stagefight

Original：🇺🇸 English
Translated

Use when the user asks for stagefight or a task matching the examples below. Generate a viral "fan-filmed staged fight" clip — POV phone footage of two costumed performers having a choreographed cosplay battle on an elaborate themed stage at a live outdoor event, with a believable live-stage effect (smoke / colored fire / water geyser) and a crowd in the foreground filming. A gpt-image-2 stage still → image-to-video (Seedance, ~10s, 16:9). The advertiser-safe "theatrical performance" framing is what gets fight content past moderation. Triggers: "/stagefight", "make a staged fight video", "fan-filmed cosplay fight", "ninja/samurai stage battle", "that staged fight trend". Requires the pika MCP.

7installs
Sourcepika-labs/pika-plugins
Added on

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add pika-labs/pika-plugins stagefight

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter
ai-video-generationcosplay-stage-fightpika-mcpcontent-moderationstage-performance

SKILL.md Content

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stagefight

A two-call pika pipeline: stage still (
generate_image
, gpt-image-2) → fight clip (
generate_video
, image-to-video, ~10s, 16:9). The clip is fan-filmed POV phone footage of a choreographed cosplay performance on a themed stage — two performers clash, a live-stage effect bursts, the crowd reacts. One run produces one clip for one matchup.
The core job of this skill: figure out WHO is fighting (ask the user, or suggest matchups), then AUTHOR fresh prompts in the structure of the bundled examples and generate a new video. The examples in 
examples/
are the pattern to follow, not a fixed catalog — every run should produce a new matchup composed the same way. The look is calibrated and the safety framing is load-bearing: keep every fixed sentence of the two templates and fill only the marked 
[SLOTS]
.

★ Why it works — the method (this is the actual research, do not drop any of it)

Raw "two people fighting" prompts get moderation-blocked. These four moves are what make fight content reliably generate, and together they ARE the trend's aesthetic:
  1. Frame it as a wholesome theatrical performance. Every clip prompt opens, verbatim: "Wholesome theatrical stage performance, choreographed cosplay, advertiser-safe." and closes with "Believable live-stage effects, not cartoon magic." This reframes combat as a stunt show, which clears the safety pass. Never describe injury, blood, real weapons connecting, or "cartoon magic" — describe choreography, props, and stage pyrotechnics.
  2. Fan-filmed audience POV. "POV handheld phone footage from the audience, raised above other people's heads filming the stage," with "a large audience in the foreground — dark silhouetted heads, many holding up phones recording." This is both the viral "I was there" aesthetic AND part of the safety (it reads as documenting a performance, not real violence).
  3. Costumed ORIGINAL characters — never real people, never named IP. Use archetypes ("a lean samurai in a straw hat", "a horned demon in black robes", "a spiky-blond-haired ninja in an orange tracksuit"). Real-person faces get moderation-blocked on both backends; named/trademarked characters drift and trip flags. Describe the cosplay (hair, costume, props), not a brand.
  4. Live-stage effect, grounded. The "wow" beat is a believable practical effect — a puff of stage smoke, green stage fire and sparks, a wall of water / geyser. Both performers recoil/brace dramatically; nobody gets hurt.
Moderation ops: re-roll the same call on a block (don't immediately swap providers). If a video gen runs past ~4 min before failing, the content already cleared the safety pass — the failure is infrastructural, just retry. Do NOT bake music in via 
reference_audio
 — that path trips moderation; add music/SFX in post. Different Seedance backends (
ark
/ 
fal
) have different moderation pipelines if you need to retry.

Prerequisites

pika MCP available. Tool prefix varies by host — use whatever is exposed. Tools: 
generate_image
, 
generate_video
, 
task_status
; optional for finishing: 
generate_music
/ SFX + 
edit_concat
/ 
edit_audio_mix
.

Stage 0 — Who's fighting? (settle this first) — One matchup → one clip.

  1. If the user already named two fighters — in the 
    /stagefight
    args or their message (e.g. "frost mage vs ember knight", "my cat vs a dragon", "two robots") — use them, skip the menu, go straight to Compose. Don't re-ask.
  2. Otherwise ask with ONE 
    AskUserQuestion
     (header: 
    Matchup
    ). It MUST give the user a way to supply their own characters — make that the first option — plus exactly 3 template matchups:
    • "Pick your own two fighters" — I'll name them → when chosen, ask "Who are your two fighters?" and use the answer. (The auto-added Other field also lets them type a matchup straight in.)
    • Ninja vs ninja — smoke
    • Samurai vs horned demon — green fire
    • Sorceress vs vampire (water-stage) — geyser Never auto-select a template — the whole point is the user chooses or types their own. Do NOT just print 3 suggestions as prose and proceed; present the real 4-option menu and wait.
  3. Aspect: default to 
    16:9
    silently (the trend look). Only ask about 
    9:16
    if the user mentions vertical/TikTok/Reels.
Once the matchup is set, compose the prompts yourself (next section), confirm in one line ("Generating your staged-fight clip — frost mage vs ember knight…"), and run end-to-end — no further yes/no gates.

Compose the prompts (the authoring step, NEVER skip it)

You are composing for the USER'S two fighters. Start from THEM and DERIVE everything else. The ninja / samurai / sorceress examples are illustrations of the formula, not the output — if the user said "X vs Y", the video is about X vs Y. Never silently default to one of the example matchups, and never substitute a different fight than the one chosen. Defaulting to ninja/samurai/water when the user asked for something else is the #1 failure of this skill.
Derive each of the four variables FROM the chosen fighters:
  • Stage = a themed set those two characters would believably duel on — what world are they from? — + 2–4 concrete props + a backdrop + time-of-day/light. (Wizards → a stone arena; mecha → a neon dome; cowboys → a saloon street. Not a temple unless they're temple characters.)
  • Performer A (LEFT) / Performer B (RIGHT) = each as live-action cosplay: hair, costume, a prop, a stance. Archetypes only — never real people; translate any named/trademarked character into its describable costume (no brand names in the prompt).
  • Signature effect = the one believable live-stage payoff that fits THIS fight (smoke / colored fire + sparks / water geyser / dust + lantern-glow / ice shards / embers / confetti-cannon…), that both performers react to.
Worked derivation (arbitrary matchup, to show the move): user asks "robot boxer vs sumo wrestler." → Stage: neon-lit night arena, holographic banners, ring ropes, sponsor lanterns, city skyline behind. → LEFT: a tall chrome humanoid robot in red boxing gloves, joints glowing, guard up. → RIGHT: a massive sumo wrestler in a ceremonial mawashi, stamping low. → Effect: a shockwave of dust and sparks as glove meets palm. → then drop those into the two templates. (Notice: nothing ninja/temple/water — every variable came from the actual fighters. Do this for whatever the user picks.)

Step 1 — Stage still (
generate_image
, gpt-image-2)

Bakes the stage, both performers, and the filming crowd into frame 0 so Step 2 only has to animate the clash. Template — keep every fixed sentence, fill the 
[SLOTS]
:
A recording from the audience at an outdoor theater performance at [TIME-OF-DAY/SETTING]. [STAGE: a wooden stage recreating <themed set> — <2-4 concrete set pieces, lanterns/gate/fog/water/etc>, <backdrop>]. On stage, two performers in high-quality live-action cosplay face off several meters apart: on the LEFT, [PERFORMER A — cosplay: hair, costume, prop, stance]; on the RIGHT, [PERFORMER B — cosplay: hair, costume, prop, stance]. A large audience fills the foreground — dark silhouetted heads, many holding up phones recording with glowing screens. The camera films from far back in the crowd, slightly off-center, performers small on the wide stage, slight handheld tilt. Realistic phone-camera look, faint digital noise, [natural light note]. High resolution, no text, no UI.
Call 
generate_image
. Call params: 
provider: gpt-image-2
· 
aspect_ratio: 16:9
(default; 
9:16
if vertical) · 
quality: medium
(high exceeds the proxy timeout) · 
output_format: png
. No input image unless the user supplied a specific character sheet/costume to anchor — in that case call 
generate_image_edit
instead, passing the sheet as 
images
, and keep the text describing only the cosplay, not a name. On 
moderation_blocked
: re-roll; if it persists, soften the costume language (more "performer/stunt", less "demon/claws"). Save the returned URL → 
state.still_<n>_url
. Self-check: two costumed performers clearly facing off, crowd + phones in foreground, no text — else re-roll.

Step 2 — Fight clip (
generate_video
, image→video, 10s)

Locks the still as the start frame and animates the clash. At 10s there's room for a fuller beat — give the 
[ACTION]
a small arc (square-off → clash → the live-stage effect → recoil/second exchange → crowd erupts) rather than a single hit. Template — verbatim wrapper, fill only 
[ACTION + EFFECT]
:
Wholesome theatrical stage performance, choreographed cosplay, advertiser-safe. POV handheld phone footage from the audience, frame slightly unsteady, raised above other people's heads filming the stage. [ACTION: the two performers <sprint/dash in> and <clash — martial choreography or props>, <a believable live-stage effect: stage smoke / green fire + sparks / a wall of water erupts>, then <both recoil / leap apart / brace>]. The crowd in the foreground reacts, phones held up recording. Believable live-stage effects, not cartoon magic. Realistic smartphone recording, slight digital noise, continuous handheld shot, no subtitles, no UI.
Call 
generate_video
. Call params: 
image:
(or 
reference_images:
) = 
state.still_<n>_url
(start frame) · 
duration: 10
· 
aspect_ratio: 16:9
(match Step 1) · keep 
sound
default (don't force music). Poll 
task_status
if it returns a task id. If it fails after ~4 min it cleared moderation — just retry; if it fails fast, soften the action wording and re-roll.

Step 3 — Finish (optional)

  • SFX/music in post only. Crowd murmur + a whoosh/impact on the clash sells it. Generate or fetch audio and mix with 
    edit_audio_mix
    — never pass music as 
    reference_audio
    into the video gen (trips moderation).

Example decompositions (ILLUSTRATIONS ONLY — never substitute these for the user's matchup)

Read these to learn how a matchup splits into the four variables — then derive your own for whatever the user picked. Don't paste one of these unless the user chose that exact fight. The generated stills are in 
examples/
(
ex1_ninja
, 
ex2_samurai
, 
ex3_snake
, 
hero_pika
+ 
_contact_sheet.png
) — open them as the visual target for a good Step-1 still.
matchupstage (props, light)LEFT performerRIGHT performersignature effect
Ninja clashdusk ninja-village gate; rock formations, painted doors, paper lanterns, forestspiky-blond ninja, leaf-emblem headband, orange tracksuitspiky-black-hair ninja, dark-blue shirtdust + a puff of stage smoke
Samurai vs demonnight temple courtyard; stone lanterns, torii gate, green foglean samurai, straw hat, dark armor, katanatowering horned demon, black robes, clawsgreen stage fire + sparks
Water-stage dueldusk lake water-stage; Chinese pavilion, red pillars, lanterns, misty mountainswhite-robed sorceress, long black hair, arms raisedpale vampire, black robes, fangs, red eyesa wall of water → geyser
Hero / mascotdusk wooden stage; rock formations, lanterns, forestsmall fluffy "Pika" mascot in a tiny gitowering horned armored warrior, far largerburst of stage sparks
Each row = 
[STAGE]
· 
[PERFORMER A]
· 
[PERFORMER B]
· 
[ACTION effect]
. Your job is to fill those same four slots from the user's characters, not to reach for a row above.

One-liner recap

Costumed performers + a themed stage + a fan in the crowd filming + "it's just a stunt show" framing = fight footage that actually renders. One matchup → one stage still → one 10s image-to-video (16:9). Music/SFX in post, never via 
reference_audio
.