Stage 2 – Shorts & Trailers Editing Workflow (Mandatory)

Once all individual interviews inside the Master Video are edited to final-cut standard, the second stage begins: editing trailers and short videos. This stage is critical and must be completed before the Master Video is rendered.

1. Trailers for Individual Interviews

For each individual interview, editors must create a minimum of three (3) trailers.

Trailer Rules (Individual Interviews)

  • Trailers must never reveal the full answer

  • The response must be left in limbo to create suspense

  • The goal is curiosity, not completion

Trailer Length

Trailers can vary in length:

  • 20 seconds

  • 30 seconds

  • 40 seconds

A mix of lengths is encouraged.

Formats (Mandatory)

Each trailer must be exported in:

  • Vertical format (TikTok, Instagram Reels, Shorts)

  • Landscape format (YouTube, long-form platforms)

This means:

  • 3 trailers × 2 formats = 6 trailer files per interview (minimum)

2. Trailers for the Full Master Video (Very Important)

In addition to interview-specific trailers, editors must create trailers specifically for the full-length Master Video.

Master Video Trailer Requirements

  • Minimum: 15 trailers

  • Length:

    • 1:00 to 1:40 minutes

  • Purpose: promote the entire day, not a single interview

Formats

Each Master Video trailer must be exported in:

  • Vertical format

  • Landscape format

These trailers will later be tested and ranked by performance.

3. Short Videos (Not Trailers)

Short videos are not trailers.
They are standalone cuts taken directly from the interviews.

Short Video Rules

  • Must make sense on their own

  • No suspense required

  • Simple, clean, meaningful excerpts

  • Should be understandable without context

Quantity per Interview

For a ~15-minute interview:

  • Target 10 short videos

  • Each short exported in:

    • Vertical format

    • Landscape format

This results in:

  • 20 short videos per interview

Nothing should be missed. Editors must actively look for:

  • Strong statements

  • Clear opinions

  • Memorable moments

  • Self-contained answers

4. Rendering & Batch Export

Once all trailers and short videos are completed:

  • Editors may batch render everything

  • Overnight batch rendering is encouraged

  • All outputs should be:

    • Clearly named

    • Organised by date and interview

    • Ready for upload (Dropbox / scheduling tools)

Rendering the Master Video itself is still optional at this stage.

5. Performance Testing Comes First

The reason for this workflow is testing before committing.

Process:

  1. Publish trailers and short videos first

  2. Collect performance data (views, retention, engagement)

  3. Identify top-performing trailers and shorts

Only after testing do we decide what goes into:

  • Individual interview videos

  • The full Master Video

6. Assembling the Final Master Video (Long Format)

Once performance data is available, the Master Video is assembled as follows:

Beginning of the Master Video

  1. Top 2 best-performing interview trailers of the day
    (usually 20–30 seconds each)

  2. Top 1 best-performing Master Video trailer

  3. 1–2 best-performing short videos (if appropriate)

  4. Then the full Master Video begins (entire day recording)

7. Assembling Individual Interview Videos

For each individual interview:

  1. Add the best-performing trailer for that interview at the start

  2. If appropriate, add the best-performing short video

  3. Then place the full interview

This ensures every long-form video begins with pre-tested hooks, not guesses.

8. Core Principle (Do Not Ignore)

Nothing is attached blindly.

Everything is:

  • Tested first

  • Ranked by performance

  • Selected based on real data

This guarantees that when we publish:

  • Hooks already work

  • Trailers already convert

  • Long-form videos start strong