Chinese mobile dramas are setting the standard for future vertical productions. Shows like iQiyi’s Ugh! Life and Baidu’s Arg Director treat vertical as its own genre, filling clips with the content and narrative devices that work best, like facial closeups. They’re also packaged as snack-size episodes that are two-five-minutes long, encouraging full-season binging. Finally, they use creative editing to make the most of a vertical screen; for instance, two facial close-ups can be stacked to let the audience see two character’s expressions at once. (TNW)
