As many people have noticed, more online series seem to be being produced in consideration of TikTok and its portrait-based orientation.
Made for TikTok Discussions and the Marvel TV Shows
The whole discussion started after Marvel released the teaser trailer for its newest Disney+ show, "Agatha All Along."
Many users quickly scrutinized how many of the shots shown in the trailer only have the characters and focus of the footage placed in the center of the frame, making it "easier to crop for 1:1/vertical video for TikTok/social media promo."
since @theoceanblooms pointed out that loki was framing every shot to cram everything in the dead centre, with the sides being complete dead weight, to make it easier to crop for 1:1/vertical video for tiktok/social media promo, i can't unsee it in every mcu thing. it's so ugly https://t.co/X4akNoOkbb pic.twitter.com/I65dfUdsKP
— the grog lady (@SaintOfLydda) July 8, 2024
The same style of shots can be seen in "Loki" and "Wandavision" where most characters are placed right in the center, perfect to be cropped for a 16:9 portrait ratio for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram clips.
Naturally, many people immediately clowned Marvel and its supposed decline in quality releases, although several other people noted that this trend in show production is becoming evident in other studios as well.
So, What's the Issue?
The big issue for many is the lack of diversity in angles and shots featured in many modern series to make it more presentable to TikTok clips rather than as a whole show.
Much of the concern revolves around how this particular style provides more training data for generative AI, fully allowing the technology to be used in film and TV productions.
With many companies recently rolling out AI video generators catered towards film and TV productions, people are concerned that studios would lean more towards the technology rather than its human staff.
While many people seem to agree with this sentiment, others are noting that this style of shooting technique has been present in the industry for a long time and has been quite emphasized in many George Miller and Wes Anderson films.
Just wait until you watch a Wes Anderson or George Miller movie https://t.co/Bk5T8ATKM4 pic.twitter.com/Usgl7rhVek
— 🩷Blueboiii💚 (GO SEE TRANSFORMERS ONE) 🇵🇸 (@Blueboiiibackup) July 10, 2024
Even prominent shows like "Breaking Bad" and "Sopranos" are noted to use the filming technique in most of their iconic scenes to highlight a moment or character.
Portrait-Based Clips May Not Be Too Long for the World
Despite the growing backlash towards the new social media marketing trend, this particular style of portrait-based videos may not be too long for the world.
Earlier reports have indicated that TikTok has started leaning back towards longer and horizontal videos, similar to those in YouTube, to ensure longer time on the app.
Related Article: TikTok is Now Pushing More Landscape Videos Over Vertical Shorts
