Smalltown Boy AI: CapCut vs an AI video generator vs two photos

The honest verdict

For the Smalltown Boy trend, CapCut is great for cutting real clips of your pets to the song, but no pet screams on cue or dances upright; an AI video generator with a good prompt gets you the whole routine for little or no money but takes retries, swaps coats now and then and adds no song; a two-photo site like ours gives you the finished clip with the song in, for a price. CapCut is the best place to edit, whichever way you make the clip.

Short version: you want your real pets as they are, film them and use CapCut. You like tinkering, use a generator. You want the full scream and swap from two photos, use the Smalltown Boy page.

Side by side

When CapCut wins

You want your real pets, as they are. You catch each one yawning close to the phone, film the two together, drop the clips into CapCut and cut to the second pet at about 6 seconds. It’s free, and it’s the only route where nothing is made up.

• Film vertical, at your pets’ eye level, as close as they’ll come.
• Get a clip of each pet alone and one of the two together.
• Move any template text away from their faces.
• Put the cut to the second pet at about 6 seconds; that’s the swap.

What CapCut can’t do is invent what you didn’t film. No pet stands up and screams with its paws on its head, and only your own footage belongs in it.

When an AI video generator wins

You want to change things: the living room instead of the fence, a shorter clip, a different moment for the swap. With the Smalltown Boy AI prompt in Kling, Higgsfield, Runway or Veo, you control the scene, and free tiers let you try first.

The trade-offs: two pets that swap or blend their coats after a cut, a collar or bell that isn’t there in real life, a third cat, extra legs. Some tools also make their own music, which doesn’t follow the song, so you add the song yourself.

Tools differ in how well they keep two animals apart, and they change often. Try the same prompt in two and keep the one that looks most like your pets.

When two photos win

You want the upright scream, the swap and the dance, and no retries. On the Smalltown Boy page you add a photo of each pet and get 15 vertical seconds by the red fence: your first pet screams and pats the lens, the second takes over, then they dance side by side and rush the camera, each in its own coat, with the song and no watermark.

One Standard video uses 65 credits. The smallest pack that makes one is $9.90 for 90 credits (1 video), a one-time buy whose credits never expire, and plans start at $19.90 a month for 270 credits. If a video fails, its credits come back.

The limits, honestly: two pets per video, no people version for now, the fence is the trend’s, and there’s no free video.

Mixing routes works too

You don’t have to pick just one. Common combinations:

• Make the clip from two photos, then add a caption in CapCut about who the real drama queen is.
• Post the AI version next to a real clip of the same two pets doing absolutely nothing.
• Make one with your pet and a friend’s pet and tag them (with their yes first).
• Make it twice with the photos the other way round, so each pet gets to scream first.

Whatever you do, keep the final edit vertical and short. The trend lives in about fifteen seconds, and the swap loses its punch in a longer cut.

Step by step: the CapCut route

1. Film your clips with the plan in the free guide, or make one with an AI tool and the prompt.
2. In CapCut, start a new project with your clips, or tap Templates, search “smalltown boy” and use one with your footage.
3. Put the first pet’s clip first and trim it so it starts close up.
4. Cut to the second pet at about 6 seconds, then to the two together for the last part.
5. Export vertical 9:16. Post to TikTok or Reels and pick the Smalltown Boy sound in the app, so the post joins the sound’s page.

The sound guide shows how to add the song and set the volumes.

NowStarring is an independent fan tool, not linked to Bronski Beat, their label, the song’s rights holders or the creators who started the trend, and the song belongs to its rights holders.

Preguntas

Is there a CapCut template for the Smalltown Boy trend?

Creators post templates for most trends, so search “smalltown boy” in CapCut’s Templates tab. A template edits clips or photos you already have; it won’t make your pets stand up and scream if you didn’t film that.

Can AI make the Smalltown Boy video from photos of my pets?

Yes. AI video tools can animate two reference photos from a prompt, and two-photo sites like ours make the whole clip, the fence, the swap and the song included.

Which option includes the song?

Ours has the song over the whole video. Templates may carry their own sound; AI generators usually don’t include the song, and some make their own music that doesn’t follow it.

Do I have to film my pets?

For the CapCut route, yes, and you get what they really do, not the upright dance. The AI routes start from a still photo of each pet.

Can I edit the NowStarring video in CapCut?

Yes. It’s a normal MP4 with no watermark, so you can trim it or add text before you post.

What’s the easiest way to do the Smalltown Boy trend?

Two photos on a trend site: no filming, no prompt, and the song is already in. It costs money; the other routes cost time.