| name | paid-youtube-hook-storyboard |
| description | When the user wants to storyboard a selected YouTube hook, turn a winning hook into a shot list, or plan camera/visual direction for a 5–10s video ad opener. Trigger phrases include "storyboard this hook", "create youtube storyboard", "shot list for the hook", "storyboard the winner". Run AFTER `paid-youtube-hook-select` has produced a `winners.md`. Run once per winner. |
| metadata | {"version":"0.1.0"} |
Paid YouTube — Hook Storyboard
Turn one winning hook into a 2–3 shot storyboard for a 5–10s clip. Output is storyboard.md in the winner's production folder, ready for paid-youtube-hook-prompts to consume.
Prerequisites
winners.md exists in a batch folder- The user has named the winner to storyboard (by hook slug or W#)
Inputs to gather
- Batch folder —
YYYY-MM-DD-batch/ (default: most recent)
- Winner reference — W# from
winners.md, OR the hook slug (e.g., most-important-email)
- Total duration — 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 seconds (default: 7s — gives room for 2–3 shots without rushing)
- Shot count preference (optional) — 1, 2, or 3 shots (default: let the storyboard determine — usually 2 for a punchy opener, 3 if there's a clear setup→twist→reveal arc)
- Visual style notes (optional) — Travis's direction (e.g., "documentary handheld", "polished commercial", "dry deadpan"). If absent, infer from the hook's tone.
Conventions to enforce
- Production folder:
<batch-folder>/winners/<hook-slug>/ — created if it doesn't exist
- File created:
<batch-folder>/winners/<hook-slug>/storyboard.md — copied from ../../templates/hook-storyboard-template.md
- Shot duration minimum: 2 seconds per shot (Flow generates short clips best at ≥2s)
- Shot count: 1–3 max for a 5–10s hook
How to storyboard
For each shot, fill out:
- Subject / focal point — be specific. Not "person", but "internal comms manager mid-30s, frustrated expression at her desk". Specificity helps Flow.
- Action — what happens. One verb-driven sentence.
- Camera — angle (low/eye/high), framing (CU/MS/WS), movement (static/push/pan/handheld). Pick what serves the moment, don't overload.
- Setting — concrete location. Not "office", but "open-plan tech office, mid-afternoon, half-empty desks visible behind her".
- Lighting / mood — descriptive. "Bright daylight from a tall window", "harsh fluorescent overhead", "warm tungsten from a desk lamp".
- VO / text overlay during this shot — which portion of the hook line lands here, or what text appears on screen.
- Style notes — depth of field, grade, motion characteristics if they matter.
Apply Cerkl context
- Authentic to the ICP: if the angle is Foundations / SMB pain, the visual should feel like a 50–500 person org — not a giant enterprise floor. If the angle is Paid / enterprise, the visual can lean bigger, more distributed, more enterprise-y.
- Avoid stock-ad clichés: no generic "person looking stressed at laptop", no fake collaboration smiles. The ICP recognizes those instantly as ads.
- Pattern-break is high-value: if the hook is a pattern-break (unexpected setting, dry humor, unusual subject), the visual should commit to it. Don't soften the unusual choice into something safe.
Continuity to body
The polished body of the ad runs immediately after the hook. Note the final frame and how it hands off:
- A match-cut visual into the body? (Same subject, different setting.)
- A hard cut with a text-card? (Logo, tagline, then body.)
- A natural narrative bridge? (Hook poses a question, body answers it.)
The handoff matters — a hook that doesn't lead anywhere kills the watch-time gain.
Output
Write <batch-folder>/winners/<hook-slug>/storyboard.md from the template. Then print to the user:
Done. Storyboard at <batch-folder>/winners/<hook-slug>/storyboard.md.
Review the shot list. Tweak in the file if anything feels off.
Next: generate Flow prompts. Run:
paid-youtube-hook-prompts (with this hook slug)
Push update
After producing a storyboard, append an update block to the relevant project file in personal-assistant/projects/. See ../../CLAUDE.md for the protocol.
