Continuity across scenes
Video generators work in short shots, so a two-minute film is dozens of separately generated pieces. Continuity is where films fall apart: a character's face or hair changes between cuts, a jacket gains a pocket, afternoon light jumps to evening, a room rearranges itself. Write the film's bible first: character sheets with faces, wardrobe and props, set plans with fixed geography, a lighting plan by scene and one colour grade applied across everything. Keep screen direction consistent, since the 180-degree rule still applies, and review the film as a sequence, because continuity errors only show in context.
Music licensing for every version
Using an existing recording needs two licences: a sync licence for the composition, usually from the publisher, and a master-use licence for the recording, usually from the label. Both define media, territories, term and sometimes exclusivity, and a licence for social may not cover cinema or TV. Library music is simpler but can turn up in a competitor's ad. Commissioned or generated music avoids third-party rights only if the composer's contract or the model's terms give the brand clear commercial use. For broadcast and cinema, keep cue sheets so performance royalties are reported correctly.
Where a human director still matters
Generation handles images; a director handles meaning. Performance is the clearest case: the timing of a look, a pause before a line, restraint. So is pacing, knowing which shot to hold and which to cut, and taste, knowing when a technically perfect image is emotionally wrong. Give a director, or a creative lead with directing experience, ownership of the story, the casting of characters and approval of every scene as part of the whole. Use generation for previsualisation, set extensions, backgrounds, crowds, versions and shots that would be unsafe or unaffordable to film.
Versions for cinema, connected TV and social
Cinema takes a Digital Cinema Package (DCP), usually at 24 frames per second, in flat (1.85:1) or scope (2.39:1), with a 5.1 or 7.1 mix. Connected TV takes 16:9 cut-downs, often 15 or 30 seconds, mixed to broadcast loudness, with end cards designed for a screen nobody can click: a memorable URL or a QR code. Social wants 9:16, 1:1 and 4:5 edits with captions and a faster open. Plan the master with all three in mind: frame important action so it survives a vertical crop, and keep dialogue, music and effects as separate stems.
Updated 25 September 2026