It’s not just a horizontal world.
Yes, I get the reasons why horizontal (landscape) videos have been the lingua franca of mobile video until today.
The reality though is that TV screens are quickly becoming second class citizens for millennials – a group that is doing most things from mobile screens.
Regardless of your artistic preference in regards to video shooting, requiring viewers to flip their mobile device 90 degrees to view a 'properly' shot landscape video is risky when viewers might only give 1 or 2 seconds to determine whether to skip it or not.
We are accustomed to holding our devices upright, and although a simple 90 degree flip might not seem like much to you, I find myself more likely to skip a horizontal video in favor of a full screen vertical one.
I'm doing more things from an upright mobile screen today and prefer to keep that orientation. I'd also wager that I'm not part of some dwindling fringe group mentality. The data and numbers show that our group is growing.
Sure, I still prefer landscape videos on the TV, desktop screen or while streaming Netflix, but portrait/vertical videos have to be taken seriously for anyone who is UX (user experience) driven today.
Here's a resource that I recently found on this topic from someone who has been shooting vertical videos for awhile and who understands the reasons for today's trend.
Vertical Video: A Retrospective (Draft)
Also, you might be interested in this article:
Vertical Video on the Small Screen? Not a Crime – NYTimes.com
We’re working to get to 100 percent of our videos vertical,” said Jon Steinberg, the chief executive of The Daily Mail’s North American operations. “We find the engagement much higher. Users are more satisfied, and there’s a higher completion rate on them.
If that's not reason enough to consider offering content in vertical video mode, then consider one word – Snapchat.
Snapchat’s Creating A World Of ‘Vertical Video’ Because Nobody Holds Their Phone Sideways—U Mad Bro?
and …
Snapchat’s Teen Fans Wince as App Catches On With Their Folks – WSJ
As millennials feed the data beast Snapchat and mainstream begins to experiment with it, advertisers are quickly realizing that vertical videos can't be ignored. Regardless of the haters, #verticalvideo is a thing (check Twitter).
It may be time to begin thinking vertical.
