My short-video experiment that accidentally went "viral"

Ever spent 3 hours scripting, filming, editing and captioning a “value-packed” reel… only for it to hit 112 views and one pity-like from your mom?

Yeah, me too.

Which is why I recently did something wildly off-brand: I made 3 short videos that were fun, slightly chaotic, and nothing like my usual content.

And then one of them pulled 30k views — which is more than my entire YouTube history combined.

Today’s essay covers what happened (and why you might want to steal this trick)!

The “accidental viral” recipe

I’d love to say this was a calculated content play. It wasn’t.

I was tired. My “value reels” were flopping. And in a moment of creative fury (read: caffeine and Canva), I made three short, silly videos using old public-domain movie clips and posted them across all my channels.

Then this happened:
One of those videos pulled over 30k views on YouTube.
Which is… more than my entire YouTube history. Combined.

Why this worked

In short, these were probably the funniest, most entertaining pieces of content I’ve posted to date.

Some principles I used to guide my selection process:

1. It shouldn’t look like a lesson: They should read like memes about a topic, rather than mini-workshops on the topic.

2.  It called on a shared pain: I focused on clips that elicited the same emotional response as the pain point I was targeting in my audience (i.e. content creation pains).

3. It had to be in public domain: I didn’t want to get in trouble with YouTube for copywrite issues.

4. It should be low-stakes and fun: No script or perfect image to worry about, just focus on having fun with your audience.

The result? People actually watched. They laughed. They shared.

And for once, the “algorithm” played nice. (stats speak for themselves)

Steal this system

Now of course I’m going to help you implement this yourself! So here’s the scrappy system I used:

Step 1: Prompt for ideas

Here’s the AI prompt I used in ChatGPT (or Claude):

You're a professional content creator and you specialise in matching movie and series clips to reels for meme-media production that is fun and entertaining.

You're here to help me find the perfect movie clip to use in a reel about my [INSERT CONTENT PIECE]. 

This is the [CONTENT PIECE]: [URL]

Our audience members are feeling ABC about this topic because XYZ.

Help me brainstorm 5 - 10 popular movie clips that are in the public domain which might reflect similar emotions.

Pick your favourite option, then move to…

Step 2: Source your clip (without breaking copyright laws)

Here’s how to find public-domain clips you can actually use, legally and creatively:

Option A: Stock libraries

These sites offer royalty-free clips made for remixing:

• Pexels

• Pixabay

• Videvo

Option B: Archive.org

Go to archive.org and search:

• “public domain film”

• “prelinger archives”

• Anything made before 1929 (automatically public domain in the U.S.)

Option C: YouTube downloads

Some YouTube channels (like Public Domain Cinema or Cult Cinema Classics) upload public-domain movies.

If clearly labeled and safe, use a YouTube-to-MP4 converter like:

• ytmp3.nu

• 9convert.com

🚨 Only use this for videos explicitly marked public domain from trusted sources!

Some last tips on this point:

• Remember to check the description to confirm it’s truly public domain before downloading.

• Avoid remixing modern shows, TikToks or meme clips, they’re usually copyrighted.

• Always add your own twist (captions, edits, context) to make the content transformative.

3. Drop it in Canva

1. Upload your clip

2. Add one caption that turns the clip into a story (e.g. “Me fighting scope creep in my third week of burnout”)

3. Resize to 9:16, match your brand colours, export as MP4

Here’s the Canva template I used in case that is useful to you.

If you decide to try this out, please do let me know as I’d love to know if you have similar success with this method!

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Posting reels used to take me 3 hours, 4 breakdowns, and a snack break. Now? 5 minutes.

If you’ve been avoiding Instagram reels because ugh, this AI-powered club serves up done-for-you prompts, trending audios, meme inspo, and Canva templates, so you can post something strategic without sounding like a bot.

Check out the Authentic AI Reels club

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