# Direction: aj-greenscreen-lawyers-ad Runtime date: 2026-10-28 Mode: auto, the user waived the stage 01 questions; preview approval kept (stop B) Tier: locked (reference fixes the look) Crew: lean ## Summary Concept: the presenter ad recut as an Al Jazeera English explainer reel, the reference's systems mapped one to one onto the ad's sentences (D-02) Direction: reference-locked recreation, Al Jazeera identity as is (D-03) Palette: from the reference: near-black #07090D, signal red #C4001A, crimson #8E0E1F, teal map, white captions, quote pink #E3506B, end card red-purple (D-06) Type: Montserrat 800/900 headlines and lower thirds, Montserrat 500 captions (D-07) Gates: clarity on the preview storyboard PASS r1 (ice/review/clarity-preview.md); read-3 at 09; brand test and swap at 09 ## Tools found at intake (engine-choice 7.2) Node v25.7.0; FFmpeg 8.1.1 (gyan full build); Chrome in its default install folder; Python 3.12.10; project venv `ice/.venv` (system site packages + scenedetect 0.6.7, librosa 0.11.0; numpy 2.5.2, opencv 4.11.0, Pillow 12.3.0 reused); faster-whisper with `medium.en` downloaded to the local Whisper cache (the cached models on the machine were empty); yt-dlp present. Installs and downloads were allowed by the user. ## Decisions ### D-01 Unasked stage 01 slots Status: proposed Question: open slots after the user waived the questions Choice: platform vertical 9:16 1080x1920 30 fps (the reference's own format); length = the raw speech, about 69 s plus a 4 s end card; commercial use yes (it is an ad); language English; music: a quiet bed, decided at 08; voice: the presenter's own; captions burned in plus SRT. Reason: each value follows from the reference or the footage; nothing here changes the user's words. Sources: BRIEF slots; ffprobe; reference ANALYSIS.md Left behind: horizontal 16:9 master (the footage's own ratio), rejected because the reference is vertical. ### D-02 Edit type and order Status: proposed Choice: talking-head ad, recomposed vertical reel with scenes; order `01 03 02 04 06 05 [07 08a] 08b 09 10` (the edit type's line). Sources: ice-edit section 2; edit-types/talking-head-ad.md ### D-03 Identity mode Status: proposed Question: Al Jazeera's identity on a third party's ad Options: A: as is (logo bug, lower thirds, studio, end card from the reference); B: the reference's grammar in a neutral identity; C: the reference's grammar in ConsultasAbogado.com's colours Choice: A, as the user asked ("بهوية الجزيرة زي ما هي"). Reason: the user's words; rights are the user's (ice-remake rights-and-modes section 1). Two guard rails added: the name lower third reads "SPONSORED" (D-04) and the delivery note lists Al Jazeera's permission as required before publishing. Left behind: B. ### D-04 Name lower third Status: proposed Question: the reference names its correspondent ("MOHAMED HASSAN / AL JAZEERA"); the raw presenter is unnamed Options: A: "CONSULTASABOGADO.COM" + tab "SPONSORED"; B: an invented name + "AL JAZEERA"; C: no lower third Choice: A. Reason: never invent a name; claiming the presenter is an Al Jazeera journalist would turn an ad into fake journalism; the system itself (white box, crimson text, dark tab) is kept exactly. Left behind: B. ### D-05 Cut policy Status: proposed Choice: one continuous take from source 0.40 s to 69.40 s, no internal cuts; scene changes happen on the graphics and cutaways only. Reason: locked-off camera, no retakes; pauses of 0.24 to 1.24 s between words (ASR times, the longest 0.76 s at 3.30 and 1.24 s at 13.64); trimming every pause to 0.3 s would save about 2.9 s but put a jump cut on a locked-off camera at each join; the two long pauses carry the question keyword and the title card. Reference pacing (a new visual state every 1.3 to 4 s) comes from the scene plan, not from trimming speech. ### D-06 Palette and studio set Status: proposed Choice: reference colours measured from frames; the LED wall is rebuilt from NASA Blue Marble (public domain) cropped to the Americas, graded teal like the reference's map, with Latin America tinted red the way the reference tints Iran. Reason: the reference's wall shows the story's region; this story is US attorneys and Latin American clients. Sources: `ice/assets/studio/make_wall.py`; NASA Visible Earth 74092 ### D-07 Type Status: proposed Choice: Montserrat (OFL) 900 for keywords, 800 for the lower third name and bullets, 500 for captions and tabs, matched to the reference frames; the Al-Jazeera web font from aljazeera.com is kept as reference only. ### D-08 B-roll sourcing Status: proposed Choice: US government public domain first (USCIS, Census, Library of Congress Highsmith archive, DVIDS), then Wikimedia Commons free licences, then free stock video; every item in `ice/assets/broll/sources.json` with its licence. Reason: user asked for the latest real, official footage. ### D-09 Sound Status: proposed, decided at 08 Choice: the presenter's voice untouched; a low pulse bed and hits on keyword entries, built locally or from a licence-clean source; the reference's own end-card audio is used under the end card (identity as is). ### D-10 End card Status: proposed Choice: the reference's own end card (189.4 to 193.1 s) is used as it is; the ring wipe before it is rebuilt around our presenter. Reason: identity as is; the end card holds Al Jazeera's own handles and icons, which must not be redrawn. ### D-11 The claim "fastest growing" Status: proposed Choice: stays in the captions as spoken; never a keyword or a graphic. Keyword for that shot: "GROWING COMMUNITY". Sources: `ice/research/COMPLIANCE.md` ### D-12 The number "62 MILLION" Status: proposed Choice: shown with the source line "U.S. CENSUS 2020" (62.1 million). Sources: Pew Research chart "U.S. Hispanic population reached 70 million in 2025" (checked 2026-10-28) ### D-13 Ad label Status: proposed Question: the cold read said the film reads as Al Jazeera news (ice/review/clarity-preview.md) Options: A: a red "SPONSORED" tag under the logo bug for the whole film, plus the lower-third tab; B: the lower-third tab only; C: a full-screen disclaimer card Choice: A. Reason: an ad in a news brand's identity must not pass as journalism (COMPLIANCE.md, platform branded-content rules); A keeps the reference's layout intact. Left behind: B. ### D-14 Engine Status: proposed Choice: HTML canvas capture, zero install (engine-choice 7.4 rung C): `render-html.mjs`, Chrome 149.0.7827.102, built-in CDP driver, software compositing. The presenter is keyed by FFmpeg (`chromakey=0x349C3C:0.07:0.03`, despill) into 2070 WebP frames with alpha; clips are frame sequences; everything is drawn on one clock in `film/index.html`. Temp files go to a temporary render folder on the second drive because C: has under 4 GB free. ### D-15 Edit approach (stage 02) Status: proposed Question: the shape and rhythm of the edit Options: A: one continuous take recomposed into the reference's systems, picture state changes switched on by the words (TRIGGERS.md); B: trim pauses and cut to a 60 s version; C: keep the 16:9 frame with graphics only Choice: A. Reason: the speech has no retakes and short pauses (D-05); the reference's rhythm comes from its graphics and cutaways (mean shot 3.79 s, analyze.py), which A reproduces. Takeaway (quoted from ice/plan/concepts.md): Sells: ConsultasAbogado.com, a Spanish-language lawyer directory, membership for US attorneys Offer's job: ConsultasAbogado.com lists your law firm where Hispanic clients look for an attorney, with your reviews and services, for no fee One-line idea: Attorneys who join ConsultasAbogado.com free reach Hispanic clients their competitors miss. Literal anchors: red disc and darkened subjects -> the people the line names -> S03 to S06; LED-wall map with Latin America in red -> where the clients come from -> S01 onward; the site on the wall and on a phone -> the directory doing its job -> S09, S12, S17 Sources: ice/plan/concepts.md (takeaway); ice/reference/aj-reels/TRIGGERS.md; analysis/report.json pacing Left behind: C. ### D-16 Frame rate Status: proposed Question: the footage is 29.97 fps, the reference 30 fps Choice: film at 30 fps; the presenter frames were conformed with FFmpeg's `fps=30` (nearest-frame, timestamp exact): 2 repeated frames in 69 s, never more than half a frame of lip offset. Reason: delivery matches the reference format; the offset stays under the one-frame lip-drift limit (ingest-and-ledger section 2). Deviation from the rule "change the film's rate to the footage's" is recorded here. ### D-17 Silhouettes, removed elements, finishing Status: proposed Choice: the presenter is never a silhouette (the darkened figure in the red disc is always the subject the line names); elements with no trigger in the words were removed (TRIGGERS.md section C); finishing (blur, motion blur, texture, vignette, glow, grade) follows the measurements in ice/reference/aj-reels/FINISHING.md. Sources: user notes relayed by the parent session (2026-10-29), quoted: "الشخص المعتّم أو السيلويت اللي في الدايرة الحمرا بيكون الشخص أو الحاجة اللي المتكلم بيتكلم عنها، ومش المتكلم نفسه. المتكلم بيفضل منوّر وواضح." "كل عنصر في المرجع بيظهر لسبب ... اللي ملوش سبب يتشال." "motion blur على الحركات السريعة. blur للعمق وفي الدخول والخروج والانتقالات. ملمس الفيلم القديم على اللقطات المناسبة ... vignette، وglow، والـ grade العام. قيسهم من المرجع (فين، وقد إيه، وليه)" Status note: the finishing part waits for ice/reference/aj-reels/FINISHING.md (measurement in progress). ### D-19 Identity: the advertiser's own, not Al Jazeera's Status: proposed Question: the user's note (relayed, 2026-10-29): "الخام ده مش خبر. ده إعلان لموقع consultasabogado.com ... فمينفعش يطلع نسخة من الجزيرة. شيل هوية الجزيرة كلها ... غيّر الأسلوب لحاجة تناسب إعلان خدمة قانونية موجّه للمحامين" Locked inputs: ConsultasAbogado.com's official identity from its own site (Internet Archive captures 2018-08-06 and 2021-03-31): logo `logo-azul.jpg` (2018), navy #0B1753, logo blue #18A5C9, light blue #46BAF3, green #44BE37, Montserrat headings, Open Sans text Options: A: the advertiser's identity on the reference's edit grammar; B: a neutral premium legal look; C: keep Al Jazeera Choice: A. Reason: the user's words; the site's own material exists and carries trust (navy) and action (green). Supersedes: D-03, D-04, D-10, D-13 (Al Jazeera identity, lower-third label, Al Jazeera end card, SPONSORED tag) Left behind: B. ### D-20 Look for a legal service ad (stage 05) Status: proposed Choice: navy room with a framed screen showing the Americas (Latin America in logo blue), soft blue light columns, the reference's red disc replaced by a soft blue key light; keywords keep the reference's measured rise and blur-in but enter with a smooth opacity ramp (no broadcast flicker, no scanlines); "62 MILLION", "YOUR EARNINGS", "WAIT!" in the brand green; bullet card with green checks; white lower third and name bars with a green bar; captions in Open Sans 600 46 px on a navy scrim with the reference's geometry; the advertiser's logo as the corner bug on a navy plate; end card: logo, address, green "JOIN FREE" button and "No-cost membership for attorneys" (the spoken offer); transitions keep the reference's timings with calm treatments: navy-tint blur dissolve, soft light dissolve, clean light cut, dip to navy, soft light sweep, blur-zoom, and an arch iris taken from the logo's arch. Removed: datelines, film-burn, red paper wash, scanlines, embers, smoke, old-film grain. Reason: trust and premium for attorneys, in the advertiser's own colours; every element still has its trigger in the words (TRIGGERS.md section E). Grade: presenter untouched except a light cool rim (0.16) from the set's light columns; hook subjects slightly cooled (saturate 0.85, navy 18%); footage left as source. Sources: ice/assets/brand-sheet.json; FINISHING.md; TRIGGERS.md ### D-21 Music under the new look Status: proposed Choice: the user's pick (m1, dark pulsing tension) no longer suits a trust/premium legal ad; three alternatives from libraries are offered as 25 s previews; the user picks. Sources: user note "خلّيك على التراك اللي عمر اختاره، إلا لو بقى مش مناسب مع الأسلوب الجديد. ساعتها اعرض عليه 2 لـ 3 بدايل" ### D-22 Track for the final Status: proposed Question: the user approved the new look without picking a track; the instruction (relayed): "خد الأقرب بالقياس، وسيب البديلين في ملاحظة التسليم" Options: c1 Confident Corporate Story, c2 Motivational, c3 Corporate Ambient (all Pixabay Content License, no Content ID mark) Choice: c2 Motivational (331music, 112.3 BPM). Reason: nearest to the reference bed measured on its voice-free stretches (130 BPM, centroid about 1.4 kHz, 68% energy under 150 Hz, 4.7 onsets/s): distance 0.50 against c3 0.73 and c1 1.36 (tempo, log centroid, low-energy share and onset rate; librosa 0.11). Left behind: c1, c3 (listed in the delivery note). ## Heads-up - consultasabogado.com does not resolve today (last archive capture 2021-03-31). - "62 million" is the 2020 count; today it is about 70 million.