Video Caption Correcting

Worked examples

Two full before → after corrections from the guidelines — expand to read each.

The narrator says, "This is a charming stop-motion animated video created entirely from needle-felted wool, depicting a day in the life of a small mouse character. The video opens with detailed shots of a felted tree with fruits, then introduces a mouse wearing a blue and white striped dress and white apron who picks oranges from the tree branches. She carries her harvest in a woven basket through a cozy, rustic kitchen with a fireplace, red checkered curtains, and wooden furniture. The video concludes with her tending to the fireplace, creating a warm, domestic atmosphere…" A gentle, whimsical music box melody runs throughout, featuring a soft flute line and a delicate music-box tune later. Soft rustling sounds accompany the mouse's movements, and the crackling of the fire can be heard in the final scene.

This is a charming stop-motion animated video created entirely from tactile, needle-felted wool, beautifully depicting a cozy day in the life of an anthropomorphic small mouse character. The video opens with detailed macro close-up shots of a meticulously handcrafted felted tree with branches heavy with soft, muted-orange fruits, then introduces the main character: a small mouse in a quaint blue and white striped dress and a crisp white apron who gently picks oranges. The shot then cuts to a medium view as she carries her harvest in a tiny, woven wicker basket through a rustic, heartwarming kitchen with a stone fireplace, red checkered curtains, and miniature wooden furniture. Then the shot cuts to a low-angle POV shot from the fruits' perspective inside the basket as she sets them down. The video concludes with the mouse tending to the hearth — her tiny paws striking a match to ignite a warm, glowing fire that bathes the room in a soft, golden hue. Overall, a warm, nostalgic, domestic atmosphere.

The production showcases master-level, intricate wool craftsmanship — soft organic textures, a muted natural palette, and gentle, deliberate animation evoking a nostalgic storybook aesthetic reminiscent of Beatrix Potter. A whimsical music-box melody loops throughout, with a soft, airy flute counter-melody early on, transitioning into a pure, delicate music-box tune later — a calm, serene fairy-tale atmosphere. Soft rustling sounds of fabric accompany the mouse's movements, culminating in the cozy crackling of firewood in the final scene.

This is a commercial-style video demonstrating the versatility of 'Ayla' brand cleaning cloths across multiple surfaces and in different colors. The video features a woman with curly blonde hair wearing a dark floral dress, showcasing yellow, orange, light blue, and pink versions of the cloth. She cleans various household surfaces including gray countertops, black stovetops, glass windows, and flat-screen TVs. The video employs quick cuts, with special effects like sparkles to emphasize cleanliness. An off-screen narrator with a bright, upbeat tone says, 'Quick, easy, and', 'Enjoyable!', 'With one wipe, you get a stunning result. And say', 'Fifty percent of your cleaning time. The cloth', 'streak free in a flash.', and 'Flash'. Upbeat synthesized pop music plays throughout.

This is a bright, commercial-style advertisement demonstrating the versatility of 'Ayla' brand cleaning cloths across multiple surfaces in vibrant colors. The live-action video is a briskly paced sequence of seven distinct shots that cut roughly once per second, featuring a woman with curly blonde hair in a dark floral dress. Shot one opens on a close-up of a gray countertop scattered with crumbs and debris, which she sweeps away with a bright cloth. Shot two cuts to a black oven top covered in greasy splatters as an orange cloth wipes it clean. Shot three switches to a unique low-angle view looking up through a clear glass table as a cloth clears smudges. Shot four is a close-up where glowing sparkles flash across the screen to emphasize the spotless finish. In shot five she cleans a glass window and the camera zooms in to display the 'Ayla' logo on the corner of the fabric. Shot six wipes dust and streaks off a black flat-screen TV with a pink cloth. The seventh, final shot is a product reveal: a medium view of the smiling woman holding a stack of yellow, orange, light blue, and pink cloths against a vibrant yellow background. Lighting is bright, high-key, and professional throughout.

An upbeat synthesized pop track plays continuously, establishing a cheerful, promotional mood. Clean and prominent in the mix, an off-screen narrator delivers a bright voiceover: "Quick, easy, and enjoyable! With one wipe, you get a stunning result and save 50% of your cleaning time. Ayla cloths are highly absorbent and make all smooth surfaces streak-free in a flash!" The narrator stays upfront while the music sits quietly underneath — a polished commercial atmosphere.

How to watch — three passes

Don't single-pass under time pressure — you'll under-correct.

• Pass 1 — content: the overall story — shots, subjects, actions, setting.
• Pass 2 — focused audio: listen closely (eyes off the screen helps) to separate speech vs music vs sound effects vs ambience.
• Pass 3 — verify: scrub through and check every correction and added detail against what is actually there, before you submit.

Step A — Cross-validate & fix (remove hallucinations)

Read the caption sentence by sentence against the clip. Fix or delete anything that doesn't hold up. The golden rule is faithfulness first: never invent objects, text, sounds, counts, names, or brands.

Concrete first — aesthetic language welcome

Being specific does not mean dry, clinical text. Lead with concrete, observable facts (objects, counts, colors, actions, sounds, camera, on-screen text) — this layer must carry the caption. Keep information-bearing adjectives (golden, muted-orange, gravelly, shallow-focus). Then layer mood / tone words (charming, serene, dramatic) on top — grounded in the clip, and never replacing the concrete description. A great closing move is one overall mood phrase, e.g. "a warm, serene fairy-tale atmosphere".

Step B — Add the missing details

Once accurate, enrich it. Add whatever is present in the clip but missing or thin — covering both the visual and the audio track. Only mention categories that are actually present; don't pad. Priority order: faithfulness > salient completeness > richness. Light touch on good captions. Rough length: about one flowing paragraph per ~10s of clip.

Edge cases

Keep the caption's format

Edit in place and keep the same free-text format (one or two flowing paragraphs). A natural order is visuals first (chronological — shots, camera, subjects, actions, setting), then production style and audio (music, SFX, ambience, mix, overall mood). Write fluent prose, not a bullet dump.

Quick fixes

Small before → after corrections.

…a dog runs past in the background as she lights the fire.  (no dog is visible)

…as she lights the fire.  (hallucinated dog deleted)

a mouse in a blue dress picks oranges

a mouse in a green dress picks oranges  (wrong color fixed to what's on screen)

Core principles

• Faithful first. Only describe what you can see or hear. Never invent; delete hallucinations.
• Concrete first, vivid on top. Observable backbone, then grounded mood words.
• Rich but grounded. faithfulness > salient completeness > richness.
• Light touch on good captions. Don't pad what's already accurate.
• Cover both tracks. Describe the video and the audio.
• Chronological. Describe shots and actions in the order they occur.
• Direct description. The caption describes the video; it is not a quote of someone narrating it.
• Describe the whole clip. Everything shown or heard belongs in; nothing that isn't shown should appear.

Before you submit — checklist

• Describes everything in the clip and nothing that isn't actually shown or heard.
• No hallucinations — every object, action, text, and sound is actually in the clip.
• All attributes correct — colors, counts, gender/age, identity, location, materials.
• A direct description, not framed as "the narrator says ‘…’".
• Scene/content type identified; overall motion level & cutting pace stated.
• Camera covered — shot sizes per shot, angles, real movements, shot count, each cut.
• Actions specific and in order; main subject described and referenced consistently.
• Setting, lighting/color, focus, style/medium (incl. AI cue), objects, VFX, on-screen text/watermarks captured where present.
• Audio covered — speech (voice profile + intent), music, SFX, ambience, mix, overall mood.
• If already accurate, only light edits — not padded.
• Verified every correction against what's on screen (Pass 3).
• Reads as fluent prose in the same format as the input.

Appendix — vocabulary cheat-sheet