Captions are part of the edit

Around four in five views of our shorts start with the sound off. So the captions are not a layer we add at the end; they decide where the cuts go.

Six words, then a cut

A caption stays up until it has been read once at a normal pace, and no longer. If a line needs more than six words it becomes two captions and usually two shots.

Read it muted

The last check on every short is the same: phone on silent, thumb over the speaker, watch it through. If the story survives, it ships.