---
name: character-replace
description: "Put the person's AI character into a film frame — replace the actor in four modes (the whole character with their own clothes, the head only on the film's costume, the face only under the film's hair and hat, the face keeping the original paint / make-up / facial hair) with GPT Image 2.5 edit at quality low (20–26 s a frame), BLIND prompts (picture roles only, never the looks of the character or of the frame), the look-from-picture-2 fix for the sheet's stare, moderation refusals and what other models do. Use when the user says put my character in this frame / scene, replace the actor, recast, face swap, head swap, character swap, keep the war paint, вставить персонажа в кадр, заменить актёра, замена головы, замена лица, свап. Part of the character meta-skill."
---

These creative references describe source experiments with external tools. Use your own supported account and tools; this download installs no automation. Settings and timings are experimental observations, not current FlashBoards availability.

# character-replace · the person's character in a film frame

Picture 1 is always the person's own {character sheet} (face close-up + full body) from their character card; picture 2 is the {frame} from {film} at full size. Write every prompt fresh for the frame; the templates give the tested structure.

## Settings

`openai/gpt-image-2.5/sunburst/edit` or `openai/gpt-image-2.5/flare/edit` · `quality: "low"` (set it; the schema default is `high`) · one image · size = the frame's aspect, width 1920 (1920×1088 for 16:9, 1920×816 for 2.35:1) · inputs `[{character sheet}, {frame}]`.
**20–26 s** (Flare 26 s at 1920×816; successful Sunburst requests 19–52 s).

## Blind rule (owner)

Prompts name **picture roles only**. Never describe {character}'s face, hair or clothes, and never describe the frame — not the actor's costume pieces, not the paint's colour, not where the eyes look or how the brows sit. The model sees both pictures; the prompt says what goes, what stays, and where each thing comes from.

Owner's exception (9.10.2026): the *expression* of picture 2 may be named in words — where the eyes look, the brows, the mouth ("eyes just past the camera, brows slightly raised, lips slightly parted as if mid-word") — and nothing else of the frame or the character.

## The prompt — one opening, one mode sentence, one look sentence

```
Picture 2 is a frame from a film. Shoot it again exactly the same — the same camera, framing, set, light, pose, head turn, gaze and expression — but {MODE}. {LOOK} Change nothing else.
```

| Mode | Changes | Stays | {MODE} |
|---|---|---|---|
| **1 · Whole character** | face, hair, clothes | camera, set, light, pose, what the hands hold | the person in it is {character} from picture 1: their face, hair and clothes exactly as in picture 1. Nothing of the clothes, headwear or gear of the person in picture 2 stays |
| **2 · Head only** | face and hair | the costume, body, hands, props | the head of the person is {character}'s head from picture 1: their face and hair, bare-headed, exactly as in picture 1. Nothing of the actor's head stays: not the face, hair, facial hair, make-up or anything worn on the head. Everything from the neck down stays exactly as in picture 2: the body, hands, clothes, jewellery and everything the person holds |
| **3 · Face only** | the face, clean | hair, hat, costume — the whole silhouette | the face of the person is {character}'s face from picture 1: the features, eyes, brows, nose, mouth and skin, clean and bare exactly as in picture 1, with no facial hair and no paint or make-up. Only the face changes. The hair, everything worn on the head, the clothes and everything the person holds stay exactly as in picture 2 |
| **4 · Face, keep the surface** | the features | paint, make-up, facial hair, dirt — and everything else | the face of the person is {character}'s face from picture 1: the features, the shape of the face, the eyes, brows, nose and mouth, so {character} is clearly recognisable. Everything on the surface of the face stays exactly as in picture 2: every paint, make-up, facial hair, dirt and mark, exactly where it covers the skin. The hair, the clothes and everything the person holds stay exactly as in picture 2 |

{LOOK} — always, or {character} stares into the lens like on the sheet:
```
{character}'s eyes look exactly where the eyes in picture 2 look and the head keeps the tilt of picture 2. The expression is the one in picture 2: {the expression of picture 2 in words — where the eyes look, the brows, the mouth}. Take the look and the expression from picture 2, never from picture 1.
```

Blind templates measured 9.10.2026 (word for word, Flare, low):
- Mode 4 on *Braveheart*: ✓ 2 of 2 — paint kept on the same diagonal, the character's face, eyes off the lens like the film; 1 of 2 darkened the hair (check it).
- Mode 2 on Jack: ✓ 2 of 2 clean (bare-headed, costume kept), but ✕ the expression came back as the sheet's frown in both — the blind {LOOK} carries the head and gaze, not the expression. A stronger blind look ("the same mouth, lips and brows, the same moment of speech or silence") relaxed the face but brought the hat back (1 of 2 passed) — don't use it with mode 2.
- Mode 1 on a small figure from behind (*Mad Max*): ✓ 4 of 4 with no clothes named — none of the actor's gear; the pose straightened.
- Modes 1 and 3 on the Jack frame: refused 4 of 4 each (moderation on this frame).
- With the expression named (the owner's exception, 9.10): mode 2 on Jack came back with the film's expression — eyes past the lens, brows raised, lips parted mid-word — bare-headed, costume kept; moderation let 1 of 6 requests through on this frame (Flare 0 of 4, Sunburst 1 of 2).
So the {LOOK} above names the expression; the purely blind look carries the gaze but not the expression.

## Steps

1. **No sheet yet** → `character-sheet` from the person's {photo}. A sheet with a back panel if the figure is seen from behind.
2. **Pick the mode** (ask if unclear): their character as themselves (1), in the film's costume (2), only a new face in the film's look (3), the film's war paint / make-up / beard kept (4).
3. **Write the prompt** from the opening + {MODE} + {LOOK}; upload both pictures through your own supported tool and select the Flare or Sunburst edit endpoint and quality `low` explicitly. Run 2–3 takes when the look matters — the side of the gaze is a coin toss.
4. **Refused** (`content_policy_violation`, back in 3–26 s in these tests) → respect the moderation result. A famous look kept in mode 4 may never pass — pick another permitted frame or mode.
5. **Check with crops** (head ~350 px): the face is {character}'s, not the actor's; nothing of the actor's costume in mode 1 (hat, belts, straps, knee gear, boots); the paint / make-up edges in modes 3–4 (one run left a trace of blue at the temple); the eyes are off the lens where picture 2's are.
6. **Next**: animate it as a start / end frame (`animate` meta-skill); a whole music video with every face replaced → `musicvideo-replace`.

## What was measured

| Test | Result |
|---|---|
| Mode 1 · whole character · Sunburst · 23 s | ✓ none of the actor's gear; wheel, sky, camera, pose and stare from the film |
| Mode 2 · head only · Sunburst · 20–25 s | ✓ 2 runs of 2 clean; hat and bandana left with his head; coat, sash, belts, the hand on the wheel stayed |
| Mode 3 · face only · Sunburst · 20–25 s | ✓ the face under the film's hat, bandana and dreadlocks; Nano Banana 2 Lite managed this mode too with the same prompt |
| Mode 4 · keep the paint · Flare · 26 s · *Braveheart* | ✓ 2 of 2, the woad on the same diagonal and jaw patch, her freckles, mole and scar through the paint; mode 3 on the same frame wiped the woad |
| Mode 4 on Jack Sparrow · GPT Image 2.5 (Sunburst + Flare) | ✕ refused 16 of 16 (six wordings, one and two steps) — the beard with beads and the kohl *are* the character |
| Moderation on the Jack frame, all modes | 4 of 29 went through: mode 1 1/7, mode 2 2/2, mode 3 1/4, mode 4 0/16 |
| The stare | without {LOOK}: the same frown into the lens in all three modes, though the prompt said "the same gaze and expression"; with the look sentence (Flare, 22–31 s): the stare gone in every mode — eyes off the lens, brows relaxed, lips parted; the side is a coin toss — asked for the left edge, most runs looked to the right, mode 3 came closest to the film; 11 requests for 5 frames (≈ half refused) |
| Nano Banana 2 Lite, mode 4 | ✕ one step: the actor's face came back; two steps (mode 3, then the look in words): the look came, the face turned into a man's |
| Qwen Image 3 edit, mode 4 | ✕ one step: her face but no beard, beads or kohl (= mode 3); two steps: the actor's face came back; 106–172 s |
| A small figure from behind (*Mad Max*, AI Character Sheet) | one-line replace kept the actor's jacket and canteen in 3 of 4; saying nothing of the actor's costume stays (+ her clothes named) → 4 of 4 ; blind, no clothes named (9.10): 4 of 4 |

Removing a look passes moderation more easily than keeping it: modes 1–3 take the actor away, mode 4 asks to keep what makes him recognisable.

## Never

- Describe the character's looks or the frame's content, except the permitted expression wording (gaze, brows, mouth).
- Trust one run for the gaze or a famous face — check crops.
- Use a demo character's sheet, a demo frame or a demo prompt for a person.

## Example run (reference only — never reuse its files, prompts, faces or frames for a person)

Demo character **Mara Vale**, 29.09.2026 and later.

- *Pirates of the Caribbean*: Jack Sparrow at the wheel, jobs at 1920×1088. The historical whole-character prompt named the bomber jacket, turtleneck, cargo trousers and boots and explicitly removed the actor's hat, coat, belts, sashes and gear. The look sentence named the gaze just past the camera, toward the viewer's left and slightly down, raised brows and lips parted mid-word. These historical worded tests are distinct from the later blind templates and expression exception above.
- *Braveheart* (1995), William Wallace at 1:17:35, 1920×816: face-only and face-surface prompts were compared; the earlier surface prompt named blue paint, stubble and dirt.

No local test files or author-specific runner are included. Use your own permitted images and inspect every result.