skills/video-ad-production/blueprints-index.md

# Ad blueprints (the recipes)

Entry point to the blueprint layer. Read this to pick the ad type; read `blueprints/<id>.md` to
build it. One blueprint = one **ad type** — a repeatable recipe with a fixed shot structure, a
fixed overlay contract, named copy slots, its own generation prompts, and the axes you are allowed
to vary between test variants.

A blueprint is not a template to fill in blindly. It is the shape that has been observed to work,
plus the failure modes that kill it. Instantiate it with this brief's product and offer.

## Picking

Match on what the **footage** is doing, not on the product category.

| The ad is…                                                                         | Blueprint                       | Status  |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------- |
| A person reacting to camera — clapping, nodding, expressions carrying the payoff   | `clapping-reaction`             | live    |
| Generated ambient/lifestyle footage under a text message that carries the argument | `background-video-text-overlay` | live    |
| A state change shown as two footage states, cut or wiped against each other        | `before-after`                  | planned |
| A person to camera in a confined, high-trust setting delivering the pitch          | `car-testimonial`               | planned |

`clapping-reaction` sits **above** `background-video-text-overlay` deliberately: both put a static
text block over generated footage, so a reaction ad matches the second row too, and first match
wins. The question that separates them is whether the footage is **performing** or merely playing.
A face doing the emotional work is a reaction ad; a face that happens to be in the shot is not.

Each blueprint carries the `FB-` treatment token it exports under; `background-video-text-overlay`
is `FB-videotextoverlay`, whose upstream definition — "a background video that is unrelated to the
text overlay running on top of it" — is exactly this shape. `clapping-reaction` is `FB-videoreaction`
rather than `FB-videotextoverlay` for that same reason read the other way: its footage is _related_
to the overlay — the performer is reacting to the claim — so the older token describes it wrongly.

`background-video-text-overlay` and `clapping-reaction` are built. The others are named here so the
routing surface is stable while they are added; do not attempt to build from a `planned` row — say
it is not built yet.

<blueprints>
<blueprint id="background-video-text-overlay" aspects="9x16, 4x5, 1x1" duration="6-15s" status="live">
Full-bleed generated footage runs continuously underneath while the argument is made entirely in
**text overlay** — a hook that is already legible on frame 0, two or three body beats that swap in
place, and an offer/CTA that lands and holds to the last frame. The footage sets mood and stops the
scroll; it never has to explain anything. The workhorse: reach for it whenever the message is
verbal, the product is hard to film, or you are testing hooks rather than testing visuals.
</blueprint>
<blueprint id="clapping-reaction" aspects="9x16, 4x5, 1x1" duration="6-15s" status="live">
A performer claps, nods and reacts to camera for the whole clip while a short text block carries the
claim — the clap is the metronome and the **face** is what sells. Inherits the text-overlay
contract but the face owns the middle of the frame, so the block drops to four lines below the chin
and the varied axis becomes the expression arc rather than the hook. Reach for it when the claim is
one a person would visibly react to and the payoff should land on a face rather than in a sentence.
</blueprint>
</blueprints>

## Adding a blueprint

A new blueprint is a new file in `blueprints/` plus a row in the table and a `<blueprint>` entry
above. `scripts/lint-blueprints.mjs` enforces that the three stay in sync and that the file carries
every required section — run it before committing:

```bash
node scripts/lint-blueprints.mjs   # from this skill's directory; `npm run lint:blueprints` in the repo
```

Required frontmatter keys: `id`, `name`, `status`, `duration`, `aspects`, `style`.
`style` is the blueprint's `FB-` treatment token for the export filename — it must be in the
vocabulary in `references/naming.md` and must agree with `BLUEPRINT_STYLES` in
`scripts/blueprint-styles.mjs`. The linter enforces both.
Required sections: `## When to reach for it`, `## Anatomy`, `## Shot structure`, `## Copy slots`,
`## Soundtrack`, `## Generation spec`, `## Variant axes`, `## Failure modes`, `## QA gates`.

`## Soundtrack` is required because an ad with no audio is a defect and the failure is silent in
every other gate — see `../SKILL.md` § Audio is not optional.