# Build a cut an editor can use

Use this after a moment passes the selection gates, or when reviewing an existing cut.

## Preserve the source

Record the source filename or URL, transcript version, and time basis. Timings from a raw recording can differ from the published edit. Use exact first and last words as backup anchors.

Check the video around every cut. Leave room for natural breaths and reactions. Do not chop off a word to meet a target length. List separate source ranges when a clip uses more than one passage.

Keep the question if the answer depends on it. Preserve limits such as "in our study", "for some people", and "we do not know yet" when they change the claim. Never join separate words to make the guest say a new sentence.

## Build the opening and payoff

Start with the clear claim, conflict, or story turn. Show what the clip is about in its first shot and line. Remove greetings and repeated setup. Keep enough setup for a new viewer to follow.

Make the ending earn the start. A useful clip can leave a larger question open while answering its own question. Avoid cutting just before the explanation to force an episode click.

For a trailer, select a few moments that show the episode's main question. Mark the jumps so separate passages do not look like one exchange. Check that an alarming question is not made to look like the guest's conclusion.

## Design for the format

For vertical cuts, start with a 9:16 frame. Keep the active speaker large enough to read their face. Use a two-person view when a reaction or exchange matters. Check gestures and props before cropping. Leave space for captions and app controls. Preview in each target app's layout.

For horizontal videos, use 16:9 and preserve useful context from the set. Cut camera angles when a thought or speaker changes. Give the clip a title and thumbnail that sell its own complete idea. Label the excerpt in the description and point to the episode.

Use clean source audio as the base. Add music only if it fits the show and the team can use it on the destination. Speech should remain easy to hear. Check current music and claim rules for longer Shorts before using a track.

Use captions for spoken words. Check them by listening. Keep lines short and break at phrase boundaries. Keep spelling and speaker meaning intact. Use emphasis sparingly. Review once without sound and once with sound. A hook overlay may paraphrase; subtitles should reflect the speech.

If there is no video, use approved artwork, a speaker label, and captions over the audio. Describe the limitation. Do not imply the guest was filmed in an invented scene.

## Worked example

All names, lines, and times below are invented for *Better Questions*. They teach the cut decision and are not health advice or source footage.

The fictional sleep researcher Dr. Lena Park says:

| Source time | Speaker and line |
| --- | --- |
| 22:40 | Host: "What do you ask someone who checks their sleep score each morning?" |
| 22:46 | Park: "Before you open the app, ask yourself how you feel." |
| 22:53 | Park: "Then look at the score. Does it change how you describe your night?" |
| 23:02 | Park: "The number can be useful. I want to know what you do with it." |
| 23:11 | Host: "So you start with the person's own account?" |
| 23:15 | Park: "Yes. I ask about the night before we discuss the number." |
| 23:24 | Host moves to a different question. |

**Vertical brief:** Use 22:46 to just before 23:24. Confirm the end frame against the recording. Open on Park's first sentence. Proposed hook text: "Before you check your sleep score". Keep the line about the number being useful. End after her answer at 23:15. Estimated cut length: about 38 seconds before trims.

**Why it works:** A stranger can try to understand the question without knowing the host. The short exchange ends with a clear point. It fits a show about daily choices.

**Reject this hook:** "Sleep trackers are lying to you." The source does not support it.

**Horizontal decision:** These 38 seconds do not earn a separate long video. Look for a surrounding section that explains how to interpret a score and gives a full example. If that section is absent, keep only the vertical cut.

**Next-click copy:** Propose "Watch the full conversation for how she weighs a score against a sleep diary" only if that discussion exists in the full episode. Otherwise choose a supported next question.

## Handoff card

Return each brief in this form:

```markdown
Clip ID and verdict:
Job, viewer, destination:
Source and version:
In / out; first / last words:
Final length or estimate:
Must-keep context:
Cold open and first shot:
Hook text:
Cut order and removals:
Payoff:
Crop and captions:
Audio and asset needs:
Post copy or title-thumbnail pair:
Full-episode route and reason to click:
Checks still open:
```

For a cut review, lead with Keep, Revise, or Skip. Give exact source or cut times for each fix. Separate a weak moment from a poor edit of a strong moment.