How do I record a good film?
You have the best explanation of your work. You give it every time someone asks, in conversation. Nobody else ever hears it. One ninety-second recording turns it into something that works for you while you sleep.
- One idea per film, 60 to 90 seconds.
- Record in your own voice and with your own face. That is what separates you from everyone else.
- Daylight from a window in front of you, the phone held upright for social media, and a good first sentence.
- Record a landscape version too if the film goes on your site.
Where will it be shown?
Pick the places and get one instruction that makes every version.
Where will it be shown?
Pick the places. Get one instruction that makes every version.
Here is a film I recorded: [file]. Trim the first two seconds and the last three, remove pauses longer than a second, and export these versions: My website (1920 × 1080, landscape, a short poster image first); Instagram Reels and Stories (1080 × 1920, vertical, captions on). Compress each file as small as it can be without visible loss. Pull a still from the best frame as a cover. Transcribe the speech in my language, show me the text for corrections, then add it as captions.
With a tool like ffmpeg on your computer, the agent can trim, remove long pauses, change the frame size, shrink the file and pull out a still as a cover. It checks whether the tool is installed and tells you if it is not.
How do I add captions?
Many people watch without sound, so captions get more people to the end. The agent can transcribe the speech with a speech-to-text tool, show you the text and then burn it into the film. You correct names and terms before it goes on.
Transcribe the film [file] in [language] and show me the text before anything is added. I will correct names and terms. After that, add the captions in white with a dark edge, at the bottom, two lines at a time at most.
How do I put it on my page without making it slow?
- Do not put a heavy video file straight on the page. Upload it to a video service, or put a compressed version on your site.
- Show a poster image first with a play button, and load the video only when someone presses it.
- Put a short description under the film. Search engines read text, not film.
Put the film [file] on the page [page] under the heading [heading]. Show the poster image first and load the video when I press play. Add a two-sentence description under the film. Test that the page still loads fast and show me the result before you publish.
What becomes possible?
A recording is raw material. From one you can get many pieces that carry you for weeks.
- Three short clips with a quote and caption, one a week.
- A welcome film on your site that shows how you work.
- A small course where each lesson is a film and a checklist.
- A demo of your work that clients can watch before the first meeting.
Here is a film I recorded: [file]. Read the transcript and suggest what I can make of it: five short clips with a headline, a post, a heading and a summary for my site, and a way to use it in an email. Write in my voice following BRAND.md.
Questions people ask
Should I use an AI voice instead of my own?
I recommend your own voice, or captions. A synthetic voice removes what makes the film yours.
How big may the film be?
As small as possible without visible loss. Ask the agent to compress and compare before and after.
Sources
Who is writing this
I am Nathaniel, a commercial operator. For twenty years, across four continents and more than fifteen ventures, I have taken research and young companies from idea to customer. Two KTH spin-offs reached joint development agreements with Fortune 500 partners. An indoor farm sold its full production within about ninety days and ended in a joint venture exit. This year I am a commercial expert for the European Innovation Council's Tech to Market programme. Now I build agents, because the hard part of new technology is rarely the technology. It is getting people to want it and use it.
Want to do this together?
In two hours I can build this with you: Video.