A method of operating a first user terminal, the method comprising: determining a video clip to be communicated to a second user terminal; receiving a user selection from an end-user of the first user terminal, selecting a respective user-selected value for each of a user-controlled one or more of a plurality of controllable items of metadata for controlling playout of the video clip when played out at the second user terminal; and using a video messaging service to send a video message over a network to a second user terminal, the video message communicating the video clip and the respective user-selected values for the one or more user-controlled items of metadata, thereby causing the second user terminal to play out the video clip in accordance with the one or more user-controlled items of metadata.