Label an AI reenactment at the scene level so viewers understand that it is a reconstruction, not recorded evidence. A single end credit is a weak editorial safeguard when a scene can be clipped, muted or shared independently.
Give each scene an evidence status
Use three working categories in the storyboard: archival footage, reconstruction and illustration. These are editorial categories, not asserted Runway labelling requirements.
For archival footage, record the verified origin and what the footage actually supports. For reconstruction, identify which details come from documented accounts and which are invented for continuity. For illustration, explain the concept being visualised without implying that the scene depicts an actual occurrence.
Do not call something archival merely because it has grain, a timestamp or a documentary appearance. Those visual choices can increase ambiguity rather than resolve it.
Write a scene-level disclosure plan
For every scene, fill in:
- Scene identifier and duration: Where does it begin and end?
- Evidence status: Archival, reconstruction or illustration?
- Supported detail: What can the editorial record substantiate?
- Invented detail: Which gestures, surroundings or timing are imagined?
- Viewer-facing wording: What short statement explains the distinction?
- Distribution variants: Will the disclosure survive a vertical crop, silent playback and a short excerpt?
For Indian multilingual audiences, plan disclosure language alongside subtitles. Test readability rather than assuming an English label explains a regional-language narration.
Hypothetical example: a local-history explainer
Imagine a 45-second explainer about a historic railway opening. Its proposed inputs are one permission-reviewed archival photograph, a written historical account and an invented moving scene of a crowd arriving.
The photograph receives an archival description with its provenance. The moving crowd receives “AI reconstruction; crowd details imagined.” A diagram explaining the route receives “Illustration.” No generated crowd member is presented as a documented witness.
Evaluate the cut with three questions: Which images did viewers think were recorded at the event? Which details did they believe were documented? Did those answers change when they watched only the 12-second reconstruction? Any confusion requires a clearer label or a less evidence-like visual approach.
Stop when disclosure cannot travel
Do not release a realistic reconstruction if its likely cropped version loses the distinction from evidence. Next, revise the scene composition, repeat the disclosure or replace it with a plainly explanatory graphic.
If you need production access, compare the AI tools catalog, checking access format and saving terms before buying. Marketplace account/code/token offers are not proof of official subscription equivalence, and no purchase resolves editorial ambiguity.
Sources and scope
Source material checked 29 October 2026; features/policies may change. Runway's Usage Policy establishes that its policy works with its terms to mitigate harm and that automated systems and internal human review detect and block harmful inputs and outputs. The supplied evidence does not establish specific reenactment-labelling rules. The scene categories, disclosure wording and viewing exercise are editorial advice.