Writing
The shots, before the render
Almost every pacing problem in a short video is visible in the shot list. Finding it there costs a minute, and finding it after generation costs the whole clip.
Preview
Not interactive yet
The script
why your sourdough is dense, in three steps
- 1 · 0:00-0:03 · dense crumb, close
- 2 · 0:03-0:09 · hands, the fold
- 3 · 0:09-0:15 · the good loaf, wide
Three steps
How it will work
Break the script by beat
One shot per idea. Where two ideas share a shot, one of them is not landing.
Assign a duration
Durations are where pacing lives. A three-second shot in a fifteen-second video is a fifth of your attention budget.
Check the first shot alone
If shot one does not work with nothing after it, the video does not work at all.
What it is for
Why this one is worth having
Catches pacing on paper
A shot list makes an overlong setup obvious in a way a script never does, because durations are explicit rather than implied.
Makes generation cheaper
Knowing exactly what each shot needs to be is the difference between generating three times and generating eleven times.
It is also a brief
The same shot list works as an instruction to a freelancer, which is what makes it useful even when nothing is being generated.
Available now
What you can already do
Rush deals a full deck of finished reels from one prompt, so you can see the pacing decisions made rather than plan them. Nothing renders until you keep one.
RushFAQ
Storyboard generator, asked and answered
Do I need a storyboard for a fifteen-second video?
For a talking head, no. For anything with cuts, it is the cheapest place to find out that the middle is too slow.
How many shots should a reel have?
Enough that nothing sits still for more than about four seconds, and few enough that each one is doing a job. Three to eight covers most.
Can a storyboard be text only?
Yes, and mostly it should be. The value is in the sequence and the durations, not in the drawings.
More tools
Others in the same corner
- Short-form script writerMost short-form scripts are written front to back and then have an opening bolted on.
- Explainer video makerAn explainer that tries to cover a topic will lose.
- B-roll generatorMost videos that nearly work fail for one boring reason: nothing changed on screen for long enough that the viewer's thumb got involved..
The product is further along than the tools
Ten free videos, no watermark, and no card to start.