“I’ve seen all of this before”, I thought to myself, as I was flicking through my feed the other day.
I saw a video with a few hundred thousand views.
Then another. And another.
They weren’t videos I’d seen before, but they were still familiar.
Same style of hook.
Same pacing.
Same type of idea.
Before social media was my job, I would consume content without thinking much about it.
Further down, you’ll find this week's ‘Short-Form Outliers’, an analysis of three trending videos my team and I put together for premium readers. We use an in-house data retrieval tool to find the most successful videos, then handpick the ones with the most useful techniques for creators like you.
Humbly, I think this is one of the most useful services creators can sign up for to get an edge of the competition in 2026. I haven’t seen anything else like it.
A sneak peak of what you can expect to learn if you continue reading past the paywall today:
The underused camera angle that can instantly make your videos more visually interesting without needing any new content ideas to make it work (because the angle itself does the heavy lifting) (Video #1)
How the funniest video in this week’s report never actually shows you the thing it's supposed to be about, but keeps your attention anyway (and the specific ways it accomplishes this much more effectively than if it DID show you the thing it’s about) (Video #3)
A theme to consider using in your content that could result in viewers tagging their friends before the video even ends (I can see this working in any niche if you’re creative, but I share some ideas on how I would approach it regardless what kind of content you make) (Video #2)
Why one creator this week got 281x their usual views on a video about a topic that has almost nothing to do with the product they sell, and the storytelling principle behind it you can steal immediately (Video #3)
Not for you? no problem. I’ve got a useful tip for you anyway.
If you’re like me, I would just scroll, and scroll on social media, maybe save one or two useful things for later.
Then move on.
But have you ever felt like you’re “learning lots” from the content you watch, but not really benefiting from it? I’ve been there.
It comes down to one misconception about how we view improvement (this isn’t limited to only social media creating, that’s just the example I’m using here).
I thought improvement came from doing more.
Post more, try more ideas and experiment more.
Yes, volume is definitely part of it, of course.
But something was missing because every time I made content, it felt like starting from zero. The same guessing for every video.
Some content would do well… but I couldn’t explain why. So even when I tried to replicate it, the results were inconsistent.
At some point, that changed.
It was when I realised there’s two types of successful content:
1. “That did well” content
These are videos that perform well, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Maybe you have other videos perform similarly on a semi-frequent basis.
2. Outliers
These are pieces of content that break any previous expectations.
In ‘Short-Form Outliers’, we measure the ‘Outlier Score’, which shows you at a glance how many times more views a post got compared to the creator’s usual content.
This is the content that truly stands out and just hits different.
So, I started looking for outliers.
When I found an outlier, I’d slow down.
Look at the first few seconds.
Look at how it started.
Look at what made me stop scrolling. This is what made things click for me.
Successful ideas aren’t the most original.
So the advantage isn’t in coming up with something completely new, or just posting more.
It’s understanding what’s already working, but at a deeper level.
Understanding why something works, and being able to trigger the same reactions in your audience is what actually makes you better.
Next time you’re scrolling socials:
Pause on one video that stands out
Rewatch just the first 3 seconds
Ask yourself: what made me stop here?
Write down one thing you noticed
I know it’s not rocket science, but no one actually takes the time to do it.
If you do, reply and tell me what you noticed, I’d be curious.
You should know: Film and Flow Premium could see a price increase soon. Not only to reflect the added value we’ve been bringing with ‘Short-Form Outliers’, but also to cover tangible data retrieval and analysis costs involved in putting each edition together for you.
For context, some websites charge around $30 for a single report about trending content. Aside from being overpriced, the raw data you get from these sites without any interpretation gives you little to work with. Remember, it’s about understanding why something works, not just mindlessly plaguirising (I don’t support that).
But Film and Flow Premium members get someone who is actively growing their own account (394k followers in two years) to do that research for them—with analysis and prompts to adapt each video for their own niche—for less than 50 cents a day.
All that to say, if you’ve been on the fence about joining, now is the best time.
Members also get access to my full resource vault which includes LUTs, overlays, my Cinematic Transitions Mini-Course and access to custom feedback.
Short-Form Outliers (Edition #3)
Video #1 – Have you tried this camera angle yet?
13.2M views, 274K likes, 1373 comments, 17.2K saves, 9923 shares.
Outlier Score: 127x typical posts
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