Captions and Safe Areas: Formatting Vertical Clips That Hold Attention

A vertical clip is watched on a small screen, often without sound, with an app's buttons laid over the picture. Formatting for that reality is the difference between a clip that gets watched and one that gets scrolled past.

Know where the interface sits

Each app places buttons, captions and account details over the video. Leave the top and bottom of the frame and the right edge clear of anything important, and test one clip in each app before you format a batch.

Write captions for mute

• Show the spoken words in short lines, two lines at most
• Time each line to the speech so it reads naturally
• Highlight one key word per line, not whole sentences
• Keep text large enough to read on a phone held at arm's length

Reframe, do not crop

Center-cropping a wide shot often cuts off the subject or the thing they are pointing at. Reposition the frame so the face and the action stay inside the safe area throughout the clip.

Check contrast

Captions need to stay readable over bright and dark scenes. Use a consistent color with a subtle outline or background, and view the clip with the screen brightness turned down.

Vertical formatting checklist

• Key action stays inside the safe area for the whole clip
• Captions are short, timed to the speech and easy to read
• Text has enough contrast on light and dark scenes
• The clip was previewed inside each app's interface
• Every clip has a name, number and version