Shape a One-Minute Video in Four Parts on the Timeline

A one-minute video needs a shape. Four parts do the job. A hook earns the next few seconds. A setup gives context. A turn delivers the surprise or the proof. A close leaves one clear thought. The timeline lets you check that shape before you polish any single cut.

Sort the clips into four parts

Lay your clips on the main track in the order of the four parts. Name the parts to yourself as you go: hook, setup, turn, close. Every clip belongs to one of them. A clip that fits none of them is a candidate for deletion.

Read the proportions

1. Click Fit in the timeline toolbar. The whole cut is on screen and the bar widths show where the time goes.
2. Look at the timecode beside the play button. It shows the playhead time and the total length.
3. Press the Down arrow to jump from edit point to edit point, and note the time where each part begins.
4. Compare the parts. If the setup runs longer than the turn, the video may be making the viewer wait for its point.

Trim the setup first

The setup holds the most spare time. Select a setup clip, open the Trim tab in the right panel and press and drag Trim end to the left. The further you drag from your starting point, the faster the end moves, and releasing the bar stops it. Later main-track clips close up as you go.

If a setup clip adds nothing, select it and press Delete. On a timeline with a single video track, Delete cuts the same seconds out of the titles, captions and music, and the clips, titles, captions and music after it move left together.

Mark the turn

Give the turn one change the viewer can feel.

• Press T at the first frame of the turn to add a short title, then edit its words in the Text tab.
• Add a sound effect from the Sound FX tab at that frame.
• Change the music at that point by splitting the music clip with S, pointer off the timeline so it cuts at the playhead, and softening the edges with Fade out and Fade in.

One change is enough. The viewer should notice that something shifted without being told.

Finish on one clear shot, then watch it through

The last clip should leave one thought. Give it room by trimming the clips before it, and stop at the end of the thought. Leave out a second ending, since a second ending asks the viewer to restart their attention.

Return to the start with the skip-back button and play the whole cut without stopping. Make a note whenever your attention drifts. Those spots are usually in the setup. Fix the worst one, then watch again. If the total is over your target, remove time from the setup first and leave the hook and the turn as they are.

Shape your next video

Lay out your next short video in DepCut in four parts and press Fit before you fine-tune anything. The proportions will show you where to cut.