Plan your edit in writing

Once you have filmed, watch everything back and write what you found as one short paragraph: the character, the challenge, the choice, the outcome, and how many others are in the same position. Then pick the moments where people say or show each part, and edit them in the order your format calls for. You can use the paragraph as the text of your post to share your video, but the video should make sense without it.

Software, length, and opening

You can use whichever editing app you like. Some free ones are CapCut and VN on a phone, and DaVinci Resolve or Shotcut on a computer. Whatever you use, keep the cut under 60 seconds. Open on the person or the problem in the first three seconds, with no logo, title card, or greeting before it. Then cut what gets in the way of the story: shots where people can't be heard, anything said twice, and anything that distracts, starting with general shots of the meetup that don't tell the story.

Plain words

The post text, the narration, and the sentence tying your story back to Logos (below) should all use words someone new to the topic could follow:

  • Keep sentences simple and say one thing in each.
  • Use the words people on that street use for the problem, like "the clinic charges for water", and not the words an office would use, such as "access to essential services".
  • Leave out words like stakeholder or community engagement, which nobody says outside a meeting.
  • Say numbers the way you would in natural conversation, like 39 families, not 39 households or relayed as a percentage.

Captions and music

Add captions to every video to make it easy to follow, even with poor sound or on a phone. Free apps can make captions for you automatically, but they do make mistakes, especially with strong accents. If people in the video speak a language other than English, make the captions an English translation so the rest of the movement can follow, and type them yourself if the app can't. Make sure to keep music quiet when anyone is talking, or leave it out to prioritise people's voices.

What to leave out

Graphic images of wounds, blood, or dead bodies are disrespectful and can harm viewers. A video that only shows people suffering also starts to look like a charity appeal, when the story is really about people doing something.

As a rule of thumb, keep the focus on what people are doing about the problem, and leave out the faces of anyone who could be put at risk by being identified. Leave out any child whose parent or guardian hasn't agreed to them being filmed. Also, omit the name and, if needed, the voice of anyone who asked to stay anonymous. If something hard to watch has to stay in, warn people at the start of the video.

Tying it back to Logos

Before the ending, add one sentence in the words of someone from your Circle about where this fits in with what Logos is building: a parallel society of people running institutions they depend on autonomously. This step is crucial for tying the local story back to the broader narrative of the parallel society.

The Logos logo and font

If you put the Logos logo, text, or colours on screen, follow the Logos design guide at logos.co/design-guide. It has the logo files to download and the guidance on font and colour usage.