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

Show someone only the first frame for two seconds and ask what the video is about.

Test and publish

Two-second first-frame test

You learn whether the opening says anything before the feed tells you.

Use when
Every video, before it goes out.

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 two-second first-frame test: you learn whether the opening says anything before the feed tells you. How it works: show someone only the first frame for two seconds and ask what the video is about. It is right for: every video, before it goes out. No answer means the visual hook fails. Then play it muted. 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

The hook line in large type behind the speaker's head, readable on the very first frame.

Frame 0 is the thumbnailPrompt

No greeting, no logo and no context: the first frame is the moment itself, with the first word on it.

Openings that lose the viewerPrompt

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 field notes on hooks and ideas and the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report) Checked 2026-11-13.

For agents: this card as markdown, as JSON.