Director Chair
All groups

Camera

Shot sizes 16Angles 17Camera moves 43Rigs 6Lenses 10Focus and depth 4

Frame

Composition 14Aspect ratios 11

Light and look

Light 22Time of day 12Colour looks 14Film stock and texture 9Art styles 6

People and places

Characters 6Expressions 31Settings 6

Motion

Subject motion and speed 9

Edit

Transitions 21Edit effects 41Sound 14

Story

Hooks 46Script arcs 10Video formats 11Calls to action 5Test and publish 16

Recipes

Presets 28Prompt guides 11

Tools

BoardModelsGuidesAboutAgent skill

One body, two to six openings, each posted as an Instagram trial reel; read the views after about 24 hours and compare the batch with itself.

Test and publish

Trial reels as a hook test

Strangers pick the opening before followers or the ad budget see it.

Use when
Instagram accounts with several possible openings for one video.

Prompt instructions

Give me a step-by-step plan I can follow this week, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is trial reels as a hook test: strangers pick the opening before followers or the ad budget see it. How it works: one body, two to six openings, each posted as an Instagram trial reel; read the views after about 24 hours and compare the batch with itself. It is right for: instagram accounts with several possible openings for one video. Views from non-followers are a signal about the opening, not a forecast of paid results. At a few hundred views per reel a small lead is noise. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.

The same prompt works in Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini.

Watch out

Related

A result you can read: you know why the winner won.

One variable per testPrompt

Tests answer the bigger question first.

Angles before hooksPrompt

In the first second: something moves toward the camera, a bold line of at most six words appears above the head before the first word is spoken, and one sound effect hits.

Three-layer hookPrompt

Sources

Own words from Director Chair notes on Trial reels as a hook test (Joey Mulcahy) and Director Chair field notes on short-form video (one TikTok account, 233 posts and 27 measured clips, read 30 Oct 2026) Checked 2026-11-13.

For agents: this card as markdown, as JSON.