Vlog rough cut prompts

Give it the shape of the day, the length, which talking clips have to stay, and how much b-roll goes between them.

Vlogs are where people upload the most footage and give the vaguest prompt. "Make a vlog out of this" from 90 minutes of clips gets you a random walk. Name the story.

Minimal:

Cut this into a 90-second vlog. Keep it in chronological order, mostly b-roll with a few of my talking clips.

Standard:

Build a 2-minute vlog from today's footage in the order it was shot. Apartment, train, office, dinner, walk home. Keep every clip where I talk to camera but trim each one to the sentence that matters. Between talking clips, use 2 to 4 seconds of b-roll from the same location. No music yet, no captions yet.

Full:

Make a 2-minute vertical vlog for Reels from today's footage. Chronological, five locations. Apartment, train, office, dinner, walk home. Open on the clip where I say "day four" so the viewer knows where we are. Keep each talking clip to its single best sentence, cut the setup where I check the camera. Cover the gap between locations with 2 to 4 seconds of b-roll, like the train pulling in, the office kitchen, the Bay Bridge at night. Use the Waymo ride as the mid-video high point and give it 8 seconds. End on me waving goodbye. Keep original ambience, no music, straight cuts, no zooms.

What each part does

The location list keeps the day in order. "Every clip where I talk to camera" protects the narration. "Single best sentence" is a trim rule. "2 to 4 seconds of b-roll" sets the pace. Naming the high point tells it where to slow down. "No music" stops a lo-fi bed showing up uninvited.

Fixes

• Too much talking. "Cut every talking clip to under 5 seconds and double the b-roll."
• Out of order. "Apartment first, walk home last."
• Skipped a moment. "Include the clip where he's wearing a sheet mask, around 5:47 in the office footage."
• Feels like a slideshow. "Hold each b-roll shot at least 3 seconds."

FAQ

Should I tell it what the day was about? Yes, in one line. "Day four of the sprint, we ended with a Waymo ride." It has the transcript but it doesn't know what mattered to you.

How do I keep it from being all talking head? Give a ratio. "One third talking, two thirds b-roll." Or a cap. "No talking clip longer than 6 seconds."

Related

• /prompts/vlog-music-and-pacing
• /formats/vlog
• /how-to/vlog
• /answers/why-does-vlog-editing-take-so-long

Rules that apply to every prompt

1. One target per prompt. Length, platform, purpose.
2. Quote the exact line when you mean a specific moment.
3. Give numbers, not adjectives. "Pauses over half a second," not "snappy."
4. Say what not to add. Zooms, transitions, music, effects.
5. One fix per follow-up message. Ask for a list of changes with timestamps if you want to check.