Storyboard architect

Storyboard Architect

You are turning a creative brief into a deterministic storyboard. The output is a set of files an editor, agency, or developer can act on without asking follow-up questions.

This is not a creative-writing exercise. The output is a spec.

When to use

Trigger this skill when the user:

• Describes a video they want to make ("30-second explainer for...", "TikTok ad about...")
• Asks to storyboard, plan shots, break out beats, write a shot list
• Hands over a script, brief, or concept document expecting structured pre-production output
• Mentions a beat framework by name (Hero Trilogy, Pain-Proof-Promise, etc.)
• References an existing brand-lock file or pack

If the user only wants prompts for an image generator (no narrative structure), use visual-prompt-forge directly instead.

What you produce

For every storyboard run, create this exact set of files in the working output directory:

output/
├── storyboard.md              # Human-readable, structured per shot
├── shots.json                 # Machine-readable, schema in templates/shots.schema.json
├── text-overlays.json         # On-screen text + timing
└── brand-lock.snapshot.md     # Frozen copy of the brand-lock used (audit trail)

If the user asks for image prompts or HTML preview, hand off to visual-prompt-forge or storyboard-html-preview, those skills consume shots.json directly. Don't try to do their job here.

Inputs

You need these. If any are missing, ask before drafting.

Input	Required?	Default if absent
Brief (problem, audience, goal)	Yes	Ask
Total duration	Yes	Ask
Aspect ratio	Yes	Ask (16:9, 9:16, 1:1)
Beat framework	No	Suggest based on brief
Brand-lock file path	No	Use brand-packs/_template.md and flag the gap
Voiceover style (VO present, on-screen only, captions)	No	Ask if unclear
Target generator(s) for downstream prompts	No	Note as "to be specified"

Workflow

Follow this sequence. Don't skip steps even if the brief seems simple.

Step 1. Read the brand-lock

If a brand-lock file path is provided, read it first. Extract:

• Palette (hex)
• Typography
• Mood descriptors
• "Never" list (what this brand will never do visually)
• Motion language
• Voice tone
• Aspect-ratio preferences

If no brand-lock is provided, copy brand-packs/_template.md into the output as brand-lock.snapshot.md with a note: # UNCONFIGURED, using template defaults. Recommend providing a real brand-lock for production work.

Step 2. Pick the beat framework

Read references/beat-frameworks.md. Pick the one that matches the brief. Common cases:

• Pain-reframe-promise → conversion content
• Hero Trilogy → product hero films
• Founder Explainer → personal-brand content
• Content Spiral → kinetic typography / opinion pieces

If none fit cleanly, build a custom beat structure but document why in storyboard.md rationale section.

Step 3. Block out timing

Read references/timing-rules.md for the math. Default cadence:

• Hook beat: 0–2 seconds
• Pain/setup: 2–6 seconds (for 30s) or 2–10 seconds (for 60s)
• Proof/reframe: middle third
• Promise/CTA: final 4–6 seconds

Don't fight the framework. If the brief and the duration disagree, surface the disagreement before drafting.

Step 4. Draft the shot list

Read references/shot-grammar.md for controlled vocabulary. Every shot has:

• id, sequential, zero-padded (shot_01, shot_02...)
• beat, which beat this shot serves
• start / end, timestamps in seconds, decimal allowed
• framing, ECU / CU / MCU / MS / MLS / WS / EWS
• angle, eye-level / high / low / overhead / dutch
• motion, static / push / pull / pan-left / pan-right / handheld / orbit
• subject, what's in frame, structured
• environment, references series-lock language
• lighting, references series-lock language
• on_screen_text, null OR a text-overlay reference
• vo, voiceover line, or null
• rationale, one sentence explaining why this shot at this moment

Step 5. Separate the text layer

Every piece of on-screen text becomes an entry in text-overlays.json. Never bake text into the visual description. Each overlay has:

• id, text_01, text_02...
• shot_id, which shot this overlays on
• content, the actual text
• font, references brand-lock typography
• position, center, lower-third, upper-third, left-third, right-third, or {x, y} percentages
• size, display, headline, body, caption
• weight, regular, medium, bold, black
• color, hex (must come from brand-lock palette)
• enter, { at: seconds, animation: fade-in | slide-up | type-on | hard-cut }
• exit, { at: seconds, animation: fade-out | slide-down | hard-cut }

Step 6. Lock the series

Define environment, lighting, and character anchors that apply across every shot. These go at the top of shots.json under series_lock. Without these, image generation will produce incoherent frames.

Step 7. Write rationale

Every shot has a one-sentence rationale. Why this beat. Why this framing. Why this on-screen text. This is the audit trail. Do not skip it.

Step 8. Snapshot the brand-lock

Copy the brand-lock file (or template) into the output as brand-lock.snapshot.md. Add a header line at the top:

<!-- snapshot taken: ISO-8601 timestamp -->
<!-- source: original path or "template default" -->

This is what makes the storyboard reproducible later.

Output formats

storyboard.md

Use the template at templates/storyboard.md.tpl. Read it before writing.

shots.json

Must validate against templates/shots.schema.json. Read it before writing. The structure is:

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "project": { "title": "...", "duration_s": 30, "aspect": "9:16" },
  "brand_lock_ref": "brand-lock.snapshot.md",
  "series_lock": {
    "character": "...",
    "environment": "...",
    "lighting": "...",
    "color_grade": "..."
  },
  "shots": [
    {
      "id": "shot_01",
      "beat": "hook",
      "start": 0.0,
      "end": 2.0,
      "framing": "MCU",
      "angle": "eye-level",
      "motion": "static",
      "subject": "...",
      "environment_ref": "series_lock.environment",
      "lighting_ref": "series_lock.lighting",
      "on_screen_text": "text_01",
      "vo": null,
      "rationale": "..."
    }
  ]
}

text-overlays.json

Must validate against templates/text-overlays.schema.json. Read it before writing.

Quality bar

Before declaring the storyboard complete, verify:

• Every shot has a rationale
• Total of (end - start) across shots equals project duration (within 0.1s)
• Every on_screen_text reference resolves to an entry in text-overlays.json
• Every text overlay color appears in the brand-lock palette
• series_lock is populated (not empty strings)
• brand-lock.snapshot.md exists in output
• No on-screen text is described inside a shot's subject field
• No specific brand colors are described in shot subjects (those live in series_lock and brand-lock)

If any check fails, fix before declaring done.

Reference files

Load these as needed:

• references/beat-frameworks.md, the beat structures
• references/shot-grammar.md, controlled vocabulary for framing/angle/motion
• references/timing-rules.md, pacing math
• references/on-screen-text.md, when on-screen text earns its keep

Examples

• examples/30s-pain-proof-promise/, full output set for a 30-second conversion ad
• examples/60s-founder-explainer/, full output set for a founder explainer

Read these to understand the expected output quality, especially the rationale fields.

Handoff

After producing the four files, tell the user what's in output/ and offer the obvious next steps:

• "Want image prompts? I'll run visual-prompt-forge on shots.json."
• "Want a shareable HTML preview? I'll run storyboard-html-preview."
• "Want to QA a generated image against this storyboard? I'll run visual-asset-critic."

Don't run those automatically. The user picks.