Scene Inventory Extractor

Scene Inventory Extractor

Systematic workflow for extracting comprehensive scene inventories from narrative source material and preparing every visual asset required for AI video generation. Continuity is a first-class deliverable: extract story-state, dressing-state, and object-state before writing prompts so a crew can reset scenes accurately when production shoots out of order.

Execution Context

This skill is designed for a command-line agent with:

• nanobanana image generation MCP (generate_image, edit_image,

character_consistency, and multi_image_fusion as needed), with every image call explicitly using model: gemini-3-pro-image-preview

• Vision capabilities (ability to inspect generated images for consistency)
• File system access (structured output directories)

All image generation and verification runs silently — no user confirmation gates during generation phases. Halt only on consistency failures that require human judgement. If gemini-3-pro-image-preview is unavailable through the nanobanana MCP, or if it cannot accept the reference images or character-consistency images required by the current phase, STOP and report the blocker. Do not switch to another image model.

Workflow Overview

| Phase | Name | Output | |-------|------|--------| | 1 | Source Analysis | Annotated reading notes | | 2 | Creative Pillars | Visual aesthetic + storytelling style + cinematography specification + prompt keyword library | | 3 | Narrative Spine | Structure, themes, turnpoints | | 4 | Character Bible | Character entries with reference-image specifications | | 5 | Locations Bible | Location entries with multi-angle, multi-condition scouting specs | | 6 | Props Bible | Props with physical descriptions and ref-image specs | | 7 | Scene Inventory | Per-scene breakdowns | | 8 | Continuity Inventory | Character/location/prop state tracking across scenes | | 9 | Shot Lists | Shot tables with full cinematography fields and duration budgets | | 10 | Thematic Image Plan | Key narrative-beat images | | 11 | Reference Image Generation | All character, location, and prop reference images with video role manifest | | 12 | Shot-Frame Generation | Start frame, end frame, and key frames per shot | | 13 | Consistency Verification + Handoff | Vision-based QA pass; final scene pack, frame assets, role manifest, and handoff notes for shot-specifier |

> Skill chain: scene-inventory-extractor-v2 prepares the scene pack and image > assets. Hand off to shot-specifier when per-shot direction, storyboard generation, > and prompt manifests are needed. Hand off to video-generator only after prompt files, > frame paths, model routing, and generation strategy fields exist and the goal is to > submit jobs through the Higgsfield MCP. > > Read order for reference files: Before starting Phase 2, read > references/cinematography-specification.md. Before Phase 8, read > references/continuity-inventory.md. Before Phase 11, read > references/reference-image-guide.md. The consistency verification procedure in > Phase 13 is defined in references/consistency-verification.md. The prompt keyword > library format is defined in references/prompt-keyword-library.md. > Downstream skill: This skill stops at Phase 13. When full per-shot storyboarding, > detailed actor/camera/lighting direction, model routing, prompt flattening, audio > generation preferences, and asset-pipeline management are required, hand off to the > shot-specifier skill. That skill takes the scene inventory and reference images > produced here as its input. When video generation itself is required, use > video-generator; this skill does not call Higgsfield directly.

---

Phase 1: Source Analysis

Read the source material twice. First pass: absorb narrative arc, tone, world. Second pass: extract with pen in hand.

First-Pass Questions

• What is the dominant visual mood? Name it.
• Where does the camera naturally want to be? (Observational? Intimate? Surveillance?)
• What objects carry narrative weight?
• What spaces define the world?
• Who moves through this world and how do they move?
• What is the light doing? (Time of day, weather, artificial sources)
• What is the sound doing? (Ambient beds, punctuations, silence)

---

Phase 2: Creative Pillars

> Prerequisite: Read references/cinematography-specification.md before this phase.

Extract and name the visual, storytelling, and cinematographic approaches.

2.1 Visual Aesthetic

**Name:** {Evocative 2–4 word title}
**Definition:** {One sentence capturing look and feel}

Specify: Palette (3–5 named colours), Lighting rules, Texture rules, Camera grammar, Warmth rules. See templates/scene-inventory-template.md for field structure.

2.2 Storytelling Style

**Name:** {Evocative 2–4 word title}
**Definition:** {One sentence capturing narrative approach}

Specify: Narrative rules, Rhythm rules, Scale rules.

2.3 Cinematography Specification

This is new territory relative to pure script breakdown. Define the physical and post-production characteristics of the image pipeline:

| Element | What to Define | |---------|----------------| | Format / filmstock | Gauge (Super 8, 16 mm, 35 mm, 65 mm, digital sensor equivalent), aspect ratio, native resolution | | Target resolution | Explicit pixel dimensions for generation and delivery, e.g. 1920x1080 or 1344x768; do not put preset labels here | | resolution-parameter | Provider-facing preset label when needed, e.g. 720p or 1080p | | Grain structure | Fine/medium/coarse; organic vs digital noise; grain response to exposure | | Colour process | Photochemical reference (Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Vision3 500T) or digital LUT family | | Colour timing | Overall bias (cool, warm, cross-processed); scene-specific timing rules | | Grading rules | Lift/gamma/gain tendencies; crush blacks or preserve shadow detail; highlight rolloff | | Lens language | Primes vs zooms; focal length range; anamorphic vs spherical; characteristic aberrations (halation, flare, bokeh shape) | | Depth of field rules | When shallow, when deep; rack-focus conventions | | Shutter behaviour | Shutter angle/speed rules (180° default, or intentional motion blur/strobing) |

Full specification format and examples are in references/cinematography-specification.md. Use this resolution contract consistently across extractor, shot-specifier, and video-generator: Target resolution is always explicit pixel dimensions, while resolution-parameter carries any provider preset label.

2.4 Prompt Keyword Library

> Prerequisite: Read references/prompt-keyword-library.md before this sub-phase.

Immediately after completing the cinematography specification, derive a project-level prompt keyword library: a canonical vocabulary of adjective phrases and art-direction terms that reliably translate each style parameter into language video and image generation models respond to consistently.

This library is infrastructure, not decoration. Every model-routed video prompt later written by shot-specifier must draw from it rather than re-inventing style language shot by shot. Inconsistent style vocabulary across shots produces visible tonal drift even when the underlying spec is correct.

Write the library as a section in the scene inventory document and also as a standalone file at {project_name}_prompt_keywords.md.

### Prompt Keyword Library

* **Global style phrase:** {1–2 sentences encoding filmstock, grain, colour process}
  * Example: "35 mm print, Kodak Vision3 250D characteristics, organic fine-to-medium grain,
    accurate daylight balance, slightly desaturated shadows, gentle highlight rolloff"

* **Per-location-type vocabulary:**
  * {Location type}: {canonical phrase set for colour, light, texture, atmosphere}
    * Example exterior: "flat pewter Atlantic overcast, wet peat surfaces, no hard shadows,
      lifted blacks, fence posts leaning in wind"
    * Example interior warm: "warm amber grow-light, artificial June, high humidity haze,
      strawberry scarlet at full vibrancy"

* **Per-lighting-condition vocabulary:**
  * {Condition name}: {phrase set}
    * Example pre-dawn: "sodium-orange practicals, deep grey-blue surround, rain halos
      around light sources, near-dark ground plane"

* **Global negative constraints:** {what must never appear in prompts}
  * Example: "no trees, no dual carriageways, no US road markings, no hard shadows,
    no blue sky, no bright saturated colours except strawberry scarlet"

* **Selective saturation rules:** {objects exempt from global desaturation}
  * Example: "strawberry scarlet is exempt from the global 15–20% desaturation pass;
    push selectively against every other desaturated element"

* **POV-specific overrides:** {e.g. machine-vision shots that require no grain}
  * Example drone POV: "digital-flat, no grain, deep focus throughout, gimbal-stabilised,
    machine vision — no organic camera movement"

---

Phase 3: Narrative Spine

Document timeframe, structural approach, operational themes (4–6), and key turnpoints (3–7). Themes must be operational: "Signature authority: who gets to update 'reality'" not "The loneliness of modern existence."

---

Phase 4: Character Bible

For each character, extract using the appropriate template from templates/character-template.md (primary / functional / interface / voice-only / collective).

Addition — Reference Image Specification per character:

For every character who appears on screen, append:

* **Reference image requirements:**
  * Primary: {Full body, neutral pose, front-facing, white background}
  * Face detail: {Head-and-shoulders, ¾ angle}
  * Expression set: {List key expressions needed by the story}
  * Wardrobe variants: {Each distinct outfit as a separate ref}
  * Action poses: {Any signature physical action}

Match detail to narrative weight: primary characters get full sets; functional characters get primary + face; collectives get a representative figure.

Also record a continuity state chain per recurring on-screen character: wardrobe by scene, carried items by scene, body-state continuity, and pocket / hand continuity risks. "Same outfit" is not enough when carried objects or physical condition change.

---

Phase 5: Locations Bible

> Critical: Locations receive the most comprehensive reference-image coverage. Each > location that appears in more than one scene, or whose atmosphere shifts across the > story, requires multi-angle, multi-condition scouting.

For each location, extract using templates/location-template.md.

Scouting Specification

For each location, define:

| Scouting Dimension | What to Specify | |--------------------|-----------------| | Angles | Establishing wide, interior/working angle, character-entry POV, signature detail insert | | Lighting conditions | Each distinct time-of-day or artificial-light state the story requires | | Weather conditions | Each weather state the story requires (if exterior or weather-visible) | | Seasonal state | If the story spans seasons and this location appears across them | | Narrative state | If the location degrades, transforms, or is altered by story events |

The scouting matrix is: angles × (lighting conditions × weather conditions × seasonal/narrative states). Generate the full cross-product only where the story actually visits that combination. Do not generate speculative combinations.

For recurring locations, add a continuity chain across appearances: first-appearance state, subsequent appearance changes, and non-negotiable anchors that must never drift.

---

Phase 6: Props Bible

For each significant prop (passes the significance test: narrative weight, multi-scene, character-defining, symbolic, or physically interacted with on camera), extract physical description, narrative function, sequence appearances.

For continuity, also record custody, state progression, set-down / pickup moments, and scene exit status.

6.1 Recurring Visual Elements

Also identify Recurring Visual Elements: any object, fixture, interface, machinery, set dressing element, furniture layout, or repeated environment component that appears in more than two shots and has a specific enough appearance that the audience would notice if it changed. These elements do not need full Props Bible custody/state entries unless they are handled or narratively transformed, but they do need locked reference images.

Treat recurring visual elements as reference-required even when they feel like location dressing. Examples include monitor-bank layouts and screen colours, inspection robots, grow-light strip configurations, cargo pod designs, storage cabinet designs, recurring signage clusters, and a named character's workstation or console layout.

For each recurring visual element, record:

* **Recurring visual element:** {Name}
  * Location / set: {Where it belongs}
  * Appearance lock: {Shape, layout, colour, screen state, arrangement, scale}
  * Appears in shots/scenes: {S01_SH001, S01_SH003, ...}
  * Reference image requirement: locked in Phase 11
  * Reference file: refs/recurring-elements/{name}/primary.png
  * Must pass as referenceImagePaths in: {All shots where visible}

Addition — Reference Image Specification per prop:

* **Reference image requirements:**
  * Reference priority: required-before-Phase-12 / incidental
    (required-before-Phase-12: prop appears prominently on screen across multiple shots
     and its visual identity is story-critical — a named vehicle, weapon, device, or
     object whose appearance the audience will track. Generate before any location or
     scene image that includes it. incidental: prop appears briefly or in background;
     standard Phase 11 timing applies.)
  * Primary: {Object on white background, ¾ angle}
  * Detail: {Any specific detail the camera will see in ECU/INS}
  * In-context: {Object in its typical environment, if context matters}
  * State variants: {If prop changes condition across the story}

---

Phase 7: Scene Inventory

For each scene (new scene on location change, significant time passage, POV shift, or mode change):

#### SC-{XX}

* **Scene ID:** SC-{XX}
* **Location:** {Location name}
* **Time:** {Time of day; weather; season}
* **Lighting condition key:** {Maps to scouting matrix entry}
* **Characters present:** {Who}
* **Objective / tension:** {What's at stake}
* **What changes:** {State shift by scene end}
* **Key sensory notes:** {Smell/sound/temperature}
* **Transitions in/out:** In: {from}. Out: {to}.
* **Continuity dressing notes:**
  * Fixed location anchors: {architecture, furniture, installed fixtures}
  * Recurring visual elements: {monitor banks, robots, light strips, cabinets, console layouts, signage clusters}
  * Movable dressing: {objects that can shift position}
  * Character-carried items: {by character}
  * Consumables / depletion states: {food, drink, cigarettes, fuel, paper stacks}
  * Weather / dirt / damage state: {mud, blood, sweat, rain, soot, wrinkles}
  * Reset-sensitive details: {what must match across coverage and return visits}

---

Phase 8: Continuity Inventory

> Prerequisite: Read references/continuity-inventory.md before this phase.

Write a separate continuity deliverable at {project_name}_continuity_inventory.md. Continuity extraction is pre-generation story/state tracking, not post-generation image QA.

Assume scenes will be shot out of order. Extract continuity so that a separate crew, working days later, can restore the exact character, prop, and dressing state without re-reading the source material.

---

Phase 9: Shot Lists

Create shot tables for each sequence. Use the expanded format from `templates/shot-list-temp

…

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: leynos
• Source: leynos/visual-storytelling-skills
• License: ISC

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.