Michel Araújo / Video editor exercise · RGP 0237

PMC Apartments347K views
TheAestheticDentist526K views

Both videos already work.

347K and 526K views say these edits are doing their job, and that is what matters most. So this is not a list of what is broken. It is what I would keep, and what I would change in the next cut.

Start with PMC Apartments
01PMC Apartments

A clean tour that undersells its best shot.

  • 20.6sduration
  • 7shots
  • 347Kviews
  • 16.6Klikes
Every shot, as publishedstrongest shot weakest shot

  1. Hero2.8s

  2. Entrance to living4.7s

  3. Kitchen4.1s

  4. Bedroom2.9s

  5. Empty room2.7s

  6. Loft view1.6s

  7. Bathroom1.9s

What works

0:00

Opens on the money shot

Double-height windows and the skyline in frame one. No warm-up, no logo.

0:03

A POV entrance

A hand on the door puts the viewer inside the apartment. It feels lived in, not advertised.

What holds it back

2.7s
1.6s

0:14 to 0:18

The weakest shot gets the longest hold

An empty, unfurnished room stays on screen for 2.7s. The loft seen from above, the best image in the video, gets 1.6s.

0:19 to 0:20

It ends mid-tour

The last shot is the bathroom, and then it stops. No payoff, no loop back to the start, no call to action.

How I would recut it

Same footage · about 19s · text on every cutthe climax

  1. Hero2.5s

  2. private entrance

    Entrance2.5s

  3. the living room

    Living2.5s

  4. the kitchen

    Kitchen2.5s

  5. my room

    Bedroom2.5s

  6. the bathroom

    Bathroom2s

  7. the view

    Loft view4.5s

The last frame flows back into the first

  1. Labels

    A short line of text on every cut. Each new line gives the viewer a reason to stay one more shot.

  2. Rhythm

    Cuts on the beat. The empty room goes. The loft view gets 2.5s or more and becomes the peak.

  3. Loop

    End on the loft windows, which match the opening frame. The video replays without a seam, with a soft call to action on the last beat.

02TheAestheticDentist

A great payoff, buried at the end.

  • 42.1sduration
  • 22shots
  • 526Kviews
  • 22.9Klikes
The 22 shots, grouped into 10 momentsthe payoff where viewers leave

  1. Loupes on1.6s

  2. Smile design1.6s

  3. Glove talk8.8s

  4. Patient1.4s

  5. Model try-in5.1s

  6. Chairside6.6s

  7. Macro try-in4.9s

  8. Camera check1.6s

  9. Cementation4.7s

  10. Reaction5.8s

What works

0:15

It shows the craft

The try-in on the model and “a 10-unit veneer insert” build authority for a cosmetic practice.

0:27

Process shots you want to watch

The macro try-in reads instantly, even on mute. Close, clean and specific.

0:36 to 0:42

The reaction is real

Tears, “oh my god”, a hand mirror. This is the moment people share and comment on.

Where it loses people

0:00

The hook is the quietest moment

Putting on loupes. The tears are 36 seconds away, and most viewers never get there.

0:03 to 0:12

8.8 seconds on one wide shot

Glove talk with almost no visual change. This is where the swipe happens.

0:41

The peak, then a hard stop

No breath after “stunning” and no before and after. The payoff never fully lands.

0:05 · 0:23 · 0:34

The captions change what she says

She says
“Just let me know. Okay, have you opened?”
On screen
know okay have

Two sentences glued into one line that means nothing.

She says
“Just, it's nothing cemented. Smile.”
On screen
just it's nothing / cemented smile

Split in the wrong place, it says the opposite of what she meant.

She says
“17. We're just getting started.”
On screen
17? we're / just getting started

The line breaks across a full stop, so the sentence reads broken.

How I would recut it

About 33s · the payoff moves to the frontthe payoff
  1. oh my god

    Tears first1.5s

  2. Delivering 10 veneers. Watch her reaction.

    Title2s

  3. 17 glove changes and we're just getting started

    One line2.5s

  4. Model, chairside6s

  5. Macro try-in5s

  6. Cementation4s

  7. Mirror, held8s

  8. Before / after4s

  1. Cold open

    A second and a half of the reaction, then the title. The payoff becomes the promise that keeps people watching.

  2. The setup

    Nine seconds of glove talk become one line and a punch-in.

  3. Captions

    Chunked by phrase, never across a full stop, proofread word by word. Larger, and clear of the hands.

  4. The close

    Hold the reaction in the mirror, then close on a before and after.

03Summary

If I could change only three things in each.

PMC Apartments

  1. Label every room.
  2. Drop the empty room and make the loft view the peak.
  3. End on a loop back to the first frame.

TheAestheticDentist

  1. Open on the reaction.
  2. Cut the setup to one line.
  3. Rebuild the captions by phrase, so no line changes what she said.