How to handle video footage shot in portrait orientation.

[Bob Howes]

I've made a rod for my own back...

Last year a took on the job of editing a music video for a woman who had shot all her own stuff (or had her fiance do it) on an iPhone.  They did most of it in portrait mode.

I didn't want to simply put the portrait shots in the centre of frame with the usual background or blurry version of the same image or whatever, so I edited most of the video  as a two image split screen.  It was an Irish-related song so I put the two images over a stock image of a dark green Celtic pattern.

Anyhow, sometimes I'd alternate the transitions between images, sometimes they'd happen at the same time and, once or twice, I was able to play with the speed to make things like tilt ups happen in sync.

Well, the end result was okay and now the same singer wants me to do another one.  I've begged and pleaded for landscape orientation but I know I'm going to get some portrait stuff.  Has anyone come up with a creative way of handling portrait footage so I can do something different this time?   I mean different as in not just turning down the job!

[Rob_Birnholz]

Your earlier solution sounded pretty good! Sometimes I've cropped portrait mode footage into smaller pieces and integrated it into various backgrounds-- anything to get away from that vertical aspect. Or maybe you could make a visual theme that emphasizes "shot on a phone!"… that might allow you to do anything with it, aspect wise.

[Lilybiri]

Is this a Captivate thread?