Shoot for widescreen and crop later, and you lose your subject's head on vertical. Plan the frames before the shoot.
One video now has to work on a website hero, a YouTube channel, a LinkedIn post and a phone held upright. Those are four different shapes, and the cheapest moment to plan for all of them is before the camera rolls.
Frame for the tightest crop
Keep the subject and anything important inside the area that survives a vertical 9:16 crop. Widescreen still looks natural with a centered subject; a vertical cut of a carefully off-center widescreen frame often doesn't.
Write for sound off
Many people watch in feeds with the sound muted. The first seconds need to work as pictures and text alone, and captions belong in the plan from the start, not added at the end.
Shoot the extra coverage
Short cuts need more cutaways than long ones. A few extra minutes of close-ups, hands, product details and reactions on the day saves a reshoot later.
Deliver a kit, not a file
- Masters in 16:9, 1:1, 4:5 and 9:16
- Caption files alongside burned-in versions
- Thumbnails and a few stills for each channel
