TikTok Psychology Explainer Video

End-to-end workflow for producing a narrated, illustrated TikTok video that explains a psychology concept. Invoked by the user with /tiktok-psych-video.

The full method with all implementation details is documented in docs/tiktok-psych-video-method.md. Read that file before starting — it contains exact API calls, voice settings, style prompts, image sizes, Remotion component specs, and lessons learned.

Workflow with Approval Gates

Phase 1: Ideation (→ user approves concept)

The user may invoke this skill in two ways:

• With a content gap target: User passes a screenshot of TikTok's Creator Search Insights "Content gap" tab, or types specific keywords/topics they want to target. This is the preferred approach — it ensures every video fills validated demand.
• Without a target: Claude picks concepts based on keyword map and dedup check.

1. Dedup Check — Read ALL content/tiktok/*/brief.md files. Don't duplicate concepts, angles, or stories.

2. Read keyword map — Read docs/tiktok-keyword-map.md for validated search queries, content gaps, and the psych concept → search query mapping table.

3. Ideation — If the user provided a content gap or target keyword:

   • Identify which gap(s) Clarido can credibly fill
   • Pick the psych concept that best explains why that topic matters (e.g., "daily tracker journal" → Cognitive Offloading, "share your daily thoughts" → Expressive Writing)
   • The hook and script must use the exact search phrase people are typing

   If no target provided: Pick 2-3 psychology concepts with compelling origin stories that connect to Clarido's value prop, prioritizing concepts that map to high-demand search queries from the keyword map.

4. Present concepts to the user and wait for approval before proceeding.

Phase 2: Script (→ user approves script)

4. Write script — Read docs/writing-style-reference.md first. Target 30-45 seconds (75-110 words at 1.25x speed; ~2.5 words/sec). Every sentence must earn its spot. Cut ruthlessly. Structure is curiosity hook → factoid → personal → landing line:

   • Curiosity hook (0-3s): One sentence bridging something unexpected to a relatable problem. Pattern: "[Unexpected subject] [accidentally/proved] why [relatable problem]." E.g., "A waitress accidentally explained why your brain won't shut up at night." This creates a curiosity gap before the story starts.
   • Factoid/story (3-15s): The actual study, told as compressed narrative. Concrete, visual, specific.
   • Bridge to viewer (15-25s): Make it personal. "That's why you lie awake at 3am."
   • Landing line (25-30s): Gut-punch reframe, NO CTA. Video ends on the punch so TikTok auto-loops seamlessly.

   Tone is Style B: dry, restrained, trust the viewer to feel the weight. Don't over-explain the emotion. Say search keywords ("overthinking," "brain dump," "journaling," "mental clarity") out loud where natural. Content territory includes psych studies, cognitive biases, and brain quirks — not limited to overthinking/brain dump. See the reference script in the method doc for the exact target format.

5. Generate caption & hashtags — 3-5 niche hashtags only. Never use #fyp, #viral, #science, #brainhacks. Use: #overthinking, #[concept], #mentalclarity, #braindump, #journaling, #anxietyrelief.

6. Create content folder (content/tiktok/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM_slug/) and save brief.md.

7. Present the full brief to the user and wait for approval before proceeding.

Phase 3: Asset Generation (automated)

After script approval, run these scripts in sequence:

8. Voiceover: pipenv run python3 scripts/tiktok/voiceover.py <content-folder>
   • Reads script from brief.md, calls ElevenLabs, speeds up 1.25x, saves to assets/
9. Transcribe: pipenv run python3 scripts/tiktok/transcribe.py <content-folder>
   • Calls Deepgram Nova-3, saves transcript.json, prints sentence-level and word-level timestamps
10. Plan slides — Use the transcript timestamps to plan ~10 slides at ~3s each (for 30s video) or ~15 slides at ~3s each (for 45s video). Every slide gets a unique illustration. No CTA slide at the end — final slide should be a simple closing image that loops cleanly back to slide 1. Add slide plan to brief.md.
11. Write illustrations JSON — Save illustration specs to assets/illustrations.json:
    jsonCopy

    [{"name": "slug-name", "prompt": "Scene description (style prefix added automatically)"}]
    

12. Generate illustrations: pipenv run python3 scripts/tiktok/illustrations.py <illustrations-json> <output-dir>
    • Generates all illustrations with brand style references, portrait 1024x1536, transparent bg

Phase 4: Composition & Render (automated)

13. Prepare assets: pipenv run python3 scripts/tiktok/prepare_assets.py <content-folder>
    • Copies illustrations + voiceover to videos/public/ for Remotion
14. Build Remotion composition — Create videos/src/{ConceptName}TikTok/ with config.ts, Slide.tsx, index.tsx. Register in Root.tsx under <Folder name="TikTok">.
15. Render: cd videos && npx remotion render CompositionId out/output-name.mp4
16. Archive: Copy mp4 back to content folder.

Phase 5: Deliver (automated)

17. Email: Send the rendered video with caption and hashtags to both [email protected] and [email protected] using the Google Workspace MCP. Send two separate emails (one per recipient). Format:
    • To: [email protected] and [email protected] (use [email protected] as user_google_email for both sends)
    • Subject: {Concept Name} — TikTok Video
    • Body: Caption text followed by hashtags, all on one line. No heading, no formatting — plain text ready to copy-paste into TikTok.
    • Attachment: The rendered mp4 file from the content folder (use path option)

Helper Scripts

Folder Structure

content/tiktok/YYYY-MM-DD_HHMM_slug/
├── brief.md                    # Script, caption, hashtags, slide plan
├── assets/
│   ├── illustrations/          # PNGs (portrait, transparent bg)
│   ├── illustrations.json      # Illustration specs for regeneration
│   ├── voiceover-raw.mp3
│   ├── voiceover.mp3
│   └── transcript.json
└── slug.mp4                    # Final rendered video

Critical Details (common mistakes)

• Image size: Must be 1024x1536 (portrait), NOT 1024x1024 — square images get cropped in vertical frame
• Audio import: Use <Audio> from @remotion/media, NOT from core remotion
• ElevenLabs stability: Only 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0 — no in-between values. Only pass stability, no other voice_settings.
• Speed: Apply via ffmpeg post-generation, not as an ElevenLabs parameter
• Overflow: Set overflow: "visible" on slide container to prevent zoom clipping
• No text overlays: TikTok captions + background music provide enough stimulation — don't add text to the video
• Run end-to-end: Generate all assets AND render the final video — don't stop at code

Key Files

• Writing style reference: docs/writing-style-reference.md (Paul Graham essay + style guide)
• Method doc: docs/tiktok-psych-video-method.md
• Brand reference images: assets/illustrations/overwhelmed-filing-cabinet.png, floating-yellow-balloon.png, planting-yellow-seedling.png
• Example composition (new format, 30s): videos/src/ParadoxOfChoiceTikTok/ (config.ts, Slide.tsx, index.tsx)
• Example brief (new format): content/tiktok/2026-02-18_1430_paradox-of-choice/brief.md
• Legacy composition (old format, 60s): videos/src/ZeigarnikTikTok/