In short
- Choose the shape from where people will watch, not from habit.
- Cropping a landscape film into a vertical one keeps only about a third of the width.
- If vertical clips matter, tell us before the day so we can frame for them.
- Write each output, its shape and its use in the brief, one line each.
Choose the shape of each video from the place it will be watched. Landscape suits screens and projectors, vertical suits a phone held upright, and square sits between them. One film cannot be the best shape for all three.
What do landscape, square and vertical mean?
The three shapes are described by width to height.
| Shape | Ratio | Where it usually fits |
|---|---|---|
| Landscape | 16:9 | Venue screens, projectors, websites, video sites, TV, presentations |
| Square | 1:1 | Feed posts where a balanced shape is wanted |
| Vertical | 9:16 | Phone-first stories and short clips watched upright |
Platforms change what they favour over time, so confirm the current needs for the place you will post before you finalise. Do not rely on a fixed list.
Why not just crop the landscape film?
Cropping is the quick answer, and it often disappoints. A vertical frame is about a third as wide as a landscape one. Everything outside that slice is gone.
A wide shot of a stage with a speaker, the screen and the audience cannot fit. At best you keep the speaker. A shot of two people shaking hands may lose one of them.
If vertical clips matter to you, we frame for them on the day. That might mean a second camera held upright, or leaving space around key moments so a crop still works. This depends on the event, the crew and the layout, and is confirmed in the quote. Our event social video clips service covers this kind of output.
How do you decide which shapes you need?
Start from the uses, not the shapes:
- List every place the video will be seen: venue screen, website, email, social pages, a presentation, a printed-invitation QR link.
- Say who is watching and on what device. A phone held upright suggests vertical.
- Count the outputs. Each shape is a separate edit.
- Mark which shape is the main one. The rest are extras.
The video format and framing planner walks through these questions. It is optional, and we can also work through them with you.
A worked example
For example, a company launch day might have these needs. This is an illustration, not a past job.
| Output | Where | Shape |
|---|---|---|
| Highlight film | Company website and venue screen | Landscape |
| Three short clips of the CEO and the product | Staff and customer phones | Vertical |
| One group celebration clip | Company feed | Square |
Here landscape is the main film. The vertical clips need the CEO and product framed closely, so we would plan upright shots for those two moments. The square clip can often be cut from a well-framed landscape shot.
What to write in the brief
Give each output one line: name, shape, use and length if you know it. Add any rules for titles, logos and captions, and say if captions will be burned in or supplied separately. For a campaign in several languages, the guide on textless masters explains why a version without text helps.
Shape is only one part of the specification. Resolution is another, covered in choosing video resolution for delivery. How long a highlight should run is in choosing a useful length.
What we confirm for your event
- Which shapes are in the quote, and whether each is a separate edit.
- Whether we shoot any shots upright or crop later.
- How titles are kept clear of the edges.
- What you receive for each shape, and in what file form.
When you have your list, send it with the date and venue and we build your event videography quote. The number of shapes moves the quote, since each is its own edit: see pricing.
Tell us where each video will be shown, such as the venue screen, your website or your phone-first social pages. We will note the shapes in the quote and plan the framing before the day.
WhatsApp us