Short form video

Short form video is built backwards: you invent the first second, then the rest. The script is three to five sentences, it is shot vertically, usually in one space, and the edit follows the rhythm of speech rather than music. Captions are not an add on, they are part of the picture. One video takes hours, not days, which is exactly why you make several at once.

Why clients care: a furniture shop owner wanted one beautiful video. Instead, in a single shoot day we filmed eight short videos in which the shop assistant answers the eight questions she hears every week. The cost was one day of crew, the content lasted two months, and the comments underneath collected more questions, which became the topics for the next round.

How it is done: a list of questions or topics, half a day to a day of filming, editing video by video, captions, exports per platform. You supply a person in front of the camera who does not take themselves too seriously and a room without noise. Approvals have to be fast; a short form video that sits with the legal department for two weeks loses its point.

The usual mistake is trying to fit the whole company into sixty seconds. One video, one idea. And the thing studios rarely say out loud: reach on short form video is unstable and cannot be ordered. Out of ten videos two tend to take off and you cannot tell which in advance, so budget for a series, not for one attempt.

Before publishing, we watch every short form video on a phone with the sound off and a thumb hovering over the screen, as if scrolling. If the hand moves on, we recut it. Try it today: open your latest company post on your phone and count the seconds before your hand moves by itself.