AI TikTok trend video: remake the viral one, starring your own character

A trend is a format people already recognise: the same costume, the same walk, the same cut on the same beat. Viewers stop scrolling because they know it and want to see your version. Change the costume, slow the cuts or drop the punchline and it is no longer the trend, just a clip nobody asked for.

So the rule we work by: keep everything that makes the original work (cast and costumes, setting, shot order, cut rhythm, on-screen text, caption and hashtags) and swap only the people. RefVid's part is keeping your people the same face in every one of those fast cuts.

The original, a group in Coraline costumes walking toward a phone at night, had 10 million likes on TikTok in October 2026. It cuts every second or so between feet and faces: yellow heels and maroon socks, then the Other Mother with button eyes, the Other Father, Coraline herself.

Our first try swapped the film characters for generic scarecrows and ran two slow shots. The whole point, recognising the costumes and judging how close they are, was gone. The remake keeps the Coraline cast and the cut rhythm. One of its shots: "Leo dressed as the Other Father from Coraline: two big shiny black sewing buttons stitched over his eyes with white thread (buttons, not sunglasses), a red satin robe with black lapels. He walks fast toward the camera on the dark street at night."

The original on YouTube Shorts passed 100 million views: two friends in ride-on inflatable dachshund costumes making a scene in a store, outside a bar, at a checkout and in a kitchen, with "SEND this to your BESTIE…" on screen the whole time. The laughs come from the faces sticking out above the dogs.

Our first try put the costume on as a full mascot suit that hid both faces, in one calm aisle. The remake spells out how the costume is worn and copies the four places: "Mia and her blonde best friend ride inflatable dachshund costumes worn at the waist: their real upper bodies and faces stick up out of the dogs' backs, the orange cartoon dog heads out in front." The caption is drawn on after generation, like the original's.

The original, with 3 million likes, is a bedroom selfie: makeup brush, exaggerated faces, a swipe past the lens, then the full costume (here Mike Teavee from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: red headphones with antennas, a red plastic bib, striped top) and a dead-serious stare. The comments argue about who it is, which is the engagement.

Our first try turned it into a hoodie-to-witch change with four seconds of standing still. The remake keeps the bedroom, the striped top, the exact costume and the stare: "Mia now in the full Mike Teavee costume: big red over-ear headphones with two tall thin black antenna sticks, red plastic bib apron over the black-and-white striped top. She glares into the camera with intense deadpan faces."

Watch the original frame by frame first and write down every shot: what is in it, how long it lasts, what happens on the cut. Then write one RefVid shot per beat, name your saved character in each, and describe the costume by its parts and colours, including what it is not when the model might guess wrong ("buttons, not sunglasses", "faces clearly visible").

A RefVid clip takes up to three shots and 10 seconds, so a trend that cuts every second is two or three clips cut together in any editor. Keep camera words from the original too: "handheld phone video", "harsh phone flash", "filmed by someone walking backwards in front of her".

Add the trend's own sound in TikTok's editor when you post; that is what puts your video next to the original. Copy the original's caption and hashtags, and turn on the platform's AI-generated label. On YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, library songs can only be added in their phone apps; from the web, keep the clip's generated sound.

Post one or two a day, a few hours apart, rather than a burst from a new account. Prices for clips are on the pricing page.