Director / Using reference videos to plan your shots
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Using reference videos to plan your shots
By Con, founder of Music Wide Selfie · Updated 22 October 2026
Short answerPick two or three videos you like, write down each shot (angle, distance, length, movement), notice what changes and when, then plan your own video using the same kinds of shots with your own idea.
Break it down
- How many shots in the first 10 seconds?
- Close or wide?
- Moving or still camera?
- Where is the text?
Make it yours
Borrow structure, not content. Your idea, your words, your style.
Keep a swipe file
Save videos you like in a folder with a note on why. It becomes your playbook.
Questions
Isn’t that copying?
Learning from structure is normal; copying someone’s actual content isn’t OK.
About Music Wide Selfie
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