# Stage: idea

Turn a one-line request into a clear concept — the `brief` artifact.

## Quality bar

- **One sentence of intent.** What is this for, and who is it for?
- **A real hook.** The single most interesting angle, stated plainly. The hook is
  the whole ballgame for a short — if the first few seconds aren't compelling, the
  rest never gets watched.
- **Target length, platform, tone.** Default to a ~20–30s short. Pick one tone
  (punchy, calm-explainer, cinematic) and commit.

## Structure that holds attention (validated)

- **Misconception-first.** When teaching something, consider opening with what the
  audience *thinks* is true, then overturning it. Surfacing and correcting a
  misconception produces measurably better engagement and recall than stating the
  fact cold (Derek Muller's education research).
- **"But / therefore", not "and then".** A list of facts ("and then… and then…")
  is inert. Drive it: *here's what you think → but that's incomplete → therefore
  the real mechanism is…* Each beat creates the need for the next.
- **Name the stakes.** Why should anyone care in the first ten seconds? An
  information gap ("the reason is stranger than you'd guess") is a stronger pull
  than a summary.

If the request is genuinely ambiguous on something that changes the whole video,
ask one sharp question. Otherwise propose and move — don't interview the person to
death over a 20-second clip.
