Why five is the right number
The clip everyone copies has three shots. First the band behind the desk: a singer seated at the keyboard and two backing singers standing behind. Then a close-up of a singer who cannot stop laughing. Then the cut to the saxophone, which is where the room loses it.
Many versions give the laugh back to the lead singer, so only three or four people ever appear. Casting the laughing close-up as its own person means five different friends each get a moment, and the group chat argues about who got the best one.
Who goes in which slot
Put the person the joke is about at the front: the captain, the commissioner, the one whose team just lost. The two backing singers are the steady ones who will look composed while everything falls apart.
Give the close-up to whoever has the best laugh in real life, because the shot holds on their face. Save the sax for the biggest surprise: the quietest coworker, the parent nobody expected, the friend who swears they have no rhythm.
Collecting five photos from a group chat
Ask each person for one chest-up selfie facing the camera in daylight, with no sunglasses or heavy filters. Separate selfies work better than one group photo; if all you have is a team picture, crop each face into its own image first.
Everyone in the band should be an adult who has agreed to appear. That is also why sports versions cast friends as the coaches rather than the real staff.
If your group is smaller or bigger
You can render with one to five photos. If you are one or two people short, the people you add cover the empty roles: the laugh and the sax go first to someone who is not already in that shot, then to whoever has the fewest roles.
More than five? Make two versions with different casts, or keep the band and rotate who gets the sax. Each clip is its own render, so a second cast costs the same as the first.
What the finished tiny desk meme looks like
You get a 14-second vertical MP4: about five seconds of the band at the desk, the laughing close-up through the middle, and the sax reveal at the end. Choose 480p for 10 credits ($9.99 with the Single pack) or 720p for 22 credits, with the reference sound or silent.
