Lesson 08

Build your own

Bring your script, sound plan, storyboard, and timing together into a short you can present.

Soft closing beat—small magic is enough — A clear ending resolves the story’s original idea. Your final panel should make that change visible.

Start in a blank document with the work you made in the earlier lessons. Your core assignment is a complete production plan for a roughly 20-second story. You can present that plan with a live reading and four sketches. Producing an edited video is an optional extension.

Choose your route and review points

Use the pathway flowcharts to choose plan-and-present, a video editor, or a code-based production route. Review your work at G1 (story), G2 (sound and pictures), G3 (timing), and G4 (delivery). If a check fails, follow the revision loop and check again before continuing.

Keep the revision guide beside your plan. A change to the spoken words may reopen several gates; a missing credit may only need a delivery check.

Begin with the idea and format decision from Lesson 02. The core assignment below stays short; an optional longer project should add meaningful choices and consequences, then expand the storyboard and timing plan accordingly.

The brief

Create a story in which a small ability, object, or action turns out to be useful. Use one main character, no more than two speaking roles, and four beats: setup, question, discovery, payoff. You may adapt the Mira example from Lesson 03 or invent your own premise.

Suggested directory structure

If you are working with files, start a new folder for your own story. This is a structure you can create, not a repository you need to obtain. Keep the written plans first; add media, an editor or code project, and exports only when your chosen route needs them.

my-story/
  skills.md                 # these agent instructions
  brief.md                  # premise, audience, pathway, constraints
  story/
    script.md               # four labelled spoken beats
    cast.md                 # speaker and delivery notes
  visuals/
    style-guide.md          # character, props, palette, framing rules
    storyboard.md           # picture and caption area for each beat
    images/                 # optional: original/reference/final pictures
  audio/
    sound-plan.md           # speech, pauses, optional music
    speech/                 # optional: recordings or generated takes
    music/                  # optional: permitted music with source notes
    mixed/                  # optional: reviewed audio mixes
  edit/
    timeline.csv            # timed beat list
    captions.srt            # optional: captions based on actual timing
    project/                # optional: editor project or video code
  review/
    gates.md                # G1-G4 status and evidence
    revisions.md            # changes and affected checks
  credits.md                # asset sources and required attribution
  exports/
    previews/               # optional: short review exports
    final/                  # optional: finished deliverables

For the plan-and-present route, these headings can stay in one document. For an existing project, adapt the names to your tools. Keep original recordings and images so a revision does not erase the version you are comparing.

Give your AI agent the project instructions

The optional skills.md file contains the project structure, instructions for all three pathways, G1–G4 review criteria, revision rules, timing guidance, and credit requirements. It is a text instruction file; it does not include media, software, or an existing project.

Download skills.md

Save the file with your project notes, or in the root of your new story folder.
Attach it to your agent conversation, paste its contents, or ask an agent with file access to read it. The filename alone does not make every tool load it automatically.
Send the starter prompt below with your idea, audience, and tools. The agent should help you create your own materials and record which reviews remain pending.

Copy and complete this prompt:

Read the attached skills.md and use it to help me
create my own story project from scratch.

My story idea: [one sentence]
Audience: [who will watch]
Pathway: [plan and present / video editor / code]
Available tools and materials: [list, or none]
Deadline or budget: [if relevant]

Start with my brief and a four-beat script.
Use the suggested folders only where they help.
Follow G1–G4 and keep a revision log.
Label estimated timing and checks I still need to do.
Do not assume access to Ellie's project or media.

If your agent cannot create files, ask it to give you the document sections to save yourself. Read and listen to the results: an agent's completed task list is not a substitute for the review gates.

Copy this planning template

Title:
Audience:
Emotional promise:
Chosen format and why it fits:
One-sentence premise:
What changes by the end?

Character and visual rules:
Speaker delivery notes:

Beat 1 — setup
Words:
Picture:
Start / end time:
Caption:
Sound or pause:

Beat 2 — question
Words:
Picture:
Start / end time:
Caption:
Sound or pause:

Beat 3 — discovery
Words:
Picture:
Start / end time:
Caption:
Sound or pause:

Beat 4 — payoff
Words:
Picture:
Start / end time:
Caption:
Sound or pause:

Total duration:
Music choice and attribution, or no music:
One production choice and its tradeoff:
One change made after review:

Revision log:
Gate that needs work (G1 / G2 / G3 / G4):
Problem observed:
Change made:
Gates checked again:
Evidence that the revised version passes:

Build the plan in six passes

Write: complete the four spoken beats. Read them aloud and shorten anything that obscures the main idea.
Direct: give each speaker a delivery note. Mark pauses and the change in feeling at the end.
Draw: sketch four vertical panels. Keep your character and important props consistent.
Time: measure your reading and assign start and end times. Use the table in Lesson 06 as a model.
Credit: name the sources of any material you plan to use. For Ellie’s music, the exact attribution is on the credits page.
Review: present the panels while reading the script. Ask a viewer what changed for the character, then revise one unclear part.

What to hand in or share

The completed template, including your script and timed captions.
Four storyboard panels, with the important action labelled.
A short explanation of one production choice and its cost.
A note describing feedback and the revision you made.

Check your work

Can a reader understand the story from the script and panels? Do the timing intervals add up? Is every speaker identified? Are captions readable? Have you included attribution for any music you intend to use? The plan should answer these questions without an explanation from you.

Optional extension: produce the video

If you have a video editor, start a new vertical project and import your own drawings and recordings. Arrange them using your timing plan, add captions, and include music only if it helps. Export a short preview and check it on the screen your audience will use.

If you prefer coding, the Remotion lesson explains the scheduling concepts. You would need to create and configure your own project before implementing your plan; this course does not supply a runnable application.

Optional planning prompt

Help me review this four-beat video plan. Check that the ending resolves the opening idea, that each picture matches its spoken beat, and that the timing intervals add up. Identify one unclear choice and explain it. Use only the plan I paste below; do not assume access to other files.

Final checkpoint

You have a complete plan that another person can read, perform, or use to assemble a video. The method you practised—write, listen, picture, time, review—can be reused for your next story.