SPOKES | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · head explosion needed · camera movement bug (jumps, jitters, loses the action or frames the wrong thing) (finals far too wide) | He rides in on a bicycle that only exists for the film; the spear in the spokes (TWANG) throws him over the bars and the bike lands on him. The bike IS the kill. The finals are tiny figures at opposite edges. 15/17. |
| spear.skin-classic | THE SENTRY | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · head explosion needed | A gag: Faris stands guard in a sentry box that inks in, stone-faced while the man taunts him, then does the drill (PRESENT ARMS) and drops him. The box and the deadpan guard bit are the whole kill (the GET OFF MY LAWN case). He ends lying, intact. 17/17. |
| spear.skin-camo | DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE | ok | head explosion needed | A camo theme: the camo man lies hidden in the grass, Faris walks over him without noticing ("hm?"), then spears down (MMMF, CRK) and walks on ("hmm. gone."). Clear, but a soft payoff: he lies hidden in the grass, intact. 17/17. |
| spear.skin-cartoon | THE RAKE | ok | head explosion needed | The rake gag with the spear: it lies on the grass, he steps on the head, and the shaft WHACKs up into his face. He reels and drops, and lies face-down. Clean cause and effect, but the payoff is small. 17/17. |
| spear.skin-ice | MELTWATER | ok | head explosion needed | The ice point (CRACK) freezes him from the wound out ("cold... COLD", "PLEASE"). He goes white, staggers, and falls apart into frozen white pieces in a blood pool. The freeze is a real transformation, but the ending is a lying body with the head whole. 17/17. |
| spear.skin-neon | SINGIN' IN THE RAIN | replace | confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (how the puddle kills him) · camera movement bug (jumps, jitters, loses the action or frames the wrong thing) (giant crop of Faris at 6.2 s) · head explosion needed | A dance-number gag: the neon spear planted as a lamp post, Faris swings round it in the rain, he slides through the puddle (WHEEE) into a current and fries ("AAAAA"). The death reads as a smoky lump on the roof. The dance IS the kill, with no action payoff. 17/17. |
| spear.skin-gold | THE HALL OF THE SLAIN (DEATH REALM) | ok | head explosion needed · confusing: the script is not understandable, can not tell what is happening (the Valhalla middle) | 21 s. The thrust (golden lightning), then a gold Valhalla hall of grey warriors where he wakes, is handed a sword, fights and falls again. Home, he lies on the stones. The middle 8 s is small figures in a sepia hall, and the link to Faris's kill is unclear. H adds a gold coin. 16/17. |
| spear.mid-snapped | SNAPPED | good | (keep; small: head explosion needed at XT per §9) | One clear weapon idea, quick: he grabs and snaps the spear, laughing ("HAHA"), and Faris drives both broken halves into him (AAAH), an X in the chest. He falls crossed by the two shafts. 17/17. |
| spear.mid-pointer | POINTER | good | (keep; small: unwanted wound marks painted on the body (the steel pepper on the face) · fix the VH/H inserts (face, too zoomed)) | One clear idea: he points the gun, and the spear point goes straight down the barrel (NNGAH). The gun peels open in his hands and his head and hat go up in a spray. The XT is the nearest thing to a head burst on this page. Cyan victim. 17/17. |
| spear.mid-yours-i-think | YOURS, I THINK | ok | head explosion needed · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the blackened face) | He pulls a grenade pin (ping), and Faris bats the grenade back off the spear blade onto him ("NO NO NO"). The blast leaves him lying against the crate, the head blackened with drawn features in a soot star. A grenade at the face should pop the head. 17/17. |
| spear.mid-trapdoor | TRAPDOOR | replace | tied to an element that does not exist in the map during gameplay (pre-placed, not practical), replace it · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the VH, H and VL face inserts) · too zoomed at the end, zoom out | Faris casts a wooden gallows scaffold for her to taunt from ("can't reach, slow boy?"), the point taps the hatch bolt, and she falls head first. The cast scaffold IS the kill. Three of the six level endings are giant face close-ups. 17/17. |
| spear.mid-clothesline | CLOTHESLINE | ok | no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) (the XT head's bulging red eye, the VH and H face close-ups) · too zoomed at the end, zoom out (VH, H) · head explosion needed | One clear idea: he runs at Faris, and the shaft held across catches his throat (KRRK) and flips him flat. The action is good. But XT ends on a purple head with a bulging eye, and VH and H are big face close-ups. 17/17. |
| spear.mid-the-tap | THE TAP | replace | too much internal organ detail, use the simple explosion instead (the heart in the inset is the payoff) · no facial expression needed (no eyes, no mouth) · too zoomed at the end, zoom out | "Come on, HIT ME": one tap of the butt on his chest, and a heart-monitor inset shows the heart stopping and the line going flat, and he drops. There is no hit and no gore: the inset heart IS the kill. VH is a giant inset over his face, and H a silhouette with an eye. 17/17. |