Turn...
I've seen people push for this on the web and social media in the past, but they never push hard enough. So I'm going to try one more time...
Consider the way your TV is turned or the way a movie screen is oriented. It's longer side to side than it is tall, isn't it?
So then why in the name of all that's holy wouldn't you hold your smartphone's video camera in a way that would record video to fit in that space??
For the love of God, people, defy your inherent holding tendencies and TURN YOUR PHONE SIDEWAYS (landscape orientation) FOR VIDEO CAPTURE!!
[image courtesy of PemBlog]
That is all.
Ugh, don't get me started with that. Even people who I consider intelligent have made this mistake. Part of the problem is that the video fills the phone screen so it doesn't dawn on people it won't "fill the screen" elsewhere. I feel like the phone manufacturer should somehow shrink what's on the screen when it's in portrait orientation to drive that point home and prompt people to rotate the phone into the correct position.
Posted by: Nicole | Monday, 11 April 2016 at 07:01 PM
I remember that when the YouTube Capture app came out, it would prompt people to turn their phones when it detected that it was in portrait mode. Loved that.
Posted by: kapgar | Monday, 11 April 2016 at 07:54 PM
I see this all too often. And Snapchat made it worse, even though it will reorientate the screen for the video when you turn it. But since it keeps it video contained in it's app (for the most part, although you can save it out to your camera roll), it's not as horrible as seeing the black bars and portrait orientated videos uploaded to YouTube and other video services.
This guide should be shared with everyone that uses a phone to take video.
Posted by: Marty Mankins | Monday, 11 April 2016 at 11:59 PM
Omg I don't know why people do this. Doesn't take much to understand why you need to hold the phone horizontally to record a video. Grrrrr
Posted by: Marie | Tuesday, 12 April 2016 at 06:33 AM
I get why they don't. Because you hold your phone upright for absolutely everything else so it's just instinct. But instinct needs to be broken.
Posted by: kapgar | Tuesday, 12 April 2016 at 10:34 AM