// ALSO BUILDING 08 - 2026
TellMeAStory
A browser-based video recut tool that challenges you to build a different story every time from the same footage, turning editing technique into a playable game.
What it is
A single-file web app for video recut and remix. It gives you a story prompt and one video file; you mark in and out points, slice clips from the source, and arrange them into your narrative - a fun way to practice editing basics.
Why I built it
It's based on an exercise from a film class in college, designed to teach video editing basics in a fun way. It gives you story prompts, and you use a single video file to build that story - slicing clips from a larger source and arranging them to fit your narrative. I also wanted to experiment with MCP servers, so I grabbed one I found on Reddit that wraps the open-source FFMPEG to give Claude advanced video capabilities, and wired that into a browser-based tool.
The project is in early stages, but it hit surprisingly close to the mark with just a few focused prompts. Next I want to improve the interface, expand the public-domain and Creative Commons clips it suggests, and let finished stories upload straight to the user's YouTube account.
How it works
The whole thing is one HTML file - no build, no framework, all state in memory. You pick or upload a source video, mark clips with keyboard shortcuts, drag them into a filmstrip with captions, then play the story back. Four Creative Commons Blender shorts come pre-loaded so it works the moment you open it. The video editing muscle came from an FFMPEG MCP server, which gave Claude real FFMPEG capability while I was building. It's early-stage and rough in places, but the core loop is there.
- Mark in and out points with keyboard shortcuts (i, o, Enter) to slice clips from a source.
- Drag clips into a filmstrip and add per-clip captions, then play the sequence back.
- Rotating prompts that name an editing technique to practice (Kuleshov, jump cut, match cut, and more).