What we make, and for whom
Short-form video is anything from six seconds to about a minute, designed to be watched vertically, usually with the sound off at first, on Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and in Stories. It is now where most people meet a brand for the first time, which makes it too important to leave to whatever the phone in the office can manage.
We produce short-form for premium brands that have a visual standard to keep. The challenge is specific: the format rewards speed, surprise and intimacy, while a luxury brand needs restraint, consistency and polish. Our job is to find the version that satisfies both. For the strategic view, read our guide to short-form video for luxury brands.
How we approach short-form
The first second decides everything
We plan every piece around its opening frame. That might be movement, an unexpected texture, a close-up of a hand, or a line of text that raises a question. The hook is designed on paper and shot deliberately, never found by accident in the edit. Stylish brands often skip this step and wonder why beautiful footage gets swiped past.
Framed for the vertical canvas
Shooting wide and cropping later wastes resolution and ruins composition. We frame for 9:16 on set, keeping faces and products clear of the areas where platform buttons and captions sit. When a piece must also run at 4:5 or 1:1, we protect for those crops at the same time.
Sound designed for both states
Most viewers start silent and some turn the sound up. We write on-screen text that carries the idea alone, then build sound design and music that reward the people who listen. Captions are styled in your typeface, not the platform default.
Formats and where they run
- 9:16Vertical full screen
Reels, TikTok, Shorts and Stories. The primary canvas.
- 4:5Portrait feed
Instagram and Facebook feed, and many paid placements.
- 1:1Square
Feed grids, carousels and some marketplace listings.
- 16:9Landscape
YouTube, website headers and presentations, cut from the same shoot.
Each piece is framed on set for its main ratio, with safe crops protected for the others.
The details of each platform change often, so we keep our own specifications current and deliver files named, sized and captioned for where they will actually run. Our guide to video aspect ratios explains the reasoning.
What is included
- A content plan: themes, hooks and formats mapped to your calendar before the shoot.
- Scripting for talking pieces, and shot lists for visual ones.
- Casting and styling, whether the face is a model, a creator or someone from your team.
- A shoot day designed for volume, with sets and lighting planned so we move quickly between setups.
- Editing with on-screen text, captions in your typeface, sound design and licensed music.
- Variations of the strongest pieces with different hooks, lengths and endings.
One well-planned day on set can produce a month of short-form content. That is the logic behind batch content production, and it is why most of our short-form work runs on a monthly retainer with a fixed delivery calendar.
What makes a short-form piece work
Good hook, shaky camera and bad light. Gets attention, costs you brand equity.
A clear idea in the first second, executed with the finish your brand expects.
Neither memorable nor well made. Swiped past without a trace.
Polished footage with no reason to stop. The usual failure of premium brands.
Craft protects the brand. The idea earns the watch. You need both.
We push every brief towards the top right. In practice that means spending more time on ideas and hooks than most studios do, and refusing to let the idea excuse poor lighting or careless styling.
What drives the budget
Short-form budgets depend on volume per month, the number of shoot days, how many different sets and looks each day covers, whether talent is professional or from your own team, and how much editing variety you need per piece. Travel for location work adds to it. We quote by scope, either per project or as a monthly retainer, and the content production cost guide explains how those pieces combine.
How to brief us
Send us your accounts, three pieces of short-form (from any brand) that you wish you had made, the products or stories you need to cover in the next quarter and any launch dates. Tell us who will appear on camera and how much of your team's time you can give to a shoot day. We will come back with themes, sample hooks and a proposed production rhythm.
Our short-form work is strongest in categories where texture and detail matter, including beauty and skincare, fashion and hospitality.