Only a few years ago, producing a video in vertical format seemed almost heretical.
Television, cinema, YouTube and institutional films had made 16:9 the universal standard. The horizontal format was the natural way to tell a story.
Then habits changed.
Today it is no longer viewers who adapt to the format of the content, but content that adapts to how people use their devices.
The smartphone has become the primary screen for video consumption. And with it, a new visual grammar was born.
The vertical format has become the king of the scroll.
But reducing this shift to a simple change of proportions would be a mistake. The vertical format profoundly transforms the way we shoot, edit and above all tell a story.
The smartphone changed the way we watch
Every day, billions of videos are consumed on:
- TikTok
- YouTube Shorts
They all have one thing in common:
They are watched on a phone held the way it naturally is — vertically.
Asking a user to rotate their phone today amounts to pointless friction.
The brain will almost always choose the content that is immediately visible.
It is precisely that simplicity which explains the explosion of the vertical format.
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In a matter of milliseconds, the user decides whether to keep watching or carry on scrolling.
That reality demands a new way of producing content.
The opening seconds become decisive.
The pace has to be tighter.
Every frame must deliver information or spark an emotion.
Why the vertical format is more immersive
The vertical format fills almost the entire surface of a smartphone.
The viewer is less distracted.
Their attention stays focused.
That closeness creates a sense of immersion that works particularly well for:
- interviews
- product demonstrations
- tutorials
- events
- brand films
- AI-generated content
- drone footage adapted to vertical.
Vertical does not mean cropping a horizontal film
This is probably the most common mistake.
A film designed for 16:9 does not automatically perform once it has simply been cropped.
Two formats, two grammars: moving from one to the other is a decision made at the writing stage.
The framing changes.
The lines of force change.
The camera moves change.
The compositions change.
The text areas change.
Subtitles take on far greater importance.
The viewer's gaze behaves differently.
Producing a genuine vertical film therefore requires thinking it through from the moment the project is written.
A new way of telling a story
Vertical brings the characters closer.
It gives more weight to emotion.
It creates a sense of proximity rarely achieved with a horizontal format.
At ORYGEN FILMS, we find this kind of writing works particularly well for:
- executive interviews
- HR films
- LinkedIn content
- social media formats
- craft and know-how demonstrations
- immersive AI campaigns.
The choice of format then becomes a narrative choice, not merely a technical decision.
AI is accelerating the shift further
Generative artificial intelligence tools now produce content perfectly suited to vertical formats.
They make it possible:
- to create environments that could not be filmed;
- to produce several variants of the same scene quickly;
- to place a character in different settings;
- to adapt a single concept for several platforms.
Combined with genuine art direction, AI opens up new creative possibilities while maintaining a high standard of craft.
Thinking “mobile first”
Designing a vertical video is not only about changing its format.
It means considering the whole viewing experience:
- a message that is immediately understandable;
- images that read clearly on a small screen;
- built-in subtitles;
- a sustained pace;
- a narrative adapted to mobile use.
This “mobile first” approach matches the way people consume content today and significantly improves performance on social platforms.
The ORYGEN FILMS approach
At ORYGEN FILMS, we treat vertical formats as productions in their own right.
Every project is designed from the outset for its distribution channel, its audience and its communication objective.
Whether it is a corporate film, a social media campaign or a production built with artificial intelligence, we adapt the writing, the framing, the pace and the art direction to create content genuinely designed to capture attention and leave a lasting impression.
Conclusion
The vertical format is not a passing trend.
It has become an audiovisual language in its own right.
Brands that learn to use it intelligently will not simply produce videos better suited to current habits: they will create content that is more engaging, more immersive and more effective.
At ORYGEN FILMS, we believe technology only has value when it serves the story. The vertical format illustrates that shift perfectly: a new frame which, when it is considered from the very beginning, allows you to tell a story differently and turn a few seconds of attention into a genuine communication experience.