Can we please be done with vertical video? It’s completely opposite the human field of view, looks horrible, no camera other than a cell phone shoots it. Seriously dreading IGTV.

This is such an old way of thinking. Mobile accounts for more and more of consumers' media consumption. Vertical is not going anywhere. It's just going to become more ubiquitous. And the idea of it taking up more real estate has nothing to do with how good or bad the content is. It has to do with a consumer behavior that has been studied. Users quickly thumb through content. Vertical gives them more time to decide they're interested in something.

@ACDop - you’re part of the “we’ll make our ads so cool that people will completely change their behavior to watch it” camp, i see 😂

we’re not doing vertical because we want to. it’s because that’s the way the audience consumes short form (not netflix) content.

stubbornness leads to obsolescence.

@ACD1 All vertical video does is encourage them to scroll faster - and maybe add a little more frustration to get past the shitty content to see something they actually want. Show me the study that shows people prefer vertical video to landscape. Then show me all the Netflix shows being shot vertically. This is the problem with “data driven consumer behavior” marketing. We sacrifice the 100% of the quality for .02% more accidental clicks that look good on a spreadsheet.

@OP ok consider this: you make your video in landscape and it runs on facebook or instagram or twitter or snapchat. the mediums where 90% of consumer attention is (attention is also elsewhere, but stay with me).

your landscape video shows up in their feed, and it’s super small, about an inch tall and two inches wide. in order to view it fullscreen, they have to tap on it, hit the fullscreen button and turn their phone sideways. except they can’t even do that on instagram or snapchat because they don’t rotate content. remember, this is on an ad that they didn’t seek out or want to see in the first place.

or you accept that they’re viewing vertical, they see the vertical video in their feed at literally 300-400% the size of the landscape video, and enjoy what it is you created without jumping through hoops.

This discussion is why I can't stand half the people in this industry.

But just imagine how cool the 2 minute brand manifesto videos will look vertically...

Just like with still imagery on the past, you will be shooting video in several formats from here on out. Facebook alone has half a dozen aspect ratios to consider. When you remove the burden of telling a narrative with vertical video, particularly short form, it becomes a lot more fun to build for.

I’m with op on this. Vertical video is stupid. It drives me crazy when I see people recording their life moments on a very advance phone vertically. Turn the freakin camera correctly. Just cause people shoot and view their content vertically doesn’t make it okay.

It takes a whole .8 seconds to turn your phone. Crazy.

Maybe I’m an old school purest and I recognize my days are waning in this business.

Fine. I’ll take my phootball and go home. I’d rather retire early, start another chapter that fulfills my creative soul, and leave the brave new world of digital six second bumper crap to the next generation.

The days of big tv, bmw films, an incredible headline, killer outdoor and high concept digital integration are dying.

Have fun with that. 👍

@OP so arrogant lol.

It also doesn't matter even if you make something so spectacular people want to turn their phones, because no client is ever going to let you do it. It's over. Embrace it or move on to a new career. Those are really the only options.

@CD1 I would rather get 10k views from people who thought the content was interesting, than 100k views from people who had no interest, but didn’t scroll fast enough to get past the auto play.

I think the idea that people will miss something that interests them because it took up 25-50% less real estate on their phone is a bit of a stretch. I mean, how do you explain all the landscape videos with millions of views?

I think the primary reason brands demand vertical video isn’t because it makes the experience any better, but because it makes things hard to ignore. Just like pop up ads and page takeovers are hard to ignore.

I think that mentality gives our industry a bad name and makes people hate most advertising. Instead of trying to create enjoyable, interesting communications - we focus on trying to stop people from ignoring stuff they hate - by “taking up more real estate” - then sit back and talk about how successful it is.

I’m waiting for OP to tell me to get off their lawn and turn down my gosh darn rock n roll music. And get a haircut.

OP, don’t take their bait.

The irony is our rock and roll was so much harder, edgier and better than today’s man bunned delicate flower alternative.

They can keep their Imagine Dragons.

And get off my lawn ACD2. If I was your age I’d be filing an ageism complaint to HR for that comment.

People who prefer vertical video also enjoy ketchup on steak.

So here’s what we’ve learned...

Creatives - two camps, the Horizontal auteurs who prefer their video like a fine 1978 Opus One, and the Vertically complacent whom eat their steak with ketchup.

Digital types - It’s the fucking revolution so you better be on board or get lost in the annals of madman analog. Duh.

Account peeps - it’s here to stay so you better get used to it. Like herpes.

Producers over 35 - vertical is stupid but you better fucking pick one cause I’m not asking for two cameras or virtually doubling our days by shooting it both ways.

Producers under 35 - what do you mean by horizontal?

VP’s and up - if the client is happy with herpes then you all better be happy with herpes.

Strategy - you’re annoying all of us with this conversation. Data shows that the humans we sell to don’t care and just want what’s easiest for them to click off quickly so they can go back to what they originally wanted to watch.

Did I miss anyone?

@ACDOP so then you should do it and see if people respond to it. People are watching social videos vertically because that’s how most mobile UGC is shot. When was the last time you saw someone shoot an IG story horizontally? Advertisers are just adapting to that audience behavior. But if you feel like you can make consumers change their behavior in order to consume what you believe to be higher quality content, then by all means you should try.

@VP1 What makes you think I haven’t and am not currently doing just that? Also, happy to show you plenty of landscape videos with 7 digit views and plenty of vertical videos with single digit views on any platform. It’s 100% about the content, not the aspect ratio. My point is that biologically the way we view things is in landscape. If you want your stuff to be the easiest to watch and look the best, landscape is the optimal format. I get that the current social media trend makes vertical video mandatory in some areas. But given the choice, I just think it’s a much worse viewing experience. So if you care about consumer experience over making someone scroll an extra 200 pixels, you should opt to go landscape when given the choice.

@ACDop - they turned their phone vertically and you’re losing your shit. so ya that’s completely changing their behavior.

and i would rather put my effort turning into the skid rather than against it. lets me focus on better work, not what shape the viewfinder is.

IGTV - it’s completely new to do long form like that. we’ll see. if people like it, we work with it. if they don’t, we don’t.

Classic joke @acd2, maybe repost using vertical type so no one misses it?

@CD1 If you define “completely changing behavior” as rotating their phone 90 degrees, yeah I think I can make something cool enough to get people to do that. Can you not?

BTW, IGTV is for content up to 1 hour. Not exactly “short form” in my book.

Every camera shoots it just turn 90°