Proposal · 12 Nov 2026

Reels that earn the next 3 seconds.

I studied the 6 reels you sent. Here is the playbook, what it changes in our 2 samples, and 4 things I need from you.

6reels studied
12rules we'll follow
4choices for you
01 · THE SHORT VERSION

Three ideas do most of the work.

Everything else on this page is detail under these three.

The hook · first 3 s

Say the topic. Make them curious. Flip it.

CONTEXTLEANSNAPBACK

Say what it's about in line one, in voice, picture and text. Then a stat or pain. Then the twist.

3s
Every line

Can you see it? Prove it? Is it ours?

Every caption must pass 3 tests: you can picture it, it can be proved true or false, and no one else could say it.

✓✓✓
The body

Something new on screen every ~3 s.

A cut, a zoom, a new part of the diagram, a new number. And a voice: all 6 reels talk, none are text-only.

↻
02 · HOOK LAB · TRY IT

Our hooks, before and after.

Pick a sample. Switch between the old hook and the new one. Turn each layer on and off to see what it adds.

DDIA 1/12Tail latency
Sample
Version
Layers (new hook)
03 · THE PLAYBOOK

12 rules, each with proof.

Tap a rule. Each one says where it came from and what changes in our videos.

04 · PACING · TRY IT

Where our samples drag.

Each block is one shot. Striped blocks are longer than the limit. Drag the slider to set the limit.

Longest shot allowed3.0 s
NOW · one shot per beat
PROPOSED · each beat split into shots
hookshot within the limittoo longend card
0shots too long now
0 slongest stretch with no new shot
0shots after the split

Our diagrams already move inside each beat. This counts only the big changes (new shot, new scene, zoom). The 6 reels make one every 3 to 6 s; the fastest every 3 s.

05 · THE BRAND · TRY IT

The durian is the actor, not a sticker.

The new headphones-and-laptop durian becomes the face of every video. It does things. Tap an action.

The durian host
> fetch(100 servers)
> waiting for #37…
63% of pages slow
!?
#FAD65B body #38D6FF headphone glow #C4652A stem #FF9CA1 cheeks

I'll redraw this art as a rig (moving eyes, arms, laptop, headphones that glow on the beat) so it can act in 2D and 3D. Same character as today, now with headphones and a laptop.

06 · THE SAMPLES

What we have today.

Made before this playbook. Accurate and clean, but they break rules 1, 4, 5 and 11. Next versions fix that.

V0 · OLD FORMAT

1% of calls are slow. 63% of pages are.

DDIA 1/12 · 36 s · ch.1 + "The Tail at Scale" (2013)
  • Keep: the 63% twist is a perfect snapback.
  • Fix: no voice, and the topic only shows after the stat.
  • Fix: the 3D scene holds for about 10 s.
V0 · OLD FORMAT

4 boxes. 1 can't exist.

Design Philosophy 2/8 · 42 s · your blog
  • Keep: the 2×2 grid builds piece by piece.
  • Fix: "4 boxes" has no context. Boxes of what?
  • Fix: no voice, and the durian only watches.
07 · THE BAR

Your pacing lesson is the floor.

I read its source. These are the tricks it uses. Every reel does all of them, and then goes past them.

Every spoken line has its own action.It does: 1 line = 1 change (a number, a pop-up, a shake).We add: the durian acts on every line, with camera moves, 3D and sound.
An open loop in the hook.It does: "Stick around: the fix… at the end."We add: the payoff is shown blurred on screen from second 1, then revealed.
Each step ends on the question the next one answers.It does: "But when should she spend it?"We add: the durian asks it out loud, and the caption turns into a question mark.
Named people with stakes.It does: Maya's $1,000, Sam who gets annoyed.We add: a small recurring cast next to the durian (the user, the server, the on-call dev).
One board stays; only one thing changes.It does: the same day board for plans A, B and C.We add: the same scene for "before vs after", with a live counter.
A voice, sound effects, shake and punch-in on the key moments.It does: voice on, cash/pop/ding sounds, shake on the mistake.We add: the durian's own voice, its own sound kit, and a signature sting.
Check yourself.It does: a 3-question quiz and a "what you should now know" box.We add: one on-screen question before the reveal ("pause: which plan?"), and the answer comes in the comments.
08 · TESTING HOOKS · TRY IT

Test on Instagram. Ship the winner everywhere.

Only Instagram has a real test tool for short videos. So we test hooks there, then post the winning cut on all 3 apps.

Real test tool

What it is

A trial reel goes only to people who don't follow you. Your followers don't see it in their feed, and it isn't on your grid. If it does well in the first 72 hours, Instagram can share it to your followers for you.

How to post one

  1. Use a Professional account (Creator or Business).
  2. Make the reel as usual. Before sharing, turn on Trial.
  3. Pick auto-share if it does well, or share it yourself later.
  4. Wait at least 24 hours. Then: Profile → Reels → Drafts and trial reels → View insights.

Our strategy

  • Each week, pick 1 topic. I render 3 cuts where only the first 3 s differ.
  • You post all 3 as trials, a day apart.
  • Compare trials only with trials, never with normal reels (trials always get less reach).
  • Look at average watch time first, then shares and saves.
  • The winning hook style goes into the playbook.
1I render 3 hook cuts
→
2You post them as IG trials
→
324–72 h: compare watch time
→
4Winner goes to IG, YT and TikTok

Sources: Buffer on trial reels (incl. Adam Mosseri) · YouTube Help: A/B tests (Shorts excluded). Trial reels may need a minimum follower count; Instagram hasn't said how many.

09 · YOUR CALL

4 choices, then I rebuild.

Answer on the agenda card. My pick is marked on each one.

1

Give the durian a voice?

All 6 reels are voice-led. Rule 1 needs the topic in the audio too.

Free AI voice (Kokoro, runs here)Your own voiceText only
2

What's the durian's name?

A name makes it a character people remember and comment to.

You pick a nameI suggest 5No name, just "the durian"
3

How should videos end?

"Comment a word and I'll send you X" gets the most comments, but someone has to send X. Free tools don't do it automatically.

"Save this · part 2 tomorrow · follow"Comment a word, you send the DMs
4

Make this playbook the rulebook?

If yes, I write it into the repo's CLAUDE.md, so every future video follows it. Then I rebuild both samples with it.

Yes, as isYes, with changes

Answer on the agenda card.

Then I rebuild both samples with the new hook, voice and acting durian.