Before and after, thirty seconds

Use with: edit-a-short. Resume line when done: Shot and edited a before-and-after project short — published at {url}

Brief

A thirty-second cut of a transformation you did with your hands: the room you reorganized, the bike you restored, the garden bed you dug. Shot as you go, which means the before footage has to exist before you start the work. You do the work and the edit; the agent helps plan coverage and critiques cuts.

Personalize

• The transformation. One you were going to do anyway this week, finishable in days. A half-done garage is footage without an ending.
• The fixed frame. Pick one camera position for the before and after shots and mark it with tape. The match cut is the whole payoff.
• The middle. A few working clips: hands, mess, progress. Enough to prove you did it yourself.

Milestones

1. Before footage shot from the marked position, plus close-ups of the worst of it.
2. The work done, with working clips grabbed along the way.
3. After footage shot from the same marked position, same time of day if the light matters.
4. Cut to thirty seconds, ending on the match cut.
5. Caption written by you, then published.

Done means

• Live at a public URL, thirty seconds or close to it
• Before and after share the same framing; the change is undeniable
• The work in the middle is yours, on camera
• Shot dates are honest; nothing was staged to look worse before
• The caption says what it took: hours, days, cost if relevant