Capstone — Ship a Real AI-Assisted Creative Project

Build and launch a creative project that uses at least THREE of: image generation, video generation, voice synthesis, music generation, 3D generation. It must have a real audience (even a small one — your classmates, a newsletter, a community Discord), real distribution, and a real reflection on what you learned about creative AI in practice.

Accepted project shapes

• A 2-5 minute narrative short film.
• A music video for an original song.
• An illustrated children's book (10-20 pages) with narrated audiobook.
• A narrative podcast pilot (10-15 min) with sound design and cover art.
• A tech demo + launch page for an AI creative tool you built.
• A brand identity system (logo, pattern, voice, motion) for a real small business.
• An interactive 3D experience (Three.js / Spline + AI assets).

Required deliverables

1. 1The creative work itself, published somewhere real (YouTube, Vimeo, Itch, a live URL).
2. 2A PRODUCTION BRIEF (what you set out to make, for whom, and why).
3. 3A TOOL LOG documenting every AI tool used, prompt approach, and license status per asset.
4. 4A PROVENANCE REPORT — C2PA status, any watermarks, disclosure strategy.
5. 5A REFLECTION (800-1200 words) covering: what worked, what didn't, ethics decisions, what you'd do differently.
6. 6An honest SELF-CRITIQUE of the work (not the process) — where it falls short.

Production phases

1. 1DEFINE — brief, audience, success criteria, constraints, ethical non-negotiables.
2. 2PRE-PRODUCTION — storyboard, mood board, character sheets, script, shot list.
3. 3GENERATION — parallel produce all asset candidates (images, video, voice, music).
4. 4EDITORIAL — select, refine, iterate, re-generate weak assets.
5. 5ASSEMBLY — edit and mix in DaVinci Resolve, CapCut, Figma, or whatever fits.
6. 6QUALITY PASS — watch/read/listen end-to-end. Cut 15%. Smooth jumps.
7. 7COMPLIANCE — add C2PA, disclosure, captions, accessibility.
8. 8LAUNCH — publish, announce, invite feedback.
9. 9REFLECTION — write up, index your prompts, archive for next project.

{
  "project": "The Last Bookbinder — 4min short film",
  "audience": "indie short film festivals + my newsletter",
  "pipeline": {
    "storyboard": ["pen + paper", "Figma"],
    "character_design": {
      "tool": "Midjourney v7 + Flux LoRA",
      "lora_training": "20 images of mannequin in period costume",
      "consent": "mannequin + original composites; no real person"
    },
    "video_shots": [
      {"tool": "Runway Gen-4.5 img2vid", "input": "Midjourney keyframes", "count": 18},
      {"tool": "Kling 3.0", "input": "complex multi-subject scenes", "count": 4}
    ],
    "voice": {
      "tool": "ElevenLabs v3",
      "voice": "own cloned voice, consent_self",
      "languages": ["en"]
    },
    "music": {
      "tool": "ElevenMusic",
      "license": "commercial, indemnified",
      "stems": 4
    },
    "sfx": {
      "tool": "Stable Audio 2 + Epidemic Sound",
      "ratio": "60% generated, 40% licensed stock"
    },
    "edit": "DaVinci Resolve 19",
    "provenance": {
      "c2pa_signed": true,
      "watermark": "SynthID inherited from Veo where used",
      "disclosure": "end card + YouTube description + c2pa badge on host page"
    }
  },
  "commercial_use": true,
  "indemnified_stack": true,
  "budget_usd": 220,
  "production_time_hours": 42
}

Rubric (how Tendril will review)

Common capstone failure modes

• Over-scoping — a 20-minute film in a 2-week window. Cut your scope.
• Tool-of-the-week fatigue — trying every new model vs. going deep on 3-4.
• No clear audience — 'for everyone' = for no one. Name 3 real people.
• Skipping compliance until the end — add C2PA/disclosure as you build, not at launch.
• Vague reflection — 'it was cool' doesn't help. Be specific about what failed.

Shipping checklist

1. 1All assets have documented tools and license status.
2. 2C2PA manifest present where applicable.
3. 3Captions / accessibility text added.
4. 4Disclosure clear and prominent (end card, description, alt text).
5. 5Consent records stored for any cloned voices or referenced people.
6. 6A human has watched / listened / read end-to-end and signed off.
7. 7Publication link works on mobile and desktop.
8. 8Takedown path documented — if someone objects, you know how to respond.

“The tool doesn't make the maker. The maker makes the tool.”