# Animated Video Philosophy

> Story-first motion design philosophy for animated video: motion must earn its place; arc (establish, complicate, resolve); show vs tell; shots as units of thought; quiet vs loud motion; Disney principles with restraint; timing heuristics; composition; grammar by medium (product demos, logos, data viz, explainers); technical commitments (deterministic time, scrubbability, refs); cutting discipline; explicit anti-patterns. Use when planning, storyboarding, critiquing, or implementing programmatic or motion-driven video (Helios, Remotion, explainers, loops, UI capture, logo reveals), or when the user asks for motion direction, pacing, or visual-story structure.

- Skill: `bintzgavin/animated-video-philosophy` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add bintzgavin/animated-video-philosophy`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/bintzgavin/animated-video-philosophy/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media
- Author: bintzgavin (https://skillmd.com/u/bintzgavin)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/bintzgavin/animated-video-philosophy

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# Animated video philosophy

Read [philosophy.md](philosophy.md) start to finish before giving creative direction, critiquing a cut, or structuring scenes. That file is the verbatim working philosophy.

## How to apply it

- Gate work on the five questions at the end of `philosophy.md`. If they are not clear, prioritize script and intent over more keyframes.
- When reviewing builds, check **IX. The technical commitments** and **XI. What I won't do** explicitly.
- When timing or rhythm feels wrong, use **VI** (including the ~30 viewings rule) before tuning easing alone.