How to Shoot and Edit Vertical Video for Reels and TikTok

Vertical video is not just horizontal video turned sideways. The frame is tall and narrow, the screen is in someone's hand, and the app's buttons and captions sit on top of your picture. Shooting and editing for that reality is a skill of its own.

The specs that matter

Platforms change their limits on video length, file size and recommended settings often, so check each app's current guidelines before a big campaign. The 9:16 frame and the habits below have stayed constant.

Native vertical or crop from horizontal?

For events and brand shoots where clients want both a horizontal film and social clips, shooting high resolution horizontal and cropping is usually the efficient choice. For a creator filming a direct-to-camera series, native vertical makes sense.

If you plan to crop, set up a 9:16 frame guide in your camera or monitor if it offers one. You will see exactly what survives the crop while you shoot.

Framing for the tall frame

Vertical framing rewards people and faces and punishes wide landscapes. A few rules:

• Keep eyes in roughly the upper third of the frame, not dead center
• Leave the bottom fifth or so clear of anything important (captions and the app's text sit there)
• Keep a margin on the right side, where the like, comment and share buttons stack
• Avoid tiny subjects in wide shots; get closer than you would for horizontal
• Use vertical lines: doorways, people standing, staircases, tall plants
• Move the camera vertically (tilts and rising shots) more than side to side

The exact safe zone varies by app and by device, so test a draft on your own phone before posting. If a caption or face is hiding under a button, nudge it.

Shooting tips

1. Plan the hook

   Know what the first second shows. A face mid-sentence, a surprising visual or the payoff itself all work better than a logo or a slow fade in.

2. Shoot short pieces

   Vertical edits move fast. Get lots of 2 to 4 second usable moments instead of long takes.

3. Get close

   Close-ups read on a phone. Wides often do not.

4. Record clean audio

   Even with captions, good sound matters when people turn it on. See how to record clean audio for interviews.

5. Capture transitions on purpose

   A hand covering the lens, a whip pan or a match on action are planned in camera, not invented in the edit.

Editing vertical video

You can edit vertical in nearly any editor. In DaVinci Resolve (our editor), create a timeline with a custom resolution of 1080 x 1920, or use the vertical resolution options in the timeline settings. If the source is horizontal, scale and reposition each clip to keep the subject in frame, or use automated reframing tools where your software offers them, then check every shot by hand.

1. Cut the hook first

   Put the strongest moment at the very start. You can explain later.

2. Trim every pause

   Cut breaths, ums and dead air. Vertical pacing is tighter than YouTube pacing.

3. Add captions

   Burn in captions in a readable font, two lines at most, positioned above the bottom safe zone. Check every word; auto captions make mistakes with names and slang.

4. Use text on screen sparingly

   One clear line that frames the video (the "what is this" line) beats paragraphs.

5. Mind the loop

   Many short videos replay automatically. An ending that flows back into the start keeps people watching a second time.

6. Export and test on a phone

   Watch it on the device, in the app's preview, before posting.

Design for a thumb that is already moving. The first second is your whole pitch.

Music and licensing

Use the platform's built-in music library when posting from a personal account, and stick to licensed or royalty-free music for brand and client work. Business accounts often have a more limited library, so check what is available before you build an edit around a specific song.

A simple workflow for batch content

If you post often, batching saves enormous time. One planned shoot can feed weeks of posts.

This is the idea behind a content day. Read what a content day is and how it works, and for the b-roll side, how to shoot b-roll that tells a story. Businesses that want this handled can see our short-form content options.

Practice drills

1. Hook test

   Write five different first lines for the same video and film them all. Show friends and ask which made them want to keep watching.

2. Crop practice

   Take an old horizontal video and cut a vertical version. Notice which shots survive and which do not.

3. Thirty-second rule

   Edit a two-minute idea down to 30 seconds without losing the point.

Frequently asked questions