Going back to the beginning of time of when motion picture cameras were invented, filming has been done horizontally. Up until the past decade or so, we’ve seen the transition from horizontal to vertical filming due to the rise of social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. While there is no wrong or right way to filming a video, we can list a few reasons why it may be beneficial to record with the idea of delivering in both vertical and horizontal videos.
Why is it beneficial to shoot in vertical mode?
The main benefit to shooting video vertically (portrait mode / 9X16) is that it is optimized for mobile use. Most apps in the app store are catered for vertical use since phones are held vertically. In order to create a smooth experience without shuffling your phone’s orientation, apps such as Instagram and TikTok have been designed to simply just keep it all vertical and have you scroll up and down to swipe through content. You don’t really want to have people shuffling their phones around to view your video on these platforms otherwise they’ll just skip it! So if your content is predominately going to be for Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube shorts make sure to optimize it for vertical use.
Why is beneficial to shoot in horizontal mode?
The biggest benefit to shooting video horizontally is allowing the viewer to see everything in a wide immersive manner. Movies have been shot in this way since the beginning of time! It isn’t until recently in the last decade that we’ve seen that transition to vertical content. But odds are every movie you’ve seen has been shot horizontally (landscape / 16X9). This format allows for the viewing experience to immerse the viewer into the world of what you’re trying to convey. It is also the same point of view in which the human eye sees in, which makes it feel natural to view content in this format. You can also fit more into the frame from a horizontal aspect whereas vertically crops in on a lot on the horizontal axis.
Should I shoot video in horizontal or vertical?
While there’s many ways to shoot content for different mediums, horizontal video should be used for longer form content such as short films, movies, YouTube Videos whereas vertical should be used for short form content for TikTok, IG Reels, and YouTube Shorts. We’ve found through our testing that using these works best for these uses, and often times if you post a video originally made for horizontal viewing, it doesn’t do as great on social media because it wasn’t optimized for that. And vice versa, vertical content doesn’t do great on platforms that are meant for long form content.
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