JACK CAI — CASE STUDY
2.4M+
TOTAL VIEWS
ENGAGEMENT
Direct Client
ROLE
Long-Form Video Editor
PLATFORM
YouTube
OVERVIEW
Jack Cai creates documentary-style YouTube content around speedcubing and the world of Rubik’s Cube solving, covering world records, competition history, notable figures, unusual moments, technical concepts, and stories from the cubing community. Across 12 videos, the post-production brought narrative editing, motion design, archival and supporting footage, sound design, typography, pacing, and visual storytelling together to make highly niche subjects accessible and engaging.
2.4M+
Views across 12 videos
12
Long-form videos edited
803K
Highest-viewed video
5
Videos over 100K views
THE CHALLENGE
Speedcubing history, records, and technical ideas carry real stakes—but they only work on screen when a viewer can quickly understand why they should care. Each edit needed to transform specialist material into a clear, entertaining story, with every visual decision moving the narrative forward.
01 / CLARITY
Give viewers enough context to understand the event before the story accelerates.
02 / MOMENTUM
Sustain attention across long-form stories without over-editing the important pauses.
03 / PAYOFF
Build enough anticipation for record attempts and competition outcomes to land.
THE APPROACH
Narrative before ornament.
01
Story First
The script acted as the backbone. Every footage, graphic, typography, music, and sound choice was introduced where it could strengthen what the viewer needed to understand, anticipate, or feel.
02
Pacing & Retention
Long-form content needs variation in rhythm. Supporting visuals, reframing, motion graphics, typography, transitions, and shifts in pace created smaller visual beats without sacrificing clarity.
03
Visual Storytelling
Competition footage, archival clips, images, headlines, statistics, diagrams, and on-screen typography gave viewers context without forcing them to rely entirely on voiceover.
04
Motion & Sound Design
Animation clarified information where footage could not. Music, ambience, impacts, transitions, risers, and smaller cues shaped tone, momentum, and the weight of each payoff.
FEATURED WORK
This Moment Changed Rubik’s Cube Solving Forever
398K VIEWS
This documentary-style project tells the story of a defining moment within competitive Rubik’s Cube solving. Archival footage, supporting visuals, pacing changes, typography, motion design, music, and sound transformed the script into a complete visual narrative.
EDITING BREAKDOWN
How the stories take shape.
01 — TURNING HISTORY INTO A STORY
This Moment Changed Rubik’s Cube Solving Forever
INSERT SHORT CLIP / GIF / SCREENSHOTS
A historical event can easily become narration accompanied by random footage. Instead, archival material, typography, contextual visuals, pacing, and sound progressively revealed the story—helping the audience understand not only what happened, but why the moment mattered.
02 — BUILDING TENSION BEFORE THE PAYOFF
The Worst Choke Ever / The Worst Fail Ever
INSERT SHORT CLIP / GIF / SCREENSHOTS
Competition outcomes are more effective when the edit builds toward them. Music, timing, pauses, archival footage, sound effects, and increasingly active visuals controlled pace and anticipation before the final moment—creating a stronger payoff when the result was revealed.
03 — MAKING NICHE IDEAS UNDERSTANDABLE
The Unbeatable World Record / Rubik’s Cube – How Commutators Work
INSERT SHORT CLIP / GIF / SCREENSHOTS
Some speedcubing concepts are difficult to understand for viewers outside the community. Motion graphics, typography, diagrams, footage, and visual references provided context beyond narration—simplifying information without removing the detail that made the subject interesting.
SELECTED WORK
A dozen ways to make the cube compelling.
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
Fake Rubik’s Cube Solve EXPOSED
803K views · Documentary Editing
VIEW VIDEO →
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
Viral Rubik’s Cube Magic Tricks EXPOSED
644K views · Documentary Editing
VIEW VIDEO →
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
The Worst Choke Ever
213K views · Documentary Editing
VIEW VIDEO →
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
Why Blindfolded Solving Is Not Hard
114K Views · Educational Editing · Motion Design
VIEW VIDEO →
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
This Moment Changed Rubik’s Cube Solving Forever
398K Views · Documentary Editing · Motion Design · Sound Design
VIEW VIDEO →
VIDEO THUMBNAIL
The Worst Fail Ever
93K Views · Documentary Editing · Motion Design · Sound Design
VIEW VIDEO →
RESULTS
A body of documentary, story-driven, and educational work that brought complex cubing stories to a broad YouTube audience.
Viewership is presented as context for the reach of the finished work and is not intended to suggest that post-production alone determined the performance of the videos.
803K
HIGHEST-REACHING FILM
5 films
OVER 100K VIEWS
12 films
LONG-FORM EDITS DELIVERED
ADDITIONAL PROJECTS
The Unbeatable World Record
24K Views
Impossible Rubik’s Cube World Records
32K Views
Greatest Rubik’s Cube Magic Tricks EXPOSED
62K Views
How to Solve a Rubik’s Cube in 10 Minutes
3.3K Views
Rubik’s Cube – How Commutators Work
9.5K Views
I Memorize All 197 Countries And Capitals
2.2K Views
ENGAGEMENT
This engagement was completed directly by the founder behind Draft prior to the launch of Draft. The experience developed through these projects, particularly around documentary storytelling, motion design, sound design, pacing, and long-form post-production, now informs Draft’s approach to producing YouTube content.