Plan vertical, landscape and shorter versions before a commercial shoot, so each deliverable has the images and structure it needs.
“We will crop it afterwards” sounds efficient until the crop removes the product, the second performer or the reason the joke works.
A commercial campaign often needs several versions. The practical question is whether those versions are being directed or merely extracted.
A different frame changes the scene
A wide composition can establish a relationship between two people and the space around them. A vertical frame may favour one person and reveal less of that space. Neither is inherently better. They communicate differently.
If both matter, the shot needs a plan for both. Sometimes that means allowing room around the action. Sometimes it means a second setup. Sometimes the action itself should be staged differently.
A camera guide showing the alternative frame is useful, but it cannot make an unsuitable composition suitable. The director still has to decide where the viewer should look.
A shorter film needs an idea of its own
A cutdown should preserve the thought, not simply remove seconds until the duration fits.
Look for the minimum sequence that allows the audience to understand the setup and feel the payoff. In some campaigns, that sequence is a compact version of the main film. In others, the shorter version needs a different opening or a more direct product moment.
This is easier when the script is still editable. After the shoot, the available choices are whatever the team happened to capture.
Build a small delivery matrix
Before production, list the versions in plain language: where each will run, its orientation, its duration, its language and its ending. Mark the priority version so the set is not trying to optimise for five competing films at once.
Confirm the current delivery requirements with the media team. Platform specifications can change, and paid placements may have different requirements from ordinary posts. Keep that technical check separate from the creative decision about what each version should communicate.
Also plan where captions and graphics will sit. Important action should not depend on a part of the image that the final layout needs for text.
The edit should have choices
I want the editor to choose between useful options: an alternate opening, a held reaction, a clean product frame or a different transition. I do not want the editor to become an archaeologist searching for a vertical film that was never shot.
Planning versions does not mean filling the schedule with endless duplicates. It means identifying the few additional pieces that make the campaign complete.
If your brief includes a main commercial and social versions, bring the delivery list into the first conversation. It is part of the directing brief.
- Directing
- Practical