creative-review-gate

Creative Review Gate

Use this skill when producing reels, ads, storyboards, or other creative assets that should pause for user curation before animation, stitching, or final packaging.

Trigger signals

• User asks for oversight, curation, approval, or review before you continue.
• User wants the script, frames, or concept before further production.
• The work involves iterative creative generation with locked canon or brand continuity.

Default workflow

1. Build a review pack first.
   • Script or VO draft
   • Scene-by-scene beat list
   • Starting frames or keyframes
   • Any locked visual canon, brand rules, or character anchors
   • Optional SFX / music / CTA notes
2. Make review boundaries explicit.
   • Mark what is locked.
   • Mark what the user can curate.
   • Say what you will not continue until approval arrives.
3. Pause before expensive downstream work.
   • Do not move into animation, stitching, publishing, or bulk generation until the user signs off on the review pack.
4. Preserve approved anchors.
   • If the user approves a frame, style choice, or CTA, treat it as an anchor for later steps.
5. Resume only from the approved state.
   • If the user changes one element, update the smallest adjacent pieces needed and re-present the pack.

Review-pack checklist

• Clear title and goal
• Short script or narration draft
• Frame list with IDs and a one-line purpose for each
• Vertical / aspect-ratio callout when relevant
• Any canonical design constraints
• CTA or end card direction
• Explicit question to the user: what should be changed, kept, or approved

Pitfalls

• Do not silently continue into animation after the user asked for curation.
• Do not bury the approval request in a long explanation.
• Do not regenerate everything when only one frame or line needs review.
• Do not mix draft, approved, and pending assets without labels.

Notes

• For current Appie reel work, see references/review-gate.md for the concrete pack format and accepted checkpoints.