Script and storyboard: "How we plan and track work" animation

A 2½-minute animated explainer of the guide for the team (Uriel, Asdra, Fae, Sylvie, Valerie). Status as of 22 October 2026: script revised after two critiques (Opus, then Fable); v1 rendered, critiqued by Fable, and v2 rendered with its fixes.

Shape

One idea per scene, each with its own picture. The problem (one task copied into three places) turns straight into its fix (one record). Then one picture of an office grows: the record's folder, the cabinet and room, the central office, the task boards. The real tool names come only after the office is complete. The bank account (state and flow) comes with the team plan, where it explains why plans are history and records are where we stand now. The film ends back on the office with the ask.

 ① problem: one task, 3 places
 ② one record per project
 ③ folder ▸ cabinet ▸ room
 ④ central office: cards point back
 ⑤ boards: one per kind of work;
    point, don't copy
 ⑥ real names (tools last)
 ⑦ team plan + bank account
 ⑧ your week from Claude
 ⑨ close: your part

Running example: the Global Connection Call, the guide's own example (six community calls, first one 29 Oct, series ends 3 Dec, owner Petronella). Due days, task names and the AI's wrong dates are illustrative.

Accuracy: records, pointers, Markdown and the cross-team pointer rule are decided; which tracker does what, and the team-plan format, are on trial until the 3 December review. Planning's pointers are not built yet ("coming"). AI can read and update Asana, but only the Media House team changes it; everyone else reads it. Requests for Media House go through one request inbox (where it lives is still open, so the picture stays generic). The Thursday slot is left out because it is likely to change.

Voice: Kokoro on this machine (voice af_heart, speed 0.95). Each scene is spoken as one passage, for more natural intonation, then split at its pauses so the pictures land on the words. Captions throughout except the title and close. No music. Length: 2:19. The build lives in media/how-we-plan-video; the narration source of truth is build/narration.json.

Scenes

0. Title (0:00–0:03)

On screen: Title card: "How we plan and track work", "Life Itself". On screen from the first frame.

Narration: "How Life Itself keeps track of its work."

1. The problem (0:03–0:15)

On screen: A sticky note, "Send invites for the first call", is copied onto a board, a spreadsheet and a notebook, each with a different due day and a red question mark. Small "my list" papers appear under each. An AI speech bubble gives a fourth date, which is struck through: "not in any source".

Narration: "Today, one task can sit in three places, with three different dates. Which one is right? Nobody knows, so people keep their own lists. And an AI once quoted a due date that didn't exist."

2. One record (0:15–0:31)

On screen: The three copies slide together and become one record card: "Global Connection Call, six community calls", then owner, status, done when, tasks, and a notes line ("dated: what changed, who said so"), each row appearing as it is named.

Narration: "The fix is one record for each project. Take the Global Connection Call: six community calls. Its record says who owns it, where it stands, when it's done, and where its tasks are. When something changes, the owner updates it, with a dated note."

3. Folder, cabinet, room (0:31–0:44)

On screen: The card shrinks into a folder. The camera pulls back: the folder drops into a filing cabinet, the cabinet stands in a room ("Calls and Catalysts"), with the "Media House" room next door. Cabinet names stay hidden until the real-names scene.

Narration: "The record sits in a folder, with the project's papers. Folders sit in cabinets, and cabinets in rooms. A room is an initiative: an area of work with no end date, like Calls and Catalysts."

4. The central office (0:44–0:56)

On screen: The camera frames the row of rooms to show the central office: a shelf of initiative cards with a priority star, and an index box marked "one card per project (coming)". The Global Connection Call card (dashed) draws an arrow back to the folder. The folder gets "updated", the card greys with "out of date?", and the folder glows: "the record in the folder wins".

Narration: "Along the corridor is a central office. It's starting to keep an index card for every project, pointing back to its folder. If they disagree, the record in the folder wins."

5. Tasks on boards (0:56–1:14)

On screen: The camera moves down to the corridor, where two boards appear: "Content · Media House" and "Operations and planning". Notes fly from each room to its board. Chip: "which board does what: on trial until 3 Dec". A pink "Wisdom paper: promotion, needs both teams" note lands on the Media House board; the operations board gets a dashed note, "see the Media House task", with an arrow. A copy of the pink note slides onto the operations board and is crossed out. Chip: "point to things, don't copy them".

Narration: "Tasks go on boards, one for each kind of work: content for Media House, and operations and planning. We're trying this split until December. Work that needs both teams lives on one board. The other board gets a note, pointing to it. That's the rule everywhere: point to things, don't copy them."

6. The real names (1:14–1:33)

On screen: Dark labels slide over the office: "each cabinet: a repository on GitHub", "a short text file (Markdown)" on the folder, "the planning repository" over the central office, "Asana" and "Beads (kept in each cabinet)" on the boards. Chip: "only Media House changes Asana; everyone can read it".

Narration: "In our tools, each cabinet is a repository: a shared place for files on GitHub. Records are short text files. The central office is the planning repository. And the boards are Asana and Beads. Only the Media House team changes Asana. Everyone else can read it."

7. The team plan, a bank account, the request inbox (1:33–1:54)

On screen: Uriel and Rufus; three record cards feed a "Team plan" page; tasks fly out. A bank statement ("Statement · history") appears; the plan drops into it as the newest line. The statement slides left and a "Balance · where we stand now" box fills with record cards. An envelope drops into a "request inbox" tray: "sorted weekly by Media House · on trial".

Narration: "Every week or two, Uriel and Rufus read the records and write a team plan: what matters now, and who does what. Think of a bank account. Each plan is a line on the statement: history. The records are the balance: where we stand now. Requests for Media House go into one request inbox, which Media House sorts each week."

8. Your week (1:54–2:06)

On screen: A laptop with Claude open in the planning repository. The prompt from the guide types in. The reply lists "In progress" and "Ready" items, each with a link button. The cursor opens the first link: the record says "first call 29 Oct", Claude said "30 Oct", which is struck through. Chip: "the source wins".

Narration: "For your own week, open Claude and paste the prompt from the guide. It lists your work, each line linked to its source. Open a link or two. If Claude and the source disagree, the source wins."

9. Close (2:06–2:15)

On screen: The office again, pulled back, at the top. Below, "One record per project." and "Point, don't copy.", then three steps: set up your computer, read the guide, ask Claude what's yours. Footer: guide name; Uriel for Media House and the team plan; Rufus for records and tools. No captions here.

Narration: "One record per project. Point, don't copy. Your part: set up your computer, read the guide, then ask Claude what's yours this week."

Versions

• v1 (2:34): first render. Fable's review: script and order hold up; the office showed through behind later scenes, the camera stayed too wide, labels covered what they named, the photocopier didn't read.

• v2 (2:33): office hidden behind later scenes, camera frames each part as it is named, labels moved, a crossed-out copy instead of the photocopier, fewer chips, people drawn as figures, "Along the corridor", shorter end hold.

• v3 (2:19): follows the guide as updated on 22 Oct (Uriel): Asana rule, request inbox, Wisdom paper promotion owned by its Media House task. Thursday scene dropped (likely to change), new voice (af_heart), each scene spoken as one passage, tighter pauses.

• v4 (2:19): matches the guide at 6a6bc80: Media House sorts its request inbox each week (not at the team plan), and the inbox is on trial; the end card no longer sends all requests to Uriel.

The MP4s live only on Drive; renders/ is ignored by git. npx hyperframes render in the project rebuilds them.

Shared on the team Drive (All Team › Inbox › Explainers): v4, v3, v2, v1. v4 is linked from the guide and is the one for Asdra and Fae to review.