From cinema screens to phone screens, perspective, not orientation, is what really tells the story.

We are living in the golden age of the selfie camera. The age of morning coffee reels, rooftop concert Instagram stories and chaotic blurry snaps from last Friday night. We are documenting everything — our food, our faces, our favorite moments — and we can do so instantaneously with just a push of a button. Has this widespread adoption of vertical video led to a loss of appreciation for filming horizontally? This is not just about camera angles or screen orientation. This is about what kind of visual world we want to create. Maybe it is about where we, as creators and consumers, draw the line between tradition and evolution. 

When you film horizontally, you are following in the footsteps of giants whose work filled cinema screens long before iPhones had night mode. Horizontal portrayals are cinematic. It showcases space. It breathes life into what is captured. It frames entire worlds. Whether it is a sweeping prairie sunset, or a three-person dialogue shot, horizontal orientation says: “I am telling a story, and it needs room to unfold.” 

It makes a scene all the more majestic, and it just looks better all around. Watch a vertical video on your laptop and it will be met with two brooding black bars on the sides like digital voids, reminding you that this footage was made for a smaller screen, thus a smaller world. A world where thumb-scrolling reigns supreme. Filming horizontally means valuing depth and context. It is about caring enough about a story to give it a full canvas.

The rise of vertical filming did not just happen — it erupted. Vertical is what fits the hand, what fits the moment and what comes naturally. Like it or not, vertical is the language of now, since it can be intuitive. It is how you hold your phone when you’re Facetiming your mom, vlogging your dog’s weird sneeze, or capturing your friend’s slow descent into karaoke disaster.

There is something democratic about vertical filming. It is for the people, by the people. No fancy camera equipment necessary. You can just pull out your phone, point, shoot and post. The aesthetic of capturing it vertically is raw, fast and it feels personal. It does not ask for permission. It does not pretend to be a movie. It is unfiltered and immediate, like a conversation rather than a performance. When someone films vertically, they are not just capturing the moment — they are in it. They are filming life as it happens, not as it is supposed to look.

This rawness has its value, as it has revolutionized storytelling. Entire genres have been born from this orientation — TikTok comedy skits, Snapchat journalism, Instagram micro-vlogs. Vertical lets you focus. It isolates subjects and gives us intimacy. You are not scanning across a wide frame to find meaning; the meaning is front and center, face-to-face, only a thumb’s-length away.

Vertical filming comes with its fair share of haters, however, it is less about orientation and more about control. Those from older generations fear that vertical filming threatens the rules they have spent decades mastering. Maybe it does, but art is supposed to evolve. Shakespeare did not write screenplays, and Picasso did not use an iPad. Somewhere along the way, someone decided to stop painting noble individuals and start painting screaming faces and melting clocks.

What does that mean for us — the generation raised on both Spielberg and Snapchat stories? It means we get to decide that maybe we do not have to pick sides at all. Maybe we can treat framing like we treat language, by code-switching depending on the audience. Film horizontally when you want to build a scene and film vertically when you want to share a moment. There is no reason you cannot be both a filmmaker and a meme whiz.

The best way to think about it is that the camera is not what makes one a creator. It is the individual behind it. If you have got something to say, orientation is just your accent. It adds flavor, not substance. What matters is what you are capturing, not just how. There is no point in stressing about what is the right way, so don’t waste time on it. Sometimes the best footage is the kind that breaks the rules. The kind that does not wait to rotate the phone. The kind that catches a real laugh, a weird angle, a genuine reaction.

So if someone has something negative to say about your vertical masterpiece, remind them that innovation never asked for approval. Culture is built on the backs of rebels who film what they want and how they want. There is room for both landscapes and portraits in the museum of memories we are all building, one clip and moment at a time. Each format tells its own story, capturing emotion from a different angle, offering something unique to the viewer.

Whether you are shooting your cinematic life story or just documenting your roommate’s terrible dance moves, own your frame. Flip it. Reverse it. Zoom in. Pan out. Film what feels right to you.

At the end of the day, it is not about vertical filming vs. horizontal filming — it is about perspective.