Framing and composition

You've got light, you've got exposure. Now decide what the viewer actually sees. A good frame follows a few simple rules. Once you know them, you'll start noticing where other people's videos break them.

Vertical or horizontal

For short videos on social platforms, shoot vertical, 9:16. That's how people watch them, and it fills the phone screen. Horizontal 16:9 is for long-form video, a brand's website, or presentations. If you don't know where the video is going, shoot vertical. You can hardly get a horizontal video out of a vertical one: you're left with a narrow strip and the quality drops. Cutting a vertical out of a horizontal shot is easier, though you still lose some.

One catch: a vertical frame is narrow. It fits one person, two at most. Clear anything messy from the sides before you start, or move closer to the camera.

Shot size: three options

Wide shot: the whole person, you can see the room. It's about the place, not the person. For talking videos you'll rarely need it.

Medium shot: from the waist or chest up. You see hands and gestures, you see the face. This is the main shot for most videos where you're explaining something.

Close-up: face and shoulders. An emotion, a key line, a reaction. Holding it for long is tiring to watch, but a short close-up cutaway wakes up any video.

A good video usually changes shot size at least once. Film everything medium, then redo a few lines close, and you'll have something to cut between in the edit.

Where the eyes go

The main composition rule for a talking head: eyes on the top third of the frame. Not the centre. Turn on the grid in your camera settings: the screen splits into three horizontal bands, and your eyes sit roughly on the upper line. The grid stays on the screen and doesn't show up in the recording.

That leads to the headroom question. There should be a little: about a palm's width if you hold your palm against the phone screen, no more. If half the screen above your head is empty wall and your chin is touching the bottom edge, you look like you're sinking. A cropped-off top of the head is also bad, except in very tight close-ups where it's deliberate.

Keep the camera at eye level. Shooting from below shows nostrils and makes the chin heavy. Shooting from above makes the head big and the body small, like you're looking up at the viewer. Eye level reads as a normal conversation between equals.

And a word on distance to the camera. A phone 30 centimetres from your face distorts perspective: your nose and cheeks look bigger. Move the camera back to 70–100 centimetres and use the standard 1x lens. Don't pinch to zoom: digital zoom eats quality, so walk closer instead.

Tip. If you're using the front camera, look at the lens, not at yourself on the screen. The front lens is at the top. Viewers feel the difference between "looking at me" and "looking slightly below me".

Background and distance to it

Don't stand against the wall. Step at least a metre away from it, ideally a metre and a half. You get depth, the background looks further away and calmer, and your shadow doesn't land on the wall. Don't expect real background blur from a phone camera at that distance, unless you use portrait mode or the 2x lens.

The background should have little in it, and that little should be tidy. An open wardrobe, laundry, dangling cables, a stack of dishes all pull attention. A lamp, a plant, a shelf with three things on it work. A bare wall works too, as long as there's something on it: a picture, window light, some texture.

The background must not be brighter than your face. A white wall in direct sun will steal all the attention and throw off exposure.

Safe zones

When a vertical video goes out on social platforms, interface elements sit on top of it: the caption, buttons, the music label, the avatar. Roughly the bottom quarter of the screen, a narrow strip of buttons on the right, a title at the top. If you're low in the frame, the caption covers your mouth. If you put something important in the bottom right corner, nobody sees it.

The rule: keep everything important above the bottom quarter of the screen and away from the right edge. Leave a strip at the top for the title too. The exact zones differ between platforms and change over time, so check the preview inside the app before posting. If you add text, put it in the middle of the frame, slightly above centre.

Do this now

• Set the phone vertical, stand in a medium shot and check that your eyes are on the top third with a palm of headroom.
• Step a metre and a half from the wall. Remove anything distracting from the background. Compare the shots.
• Open any old video of yours in the app and see what's hidden under the caption and buttons.