The Reels Hook: Framing Vertical Video So Captions Never Cover It
· 4 min read
Vertical video has a frame inside the frame. Keep your subject in the middle third and your hook in the first second.
On Reels, TikTok and Shorts, the top and bottom of the screen belong to the app: captions, the username, buttons, the audio label. Anything important there gets covered.
Live in the middle third
Keep the face, the product and the action in the middle third of the frame. Say it in the prompt: keep the subject in the middle third, and keep the top and bottom 20% free of key action. The studio adds this line for every 9:16 prompt and shows the safe areas in the preview.
Hook in the first second
- Start mid-action, not before it
- Eye contact with the lens from the first frame
- One spoken line that makes a promise
The first second decides whether there is a second second.
Write the line
If your creator speaks, write the words in quotes. A 6-second clip fits about 15 words. Lead with the payoff, not the introduction.
A medium handheld shot of a founder in a navy hoodie holding a pair of running shoes, inside a sunlit café. They look into the lens and say: "I ran my first 5k in these the day they arrived." Format: 9:16 vertical, 6 seconds. Keep the subject in the middle third; keep the top and bottom 20% free of key action.
Tip: Handheld reads as authentic on social. Keep the sway subtle so the face stays sharp.
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