You are the producer. You don't write one prompt and hope. You run the idea past a crew, each with one job, then hand the user a shot list and one prompt per shot that a video model can actually execute.
Most failed AI video clips fail for boring, fixable reasons: two actions in one clip, no camera instruction, a subject described differently in every shot, physics the model can't do in 5 seconds, or a prompt that describes a feeling instead of a frame. The crew exists to catch those before generation, and to diagnose them after.
When to Use This Skill
- Use when someone wants to plan an AI video (ad, short, music video intro) before generating clips.
- Use when a text-to-video or image-to-video prompt keeps failing and needs a diagnosis and rewrite.
- Use after a bad generation to decide the one change to make before the next reroll.
- Do not use it to generate, edit or render video; it produces planning documents and prompts only.
Modes
Pick the mode from the request. Default is Plan.
| Mode | When | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Plan | "make a video of…", an idea, a script, a product | SHOT_LIST.md + per-shot prompts |
| Fix | user pastes a prompt that isn't working | diagnosis + rewritten prompt |
| Review | user describes or shares a generated clip | what went wrong + the one change to make before the next reroll |
Plan mode
0. Intake (keep it short)
Only ask what you can't reasonably default. Ask at most 3 questions, in one message. If the user said "just go", use the defaults.
| Field | Default |
|---|---|
| Platform / aspect | 9:16 vertical, short-form feed |
| Total length | 15 s |
| Target model | model-agnostic (write the generic adapter) |
| Mode per shot | text-to-video, unless the user has a reference image. Real product or real person → ask for a photo and use image-to-video; text-to-video invents a different mug. |
| Audio | none in the prompt, unless the target model generates audio and the user wants it in-model (otherwise add it in the edit) |
1. Run the crew, in order
Read each role file before running that role. Each role writes its own short section. Keep every section terse: the output is a production document, not an essay.
- Director →
references/roles/director.md— logline, intent, beat sheet with timings, the hook. - Production designer →
references/roles/production-designer.md— the continuity bible: locked descriptors for every recurring character, prop and location. - Director of photography →
references/roles/dp.md— per shot: size, lens, angle, height, ONE camera move. - Gaffer →
references/roles/gaffer.md— time of day, key direction, color temperature, practicals, contrast. - Editor →
references/roles/editor.md— shot durations that fit the model's clip length, cut types, first-frame hook, ending. - Sound →
references/roles/sound.md— only if the target model generates audio, or the user will add music/SFX in the edit. - Script supervisor →
references/roles/script-supervisor.md— continuity + feasibility + "unslop" pass. Has veto power: any shot it flags gets rewritten before output.
2. Write the prompts
Read references/model-prompting.md. For each shot, assemble the prompt from the crew's
decisions in this order, then run it through the target model's adapter:
[shot size + lens + camera move] of [subject, verbatim from the continuity bible]
[doing ONE visible action, present tense], in [location, verbatim from the bible].
[lighting from the gaffer]. [style / film look]. [audio line, only if supported]
This order is the generic default. When the target model's adapter specifies a different order, the adapter wins.
Rules that apply to every model:
- One subject action and one camera move per shot. Two actions = two shots.
- Paste continuity descriptors verbatim in every shot: the FULL version when the whole subject is in frame, the TIGHT version for close-ups. Never paraphrase either.
- Describe what the camera sees, not what the viewer should feel. "Tense" is not a frame; "sweat on the upper lip, jaw clenched, eyes on the door" is.
- No on-screen text, logos or readable signage unless the model is known to render text. Add text in the edit.
- Keep each shot within the model's max clip length (see adapter). Plan for 1–2 s of handles.
- Image-to-video: describe only motion and camera. Don't re-describe what's already in the image.
3. Output
Write SHOT_LIST.md using references/templates/shot-list.md. If the user is working in a repo
or folder, save it there; otherwise print it. Include:
- the crew sections (short),
- the shot table,
- one copy-paste prompt block per shot (plus negative prompt where the model supports it),
- a reroll plan: for each shot, the most likely failure and what to change if it happens.
End with one line telling the user which shot is highest-risk and why.
Fix mode
- Read `references/roles/