How to cut a face-off clip that stays on one person
Upload the footage and tell Vizard Agent whose clip this is. Vizard Agent finds the stare-down, the escalation and the moment it is broken up, keeps the other party on screen only enough to explain the confrontation, and builds the tension around one person's face.
What do you type into Vizard Agent?
Say who it follows and why. Vizard Agent selects for presence rather than for action when a subject is named, which means it will hold on a face during a pause instead of cutting to whoever is speaking. The subject is the one thing it will not guess.
Prompt
What does Vizard Agent actually do?
A confrontation involves two people and a clip about it usually doesn't. Following one of them means choosing shots by whose expression they carry rather than by what is happening, and checking the actual frames, because a broken emoji or a flat ending only shows up there. In the session behind this article it:
- Measured the uploaded footage, built a contact sheet and read it to identify the stare-down, the escalation and the intervention.
- Analysed the audio and the action at the start of the confrontation and at the flashpoint, and reviewed close frames of the subject's expressions.
- Pulled exact timings for the speech and the pauses so cuts would not break the audio.
- Built the first vertical cut with subtle reframing and on-screen text, then rendered a review sheet and waveform.
- Checked composition and text at full size, found a typeface that rendered the emoji and tested it as an image, then picked a better closing frame of the subject and rebuilt.
- Delivered a vertical clip probed at 1072x1920, H.264, 30fps and 66.37 seconds, with AAC audio.
When does this not work well?
Following one person through a confrontation depends on the camera having stayed on them, and on you having the right to use the footage. Rights to a televised event aren't yours by default, a distant master shot carries no expressions, and editing to heighten a real confrontation has consequences for the people in it.
Common questions
Can Vizard Agent follow one person? Yes. Name them and it selects for their presence rather than for whoever is speaking.
Do I need the rights to the footage? Yes, and for televised events those usually sit with the broadcaster, not with you.
Can I cut a version following the other person? Yes, and it's nearly free. Vizard Agent already has the contact sheets and the timings.