Ad film storyboard: how to review it and what to change

Why the storyboard matters

In an ad film, the production effort goes into the scenes. Every correction made before you approve the storyboard comes at no extra cost, while changing what a scene shows after approval means a reshoot. Five minutes spent on the storyboard therefore does more for the quality of the film than any later step.

The voiceover script

Read it aloud. Do the sentences sound complete and natural, or clipped like a telegram? Does the brand name appear at least twice, once in the closing line? Does the most memorable sentence come last? Are all figures correct? The script is written without long dashes and semicolons so the voiceover keeps a natural rhythm. If you edit the text, keep to simple punctuation such as commas and full stops, which gives the narrator clean, even pauses.

Scene length and order

A hook scene works best when it is short, around 3 to 5 seconds. Proof and product scenes can run longer, around 8 to 10 seconds. When a line of narration is longer than its scene, the system stretches the footage with a gentle slow motion effect. If a single sentence is very long, split it in two so each half sits comfortably in its own scene.

Visual prompts under each scene

Under each scene you will find the visual prompt sent to the video engine, written in English. The only thing worth changing is a detail that contradicts reality, such as a machine your company does not own or a location that is wrong. Prompts built around close-up faces and readable text can be caught by content filters, whereas "wide shot, hands, product, location" is a more dependable way to describe a scene. If the real look of your product matters, upload your photos as references.

Scenes built from your photos

If you uploaded photos of a location, facility, product or team when you opened the project, scenes that match the script are built from the photo itself. The location and product appear exactly as they are, and the engine only adds a slow camera movement and subtle signs of life, such as water, curtains or a person walking in the distance. In the storyboard these scenes carry a 📷 marker, and their summary begins with "From your uploaded ... photo".

When reviewing, check two things. First, does the photo really show what the sentence says? If the script mentions a pool and the photo shows the lobby, the match is wrong: delete the scene or open the project again with the right photos. Second, does the framing suit the video? In a landscape film, the edges of a very narrow vertical photo are cropped. Photos with text on them, such as banners and screenshots, are not turned into scenes, so clean photos of the location, product or team give the best result.

Highlight cards

Highlight cards are short messages shown in large type over a scene, such as "20+ years" or "6 hours". Three or four per film is a good number. A card on every scene turns the film into a slide deck. The figure on each card must match the figure in the voiceover.

After the film is ready: the edit note

Once you have watched the film, you can write a note in plain language: "At 33 seconds, let the logo fade in slowly after the ship has left," "make scene 3 one second shorter," "make the music calmer," "remove the text in scene 2." These changes are applied without reshooting and at no extra cost. A change to what the footage shows, such as "use a truck instead of the ship," calls for a reshoot, and the system tells you so.

Paid scene reshoots

An edit note carries no charge because the scenes are not reshot. Only the editing layer changes: logo, text, music, timing and order. If your note requires changing the footage itself (a different location, a new object, another camera angle), the system presents it as a separate quote. It prepares a new visual prompt for the scene concerned, and a "Reshoot scenes" option appears. The amount is calculated per scene and shown in the quote. Only that scene is reshot, the other scenes and the voiceover are kept, and the film is reassembled.

A good reshoot request is specific, for example: "In scene 3, set the location in the production line and let the camera move forward slowly." Before you approve the quote, read the new summary of the scene. If the narration will change as well, it is shown alongside.