VERTICAL DRAMA TECHNIQUE
MICRO-DRAMA APPS GENERATED higher daily viewing time THAN STREAMING SERVICES”
WHAT NEXT? So how big is vertical drama going to get? It’s indisputably one of the fastest- scaling formats in online video, but where things get really interesting is engagement intensity. The Omdia report details that, in Q4 2025, micro-drama apps like ReelShort generated higher daily mobile viewing time than major streaming services, including Amazon, Netflix and Disney+, in the US. “Micro-dramas are winning the battle for attention, rather than scale, at least for now,” the report concludes. “This is the metric streamers care about most as they look to grow mobile usage and compete with social video platforms where daily engagement is approaching 80 minutes.” Whether we are at the peak of a hype cycle remains to be seen. Thomson believes verticals will support the current industry, rather than usurp it. “But the major networks, streamers and studios that bring it on board sooner and utilise it will be safer from being taken over by it,” she asserts. Caselton agrees now is the time. “In five years, people that were dismissive will wish they jumped on it sooner. We have to move with what people want to watch. If this is the format they’re enjoying, how can we ignore that?”
beats. “You’re really trying to optimise your shots,” he says, with cameras ready to reframe quickly – picking up a reaction or key prop moment – so that editors have as many options to cut to as possible.” That flexibility is particularly important given the editorial tempo of the format. “With the pace of these shows and the style they want, editors are cutting very regularly,” Caselton explains. “They want to be cutting every four or five seconds to keep the viewer engaged. If you have got five things out of one shot already, you’ve then got at least five cut points, plus the cuts in performance.” The vertical frame also changes camera movement, and techniques that work in traditional aspect ratios do not always translate comfortably to the upright format. “Some of the early stuff I watched actually made me feel a bit sick,” he laughs. “When you’ve got a big pan in this aspect ratio to watch, it’s quite unsettling. Generally, you are framing a little bit looser than you might typically do, and rather than panning you want to be tracking.” But Caselton’s absolute must-have skill to master for verticals is fast lighting: “You are having to compromise and say, ‘OK, we need to move on,’” he explains. “So if you can light effectively – not necessarily lighting for every single set- up, but thinking ahead – you can light the first slate and, when the cameras move, all you are then doing is flicking a switch and the lights for the next set- up are already in place.” BLOWING UP OR DUMBING DOWN? There’s an argument that, with their lower-end production values and trashy conceits, vertical dramas are a dumbing down of the craft, pandering to a doomscrolling, attention-deficit generation and representing a step in the wrong direction for filmmaking.
Thomson disagrees, viewing it instead as an entirely different kind of content consumption altogether. “They cater to two very different audiences,” she states. “The audience watching verticals is not the typical audience that would sit through a Christopher Nolan film. “Cinema has been around for years and it is not going anywhere. This is something different: viewers want to view it at home on their phone,” she stresses, while also seeing an opportunity for an eventual expansion of genres and a sophistication of the medium that might attract new audiences. Caselton, meanwhile, is clear-eyed about the commercial side outweighing the artistic for his business. “This might sound blunt, but if you love your art so much and are also complaining that you’re not getting any work – perhaps you’ve got to consider getting on board with the vertical drama movement and making it your own. “Ultimately, we’re lovers of film. We love producing film and things that are cinematic and there are certainly bars we are not willing to sort of lower our standards on. But ultimately, we know that if we’re going to make something commercially viable, we have to adjust and adapt.”
PARADIGM SHIFT Crew Studio (left) is reacting to the shifting audience habits by gaining specialist skills in vertical video
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