Hooks that stop the scroll
Most videos are judged in under a second.
Here is how to write the one line and one frame that earn the rest of the watch.
Step 1: Start on the most interesting frame
Not a logo. Not a slow zoom in. Not you saying hey guys.
Open on the frame you would use as a thumbnail.
If nothing in the first frame is interesting, nothing after it gets watched.
TipScrub through a rough cut and start on the frame that made you stop, not the actual beginning.
Step 2: Write the first line last
The first sentence is the hook. Everything else is the payoff.
Write it last, once you already know what the video is about.
Say the most surprising true thing you have, first.
Step 3: Make a promise you can keep
A hook is a promise: watch this and you get something.
The something can be an answer, a result, or a laugh.
Keep the promise in the video, or the drop off shows it fast.
Step 4: Cut the setup entirely
Nobody needs your name before they know why to care.
Move any introduction to the end, if you need it at all.
Start mid thought. Explain nothing you do not have to.
TipIf the video survives losing its first three seconds, cut them.
Step 5: Match the words to the picture
A strong line over the wrong frame still loses people.
The opening line and the opening frame should say the same thing at the same time.
In Mutator, the Generate prompt lets you write the line and the first frame together, so neither one is guessing at the other.
Step 6: Test more than one opening
The rest of the video can usually stay the same.
Change only the first line or the first frame, one at a time.
The opening is the cheapest thing to test, and the biggest thing that moves the number.
TipChange the hook and the thumbnail at once and you will never know which one worked.
Mutator Sweets
MiaA hook is not a trick. It is the one honest sentence that explains why anyone should keep watching.
Get that right, and the rest of the short-form video has a real chance.
