What is a narrative? How FlashCut turns one shoot into many short stories
Short answer
A narrative in FlashCut is one storyline cut from a long shoot: a set of soundbites arranged around a single angle, available in several lengths such as 90, 60 and 30 seconds. FlashCut analyzes the whole shoot and proposes several narratives, so you choose a story to develop instead of starting from one edit.
Updated
- Each tile is one storyline cut from the shoot; the demo makes six, A to F
- The tabs: each storyline at 90, 60 and 30 seconds
- Share with client: a password-protected review link
Narratives versus clips
Most short-form tools find the best individual moments in a long video and cut each one as a separate clip. Clips are independent: each is a highlight with no relationship to the others.
A narrative is a story built from several moments that belong together. Two narratives from the same interview can use different soundbites, open on different lines and make different points, so the shoot yields distinct edits rather than a stack of highlights.
How FlashCut produces narratives
- Upload the footage. FlashCut transcribes every word, labels speakers, and logs what is shown.
- Choose Get Narratives. FlashCut analyzes the whole shoot and returns several narratives on the Narrative Discovery board.
- Open a narrative to see its soundbites listed and highlighted where each one sits in the footage.
- Switch to a different narrative or length and a different set of moments lights up.
- Choose Assemble a cut to join the moments into one video, then refine it or export it.
Example: a 47-minute founder interview
In the demonstration on the FlashCut homepage, a 47-minute founder interview is uploaded and FlashCut returns six narratives, labeled A to F. FlashCut cuts each one at three lengths, 90, 60 and 30 seconds, so one recording gives you six storylines at three lengths.
Reviewing narratives with a client
Share the Narrative Discovery board with a password-protected link. The client sees the same narratives, enters their name, likes or passes on individual soundbites with a note, and can heart a whole narrative. Reactions appear on your board as they arrive, so you can see which story they chose and why before you assemble the cut.
From narrative to your editing software
Once a narrative is assembled you can export it as Premiere Pro XML, FCPXML for DaVinci Resolve or Final Cut Pro, a rendered MP4, or an SRT caption file.