We have to unlearn spatial storytelling and embrace proximity storytelling.
The broadcast industry built its empire on the horizontal frame. For decades, widescreen’s expansive and immersive format defined cinema. Today, this assumption is obsolete. With smartphone consumption skyrocketing, vertical viewing dominates, prompting streaming platforms to commission vertical content at scale. The question is not whether broadcast professionals should engage with 9:16 storytelling, but whether they can afford not to.
I’ll be frank: three years ago, I dismissed vertical video as social media gimmickry. Then I watched a 90-second vertical drama from China rack up 200m views in a week. We weren’t missing a trend. We were missing a fundamental shift in how audiences connect with stories.
Motion becomes foundation
Vertical changes storytelling: motion becomes the main tool. In horizontal cinema, movement goes across the frame. In vertical, movement goes toward or away from the audience, making emotional impact central.
A vertical micro drama is a single emotional event expressed through motion. A character steps forward and confesses. A hand reaches but hesitates. A face turns into shadow. One deliberate motion can carry the weight of your entire narrative.
Shoot native, not cropped
As a thumb rule, always shoot in 9:16. Cropping from the horizontal format in post-production doesn’t work. I’ve seen many broadcasters attempt to future-proof by shooting wide and reframing later. The compositions feel wrong, depth collapses and they lose the intentionality that makes vertical compelling.
Position subjects along the Z-axis so they can move naturally through space. Use soft, directional light to shape emotion as they move. In this format, faces become landscapes: a raised eyebrow can replace dialogue. This, however, applies to both formats. We just notice it more in the vertical format because there’s nowhere to hide.
In vertical formats, camera movement should be natural, breathing with the performer, not dictating. At the same time, the importance of sound design cannot be underestimated: the creak of a floorboard, fabric rustling, a sudden inhalation. In vertical storytelling, the audience isn’t just watching; it’s eavesdropping.
Write and edit differently
Great vertical content begins before you roll the camera. Write for motion, not space. Find that one gesture that reveals character change. Storyboard for depth, not width. Visualise layers of foreground, subject and background. Every frame must advance the emotional journey. This is harder than it sounds.
In traditional production, we’re trained to shoot multiple angles to cover the scene and protect against mistakes. Vertical storytelling demands a different discipline: design one decisive motion, commit to it, trust it to carry the emotional truth.
A mindset shift
The challenge isn’t technical – our gear all works in 9:16. The challenge is conceptual. We have to unlearn spatial storytelling and embrace proximity storytelling. It’s worth remembering that a 90-second vertical drama can hold more emotional truth than a 30-minute traditional segment.
At EMPC, we’re seeing formats converge rapidly. Vertical storytelling sits at the intersection of craft and culture. It’s cinematic but immediate, intimate but scalable. Broadcast professionals who master the 9:16 frame won’t just stay relevant. They’ll redefine what cinematic storytelling can be, one micro drama at a time. And that excites me more than any technical specification ever has.
Ayman Radwan is GM of Studios at Egyptian Media Production City (EMPC)
