Steal this video #2: Text on a background
Great for non-"visual media" people, especially when social media is weird now
I’m starting a new series called “Steal this video” where I…encourage you to take a video idea and use it as your own. My gift to you.
It’s an oversimplification but Twitter is weird right now, and social media is weird right now. Rather than hash out my own feelings about it, I’d rather link to writers who did a much better job this week:
Bryn Robinson:
Mark Dykeman:
One of the questions that seems to thread through all of the Twitter-is-broken discussion is “what do we do now?”
I saw this tweet on Monday and have been thinking about it since then. It’s absolutely true; with all the mess on Twitter right now, it’s hard to transition to any of the “visual” platforms. Twitter started during “peak blogging” in the late 2000s as a micro-blogging platform. Features like photos and videos and 280 characters came later, but it was always a text-first site. There doesn’t seem to be another text based site out there. All the other big sites are video.
Then I realized I started this Substack because I wanted to help “non-video” people learn how to make videos.
This won’t cure all the problems, but maybe it can be enough in the short term.
So here’s a video for writers to steal:
No dancing. No talking. Don’t bother getting dressed. This video is text only.
What is needed
Only three “ingredients” are needed here:
A tweet or pretend tweet
Stock footage
Music
#1 The words
I use Twitter a lot, but mostly as a doomscrolling consumer. I didn’t have a tweet I loved and didn’t want to make and then delete a tweet just for this. So instead, I made a mock-up tweet in Google Slides and took a screen shot of the image. It’s easier than you think. 👇
If you’re aiming for the Twitter look, here a few tips:
Use Arial or Roboto font
If you add the account handle above the text, make the “@account_name” a few sizes smaller.
Once that’s done, it’s time to move on to the background video.
#2 Stock footage
For this, I use Pexels.com. I always search for something calm. It needs to have some motion, but not enough that it distracts from the text that will be in front of it. Here’s a good search for clouds: https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/clouds/
Also, be sure to check for the usage rights listed by the creator. Most of Pexels is listed as “Free to use” but it can’t hurt to double check.
I downloaded a clip to the Files app on my iPhone and then from there was able to save it to my camera roll.
#3 Music
This part is a bit of a cheat since I planned on putting this on Instagram anyway. I added the background video first and then copy/pasted the Pretend Tweet screenshot into the Reel. Once I resized it, I added some music and hit publish.
Summary
I know that this doesn’t do much to solve the bigger problems. Online discourse is still scary. Social media algorithms still reward divisive and shocking content. Bad faith users are always figuring out ways around content moderation. It’s hard not to be jaded by all of this.
But maybe in the meantime, sharing your good idea in a new way can start to put things back on track.
A few notes:
Check out The Sample. I’ve seen it going around so I decided to try. It randomly sends you some newsletters based on your interests. If there’s something you like, you can subscribe with one click. Go ahead, give it a shot!
I’ll be posting a monthly mailbag video this month. If it catches on, I’ll have it be a recurring “middle of the month” post. Have any video questions you’d like answered? Email hellosimplevideo@substack.com or leave a comment below and it could show up in the next mailbag.
Thanks for sharing my blog, and great tip for creating when you’re more used to words! Adding that to the bag of tricks.