In our thoroughly TikTok-ified, Instagram Reel-ified, and YouTube Short-ified world of 2025, vertical video has established itself as a mainstream video format, much to the chagrin of oldheads who think it’s a stupid and lazy way to shoot and watch video. Not everything is cinema — much of everyday life is about the individual getting by in spite of the world around them, not because of it. For telling such stories, it may not be best to shoot ultrawide.
Sometimes, you want to shoot vertical. Whenever I hear someone who says shooting horizontal is the only way and shooting vertical is a sign of laziness, I can hear them coming all the way from the retirement home. I’m sorry, but I’m with the zoomers on this one. There are certain things that are best shot vertically.
I can even say that smartphones and earlier platforms like Vine opened a whole new world thanks to vertical video.
For stuff that involves the human body, vertical is best. Dancing, martial arts, and other physical activities that involve the entire body are best shot in vertical. Anything that involves the human body benefits from vertical video as it focuses more on it alone and less on what’s going on in the background. If you have to check your form while doing squats or deadlifts, there’s no need to tilt your phone over to do so.
There are plenty of content creators out there who have thrived with vertical video. They proved that storytelling is not hampered by the format. PirateSoftware grew his channel with his shorts, which are vertical. Xevi is one of the best storytellers in social media, and almost all of his content is in vertical. I’ve also been binging on Bryce Cohen‘s 3D animations, and they’re mostly uploaded in vertical on Instagram.
Oldheads can keep whining about it, but the vertical format has potential that needs to be further explored. Even more recent cameras like the Sony ZV-E10 II now accommodate the making of vertical video, so even big brands are taking notice. Vertical video is already an integral part of video production for online content creation, and traditional media will do its best to hold out against it. I myself have been posting shorts recently, so I’m sold on the format.
The world is horizontal, but humans are vertical. We don’t have to either crawl on our bellies like worms or drag our tails along the dirt like beasts, we also have to eventually deal with back pain thanks to our uprightness. The least we can do when we record any video that focuses mostly on the physical appearance and existence of a human being.
