Horizontal or vertical is a decision you make before you hit record, and getting it wrong means footage you can't use the way you wanted. There's a simple rule that keeps your options open. Here it is, plus the workflow that gets you both formats from one shoot.
Pro tip: You can always crop horizontal down to vertical. You can't go the other way. So default to horizontal.
Default to horizontal unless you know it's Reels or TikTok
Horizontal is the safe default because it gives you the most options downstream. The only time to film vertical from the start is when you know for certain the only destination is Instagram Reels or TikTok. For everything else, including LinkedIn, YouTube, your website, and any long-form, shoot horizontal. When in doubt, horizontal keeps the door open.
You can crop horizontal to vertical, not the reverse
This is the whole reason the rule works. A horizontal video can be cropped down into a vertical clip for social. A vertical video cannot be expanded into a usable horizontal one, there's simply no image data on the sides. Film horizontal and you can produce a vertical cut later. Film vertical and you've permanently locked out the horizontal version. One direction is reversible; the other isn't.
Complete the horizontal long-form first
The workflow that gets you both: finish the horizontal long-form video first as its own deliverable. That's your anchor piece for YouTube, the website, or LinkedIn. Once it's done, you have the source material to spin off vertical social clips. Doing the long-form first means the social cuts are extractions from a finished piece, not a separate shoot.
Request vertical social clips separately, never in one request
When you want vertical social cuts, submit them as separate edit requests from the long-form. Don't ask the editor to deliver both a horizontal long-form and vertical social clips in a single request, the two formats need different framing decisions and combining them muddies the brief. One request for the horizontal anchor, separate requests for each vertical clip. Clean briefs, clean deliverables.
Try it this week
Before your next shoot, decide: is this only ever going to Reels or TikTok? If not, film horizontal. Finish the horizontal long-form in MarketScale first, then submit separate edit requests for any vertical social clips you want pulled from it. One shoot, every format, no locked doors.