I finally took advice from a viral video editor and stopped using so many cuts

Was working on a short clip for a client (something for Instagram Reels) and a YouTuber I follow commented "slow down, let it breathe." I used to cram like 15 cuts into 30 seconds thinking it kept people watching. Turns out it just made people dizzy. After I tried longer takes with fewer transitions, my retention actually went up by about 20%. Has anyone else gotten feedback that made you rethink your editing style?

4 comments

4 Comments

david3711d ago

Damn yeah this is so real lol. I used to think more cuts = more energy = better retention but I was totally wrong. I tried a slower style for a gaming montage once just to see what would happen and people actually watched the whole thing instead of bouncing off. Now I let scenes play out a bit longer and save the cuts for moments that actually need them. It feels way less stressful to edit too which is a bonus.

ellis.mia11d ago

Friend tried this and her cat videos suddenly got twice the views.

daniel_walker7d ago

Yeah @ellis.mia, same here. Slowing down the cuts made a huge difference.

lauras837d ago

Oh man, this is so true. I actually read a study somewhere that said viewers' attention spans are better when you give them a few seconds to actually absorb what's happening on screen. It sounds weird at first, but it makes sense when you @daniel_walker mentioned slowing down the cuts. I tried it with my own travel videos last month and people started commenting more on the details instead of just saying "cool edit." It's like you're letting the footage breathe instead of just throwing a bunch of clips at the viewer. The algorithm also seems to like it better, I got way more watch time on those videos.