Outstanding Tiny Desk AI Template: Shots, Timing and Who Goes Where
Updated 2026-10-28
The "template" everyone recasts is the vertical cut of the last ~19 seconds of Charlie Wilson's 2023 Tiny Desk performance of "Outstanding". Specs below come from a frame-by-frame breakdown.
Format
- Vertical 9:16, 720×1280
- 24 fps
- 19.06 seconds
- Five shots, with a hard cut at exactly 13.0 seconds
The five shots
| Shot | Time (s) | What's in it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0–1.375 | Lead singer's opening line, side-on |
| 2 | 1.375–6.708 | Band: keys in front, two singers behind |
| 3 | 6.708–13.0 | The big laugh close-up of the lead |
| 4 | 13.0–16.375 | Sax solo |
| 5 | 16.375–19.06 | The band again |
Roles you can recast
- Lead singer: Shots 1 and 3, including the big laugh close-up. This is the role almost every version recasts.
- Keys player: Front and centre in the band shots (2 and 5). Easy to mistake for the lead at first glance.
- Two backing singers: Behind the keys in the band shots.
- Sax player: Gets the solo in shot 4, right after the 13-second cut, so it often goes to the surprise cast member.
Tips
- Use one person per role. Putting the same face in two roles made swaps fail in published tests.
- Use the vertical cut, not the widescreen original, so the framing matches.
- Keep the song timing intact so the audio lines up.
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