z1fex/04-storyboard-and-shot-plan

4 · Storyboard and shot plan

One clause = one shot

Split the narration at commas, colons and full stops. Each piece is a shot, starting on the first word of its clause. A 30 s film is about 20 shots (1.0–2.4 s each); never hold a shot longer than about 2.5 s without a new action inside it.

The storyboard row

For every shot, write one row (copy the storyboard template):

Field	What to write	Example (shot 12, gravity)
#, time	shot number, start–end in seconds	12 · 15.91–17.90
Words	the exact clause	"two hundred and forty thousand miles away."
Place	which set	space
Subject(s)	what must be in frame (the framing check uses these)	the tape-measure counter, the Moon
Action → landing word	what happens and the word it lands on	the tape runs out from Earth to the Moon; the counter rolls and stops on "away"
Faces	expression swaps and their words	Earth smug; Moon surprised
Camera	the orbit move: subject, distance, yaw, pitch, fov at start → end	side view of the whole line, creeping in 10.6 → 10.0
Number object	the device for each number (skill 9)	tape measure + "240,000 MILES" counter
Caption	the lockup (skill 11)	^240,000 / *miles away.*
Sound	foley and accents (skill 12)	tape whir + counter ticks; a ding on 240,000

Shot rhythm

• Alternate distances: wide → medium → close → insert (an object or device) → wide.
• Put the device inserts on the numbers and the close-ups on the face reactions.
• Change place at the beats (stakes, escalate, twist), and enter each new place with a moving camera and a soft whoosh.
• The hook shot and the loop shot are the same framing, so the loop is seamless.

Timing helpers (in film.mjs)

• LEAD = 4 * F: a gesture or device reaches its key pose 4 frames before its word.
• FACE = 2 * F: a face swap's new face appears 2 frames before its word (after a half-closed and a closed frame).
• Shot w: the index of the shot's first word; s.start = W(w), s.end = the next shot's start.

Review the storyboard as pictures

Render one still per shot and a contact sheet, plus the framing check, before animating details: node recipe/tools/render.mjs examples/<slug>/film.mjs <outDir> --stills shots --qa

Look for: the subject readable at phone size, the caption band clear, the place obvious, and the story readable with the sound off.

The owner approves the storyboard first

The owner's rule (27 October 2026): "I want you to first create storyboards… so that I myself can loop… if I like the storyboard, and then you can generate." This is not optional. Use the owner's storyboard board (recipe/tools/storyboard-board.mjs):

• The header: title · duration · size · BPM · scene count, then a few plain lines on the film, then "Decisions for you".
• One numbered panel per shot: its time and title, the words, the rendered still, an explains: line, a sound: line, a → motion line, a tag ("kept from v2", "new") and 👍/👎.
• The story leads (the owner, 27 October 2026: "make sure the edit happens according to the story and how well we can explain using the visuals").
  • Put the story in one sentence in the board's story.
  • On every panel, write what part of the story the shot carries and how its picture explains it. A shot that explains nothing is redrawn.

Write storyboard/<v>/storyboard-<n>.json (templates/storyboard.json), pointing at the stills, and draw it: node recipe/tools/storyboard-board.mjs examples/<slug>/storyboard/<v>/storyboard-<n>.json

• What it writes: a PNG, and a clickable HTML page. On the page, the owner marks 👍/👎 and presses "Copy feedback".
• Then stop. Give the owner the board, and revise into storyboard-2, storyboard-3… (keeping the earlier boards) until they approve.
• Only then record the voice and build the shots in detail. The finished film must match the approved panels.

Worked example

The gravity film's storyboard: 20 shots, every field filled.