TV or TikTok: The Battle Between Horizontal and Vertical

SCOTT TANIS
VIDEO PRODUCTION LEAD

I’ll admit it. I’m a bit old school when it comes to the orientation and aspect ratio of videos. If you ask me, it should be horizontal. Landcape. 16:9. One day, while burning a DVD in the mid-2000s, I probably said, “Once people get rid of their old 4:3 TVs, we’ll never have to worry about this aspect ratio stuff again.” Boy, was I wrong.

Next thing I knew, the iPhone had begun a revolution that led to everyone and their grandma having a high resolution photo and video camera that fits in their pocket. Some of us tried to tell people to turn their phones sideways when shooting video. Pretty much no one did.

Fast-forward your VHS tape to today. Mobile-centric social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have fully embraced vertically-oriented video content, where 9:16 and 4:5 aspect ratios are the norm. But, 16:9 is still the king of TV and even YouTube. If you are an organization looking to market your products and services with video, this just makes things more complicated than ever. You want your message on multiple platforms, but you may have a limited budget. So what can you do?

If at all possible, shoot content intended for multiple platforms both ways

If you need assets for both horizontal and vertical uses, shooting for both uses is an obvious choice, but not without its drawbacks. You will need more time on production and most likely additional gear for the most efficient production. Shooting for one framing per take is ideal, so this method works best for things like studio product shoots, but less well when you are relying on talent or waiting for the perfect golden hour sunlight.

Don’t expect to shoot footage horizontally and crop it for vertical

Often, clients ask, “Can you just shoot it wide so we can use it both ways?” While this sometimes works, it generally leads to less than ideal framing for both the horizontal and vertical shots. Horizontal shots may have unwanted objects on the edges of frame whereas vertical shots may need to be cropped too tightly.

If you do try going this route, just know you will have your best success with large indoor or outdoor spaces where you can get the camera far enough from the subject.

Take a motion design approach

If your selected concept relies more heavily on graphics, animation, and illustration, and less on full screen video footage, it will likely scale more easily to different sizes. With the right planning, your video assets may do their best work in a supporting role on a motion design-heavy concept and not need to fill the screen on their own.

Use the extra vertical space for brand reinforcement

The simplest way to get your horizontal video content into a vertical format is to scale it to width. But, rather than leaving black bars above and below the video, use that space to your advantage. A 15 second video spot can be accompanied by your logo, brand colors, call to action, etc. for the entire duration of the spot, without cluttering the video as an overlay. An added benefit is that you have a better chance of making an impression on the viewer, even if they keep scrolling.

Identify your goals and plan accordingly

Are you driving brand awareness among new target audiences? Trying to push a purchase with a retargeting campaign? Embracing some organic and guerilla marketing tactics with your most loyal audiences? A better understanding of your goals will help you identify the best platforms to reach your audience and make better decisions about your shooting, editing, and storytelling. The best TikTok ads function differently than the most effective YouTube pre-roll ads.

Remember, it’s always better to start with a good strategy for your final deliverables than try to repurpose something further down the road. Let’s work together to come up with the best plan for you.