A Simple Method for Using Instagram Stories in Landscape Mode

Ever wondered how to create Instagram Stories in any editor? Bobby Burns (a videographer and occasional photographer) from Wedding Cinema University, has created an online tutorial to assist industry amateurs and professionals with this very problem. Instagram Stories is a useful sharing platform which can attract a lot of views whilst keeping the poster’s main profile uncluttered, due to the 24 hour viewing window. Much like Snapchat, Stories allow the poster the freedom of sharing transient footage which can provoke interest, discussion and pave the way for collaborative sharing. Whilst using Instagram Stories, Burns discovered that his videos were locked in portrait orientation. This feature was acceptable for some of his work, however, it completely ruined any landscape videos or photos due to the program cropping them from the center. After becoming frustrated by this method, Burns decided to explore new ways to overcome the issue.

After some experimentation using Final Cut Pro X, Burns was able to properly format footage for Instagram Stories using varied approaches. Whilst this editing program best served his purposes, he is quick to stress that his solutions are adaptable to most other editing platforms also. In the first instance, he was able to preserve the aspect ratio by adding black or white on either side of the subject. This method, not only presented the subject in a more anesthetically pleasing way but also met the layout requirements of Instagram Stories. His second helpful option, was for the individual to take on the cropping duties themselves. By rotating the video/image, dragging it around and zooming in to find the perfect fit. Burns was able to also preserve the same aspect ratio but find a solution which enabled the subject matter to fill the entire screen. In this instance, viewers were required to tilt their phone in order to view the image horizontally.  Whilst this could be viewed as a downside, Burns believes it to be quite a minor thing in the overall scheme of things. His solutions allow an easier and more appealing way to present work when using Stories.

The tutorial also goes on to include advice on how to export files from your computer to your phone and how to get around Instagram’s policy; that your 15 second long content must have been created within the last 24 hours. Don't forget to share your thoughts about this technique in the comments section below.