Client Sent a Script but No Visual Brief? Build a B-Roll Plan Before You Edit

The client sends a finished script and one instruction: “Make it look professional.” You can start looking for footage, but you do not yet know what “professional” means to them. A polished corporate office, a small working studio, and a clean product demonstration are three different directions.

When a client sends a script without a visual brief, turn the missing direction into a short set of decisions before building the edit. Identify what the script promises, what must come from the client, and where contextual stock footage can do the job.

You can make useful progress immediately. Read the script, draft a proposed visual approach, and ask only the questions whose answers would change what you source.

Mark the Sentences You Cannot Illustrate by Guessing

Do a first pass with three labels: client material, contextual stock, and unresolved. These are notes in your production document, not features you need inside a sourcing tool.

“Our dashboard shows open shifts” needs the actual dashboard or a client-supplied demonstration. “Managers juggle last-minute changes” could use contextual footage. “Built for teams like yours” is unresolved until you know which teams the client means.

Mark nouns that describe the buyer, workplace, product, and service. A script can be precise about benefits while leaving all four visually ambiguous. Those gaps often matter more to your footage search than the adjective “cinematic.”

A Hypothetical Client Request

Imagine a fictional scheduling-software client sends a short homepage script. This example is invented for planning practice; it is not a ScenePull customer story.

“Last-minute shift changes make a manager's day harder. With [product name], you can see open shifts and send an update to your team. Keep everyone working from the same schedule. Book a demo to see how it works.”

The client adds: “Use our logo and some people footage. Keep it modern.” The product name here is a placeholder. No interface, customer footage, audience definition, or visual reference accompanies the message.

You can already identify two asset requests: a demonstration of the claimed workflow and the correct logo files. You cannot choose the people footage confidently yet. A restaurant manager, retail supervisor, and warehouse dispatcher would lead you to different settings, clothing, and activities.

A useful first response proposes a direction the client can correct. It does not ask them to become a video director.

Ask Questions That Change the Footage

Keep the questions tied to decisions you will make. “What is your vision?” invites another broad adjective. “Should the opening show a retail floor or an office?” exposes a concrete choice.

If a reference is a bright retail film, ask whether the useful quality is its everyday staff, natural light, or relaxed pace. A link alone does not tell you which part to follow. Record the answer in plain words that can guide a search.

For this hypothetical project, suppose the answers are: independent retail managers, a horizontal homepage video, everyday shops, natural light, no executive boardrooms, and actual product footage for the scheduling steps. Now you have constraints you can use.

Copy This Reply and Replace the Brackets

“Thanks for the script. My proposed approach is [specific visual direction] for [primary audience]. I would use stock footage for [contextual moments] and your own material for [product or business claims].

Before I choose the footage, please confirm [audience/workplace] and [destination/frame shape]. Please also send [specific assets], plus one visual reference with a note about what you like in it and anything we should avoid.

I will build the shot plan around those answers. At present, [missing asset or decision] is unresolved, so the related scene remains a placeholder. If that material is unavailable, I suggest [specific alternative or script change] for you to consider.”

In the scheduling example, the missing asset is the current product recording. The alternative could be a simple text-led statement of the benefit, provided the client agrees to remove wording that promises a visible demonstration. Do not invent a convincing interface to fill the gap.

Send this through your usual client channel. The reply and questions are reusable working material; ScenePull does not send them or collect the client's response.

Build a Shot Plan That Exposes Missing Material

Turn the answers into a small working table. The point is to make the difference between a sourcing task and an unresolved dependency visible before you assemble footage.

Notice that this plan uses stock for one contextual scene. More stock would not solve the missing product demonstration. You can source the opening while waiting for the recording, but the footage search should not hide that dependency.

For your next project, copy these fields into your existing document:

• Script passage:
• Visual purpose:
• Proposed subject, action, and setting:
• Source: contextual stock / client asset / editor-created graphic
• Selection requirements:
• Missing input and who supplies it:
• Fallback to discuss if unavailable:
• Selected filename or source reference:

Source Against the Brief You Now Have

ScenePull detects scenes from a script and finds matching existing stock videos and images. Review the candidates using the requirements in your shot plan. A suited person checking a phone may match the action, but it fails this example's retail setting.

ScenePull provides a scene-organized ZIP of stock assets, with access and limits depending on your plan. Bring the selected files into your editor alongside the client's recordings and brand assets. The client communication, shot-plan decisions, and final edit remain part of your own workflow.

If the footage search still feels broad, the stock-footage search guide explains how to narrow a query. For scenes that depend on exact software behavior, the product-explainer guide covers where original product material belongs.

You are ready to start the edit when each passage has a proposed visual and each missing input is named. Keep unresolved scenes visible as placeholders. The brief has done its job when “make it professional” has become practical direction you can actually follow.