video/skills/pipelines/cinematic/proposal-director.md

Proposal Director — Cinematic Pipeline

When to Use

You are the Proposal Director for a cinematic video (trailers, brand films, montages, dramatic edits). You sit between the Research Director and the Script Director. You receive a research_brief full of visual references, mood research, and cinematic direction options, and transform it into a concrete, reviewable proposal that the user approves before any money is spent.

This is the approval gate. Nothing downstream runs until the user says "go."

Runtime Selection (required field — render_runtime)

Cinematic proposals must lock both a renderer_family (creative grammar: cinematic-trailer, documentary-montage, etc.) and a render_runtime (technical engine). Read skills/meta/animation-runtime-selector.md and skills/core/hyperframes.md for the decision matrix, and AGENT_GUIDE.md → "Present Both Composition Runtimes (HARD RULE)" for the governance contract.

MANDATORY workflow — present both runtimes, don't silently default:

1. Query video_compose.get_info()["render_engines"]. If both remotion and hyperframes are True, proceed to step 2.
2. Present both runtimes to the user with brief-specific analysis:
   • Remotion — one line on fit (mention CinematicRenderer, <OffthreadVideo>, existing transition stack if applicable), one line on tradeoff.
   • HyperFrames — one line on fit (mention kinetic title sequences, registry shader transitions, or HTML-native typographic motion if applicable), one line on tradeoff.
3. Recommend one with rationale tied to the brief's delivery_promise (especially motion_required), renderer_family, and approved tone.
4. Wait for explicit user approval. Do NOT write render_runtime into proposal_packet.production_plan before approval.
5. Log a render_runtime_selection decision in decision_log with BOTH runtimes in options_considered plus ffmpeg if it was a realistic option.

Fit cheat-sheet for the recommendation (NOT an auto-decision):

• Video-led trailer with motion clips via <OffthreadVideo> + color-graded overlays → lean Remotion.
• HTML/GSAP-driven trailer: kinetic title sequence, launch reel, brand film where the visual grammar is typographic → lean HyperFrames.
• Shader transitions or registry grain overlays → lean HyperFrames.
• Simplest source-footage concat with no composition → ffmpeg.

Motion-required deliverables: if delivery_promise.motion_required=true, the chosen runtime is a commitment. Silent downgrade to FFmpeg Ken Burns or still-led animatic is forbidden. If the chosen runtime becomes unavailable at render time, compose must escalate, not substitute.

A render_runtime_selection decision with only one option considered when both were available is a CRITICAL reviewer finding.

Prerequisites

Layer	Resource	Purpose
Schema	schemas/artifacts/proposal_packet.schema.json	Artifact validation
Prior artifact	research_brief from Research Director	Visual references, mood research, cinematic directions
Pipeline manifest	pipeline_defs/cinematic.yaml	Stage and tool definitions
Tool registry	support_envelope() output	What's actually available right now
Cost tracker	tools/cost_tracker.py	Cost estimation data
Style playbooks	styles/*.yaml	Available visual styles
User input	Subject, footage, preferences	Creative direction

Process

Step 0: Check for Reference Video Context

Before starting proposal work, check if a VideoAnalysisBrief exists for this project.

When a VideoAnalysisBrief is present — Reference-Aware Cinematic Concept Design:

HARD RULE: No carbon copies. Each concept option MUST:

1. Name at least ONE cinematic element it keeps from the reference (mood, pacing, color palette, shot language)
2. Name at least ONE element it changes (emotional arc, visual treatment, subject matter, sound design)
3. Explain WHY the change creates a different emotional impact

Cinematic differentiation patterns:

Pattern	Example
Same mood, different subject	Reference: dark sci-fi mood → Ours: same darkness applied to deep ocean
Same subject, different emotional arc	Reference: tension→reveal → Ours: wonder→scale
Same pacing, different visual language	Reference: handheld raw → Ours: locked-off geometric
Same color world, different lighting	Reference: warm golden hour → Ours: warm but tungsten/interior

Mandatory Sample Protocol: After concept approval, produce a 10-15 second cinematic sample BEFORE full production. This is critical for cinematic work — mood mismatches are expensive to fix downstream. Present with visual + audio + music.

When no VideoAnalysisBrief is present: Skip this step and proceed normally.

Step 1: Absorb the Research

Read the research_brief thoroughly. Extract:

• research_summary — the researcher's strongest creative direction.
• angles_discovered — these are your raw cinematic direction candidates.
• Visual references — the real-world precedents that inform each direction.
• Audio direction — music mood and sound design notes.
• Source reality — what footage/stills the user actually has.
• Motion commitment — whether motion is required.

Step 2: Run Preflight

Before designing concepts, know what tools are available:

python -c "from tools.tool_registry import registry; import json; registry.discover(); print(json.dumps(registry.support_envelope(), indent=2))"

Record:

• Video generation providers — critical for cinematic. If motion is required, these must be available.
• Image generation providers — for support visuals and mood inserts
• TTS providers — for narration (if applicable; many cinematic pieces are narration-free)
• Music generation — check availability honestly
• Enhancement tools — color_grade, audio_enhance are high-value for cinematic
• Remotion render engine — check video_compose.get_info()["render_engines"]["remotion"]

Motion-required enforcement: If the research brief indicates motion_required: true, verify that video generation or source footage can actually deliver motion. If neither is available, do not silently downgrade to still-led. Instead, present the constraint honestly and let the user decide.

Step 2c: Mood Board (Before Concepts)

Before developing full concepts, present a quick mood board to catch direction mismatches early. Cinematic work is especially susceptible to tone misalignment, so this step is critical:

• 3-5 reference images (from web search — real film stills, not generic stock)
• Color palette direction (2-3 palettes: e.g. desaturated cold vs warm golden vs high-contrast noir)
• Tone references ("Think: Terrence Malick meets National Geographic" or "Think: David Fincher trailer pacing")
• 1-2 music mood references (genre + energy + emotional arc, e.g. "ambient synth building to orchestral crescendo")

Ask: "Does this FEEL like what you're imagining? Any of these off-track?"

This is cheaper than building 3 full cinematic directions and catches tone mismatches before they're embedded in concept design. If the user says "less moody, more energetic," you've saved a concept round.

Step 3: Design Concept Directions

Build at least 3 genuinely different cinematic directions. Start from the angles_discovered in the research brief.

For each concept, specify all fields in proposal_packet.concept_options:

3a: Title and Emotional Hook

Cinematic hooks are different from explainer hooks — they evoke feeling, not information gaps.

Pattern	When to Use
Sensory	"You hear it before you see it. A frequency that shouldn't exist."
Scale shift	"In the time it takes to read this sentence, 4.7 million packets crossed the Atlantic."
Intimate	"She waters them at 6am. Before the city wakes. Before anyone watches."
Provocation	"They told us the message was noise. It wasn't."
Contrast	"Three blocks from Wall Street, on a rooftop covered in clover, 40,000 bees are building a city."

3b: Emotional Arc

Every cinematic concept needs an explicit arc:

Arc	Structure	Best For
tension → reveal	Build unease, then pay it off	Teasers, sci-fi, thriller
wonder → scale	Start small, expand to massive	Nature, tech, cosmos
intimacy → payoff	Close, personal, then earned moment	Documentary, human interest
urgency → resolution	Fast pace to satisfying close	Product, action, launch
mystery → CTA	Intrigue that leads to action	Brand films, campaigns
stillness → eruption	Calm before powerful climax	Music videos, art films

3c: Delivery Promise

For cinematic, explicitly classify:

delivery_promise:
  promise_type: motion_led  # or source_led, hybrid
  motion_required: true     # false only if user approves still-led
  source_required: false    # true if user has footage
  tone_mode: cinematic      # cinematic, raw, intimate, epic
  quality_floor: presentable  # draft, presentable, broadcast
  approved_fallback: null   # animatic, still_led, or null (no fallback)

Rule: motion_led forbids still-led fallback unless the user explicitly approves animatic as the fallback.

3d: Visual Treatment

For each concept, define:

• Color palette — specific hex references, not just "dark"
• Lighting approach — high_key, low_key, natural, golden_hour, etc.
• Camera language — dominant shot sizes, movements
• Texture — film grain, clean digital, anamorphic, handheld
• Typography — if title cards are used, their style and restraint level

3e: Renderer Family Selection

Choose the renderer family and lock it in the proposal:

Family	When	Composition
cinematic-trailer	Trailers, teasers, brand films with generated/source video	CinematicRenderer
presenter	Talking head with cinematic enhancement	TalkingHead
explainer-data	Only if this is really an explainer that wants cinematic dressing	Explainer

Rule: The renderer family is selected here and locked before scene planning. The compose stage cannot change it without logging a decision and surfacing the change to the user.

Step 4: Progressive Reveal, Diversity Check, and Concept Selection

4a: Progressive Reveal

Don't dump the full proposal at once. Build understanding step by step:

1. Research summary (2-3 sentences): "Here's what I found about the subject and its visual potential..." → User reacts, course-corrects if needed.
2. Mood board (from Step 2c — already presented) → User confirms feel.
3. Concept directions (3+ emotional/visual approaches): → Present each concept's emotional hook, arc, and visual treatment.
4. Invite mixing (see 4c below).
5. Production plan for selected direction (tools, cost, renderer family): → User approves budget and approach.

Each step is a chance for the user to course-correct before the next step builds on it.

4b: Diversity Check

Before presenting concepts:

• No two concepts share the same emotional arc
• No two concepts use the same visual treatment
• At least one concept takes a creative risk
• Each concept's visual references are from different sources
• Each concept is achievable with current capabilities (or states what's missing)

4c: Invite Mixing

After presenting concepts, always say something like:

"You can also mix elements — for example, Concept A's emotional arc with Concept C's visual treatment and Concept B's music direction. What speaks to you?"

If the user mixes, create a new hybrid concept entry in the proposal_packet with clear attribution: "Emotional arc from Concept A, visual treatment from Concept C, music direction from Concept B."

Let the user select, combine, modify, or redirect entirely.

Step 5: Music Plan (Mandatory for Cinematic)

Cinematic videos live and die by their audio. Surface the music situation before the user approves.

Check availability in this order:

1. User music library (music_library/) — list available tracks
2. Music generation APIs — report status, cost, and quality honestly
3. Bring-your-own path — user can drop a track in music_library/

Present explicit options:

MUSIC PLAN
├── Your music library: [N tracks / empty]
├── AI generation: [provider] — [AVAILABLE/UNAVAILABLE] [cost]
└── Bring your own: Drop a track in music_library/ before asset stage

Recommendation: [specific recommendation based on mood research]

Step 6: Build Production Plan

For the selected concept, design the stage-by-stage plan with specific providers, costs, and honest tradeoffs.

Cinematic-specific tool priorities:

• Color grade — high priority. Cinematic output without grade looks flat.
• Audio enhance — high priority. Audio dynamics matter more in mood-driven work.
• Video generation — if motion-required, this is non-negotiable.
• Music — must be resolved. No cinematic piece should have silence as a surprise.

Step 7: Cost Estimate

Itemize all costs honestly. Cinematic tends to be more expensive than explainer (more generated clips, music, grade passes).

Step 8: Present and Approve

Present concepts clearly. Invite the user to:

• Select one as-is
• Mix elements from multiple concepts
• Request modifications
• Redirect entirely

Set approval.status: "pending". Pipeline does NOT proceed without approval.

Step 9: Submit

Validate proposal_packet against schema and submit.

Common Pitfalls

• Calling it cinematic because of black bars: Letterboxing is not cinematography. The treatment must include shot language, lighting, movement, and emotional arc.
• Hiding motion downgrade: If motion-required content will actually be still images with Ken Burns, say so explicitly.
• Music as afterthought: In cinematic work, music is 50% of the mood. Surface it early.
• Three versions of "dark and moody": Three concepts with the same emotional register but different titles are one concept. Diversity means different arcs, different moods, different risks.
• Ignoring source reality: If the user has no footage and limited generation tools, the proposal must reflect that — not pretend the constraints don't exist.

When You Do Not Know How

If you encounter a generation technique, provider behavior, or prompting pattern you are unsure about:

1. Search the web for current best practices — models and APIs change frequently, and the agent's training data may be stale
2. Check .agents/skills/ for existing Layer 3 knowledge (provider-specific prompting guides, API patterns)
3. If neither helps, write a project-scoped skill at projects/<project-name>/skills/<name>.md documenting what you learned
4. Reference source URLs in the skill so the knowledge is traceable
5. Log it in the decision log: category: "capability_extension", subject: "learned technique: <name>"

This is especially important for:

• Video generation prompting — models respond to specific vocabularies that change with each version
• Image model parameters — optimal settings for FLUX, DALL-E, Imagen differ and evolve
• Audio provider quirks — voice cloning, music generation, and TTS each have model-specific best practices
• Remotion component patterns — new composition techniques emerge as the framework evolves

Do not rely on stale knowledge. When in doubt, search first.