Do you shoot vertically or horizontally. Or to put it another way, in portrait or landscape mode?
If in portrait mode, can I ask, why?
The usual answers are because that is the standard way stuff is viewed on a smartphone or simply because TikTok wants it that way.
And again, I ask why?
Because you see, it actually doesn’t make any sense. There is no reason that TikTok, which arguably started this trend, chose vertical playback. None whatsoever, except to create a “new” or “different” way of doing things from the norm, and because it sort of caught on, many of the other social media channels followed.
But I ask you this; would you go to a cinema to watch, oh I dunno, say a Marvel movie, and watch it if it was in portrait mode and not widescreen? I’d venture the answer is no. Or if you did, you’d enjoy it far less.
Do you know why they shoot these things, and TV shows for that matter, in the 16:9 aspect landscape ratio? It’s quite simple really and comes down to simple physiology.
The average person has a horizontal field of view of around 210° with both eyes. But they only have a vertical field of view of about 130° and so get a lot less visual information in that orientation.
Hence, to give a bigger picture, and create a more immersive environment, directors shoot in landscape mode.
Not blindly follow some TikTok directive that has absolutely no rationale behind it.
Just turn your phone sideways.