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There is a question that I get asked constantly…
“What do you use to edit?”
Videos are a great way to tell visual stories. Most science and deeptech stories are inherently visual. It’s much easier to describe the effect of a checkpoint protein in a cancer treatment with visuals, rather than in text.
So today, I will peel off the curtain and show you my techstack, but word of warning, it doesn’t matter what you use to tell stories but how you tell them!
Putting all the pieces together
pick your starting point with data
Data is a great starting point for stories.
If I asked you, what is your favorite graph, statistic, or ratio you probably will have a few things that come to mind. That’s a fantastic point to start.
For example, in a recent presentation during Deeptech Week, Sella Brosh Founder and CEO of NVision, had a simple graph showing that there are more than 13,000 MRI machines compared to 1,500 PET scanners in the US. They both look like a big donut and we tend to bunch them in the same category, but that one visual immediately made you think of their differences, and to understand why it is important to build better MRI technology. It made the whole presentation memorable!
But the most important question to ask when you start is…
Is this a visual story?
The average short-form video takes me 8-10 hours to finish. That includes research, factchecking, scripting, interviews, motion graphics, and rounds of revisions between me and my editor.
So the hierarchy of visual stories goes a little like this…
Photos
Graphs
Animations
A simple walkthrough with pen and paper
Series of animations
and if all else feels not enough… videos!
Videos have their own hierarchy, stretching from a simple one-take clip to a Hollywood production of visual and sound effects, but we will get to this in future.
My first videos were all animated on Canva, using basic graphics and animations. It’s easy to look at fancy videos and be convinced that there are no other intermediate options.
Let’s edit - my techstack 💽
None of these companies are affiliated with me, nor do I make any commission from recommending these products, I use them everyday and endorse them based on my experience.
Research:
Readwise: to capture the best things I read every week, I have been using this for years so it’s my little treasure trove. Syncing notes from books and having articles offline for flights is also extremely useful.
FutureHouse: to look through research articles (for bio stories) and see if there is anything I have missed
NotebookLM: If I am covering a specific research paper I upload it here so I can easily find information.
Perplexity Pro: I prefer perplexity to other LLMs because of their Labs and Deep research mode. Scripting or trying to replace writing with LLMs is futile in my humble opinion. The best use for LLMs in video making so far is adding another pair of eyes to the research process.
Notion: my brain has a twin inside here - just a database with all the ideas, research and science things that I want to cover - anytime I see something I like it goes straight to a notion page called “idea and story bank”
Underrated extra: Screenshots!!! Every single day I see things that I want to dive deeper but don’t have the time right then and there, I screenshot ideas because the last thing our brains are good at is remembering random company names.
Filming:
iPhone 16 Pro: For most short-form videos I use my phone (the front-facing camera 💀 bc getting the frame right on the back camera drives me crazy every time)
Sony a7iii + 16-35mm lens: for mini documentaries and in-person interviews.
Descript: For filming online interviews. It grabs the video and audio locally so you don’t have a bad quality choppy screenrecording.
Microphones:
Hollyland Lark M2 - lightweight button microphones that connect to both cameras and phones
Editing:
Descript - for the first edit! The AI tools are incredible, click a button and all deadspace (the bits when I am contemplating how to pronounce “Massachusetts” for example) is gone. You can edit videos from the script, it takes a fraction of the time to traditional video editing software to get rid of the bad takes, and the awkward silences.
Adobe Premiere Pro: B-roll and main edit
Adobe After effects: Custom animations, motion graphics and explainer sequences
+ few custom title packs (think retro effects for historical segments etc.)
Communication:
Frame.io - leaving comments directly on the timeline, and adding edits on the video directly - exports back to the Premiere for seamless communication to editors.
The Holborn 9100 was released in 1981 for the equivalent of USD $30,000 today. The company went bankrupt in 1983 after selling only 200 units. I felt it was relevant to this newsletter.
How do you pick which stories to tell? How long should they be? What do you find yourself explaining to people over and over? What are the misconseptions of your sector, perhaps the myths?
Next week, I will share with you how I keep my idea bank full of stories, and how to do the same so you never feel stuck!
Always learning,
Giota
P.S This newsletter is free and always will be, if you found it useful the best way to support future editions is to send it to someone who might also find it valuable.