Vertical Video Is On The Rise

In the past, vertical video has been a large more in the world of video production. Ever since the rise of the iPhone, iPods with cameras, or any other sort of mobile smartphone, vertical video has been on the rise.

YouTube channel Glove and Boots summed up this issue in 2012 in a neat little video. The two puppets summarize the cause and effects of vertical video and fear that someday movie theaters will need to be rebuilt to support a vertical aspect ratio. Since people who aren’t video professionals (most people) don’t know any better, they open the camera app on their device, and just start shooting. It’s only later when they play the footage back on a widescreen display do they realize the error that they made. Since most video platforms playback video horizontally, the video that they shot is an awkward aspect ratio, resulting in massive black bars on either side of the video.

This is changing now. Due to the popularity of applications like Snapchat and Twitter, vertical video is becoming less horrible than it used to be. Snapchat’s “Story” feature capitalizes on the fact that people are holding their phones vertically all the time, and urges users to record videos vertically. Then when other users watch stories, they don’t have to rotate their phone or do anything, and the video perfectly fills their screen. It’s a great use for vertical video, and the new “vertical video” aspect ratio is actually growing more popular. Snapchat’s sponsored “Discover” section on its app is filled with brands that have created vertically oriented media. There was even a small mini-series created specifically for Snapchat that was shot and delivered in a vertical fashion. In addition, with Twitter’s new “Moments” platform, it’s embracing the fact that people are holding phones in portrait mode and attempts to display news and other information in that form factor.

Though I was very much against vertical video in the beginning, I am starting to gain a new perspective on it. It makes a lot of sense in many situations, and if other social platforms (like Twitter) follow what Snapchat has done within its app, vertical video may become much more widespread.