Copy Only the Hook of a Viral Video

The first three seconds of a viral video, rebuilt with your footage.

Pipeline: Basic edit (cut): cuts, captions, looks, speed, split screens, stock, voices and music.
Format: 9:16
Upload: The viral video (as the reference) and your clips, in the recreate panel.

The prompt

Type your own words into the fields: the [BLANKS] fill in as you go. Copy it and send it to Claude or ChatGPT with Cut Express connected.

Prompt

Open the recreate panel: the reference is a video with a hook I want to borrow, and my clips are about [MY SUBJECT].

Inspect only its first 3 seconds with hook: true and tell me exactly what happens frame by frame: the cuts, the zoom, the text, the sound.

Then build my own [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second video: the first 3 seconds copy that hook's technique with my footage and the text "[HOOK LINE]", and the rest is my edit: [WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HOOK]. Captions in [CAPTION COLOR]. Show me the timeline before you render.

The blanks

[MY SUBJECT]: What your clips show.
[LENGTH IN SECONDS]: How long the finished video runs, as a number of seconds. Reels and Shorts hold best between 15 and 60.
[HOOK LINE]: The first words on screen, the reason to keep watching, in under ten words.
[WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE HOOK]: The rest of the video in one or two sentences.
[CAPTION COLOR]: The color of the highlighted word in the captions, as a name or a hex code like #FFD23F.

Tips

The technique travels, the words don't. Write your own hook line for your audience.
Hooks often hide in the sound (a hit on the first cut). Ask for the sound effects the hook uses too.

New to prompting video? How to write a good prompt for Cut Express covers the story, the hook, captions, sound, pace and how to iterate with versions.

Paste it in Claude. Get the MP4.

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Basic edit9:16

Recreate a Reel You Like With Your Clips

The pace and shot lengths of a reel you like, with your footage.

Upload: The reel you want to copy (as the reference) and your own clips, in the recreate panel.

I want to recreate a reel I like with my own clips. Open the recreate panel: I'll drop the reference in one box and my media in the other.

Then inspect the reference with breakdown and hook: its shots, their lengths, the movement and the beats, and its first 3 seconds frame by frame. Tell me in a few lines what makes it work.

Match each shot with the closest clip of mine about [MY SUBJECT], keep its pace, its text style and its caption look, and use [MUSIC]. Never cut the reference itself into the video. Show me the shot-by-shot match before you render.

Fill in Tips

Basic edit9:16

Shorts From One Long Video

Several vertical Shorts cut from one long video, each with captions.

Upload: One long video with speech (a podcast, a talk, a stream, a course lesson).

I uploaded [LONG VIDEO], about [TOPIC]. Inspect it with moments and a transcript, then find the [NUMBER OF CLIPS] strongest moments that make sense on their own, each about [LENGTH IN SECONDS] seconds.

Before you render, list them for me: the in and out times, the first line said and why it works as a hook. Wait for my pick.

For each one I pick:
- Start on the hook line, no warm-up. Cut the silences and the false starts on the speech.
- 9:16, cover crop kept on the speaker's face. A slow punch-in on the key sentence.
- Captions from the speech: bold preset, 3 words per line, the key word in [CAPTION COLOR], bottom third.
- Clean the voice (denoise and enhance). No music unless I ask.
Render each as its own video titled "[SERIES NAME] 1", "2", and so on.

Fill in Tips

Basic edit9:16 and 16:9

Teaser for a New YouTube Video

A 30-second teaser that sells your new YouTube video without spoiling it.

Upload: Your finished YouTube video.

I uploaded my new YouTube video, "[VIDEO TITLE]". Make a [LENGTH IN SECONDS]-second teaser for it. Inspect it with a transcript and moments first.

- Open on the most surprising line or image in the video, then 4 to 6 fast cuts of the best moments, never the ending: [WHAT NOT TO SPOIL].
- A text at the top for the first 2 seconds: "[HOOK LINE]", white with a black stroke.
- Captions from the speech, pop preset, highlight [CAPTION COLOR].
- End card for 2 seconds: "Full video on my channel" over a dark frame of the video.
- [MUSIC] under the voices, ducked when anyone speaks.
Render it in 9:16 first. Then render the same timeline again as 16:9 for the community tab, as the next version.

Fill in Tips