# Giant and knockout captions

Edit / Edit effect / Type and emphasis. Checked 2026-11-13.

For one line the caption itself becomes the picture.

- Use when: The loudest line of a talking-head video.
- Phrase: the caption box grows into a slab across the lower half of the frame, the words cut out of a cream block so the footage shows through the letters
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-slab
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/caption-slab.json

## Watch out

- The effect fires on the word that names it. In the measured list reel an effect more than 0.2 seconds off its word is a listed failure. (practitioner; Director Chair measurement of a published short, Oct 2026)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is giant and knockout captions: for one line the caption itself becomes the picture. How it works: the caption box grows into a slab across the lower half of the frame, the words cut out of a cream block so the footage shows through the letters. It is right for: the loudest line of a talking-head video. The effect fires on the word that names it. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Phrase captions on a chip: https://directorchair.ai/effect/caption-chips
- The edit does what the words say: https://directorchair.ai/hook/edit-does-the-word

## Source

Own words from Director Chair notes on Reel Kit (Justyn The AI Guy) (described from the frames of two clips; no result per effect was measured)

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.