Vertical or horizontal video for real estate?

Vertical property video or horizontal video: the question comes up before every shoot. The vertical format (9:16) dominates on phones and social media. The horizontal format (16:9) remains the one for computer screens, televisions and websites. Choosing the wrong format means risking a shrunken, badly framed or ignored video. Here is how to choose, depending on where your video will be shown.

Vertical

The vertical format fills the whole screen of a phone held naturally in the hand. It is the native format of Instagram (Reels, Stories), TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

Its advantages:

• Total immersion: nothing on screen but your property.
• Maximum reach on social media, where this format is promoted.
• A sense of a tour: you move through the house as if holding the phone.

Its limits:

• A narrower field: large rooms and landscapes are harder to show in full.
• Less suited to wide screens, such as a website on a computer.

Horizontal

The horizontal format is that of cinema and television. It remains the reference for a website, a presentation at a meeting or YouTube.

Its advantages:

• A wide frame, ideal for landscapes, facades and aerial views.
• A cinematic feel, very flattering for prestige properties.
• Comfortable viewing on a computer or television.

Its limits:

• A tiny video on a phone held upright.
• Less reach on social media.

What goes where

| Where | Recommended format | | --- | --- | | Instagram Reels and Stories | Vertical 9:16 | | TikTok | Vertical 9:16 | | YouTube Shorts | Vertical 9:16 | | Standard YouTube | Horizontal 16:9 | | Website on a computer | Horizontal 16:9 | | Presentation at a meeting | Horizontal 16:9 | | Listing portals | Depends on the portal, often horizontal |

Film both

The good news is that you don't always have to choose. A well-prepared shoot can produce both formats:

1. Film in high resolution so you can reframe later without losing quality.
2. Plan the framing for both formats from the shoot: keep the main subject in the centre.
3. Plan specific shots for each format, especially by drone.
4. Edit two versions rather than simply reframing a single edit.

On our website, the films are presented both in vertical format, in an elegant frame, and in wide shots for the aerial views. That double approach is what makes them effective everywhere.

Our choice

At AchMedia Real Estate, vertical video is at the heart of what we do, because that is where buyers and travellers are. The places we have filmed have been seen by more than 100 million people, largely thanks to vertical formats on Instagram and TikTok.

But we also film wide shots, especially by drone, for the properties that deserve them. Le Clos d'Azel, in Flexbourg, is presented on our website by a horizontal aerial shot gliding along its half-timbered facade.

Filming vertically: the settings

Filming a property vertically requires a few adjustments:

• Tighter framing: you show less width, so you choose better what you show.
• Vertical movements: rising along exposed beams, descending towards a pool.
• Straight lines: a leaning vertical is noticed immediately.
• Perfect stabilisation, because the slightest shake shows.

The best vertical videos make the most of height: a staircase, a double-height ceiling, a palm tree in a patio.

Vertical for prestige properties

People sometimes think the vertical format is only for spontaneous videos. That is wrong. A vertical film can be as polished as a cinema film: worked light, slow movements, precise grading. Our films of featured properties, from Villa St. Maxime to Riad O'Zeen, are shot vertically to that standard, and presented on our website in a bronze-edged frame.

Adapting the edit to each format

The same shoot can produce both formats, provided you edit two distinct versions. The horizontal edit favours wide shots and panoramas. The vertical edit favours vertical movements, details and tight shots. Simply reframing a horizontal edit as vertical rarely gives a good result: subjects drift out of frame, and the rhythm no longer fits. Read our article on the 7 shots that sell a property.

Vertical and your website

Your website can also host vertical videos. On a phone, where much browsing happens, they fill the whole screen and immediately make people want to come. On a computer, they can be presented in an elegant frame, next to the text, as on our own website, where each vertical film appears in a bronze-edged frame over a blurred background taken from the same film.

A few technical tips for adding a vertical video to a website:

1. A light version for loading, looping and without sound.
2. A button to play the full film with sound.
3. A cover image that appears immediately, before the video.
4. Playback that only starts when the video is visible, to keep the website fast.

The format of tomorrow

Habits change fast, but one trend is clear: the phone has become the main screen for discovering places, properties and destinations. The vertical format has risen with it. Filming with vertical in mind first, while keeping the option of producing horizontal versions, is today the safest strategy for a property video. Read our article on Instagram Reels for real estate.

Frequently asked questions

Can you turn a horizontal video into a vertical one?

Yes, by reframing, but you lose a large part of the image. The result is better if the shoot was planned for both formats.

Does the square format still have a place?

It is used less today. Vertical has largely replaced it on social media.

Which format for a listing on a portal?

It depends on the portal. Many show videos horizontally. Check the ones you use.

Is vertical suited to luxury properties?

Yes, provided the shoot is polished. A cinema-quality vertical film shows off an exceptional villa just as well. Read our article on Instagram Reels for real estate.

Is vertical suited to aerial views?

Yes, with shots designed for the format: a vertical descent towards a pool, a rise along a facade, a landscape revealed from above.

Do you need two shoots for two formats?

No. A single well-prepared shoot is enough, as long as both framings are planned from the start.

See our formats

Watch our films to see our vertical and horizontal formats, and read our guide to property video.