4 ms·

> "...it’s built for how you actually use your phone, so videos are full screen and vertical." Oh dear.

dewey 8y ago
I don't understand why vertical video always gets this response, mostly from people who do anything with film. I get it, it's not the most cinematic experience but who actually wants to hold their phone sideways while scrolling through a feed, or switch apps etc? It just doesn't make sense to do it any other way. Also as most video is even filmed in portrait mode.
- Rjevski 8y ago
  Vertical video is awful because it doesn't capture any of the surroundings of the subject, and instead wastes those pixels it on filming what's above & below the subject (which 99% of the time is irrelevant).
  - whywhywhywhy 8y ago
    For traditional media yes, but for influencers it fits their face and the product just fine and landscape is actually a waste. A sad reality.
    - Rjevski 8y ago
      Depends what those "influencers" are about. A lot of successful Youtube influencers actually show off something else besides their face and for those the mandatory vertical video wouldn't cut it.
- genericacct 8y ago
  Compatibility with an installed base of several billion televisions, for starters. Periscope handles this like a champ imho, even their recorded .ts streams encode orientation switching so that it works flawlessly either way and you can switch midstream.
  - dewey 8y ago
    I'm not sure how much IG Stories or Snapchat accounts you follow - but at least the ones I usually follow don't need any compatibility with traditional TVs. It's mostly people talking (portrait mode works well for...portraits) or showing something while holding their phone with one hand. Widescreen video isn't really necessary for that.
- IshKebab 8y ago
  Fundamentally human vision is landscape. We live in a landscape. Interesting things are generally to the left and right of us, not above and below. I think one day phone cameras will have square or cross-shaped sensors and you'll be able to easily shoot landscape video while holding your phone vertically. For viewing, I think it isn't the physical rotation of the phone that is a pain - it's selecting the full-screen option, or the rotate controls. The latest Android makes this better, but I hope in future apps will just play landscape videos in landscape irrespective of the phone rotation.

I don't understand why vertical video always gets this response, mostly from people who do anything with film. I get it, it's not the most cinematic experience but who actually wants to hold their phone sideways while scrolling through a feed, or switch apps etc? It just doesn't make sense to do it any other way. Also as most video is even filmed in portrait mode.

Rjevski 8y ago
Vertical video is awful because it doesn't capture any of the surroundings of the subject, and instead wastes those pixels it on filming what's above & below the subject (which 99% of the time is irrelevant).
- whywhywhywhy 8y ago
  For traditional media yes, but for influencers it fits their face and the product just fine and landscape is actually a waste. A sad reality.
  - Rjevski 8y ago
    Depends what those "influencers" are about. A lot of successful Youtube influencers actually show off something else besides their face and for those the mandatory vertical video wouldn't cut it.
genericacct 8y ago
Compatibility with an installed base of several billion televisions, for starters. Periscope handles this like a champ imho, even their recorded .ts streams encode orientation switching so that it works flawlessly either way and you can switch midstream.
- dewey 8y ago
  I'm not sure how much IG Stories or Snapchat accounts you follow - but at least the ones I usually follow don't need any compatibility with traditional TVs. It's mostly people talking (portrait mode works well for...portraits) or showing something while holding their phone with one hand. Widescreen video isn't really necessary for that.
IshKebab 8y ago
Fundamentally human vision is landscape. We live in a landscape. Interesting things are generally to the left and right of us, not above and below. I think one day phone cameras will have square or cross-shaped sensors and you'll be able to easily shoot landscape video while holding your phone vertically. For viewing, I think it isn't the physical rotation of the phone that is a pain - it's selecting the full-screen option, or the rotate controls. The latest Android makes this better, but I hope in future apps will just play landscape videos in landscape irrespective of the phone rotation.