Deep-tech editorial · portrait 9:16
How to make a deep-tech threat reel
A threat reel has to earn alarm rather than assert it. The structure that works: open on a cinematic strike within the first two seconds, sustain constant low-level motion so the frame never settles, then build a six-beat argument that escalates from hook to compound convergence before resolving on a brand CTA. baz ships this as the Quantum-Threat Reel skill — a portrait reel of about 62 seconds across six content beats, originally built for post-quantum cryptography risk and validated across two separate news cycles.
The shortcut: run a skill instead of starting from scratch
A skill is a context file that teaches an AI agent one specific video style — its structure, pacing, typography, motion grammar and sound design. Hand an agent the skill plus your product, and it rebuilds that video for you. The steps below are what the Quantum-Threat Reel skill already encodes, so you can follow them by hand or let the skill carry them.
baz is a library of video skills: context files that teach an AI agent a specific motion-graphics style, so it can rebuild that video for your product, with your brand, from your inputs. Run a skill inside your own coding agent — Claude Code, Codex — or directly in the baz editor.
What you need before you start
Required
- A topic brief — the risk you are describing and why it is live now
- The key claims, each one sourced
- Your brand logo for the closing CTA
Makes it materially better
- A recent news hook — the announcement or paper that makes this urgent this week
- A timeline, so the convergence beat has real dates
- A concrete consequence for a named sector, rather than a general warning
How to make a deep-tech threat reel: step by step
Strike within two seconds
The opening is a hard visual event, not a build. In a portrait feed a slow atmospheric open is a scroll. Whatever your equivalent of a collapse is, it happens immediately.
Keep the frame alive at all times
Layered ambient motion — a grid, a scan line, tickers — runs constantly underneath the content. This is what gives the reel its unease. A frame that goes still in a threat reel reads as the video buffering.
Escalate across six beats, do not repeat
Each beat must raise the stakes on the last: the hook, the mechanism, the timeline, who is exposed, the convergence of factors, the resolution. Restating the same alarm six ways is the failure mode of the entire genre.
Make the convergence beat do the real work
The strongest moment is where separate trends meet — the capability arriving at the same time as the exposure. That is the argument. Everything before it is setup.
Source every claim, and be honest about timelines
Deep-tech risk content lives or dies on credibility with technical readers. Attribute the claims, and where a timeline is contested say so. An overstated date is the thing that gets a reel dismissed by exactly the audience you want.
Resolve on what to do, not on the fear
Close on the real logo and a concrete action. A reel that only escalates leaves the viewer anxious and with nowhere to go, which converts nothing and ages badly.
What the finished video actually contains
Approximate timings for a ~62 seconds cut. Treat them as a shape to hit, not a spec — the exact durations shift with your script and your music.
| Time | Beat | What is on screen |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:02 | The strike | A cinematic collapse event. No build-up, no title card. |
| 0:02–0:15 | The mechanism | What the risk actually is, in monospace hero type over the live grid. |
| 0:15–0:30 | The timeline | When it arrives, with dates and attribution. |
| 0:30–0:45 | Who is exposed | The named sectors and the concrete consequence. |
| 0:45–0:56 | Convergence | The separate trends meeting — the beat the argument was built for. |
| 0:56–1:02 | Brand CTA | The real logo and the action to take. |
Mistakes that cost you the view
A slow atmospheric opening
Do this instead: Strike in the first two seconds. Atmosphere is what you sustain, not how you open.
Six beats of the same alarm
Do this instead: Escalate. Repetition without escalation is the reason most threat content feels like noise.
Overstating the timeline
Do this instead: Attribute and hedge where the field does. Technical audiences check, and one inflated date discredits the rest.
Letting the frame go static
Do this instead: Keep the ambient layers running. Stillness in this grammar reads as a technical fault, not as emphasis.
Ending on the fear
Do this instead: Resolve on an action. Alarm with no exit is both worse persuasion and worse citizenship.
Run it from your own agent
Skills are designed to run inside a terminal agent like Claude Code or Codex, against a project you control. The same skill produces the same style whether it runs in your agent or in the baz editor.
npm install -g bazaar.it@latest
# Install this skill into your agent (Claude Code, Codex or Cursor)
baz skill add quantus
baz project create --name "Quantum-Threat Reel for my product"
baz prompt "make a deep-tech threat reel" --stream-json
baz review --summary --json
baz export start --wait --format mp4 --jsonOperations draw from a prepaid balance. See the CLI reference for the full command set.
Common questions
Is this only for quantum computing?
No. It was built for post-quantum cryptography risk and has been validated across two different news cycles, but the grammar — strike, mechanism, timeline, exposure, convergence, action — fits any emerging technical risk you can source properly.
How do I keep it from feeling like fear-mongering?
Source everything, be honest where timelines are contested, and end on a concrete action. The difference between analysis and alarmism is mostly attribution and an exit.
Do I need video editing experience?
No. The skill carries the editing decisions — shot order, pacing, type treatment, transitions, sound design. You supply the raw material and the facts about your product; the agent assembles the cut. You review it and ask for changes in plain language.
Can I run this in my own coding agent instead of the baz editor?
Yes. Skills are designed to be run from a terminal agent like Claude Code, Codex or Cursor. Install the CLI with `npm install -g bazaar.it@latest`, then `baz skill add <slug>` to pull the skill into your agent. The same skill produces the same style whether it runs in your agent or in the baz editor.
What does it cost?
baz bills against a prepaid dollar balance rather than a seat subscription — you top the balance up and each operation (generation, voiceover, render, export) draws a listed amount from it. There is no per-seat fee to make a video, and the price of each operation is published.
Can I change the video after it renders?
Yes, and this is the point of doing it as code rather than as a flat render. Every scene is a real component you can edit — ask the agent to re-time a beat, swap a screenshot, rewrite a line, or change the accent colour, and only that part rebuilds. You are not re-rendering from scratch each time.
Will every video from this skill look the same?
The grammar is the same — that is what makes it a skill and not a template. The content is not: your brand colours, typography, screenshots, copy and data all come from your inputs. Reusing one skill across a series is a feature, because episode three lands in the same visual language as episode one instead of being rebuilt from scratch.
Related guides
Pick a skill. Get the video.
Run the Quantum-Threat Reel skill in your own coding agent, or in the baz editor. Usage comes out of a balance you top up, with a listed price per operation — no seat subscription to make a video.