Three video ads, three message variations, cut from the client's own footage. Everything you need is on this page. Read the two rules in section 02 before you open Final Cut.
Video only. The static graphics and the simple animated versions are Daniel's — don't build them.
The on-screen text and burned-in captions inside the videos are yours. The logo file for the end card comes from the designer — ask for it, don't rebuild it or pull it off a website.
1080×1920 (9:16) · 1080×1350 (4:5) · 1080×1080 (1:1). H.264 MP4. 30fps. Burn in captions — most of this audience watches on mute. Every ad must work with the sound off.
Keep every video at or under 30 seconds. Also export a 15-second trim of each — the trim points are marked in each ad below.
This footage is full of beautiful far-away places. Beautiful far-away places are what every missions organisation posts and they convert nobody. Every cut has to push toward one thought: "I could actually do this." If a shot is only pretty, cut it.
Open on the hook line. Not the logo, not a fade, not an establishing drone shot. The Cafe 1040 logo appears at the end only. If the first frame doesn't stop a thumb, nothing after it matters.
An 18–25 year old Christian college student or recent grad. They already believe they're supposed to go overseas. They've felt it at a conference, maybe been on a two-week trip. They are not stuck on whether — they're stuck on how. Logistics, money, telling their parents, and a fear of showing up somewhere unprepared. Underneath all of it is wanting their life to count.
So the tone is calm, honest and specific. Not hype, not a highlight reel, not a worship-montage. Quiet confidence beats energy here.
Each ad tests a different message. Keep them distinct — don't let them blur into one look. Voiceover is recorded separately and will be handed to you; cut the picture to the read.
"Everybody told you to go. Nobody told you how."
| Time | Voiceover | Picture | On screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:04 | "Everybody told you to go. Nobody told you how." | Cold open on a real face, mid-moment, no context. Pull a close portrait from Misc b-roll or Summer '24. No music yet — ambient only. | Nobody told you how. |
| 0:04–0:11 | "You've felt it for years. At a conference. On a trip. At two in the morning." | Three quick cuts, one per line. Crowd / group energy, then travel, then a still quiet shot. Hold each about 2s. | — |
| 0:11–0:16 | "But knowing you're supposed to go, and knowing what to do next — those are two different things." | Slow down here. One long hold, 5 seconds, on a single person looking out at something. Let it breathe. Music enters underneath, low. | — |
| 0:16–0:25 | "Cafe 1040 puts a mentor on the ground with you, class time before you're in over your head, and a team that chose this too." | The turn. Three proof shots, faster: two people talking one-to-one → a group learning/sitting together → the team out in the field. Pull all three from Summer '24 Mentorship and India 2023. | A mentor. A team. A real next step. |
| 0:25–0:30 | "You pick where you go. We'll walk you there." | End card. Logo appears here for the first time. | Missions doesn't have to be scary. Here's your next step. APPLY NOW |
Keep 0:00–0:04, jump straight to 0:16–0:25, then the end card. Drop the middle entirely.
"Eight weeks ago, she had never left the country."
| Time | Voiceover | Picture | On screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:04 | "Eight weeks ago, she had never left the country." | Open on the most awkward, unpolished arrival-day shot you can find in Summer '24 Mentorship. Jet-lagged, luggage, nobody knows each other yet. Rough is right — do not open on the pretty stuff. | Week 1 |
| 0:04–0:10 | "First week is mostly classroom. Language, culture, the things nobody warns you about." | Learning and prep moments. Notebooks, group sitting, someone explaining something. Keep the pace steady, not rushed. | — |
| 0:10–0:18 | "By week four you're out in it. And you're not alone — there's someone beside you whose whole job is you." | The shift. Move from indoors to outdoors, classroom to street. Prioritise two-person shots — walking and talking, sharing a meal, one person showing another something. India 2023 is strongest here. | Week 4 |
| 0:18–0:26 | "By week eight, the question she came to answer isn't a question anymore." | The reveal. Your best confident, in-command footage of the same kind of person from the opening — leading something, laughing, at ease. This is the payoff shot. Pick the strongest single clip in the whole folder. | Week 8 |
| 0:26–0:30 | "Eight weeks. One mentor. Your call on where." | End card. Logo. | Interested in long term missions? Here's your next step. APPLY NOW |
Do not show the payoff shot early. No "best of" montage in the first half. The whole ad is a loop that opens at 0:00 and closes at 0:18 — if you spend the good footage up front there's no reason to keep watching.
0:00–0:04, then 0:10–0:18, then 0:26–0:30. Week 1 → week 4 → end card.
"You don't need to be sure. That's the whole point."
| Time | Voiceover | Picture | On screen |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00–0:04 | "You don't need to be sure. That's the whole point." | Hard, simple open. Text on a near-black frame, or one still portrait holding steady. No movement. The line is the hook — let it sit. | You don't need to be sure. |
| 0:04–0:11 | "Most people wait to feel certain before they go. Then they wait years." | Stillness and waiting. Someone alone, a window, a street from a distance. Slow, wide, unhurried. This is the only section that should feel heavy. | — |
| 0:11–0:20 | "Eight weeks overseas, with a mentor, will answer more than eight years of wondering." | Break the stillness hard on "eight weeks." Movement, faces, motion, real field footage from India 2023 and Summer '24. This is the biggest energy shift in any of the three ads — make the edit feel it. | 8 weeks. Not 8 years of wondering. |
| 0:20–0:26 | "North Africa. Southeast Asia. Europe. You choose." | Three hard cuts, one per region, roughly 2s each — kasr-bounou-morocco…camels… then aerial-view-of-farmers-planting-rice…indonesia… then 6387800_Country City Europe Ukraine… from Artlist b-roll. | North Africa / SE Asia / Europe |
| 0:26–0:30 | "You don't have to figure this out alone." | End card. Logo. | Talk to a human. APPLY NOW |
0:00–0:04, then 0:11–0:20, then the end card. The destination cuts drop out.
The client signed off on specific wording. These are not preferences — don't improvise around them.
"Missions doesn't have to be scary. Here's your next step."
"Interested in long term missions? Here's your next step."
Apply Now · Join a team · Talk to a human. Use one per ad, don't mix them inside a single cut.
All of it is in the shared Footage for Ads folder. Most of the real clips have camera filenames, so pick by folder and by what you see — the notes below tell you what each folder is actually good for.
Cafe1040_Meta_Ad01Pain_9x16_082826_V1.mp4
Client_Platform_Topic_Format_Date_Version. Add _15s to the trims. Nothing gets handed over named Untitled_1 or straight off the camera.
1. Build all three ads in 9:16 first and send those for review before you reformat anything. Reformatting nine videos and then getting notes is the one thing that will blow the deadline.
2. Once the 9:16 cuts are approved, do the 4:5 and 1:1 passes, then the 15s trims.
3. Anything unclear or missing, flag it the same day. Don't guess and don't stall.