What Is a Lookbook for a Film? Mood Boards Explained
A lookbook is a short visual document, a few pages to a few dozen, that shows how a film will look and feel through reference images, color palettes and notes on tone, light and camera.
Also called: mood board · visual treatment · deck · pitch deck
Mood board first, lookbook second
A mood board is the working version: images, palettes and notes collected as the look develops, often one board for the film and others for a location or a character. A lookbook is that material edited down and laid out to be shown, to financiers, to a cast, or to heads of department on the first day of prep.
The useful ones are specific. A page that says "warm" is a mood; a page that pairs a sodium-orange street light with a cold window and names the lens is a decision the crew can act on. The film mood board template has the sections to start from and a worked example.
