About
Vertical Video Lab publishes practical shooting guides for phone creators. Everything we publish is tested on consumer devices in real rooms, streets and workspaces before it appears on the site.
How we started
The project began as an internal document. Our small production team was shooting vertical video for brand clients almost daily, and the same problems kept appearing: clipped hands, drifting focus, footage that looked fine on the phone and soft on a laptop.
We wrote down each fix as it was found, and after two years the notes had grown into a structured method. Publishing them was simply a way of keeping the document honest. If a technique cannot be explained clearly enough to be written down, it is usually not a technique at all.
How we work
These rules decide what gets published and what stays in the notebook.
Every technique is filmed and reviewed on ordinary phones from the last few years, not on cinema cameras or sponsored flagship devices.
If a guide only works with a specific product we say so, and we explain the free alternative first. Nothing here is sponsored.
Each guide ends with something you can carry on set: a checklist, a sequence, or a set of settings to copy exactly.
Editorial process
A technique is recorded during normal production work, with the settings and lighting conditions noted at the time.
We repeat the technique on a different phone, in a different space. If it only works in one location, it is not ready to publish.
The guide is written for someone holding a phone, not for someone reading a manual. Every step is checked against a live shoot.
Guides are reviewed when camera apps change. The date on each article shows when it was last verified.
Editorial desk
A small production team writes and reviews every page. We use role titles rather than individual names because the guides are reviewed collectively.
Production
Written by the producers who plan and shoot client vertical video, with the settings captured on set.
Post-production
Reviewed by editors who work with the footage afterwards and know which shooting decisions cause problems later.
Technical review
Checked by a lighting and sound specialist who verifies that the described setup behaves the way the guide claims.
Contact
Write to us with your phone model, the space you are filming in and what the footage is doing wrong. We answer every message and use them to decide what to update.