Video Craft Standards

---
name: video-craft-standards
description: "Use when judging whether a CueFrame video's idea, visual form, motion, timing and sound meet its brief or reference (social reel, launch film, brand reel, talking-head clip). For tool selection and scoped revision use cueframe-compose-loop. Triggers on \"is this good enough\", \"quality bar\", \"what should a finished reel have\", \"review my video\", or any request to make a video when no other skill has stated the bar."
---

# Video craft review

Use the [project and capability policy](../composing-video/references/project-policy.md). Judge the requested film, not a universal house style. Typography, gradients, logo openings, deliberate stillness, silent work and reconstructed UI artwork can all be valid choices. Factual claims and the identity of actual captures must remain truthful.

[cueframe-compose-loop](../cueframe-compose-loop/SKILL.md) owns evidence, optional judge use and revision scope. Its [preview workflow](../cueframe-compose-loop/references/preview-workflow.md) distinguishes isolated previews, saved compositions and final exports. Use these questions where they matter to the brief; a small color correction does not require a new whole-film critique.

## What should the viewer experience?

Can the film's intended idea, transformation, mood or observation be understood? Does each major choice support it? For a story, does an action change what follows? For an identity study, are form and movement specific to that identity? A film can intentionally be non-narrative; do not invent a sales argument to justify it.

## Do the visual relationships hold?

Inspect hierarchy, silhouette, spacing and legibility at the intended viewing size. Verify that essential copy has enough readable time after settling. For a reference, compare projected bounds, glyph form, angles, materials and camera path as well as subject names. Two scenes showing the same phone are not necessarily the same shot.

Mounted UI should remain attached to its screen. Masks, edges and occlusion should agree with the pose. A pointer contacts the intended control before the response; an object carried through a transition retains identity and an intelligible path. Multiple simultaneous movements are useful when the viewer can follow their relationship. An attractive still does not establish any of these temporal properties.

## Does time express the idea?

Look for accidental pauses, rushed reading windows, unexplained changes in speed and transitions that lose the subject. A deliberate hold can be the strongest beat. Check actual stable time rather than a layer's nominal duration. For a revision, ensure dependent motion and sound still agree with the new event order. Inspect the complete end, including backgrounds, captions and tails.

## Does the medium support the promise?

- **Product evidence:** a real interaction and its result are visible and legible. Simulated UI is identified as artwork, not a capture of working software.
- **Speech-led footage:** selected words preserve meaning; captions and framing follow actual source evidence and the saved edit. Camera movement and captions are choices governed by the brief.
- **Type, illustration or data:** geometry and transformation carry meaning; text remains accurate, values are sourced and material behavior is coherent.
- **Brand work:** type, palette, material and motion form an intentional system; a new logo/name should not be the only thing distinguishing a supposedly specific treatment.
- **Sound:** heard intelligibility, balance and event synchronization are separate from loudness or waveform measurements. Silence needs no apology when it serves the piece.

A useful critique names a timestamp/window, observed problem, its consequence and a plausible correction. Prioritize failures of intent, fidelity or continuity over minor polish. Do not certify unseen motion or unheard audio, and do not substitute a score for the user's acceptance criteria.

## Detailed guidance

[Format standards](references/format-standards.md) has the controlling idea, the cross-cutting rules, and the checklists for social reels, launch films, brand-identity reels and talking-head clips, plus scoring discipline.