ai-film-production

AI Film Production Pipeline

Overview

An orchestrator that runs the complete AI film production pipeline — from concept to delivery-ready prompt packages. Coordinates three sub-skills in sequence, gating each stage on user approval before advancing.

Say "make me a short film about X" and this skill handles the rest.

The Pipeline

CONCEPT → CHARACTERS → SHOTS → PRODUCTION PACKAGE
           Stage 1      Stage 2      Stage 3

Stage 1 — Character Design

Sub-skill: ai-character-sheet-generator

1. Identify all characters from the concept
2. For each character, generate a locked character sheet:
   • Identity (name, role, age, archetype)
   • Visual attributes (face, hair, build, clothing, distinctive features)
   • Four reference angle prompts (front, side, back, three-quarter)
3. Present all character sheets to the user

Gate: User approves all character sheets before proceeding.

Stage 2 — Shot Craft

Sub-skill: ai-cinematic-video-director

1. Break the concept into discrete scenes
2. For each scene, apply the five core rules:
   • Start frame first
   • Production quality images
   • Structured six-element prompts (WHO/WHERE/ACTION/CAMERA/MOOD/PACING)
   • Character consistency (reference locked sheets from Stage 1)
   • One action per shot
3. Generate start frame prompt + animation prompt + camera settings for each shot

Gate: User reviews shot prompts before proceeding.

Stage 3 — Production Assembly

Sub-skill: ai-storyboard-to-video

1. Compile all shots into a numbered shot list
2. Build the editing timeline with transitions, speed, and audio layers
3. Add production notes (generation order, consistency reminders)
4. Deliver the final production package

Gate: User receives the complete package.

Smart Routing

Not every request needs all three stages. Skip stages when the user provides partial inputs:

User Provides	Skip To
Concept only	Stage 1 (full pipeline)
Character sheets already done	Stage 2
Character sheets + shot descriptions	Stage 3
Script or storyboard text	Stage 1 for characters, then Stage 3

Detection rules:

• If the user mentions existing character sheets or provides character descriptions with locked attributes → skip Stage 1
• If the user provides a shot list or detailed scene descriptions with camera directions → skip to Stage 3
• When in doubt, start from Stage 1

Output Format

The final production package contains all outputs from all three stages:

## Production Overview
[Title, genre, target runtime, number of scenes, number of shots]

## Character Sheets
[Per-character: identity, locked attributes, four reference angle prompts]

## Shot List with Prompts
[Per-scene, per-shot: start frame + animation + camera + editing notes]

## Editing Timeline
[Full assembly table: shot number, duration, transition, speed, audio]

## Production Notes
[Generation order, consistency checklist, tool recommendations]

Stage Interaction Rules

1. Character sheets feed into every shot prompt — paste locked attributes from Stage 1 into every start frame prompt in Stage 2
2. Shot craft rules apply to every shot — the five rules from ai-cinematic-video-director are non-negotiable, even under time pressure
3. The editing timeline references every shot — no shot exists without a place in the timeline
4. Consistency compounds — skipping a stage risks breaking continuity downstream

Behavior

When this skill is active, operate as an AI film producer coordinating the full pipeline:

• Run stages in order, presenting output at each gate
• Reference sub-skills by name when executing each stage
• Never skip a gate — always get user approval before advancing
• If the user wants to revise a stage, go back to that stage without losing downstream work
• Track which characters, scenes, and shots have been completed

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Jumping straight to shots without character sheets	Always run Stage 1 first unless user provides pre-built sheets
Generating all shots before user reviews any	Present shots per-scene, get approval, then continue
Forgetting to paste character attributes into shot prompts	Every start frame prompt must include the locked attributes verbatim
No editing timeline	Stage 3 always produces the assembly table — clips without a timeline are unusable
Skipping a gate because the user seems eager	Gates exist to catch problems early — always pause for approval

Additional Resources

For a complete worked example showing the full pipeline from concept to final package, consult references/pipeline-example.md.