Social & Short-Form
Cropped video looks cropped, and the feed clocks it in one frame. We compose 9:16 at the storyboard, not in the export menu. Different edits for LinkedIn and TikTok, because they are different places.
Vertical video production means the frame is composed for 9:16 at the storyboard stage and shot that way on the day, rather than cropping a widescreen master afterwards. DOT Video Agency produces vertical video and short-form social content from a studio near Amsterdam, for brands across the Netherlands and Europe, treating each platform as a distinct production environment with its own pacing, hook and visual register.
The distinction is not pedantic. Camera blocking, subject placement, on-screen text and movement all change when the frame changes, and it determines whether content looks deliberate or salvaged.
Crop a widescreen master into a vertical box and you do not get vertical video. You get compromised horizontal video that happens to fit — subject off-centre, headroom wrong, everything composed at the edges simply gone.
On-screen text never survives the crop, so anything carrying text gets shot twice. Movement is the next casualty. A pan that reads beautifully at 16:9 is too fast vertically.
Planning both orientations costs around 15% more shoot time. That is the entire price of covering both properly instead of one properly and one badly.
Treating them the same is the most common mistake in B2B social. Length, pacing, opening and visual register get built for each platform specifically. Same campaign, different productions.
| Platform | What it rewards | Length | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| A point of view. Longer dwell time | 30—90s | A claim or question in the first line | |
| TikTok | Sensory momentum and cultural context | 15—45s | Visual hook inside two seconds |
| Instagram Reels | Between the two. Strong aesthetics | 15—60s | Motion or a reveal |
| YouTube Shorts | Payoff and rewatch value | 15—60s | A setup that promises resolution |
The retention numbers follow the craft decisions, not the other way round. The hook is designed at storyboard, not added in the edit.
Sometimes yes, often not. We will tell you which. Twenty minutes and a link to your channel is enough.
Or email info@madebydot.com | +31 6 52633088
A system, not a folder of files. One production day, planned properly, yields 4–12 finished pieces, plus platform cutdowns across formats and lengths.
Social and short-form production from DOT costs €2.500–€5.500 per shoot day.
Per asset, this is usually the most economical thing we do, because the whole model is built around volume from one production. What moves it:
A single social shoot day is delivered within 1–3 weeks of wrap. On retainer we work to quarterly shoot days with monthly delivery batches, which holds a consistent cadence without shooting every month.
One honest note on fit. This model produces a considered library on a planned timeline. If what you need is twenty rough variants by Friday for paid testing, that is a different kind of supplier — possibly alongside us, but we would rather say that now than three months in.
Luxury is the hardest category to take vertical, because the format’s native register is casual and the brand’s is not. The answer was to produce natively per platform without letting the standard drop — same grade, same sound discipline, same restraint, composed for 9:16 from the start rather than salvaged from a wider master.
Built on a fixed cadence rather than a launch date. Each hero piece is planned to yield platform cuts for LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok before it is shot, so output accumulates month over month instead of spending itself in one week and leaving the channel empty.
Two production days, a year of social. The mechanism is shot-planning density — every setup designed to yield vertical and square variants at capture rather than in the edit, so a small shoot fills a feed for twelve months without repeating itself.
Sometimes, and we will tell you honestly when it is not worth it. Footage shot for 16:9 without vertical blocking has hard limits — subject placement and on-screen text rarely survive. It can carry supporting content. It will not match natively shot material.
More than most people expect, because we plan the day backwards from the output. Setups multiply across orientations, lengths and platforms rather than adding up. We set the realistic figure for your brief at scoping.
No. We produce and deliver. Publishing, scheduling and community management stay with your team or your social agency. Advice on sequencing comes with the handover.
Less often than most people fear, if each shoot is planned for volume. Quarterly production days feeding monthly delivery keeps a consistent presence without a shoot every month. What kills channels is not shooting frequency — it is running out of material in week three and posting filler to fill the gap.
We do, as part of production. The hook is a storyboard decision, not an edit decision, because it determines how the thing gets shot. Copy is developed with your team so the voice stays yours.
Separate edits, not separate shoots. LinkedIn rewards a point of view and longer dwell; TikTok rewards sensory momentum and immediate cultural context. Same footage, different openings, different pacing, different lengths. Post one file to both and you will underperform on both.
Twenty minutes with the people who would shoot it. Bring your worst-performing post.
Or email info@madebydot.com | +31 6 52633088
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