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.