A collection of visual references, images, colour palettes, film stills, textures, that communicates the look and feel of a proposed video.
Mood boards are the quickest way to show rather than tell. Directors use them inside treatments to instantly convey an aesthetic direction without writing paragraphs of description.
Mood board in the real world
Mark Romanek, directorThe creative lead of the music video. They develop the conce... of Nine Inch Nails’ Closer (1994), built a treatmentA document a director puts together to pitch their creative ... around Victorian-era medical photography, early anatomical illustration, and surrealist imagery. The visual references established a tone the label could react to immediately, before a single frame was planned. The resulting aesthetic became one of the most visually distinctive videos of the decade.
Related terms
TreatmentA document a director puts together to pitch their creative ..., Art directionThe creative process of designing and overseeing all the vis..., StoryboardA series of sketched panels showing the key shots or scenes ..., Colour gradeThe creative process of applying a stylised look to the vide..., DirectorThe creative lead of the music video. They develop the conce...