Social Video Speed Run Workshop - Royal College of Music 2026

---

Here’s a little secret I’ve picked up for crafting an arts promo video: the magic doesn’t begin with pressing record.

Last week at the Royal College of Music, I had the pleasure of running a 'Social Video Speed Run' workshop. The challenge? To see if we could build a social media video from start to finish in just 50 minutes.

Full disclosure: we didn’t quite get to the final edit within the time, but we gave it a proper go. More importantly, it showed that great content comes from a bit of structure and planning, not just pointing and hoping for the best.

Here are a few things we found helpful along the way:

The Concept: Always start with the 5 Ws and an H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How). If you can’t answer why it’s interesting, it’s probably not worth filming just yet.

The Structure: Plan for a visually descriptive hook right at the start, ideally in the first 3 seconds. For example, if it’s a trumpet concerto, get that trumpet on screen straight away.

The Shot List: We mapped out two performance angles and five bits of B-roll (walking to the stage, unpacking the instrument, that sort of thing) before we even thought about hitting record.

The Audio: Good audio can rescue even a wobbly video. If you’ve got an external mic, use it (your future self will thank you).

A huge thank you to Richard for hosting such a brilliant session. Perhaps next time we’ll actually manage to get that moving score edited in...here’s hoping.