Same ask, three months apart
July's film, October's film, and what changed in the engine between them.
Built 2026-10-08
A product film I gave up on in July came out right in October, from a project that never worked on video, because two other projects had paid for the craft.
- JulyGave upon the product film I asked my engine for
- Sep 24 to Oct 1426engine changes while this portfolio was using it for real
- October0engine changes to film it (Oct 4 to 8). First take kept.
Exhibit 1See and hear the difference
Two short clips, each with its own sound. Tap one to play it. Playing one stops the other.
What to notice: the camera follows the page's own story, and the voice is mine.
From the cost calculator's film, the narrated take.
What to notice: pop-up callouts over a still page, and a synthetic voice.
From the first July film of the English course, with the sound it had then. The course is for Portuguese speakers, so its page and callout are in Portuguese.
Exhibit 2Why it changed
The engine behind these films had 5 changes in July and none from the end of July until September 24. From Sep 24 to Oct 14 it had 26, as this portfolio started using it for real. By Oct 8, the day the cost calculator was filmed, 17 of those were in place. The calculator then needed none.
The numbers behind the chart
| Week starting (Thursday) | Changes |
|---|---|
| Jul 16 | 3 |
| Jul 23 | 2 |
| Jul 30 | 0 |
| Aug 6 | 0 |
| Aug 13 | 0 |
| Aug 20 | 0 |
| Aug 27 | 0 |
| Sep 3 | 0 |
| Sep 10 | 0 |
| Sep 17 | 0 |
| Sep 24 | 14 |
| Oct 1 | 3 |
| Oct 8 | 9 |
| Oct 15 | 1 |
| Total | 32 |
The 26 were work, not luck: a showcase mode with a slowly drifting camera, narration laid over a finished cut, and a quality check that scores a clip before it ships.
The rule
On September 26 I wrote down a rule: what to film, how to pace it and how to narrate it belong to the engine and not to any one clip, so every later clip inherits them. Nothing in the October film was made for the October film. The engine and its rules were paid for by two earlier projects, so the third only had to ask.
What this does not show. Part of the October result belongs to the cost calculator itself. Its page went through seven rounds of fixes in the week before the film, so it already told its story in the right order and the camera only had to follow it. In July the camera had to invent a story over a page that was not built for one. I did not test how much each half contributed, so I would not credit either one alone.
The long cutAll of it, with my narration
A 2:33 film: the July film, the October film as delivered and then narrated, and the three dated cards that tie them together. Choose English or Português under the picture.
Full films (4)
The full films behind this page: two from July, two from October. Each plays in full and loads only when you press play.
July, first take 1:17
The English course's first product film, with the sound it had then. The July clip above and the long cut both come from its opening.
July, after my first fixes 1:03
The same film after the first round of fixes. It is not used elsewhere on this page.
October, take 1 0:44
The cost calculator's film as delivered: silent, with the captions burned in.
October, take 2 0:59
The second take, also silent with captions: the film the narration is laid over, in the long cut and in the October clip above.