Christmas Hours in a Talking Head
Say the open and the close in the first sentence. One person speaks the hours you actually keep.

Put the open and the close in the first sentence. A Christmas hours reel is a service, and the service is those two times, spoken before any greeting. Use the hours you actually keep. If Christmas Eve is a shorter day, say that shorter day in the same first sentence, in the order a customer would write it down. One person speaks. The first 3 seconds carry the point, so the times cannot wait for a second take hidden later in the cut. If the face or the voice looks and sounds real, label the clip as AI. Write the open and the close, including a shorter Christmas Eve only if you really keep it, and say that sentence before any greeting. The first 3 seconds show one person at the counter, and they say those hours in the order a customer would write them. Reject a story that delays the times, a crowd behind the counter, or hours you do not keep. Keep one speaker. A practical reel is 15–45 seconds. If the face or the voice could be mistaken for a real person, the caption must say it is AI, and the platform label stays where it appears.
Open, then close
Say when you open, then when you close, in one breath. A story about the season before the times forces people to listen for the only fact they came for. If a day differs, name that day in the same sentence. Repeat nothing you do not keep. The caption can show the same times for people watching without sound. Say when you open, then when you close, in one breath, and put the same times in the caption for silent viewers. In the first 3 seconds the picture is the host at the counter, and the words are the open and the close. Reject a reel that makes people wait for the only fact they came for.
One speaker at the counter
The person who says the hours is the only person in frame. A crowd behind the counter makes the times harder to trust and harder to hear. Stand where the counter reads as a shop, with the face clear. The first 3 seconds are the hours, not a pan across the room. Clear everyone else out of the frame, stand where the counter reads as a shop, and start on the hours rather than a pan. In the first 3 seconds, viewers see one face and hear the times. Do not post a crowd, a second voice, or a room tour ahead of the hours.
Label a realistic delivery
A generated face or a generated voice that could pass for a person at the door needs a plain caption: this host is AI. Leave the platform label where it appears. The hours themselves stay the hours you keep. The label does not replace them, and it does not belong painted on the wall of the still. Add a plain caption that the host is AI if the face or voice looks real, and leave the platform label where it showed up. The opening 3 seconds show the host at the counter while the line says the hours, not a painted line on the wall. Throw out a still with lettering on the wall, or a clip that hides the platform label, before the file goes up.
A worked example
A bookshop host faces the camera at the counter. The first sentence is the Christmas week open and the Christmas week close, including the shorter Christmas Eve if that is the real day. There is no hello first. The caption repeats those times and says the host is AI, because the face looks real. Face the counter camera, say the Christmas week open and close first, then stop. For the first 3 seconds, show the bookshop host and say those real hours, including the shorter Eve only if that is the true day. Reject a hello before the times. Keep one speaker inside 15–45 seconds. If the face looks real, the caption says the host is AI.
Before you post
- Say open and close in the first sentence.
- Use only hours you keep.
- Label a realistic host as AI.
Where Scro fits
Scro has one person speak the hours. Put the same times in one of 13 caption styles so the opening still works with the sound off. Export 9:16. If the face or the voice is realistic, label it as AI. Put the same times in one caption style and export 9:16 after the first sentence is the hours. Inside the first 3 seconds, one person is at the counter and the voice says the open and the close. Reject hours you do not keep. If the face or voice could be mistaken for a real person, the caption says it is AI.
Say the hours first. Finished samples are on the examples page.
Related: Candlelight without Orange Skin.
