Video formats for social and web
Every platform frames video differently. Knowing the main aspect ratios, where each one is used and how to shoot for them lets one production deliver content for every screen.
The four ratios that matter
An aspect ratio is the shape of the frame, written as width to height. Four of them cover nearly everything a business needs.
- 16:9, landscape. The standard for YouTube, websites, TV, presentations and most screens at events.
- 9:16, full vertical. The format for Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and stories, made to fill a phone held upright.
- 1:1, square. Still useful in some feeds and for ads that need to sit neatly in a grid.
- 4:5, tall portrait. Takes up more of a phone screen than square in a feed, which is why many brands use it for feed posts and ads.
Where each one is used
Landscape 16:9 is the home of longer pieces: brand films, corporate videos, music videos, event highlights and anything played on a website or a big screen. If people will watch it sitting down, or it is embedded on a page, it is probably 16:9.
Vertical 9:16 is where short-form lives. Anything designed to be watched on a phone, scrolled past or stopped on belongs here. It is also the format most likely to be watched with the sound off at first, which changes how it is edited.
Square and 4:5 sit in between. They are common for feed posts and paid social, where a taller frame takes more of the screen. Platform specifications change over time, so check the current recommendations for each placement before final delivery. When in doubt, ask for a spec sheet for each placement at the brief stage.
Safe zones for captions and text
Platforms lay their own interface over vertical video: the caption, the account name, the like and share buttons, the progress bar. Anything placed under those elements gets covered. Keep important text, faces and logos away from the very top, the bottom band and the right-hand edge of a 9:16 frame.
Feeds and profile grids often show a cropped preview of a vertical video, so the key action should sit near the centre of the frame. Billie edits with these safe areas marked, so on-screen text lands where people can actually read it.
Captions are part of the edit
Plenty of social video is watched with the sound off, at least for the first few seconds. Burned-in captions or on-screen text carry the message until someone taps for sound. For longer pieces, a subtitle file gives accessibility and lets platforms read what is said.
Captions also make the video work for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, which is reason enough on its own. Plan them into the edit from the start rather than adding them at the end, so they sit cleanly with the pictures.
The first frame and the thumbnail
Each format also has a first impression. On YouTube and websites, that is the thumbnail or poster frame, which should be a clear, well-lit still that tells people what the video is about. In vertical feeds, it is the first second of motion, which needs to give someone a reason to stop scrolling before any text or sound has landed.
Plan both at the shoot. Stills taken on set make better thumbnails than frames pulled from video, and an opening shot designed as a hook works harder than one chosen in the edit because it happened to come first.
Shooting once for every format
The most efficient way to get every format is to plan for them before the shoot. If the crew knows a scene will be cut as both 16:9 and 9:16, they frame with room to crop: the subject kept near the centre, space left above heads, important action not pushed to the edges of the wide frame.
Some moments are worth shooting twice, once wide for the landscape edit and once composed upright for vertical. Shooting at a high resolution gives the edit room to reframe without losing quality. This is how Billie’s social media content and video production shoots are planned: one day on set, several formats out.
A simple delivery list
When you brief a production, list every place the video will live. A typical set looks something like this, and it is worth agreeing before the shoot rather than after.
- Main film in 16:9 for the website and YouTube
- A shorter 16:9 cut for presentations and event screens
- 9:16 cuts with captions for Reels, TikTok and Shorts
- 4:5 or 1:1 versions for feed posts and paid social
- Stills from the shoot for thumbnails, posts and press
How Billie delivers
Every Billie production includes versions for the platforms it is going to, whether that means 6, 15 and 30 second cut-downs from a commercial or vertical edits from a batch day. On a Production Retainer, the short-form edits are delivered in the formats each platform needs: Essential, at $1,500 NZD a month, includes 5 short-form edits, and Creative, at $3,000 NZD a month, includes 8-10. Ask about a retainer.
Questions
Can a landscape video be cropped to vertical later?
Sometimes, if it was shot with room to crop. A wide shot with the subject at the edge of the frame will lose the subject when cropped to 9:16. Planning for vertical before the shoot is far more reliable.
What resolution should video be delivered in?
Deliver at the highest quality each platform accepts and let it do its own compression. Billie delivers masters for your archive and web-ready versions for each placement.
Which format should we post first?
Start where your audience already watches. For most brands that means vertical for reach on social, and landscape for the website and YouTube.
Is this a paid service?
Yes. Billie is a paid production company. Production Retainers are $1,500 NZD a month for Essential and $3,000 NZD a month for Creative, and Studio Partner is priced on enquiry. Projects outside a retainer are quoted per project as Bespoke Production, and Billie Private events are quoted per project.
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Tell Billie about the project, the timeline and which retainer suits, or ask for a Bespoke Production quote.
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