Guides / Cutdowns vs separate films
Cutdowns vs separately scripted films: what you are buying
"Three social versions" can mean two completely different things, at two completely different prices.
The short answer
A cutdown is a shorter edit pulled from the main film, cut from the same approved storyboard, carrying one idea. It is cheap because the animation already exists.
A separate film has its own script, its own storyboard and its own build. It costs roughly what the first film cost, because it is another film.
The difference in one table
| Cutdown | Separate film | |
|---|---|---|
| Script | Taken from the main film | Written from scratch |
| Storyboard | Same approved board | Its own board, approved separately |
| New animation | Little to none | All of it |
| Typical length | 15–30 seconds | 30–90 seconds |
| Carries | One idea from the main film | Any idea you like |
| Aurevon price | Included in the $1,800 launch pack | $800 as an additional film |
What a cutdown can and cannot do
A cutdown can take one moment from the main film and make it work on its own: a single feature, a single before-and-after, a single result. Recut vertically with burned-in captions, it is a genuinely useful paid-social or lifecycle asset.
It cannot introduce anything that was not in the main film. If the storyboard never showed the integrations screen, no cutdown can be about integrations. This is the thing most often misunderstood at the point of sale, and it is worth settling before the storyboard is approved rather than after, because the storyboard is what determines which cutdowns are possible.
When you need a real second film
- A different audience. A film for engineers and a film for procurement do not share a script.
- A different product surface. A second module needs its own screens, so there is nothing to cut from.
- A different job. A sales-call leave-behind and a paid-social hook are structurally different films.
If you are already sure you need three audiences addressed properly, three separate films at $800 each after the first is a more honest purchase than trying to stretch cutdowns to do it.
Plan the cutdowns at storyboard stage
The cheapest time to decide what the cutdowns will be is while the storyboard is still open, because the board can be built so that the moments you want are clean and separable. Decided afterwards, you are limited to whatever the edit happens to allow.
Questions people ask
How many cutdowns come with the launch pack?
Three, 15 to 30 seconds each, one idea per cutdown, delivered in 16:9, 9:16 and 1:1.
Can a cutdown have different narration?
The audio can be re-cut from the existing narration. Genuinely new lines mean new voiceover, and if the picture has to change too it stops being a cutdown.
Are cutdowns just the main film trimmed?
No. Each is cut to stand alone, with its own opening moment and its own ending, from the same approved storyboard.
What does an extra film cost?
$800 for the same client once the visual system is established, against $1,200 for a first 60-second film.