Curriculum

1.1. Why Backstage 🎥

• A phone or a camera
• A tripod or a table
• A video editing software
• A green screen (optional)

1.2. Mindset 🧠

• Get it done, not perfect
• Creativity happens randomly
• The more you create, the easier it gets

1.3. Viral video structure 📊

• Wow! effect (2 to 5 seconds) to hook the viewer
• Storyline (30 seconds to 1 minute) to keep the viewer engaged
• Call to action to convert

2.1. Find the movie 🔎

• What's special about your product? The answer helps you find a relevant movie.
• Only pick super popular movies
• Avoid movies before the 90s

2.2. Choose the best scene 🍿

• Search for the best scenes of the movie
• Prioritize dialogue scenes with 1+ famous actors
• Famous actor should say/do something fun/odd/interesting
• Chronological order is not important
• Select only 1 scene in the movie
• Change movie if you can't find a good scene

2.3. Avoid traps 🚫

• Old movies
• Actors not famous
• Actors overlapping each other
• Camera shaking (not fixed)
• Night scenes
• Window, mirror, or glass scenes
• Unconventional actor positions (upside down, lying down, etc.)

3.1. Find the wow! effect 🤯

• Hook the viewer in the first 3 seconds
• Embed yourself in a unique scene of the movie with the famous actor

3.2. Write the storyline with AI 🤖

You are an excellent scriptwriter for movies. We are making a mini-movie (skit) to introduce [STARTUP NAME], [STARTUP PURPOSE]

PLOT LINE:
[Write everything you have about the video so far. Give the assistant every detail: dialogues, scene descriptions, etc.

First, describe the scenes from the movie you picked. For instance: “Matt raises his hand”, “Bianca says Hello!”. Explain to your assistant these scenes are random and unorganised and we need to fill in the blanks — like a puzzle.

Then ask the assistant to write one or more scripts for the skit. When you like a line, a dialogue or anything written by the assistant, update this section. Step by step, the plot line will fill itself. Refine until the script is done.]


STYLE:
- The skit is about [TIME] long.
- The video's tone is [TONE].
- Dialogues are short and easy to understand.
- [ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT: “in the style of Matthew McConaughey in Wolf Of Wall Street”]

Write the script for the skit

Make 5 variations for the script for the skit

• Use OpenAI Assistants to write all the script
• Give the assistant all the pieces of information available: what happens in the movie clips, what you want to say, and current storyline.
• Give the assistant instructions: tone, story type, length of the script, etc.
• Use the generated script as a base to refine the assistant, like a puzzle.
• Repeat until you're satisfied with the script.

3.3. Advertise your product 📣

• Convert the attention of the viewer into a call to action
• It can be a simple text, a voice-over, or a video overlay

4.1. Checklist 📝

• Prepare all your equipment (camera, mic, green screen, tripod, etc.)
• Prepare props (chair, glasses, etc.)
• Turn off AC or noisy items
• Close doors, pull curtains if too sunny
• Dress simply, use unicolor clothes with minimal shapes (especially if don't have a green screen)
• Match the light as in the movie — watch the movie and see if the light comes from the left or right
• Speak loud
• Use landscape mode because movies are landscape mode (we can scale later for TikTok)

4.2. Use a green screen 🟩

• I recommend using a green screen — cheap and easy
• Alternative: Unicolor wall with no texture and contrasting colors
• Alternative: Instagram green filter
• Alternative: Green image on your phone — full breakdown

4.3. Set up your camera 📷

• Match camera angles: imagine how they set it up when recording
• Match light with the one in your room
• Match the eyesight level

4.4. Hollywood time! 🎬

• Repeat the entire script for every camera angle
• Keep the camera ON and add a few seconds between each scene
• Behave as if there was the actor in front of you, even if you're not talking
• Don't look at the camera, look at the imaginary actor
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes, you can erase them later
• When you're done with 1 camera angle, turn OFF the camera and change angle

5.1. Extract movie clips 🎙️

• Find the movie in good quality (at least 720p)
• Download Blackhole to extract the audio
• Record your screen with the sound output in Blackhole

5.2. Create fake backgrounds 🎨

• Use free AI tools like SnapEdit to remove objects from a movie screenshot
• Use Figma to extract objects from a movie screenshot

5.3. Embed yourself 🪄

• Extract the green screen with a keyer effect
• Level your voice with the movie audio
• Adjust saturation & brightness to match the movie colors
• Scale, crop, skew, and rotate your video
• Add fake backgrounds and props

5.4. Add special effects 🎆

• #1 Movie static background + You
• #2 Movie static background + You + Props
• #3 Movie video background + You (+ Props)
• #4 You + Movie embed

5.5. Create the video 🤌

• Alternate between your scenes and the movie scenes
• Cut when too slow
• Change camera angle from time to time
• Detach audio to overlap scenes
• Add visual and sound effects to make it real
• Polish the 3-second introduction — cut until too short
• Fasten your clip by up to 10% if too slow
• Plug your ad at the end, not too long with a clear call to action
• Ask a friend to watch it and make tiny edits

5.6. Add subtitles 🔤

• Do it only when you're done with the video
• Use an AI tool (paid) or do it manually (free)
• Don't add unnecessary subtitles (like 'laughing' or 'hmm')
• Subtitles should be short, max 1 sentence, in 1 line
• Add drop shadow for contrast if needed

7.1. LogoFast (Beginner)

7.2. ByeDispute (Advanced)

7.3. HeroFit (Alternative)