---
name: behind_the_scenes_content
description: Plans, shoots, and releases behind-the-scenes material that builds fandom around a production or product launch. Triggers when the user wants BTS coverage, making-of series, production diaries, or a release cadence for teasers around a launch.
metadata: { "includeInPrompt": true }
---

# Behind-the-Scenes Content

## Purpose

Turn the work of making something into content that makes people care about it. The skill covers three jobs: what to capture during production, how to cut it into a series, and when to release it so anticipation builds before launch and loyalty grows after.

## Workflow

### 1. Define the objective and audience

Before anything is filmed, answer in one paragraph each:

- **Objective.** What is this BTS for: marketing a launch, teaching the craft, or building a personal brand? A launch campaign wants personality moments and teases; a teaching piece wants problem-solving and technical detail.
- **Audience.** Casual viewers respond to quick facts and human moments; students and peers want process detail.
- **Storylines.** List 3-5 threads worth following through production: a hard location, a costume or prop build, a VFX test, a scheduling crunch, a creative disagreement that resolves. These become episode anchors.

Decide formats up front: 15-second vertical clips, 3-5 minute horizontal episodes, or a mix. Match tone to the project: playful for comedy, measured for drama.

### 2. Capture (runs alongside the main shoot)

**Do not improvise this.** A flexible rundown beats a rigid script: note the main production's key moments, talent availability windows, and likely breaks so the BTS camera moves in without conflict. Coordinate directly with the director and DP on where the second camera may be.

Coverage mix per shoot day (see `references/capture-checklist.md` for the printable list):

- Wide views of the set in motion, tight close-ups of hands adjusting props, reaction shots after difficult takes.
- Time-lapses of lighting builds, set construction, rehearsals: hours compress into seconds.
- Slate calls, monitor adjustments, candid breaks: this is how the team actually works, and it is the footage fans quote.
- 2-3 minute interviews in natural downtime. Open questions only: "What challenged you most today?", "How did you realize this vision?" Frame subjects against a softly focused part of the set; record audio on a separate track; include all departments, not just talent.

Ratios and rights: aim for roughly **10 minutes of raw BTS per 1 minute of finished piece** (plenty to cut from without drowning). Get **written releases from cast and crew** before day one, and confirm what is embargoed: studios keep synopses spoiler-free and hold BTS reveals until a fixed window before launch, so agree the no-go list early.

### 3. Edit into a series

Build the full reveal first, then derive everything from it. This mirrors how launch video teams work: the opening becomes the teaser, each capability beat becomes its own clip, the strongest ten seconds becomes the social cut.

- Organize footage by theme (set build, interviews, outtakes) before assembling.
- Keep clips to 3-5 seconds; use matched cuts on action; lower thirds for every speaker.
- Grade to echo the main piece's look so the series reads as one body of work.
- Export **both** vertical (9:16) and horizontal (16:9). Recompose for vertical; never just crop.
- The first five seconds must promise something the viewer wants. Do not name the project in the first five seconds of a teaser.

Episode structure that works: each episode = one storyline, one small arc (problem, attempt, payoff), 2-5 minutes. End mid-story on a question when the next episode continues the thread.

### 4. Release cadence

Release in stages. Short teasers before the premiere create anticipation; longer pieces after release reward people who have already watched. A workable plan (see `references/release-plan.md` for the full timeline):

| Phase | Timing | Content |
|---|---|---|
| Plant | Production start through mid-shoot | Occasional stills and 15s clips, personality over plot. Nothing that spoils. |
| Build | 4-6 weeks before launch | Episode 1-2 of the making-of series, weekly. Casting/set stories, no reveals. |
| Peak | Launch week | Teaser cutdowns daily; the full episode finale lands on launch day. |
| Sustain | After launch | Longer deep dives, commentaries, fan Q&A cuts. Reward the people who showed up. |

Space episodes weekly or on a fixed rhythm. Weekly releases build shared anticipation and give communities something to discuss between drops; dumps get watched once and forgotten.

### 5. Measure and reuse

After each drop, check retention graphs to find exactly where viewers leave, then fix the next episode. Save every reusable asset: the stills, the lower-third templates, the interview transcripts. They become the press kit, the Patreon exclusives, and the portfolio reel.

## Output Contract

Return a **BTS plan** with these five parts, each concrete:

1. Objective + audience paragraph.
2. 3-5 storylines to follow.
3. Capture list mapped to shoot days (who shoots, when, embargo rules).
4. Episode list: titles, runtimes, one-line arcs, derived cutdowns per episode.
5. Release calendar: dates, platforms, formats, cadence rationale.

Anything the user can hand to a camera operator or post directly must be in the plan, not in commentary around it.

## Operating Rules

1. Never spoil the main work to tease it. Spoiler-free is the default until launch; embargo lists are written down, not assumed.
2. Releases, rights, and embargoes are settled in pre-production. No footage ships without clearance.
3. Ten-to-one is a planning ratio, not a law. If the shoot yields less, cut fewer, better episodes rather than stretching thin material.
4. Quality over schedule: a weak episode aired to hold a slot costs more trust than a slipped date.
5. Real people, real problems. Stage nothing for the BTS camera that did not actually happen; viewers can tell.