u/Both-Resource-1754

Hey everyone,

I designed this thumbnail for a video titled "Inside India's Richest Villages with No Population" — it's a mystery/documentary-style video exploring luxurious villages/mansions that are almost entirely empty, with a population sign showing just "1" resident.

Design elements I used:

• AI-generated luxury mansion street background (marble villas, ornate gates, a yellow sports car) with warm golden-hour lighting
• A real photo of a model in the foreground, edited to match the background's lighting and color tone (added warm color balance + rim light to blend him into the scene)
• Shocked/surprised expression + pointing gesture to create curiosity and direct the viewer's eye toward the mansions
• A weathered green road sign in the corner reading "Population: 1" — the core hook/twist of the video
• Added a ground shadow beneath the subject and a subtle vignette to pull focus toward the center

Process I followed:

• Generated the background separately using AI (prompted for empty luxury street, golden hour, abandoned wealth aesthetic)
• Shot/sourced the model separately, removed background, and manually color-matched him to the scene in Photopea (color balance, brightness, rim lighting, drop shadow)
• Edited the sign text manually to keep it accurate and readable
• Added a duration badge and final color grade (contrast + vibrance boost) at the end

What I'd love feedback on:

1. Does the lighting on the subject actually match the background, or does it still look "pasted in"?
2. Is the "Population: 1" sign noticeable enough, or does it get lost in the composition?
3. Does the pointing gesture + expression effectively build curiosity?
4. Is there too much going on (mansions + car + sign + subject) or does the composition feel balanced?
5. Any color grading or contrast suggestions to make it pop more at thumbnail size (mobile view)?

Appreciate any honest critique — trying to refine my AI+manual compositing workflow for future thumbnails. Thanks in advance!

I took inspiration from other viral videos on youtube and then make it ..

Hey everyone,

I designed this thumbnail for a video titled "The Psychology of People Who Get Rich From Zero" — it's a psychology/self-improvement style video (around 3 mins long) about the mindset and habits of people who build wealth starting with nothing.

https://reddit.com/link/1umkwhr/video/rkhydelvv1bh1/player

Give honest advice if you have experience if you don't have experience then scroll this post

please give advice if you are expert or experienced