With their iPhones, iPads and iPods, Apple has caused people to take a big step backwards when it comes to taking video.
First, let’s talk about television and movie screens. What are their dimensions? Are the screens vertical or are they horizontal? Think about the new phenomenon of wide screens. What does that mean? Hmmm…probably that the screens are very wide horizontally? Have you ever seen a television or movie screen that is vertical? I haven’t. Now, think of YouTube, Vimeo, or Blip.tv: When you watch a movie or video on these sites, what are the dimensions of the movie player? Are they vertical or horizontal? C’mon, think hard.
Now introduce the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Generally people hold the screen vertical when using these devices. Because they are so used to holding these devices vertical, when they take video they hold the device vertical.
My question is: when someone gives me video to use, what in the world am I supposed to do with video taken vertically? How am I supposed to use that in a movie I am making with footage that has been taken horizontally? Because, remember, regular video cameras take video “horizontally!” I don’t recall that Final Cut Pro or iMovie or Pinnacle Studio or Adobe Premiere has any settings for a 640×1080 video. Usually it’s for 1920×1080 or 640×480 or even 320×240. Do you see the pattern here? Yes, the video is “horizontal!”
So thanks Apple, you have just created a whole generation of backwards videographers. How are you planning to fix that bug?
Update: Creators have had to fix it, and we have. I have become quite creative in how I use vertical video.
