Three seconds, three jobs
Luis Ortega
Long-form editor
Who is this, what is about to happen, and why now. The first three seconds have to answer all of it.
4 min read
The first three seconds of a short have three jobs: show who this is, show what’s about to happen, and give a reason to watch now rather than later.
Who
A face or a pair of hands, in the first frame. Not a logo, not a title card.
What and why now
Something mid-motion and a line that raises a question. If a viewer could stop at second three and feel they’ve missed nothing, the cut isn’t done.