Loungeing.
A vertical social media film. Cinematic craft applied to the format people actually watch. Shot in 9:16 and built to stop the scroll.
Client
Gaia
Director
David Dessel
Year
2025
Format
9:16 Vertical · Social
Cinematic social, built for the feed.
This piece was made for a client who understood that vertical social content doesn't have to mean low production values. The brief was a 9:16 film that could live on Instagram and TikTok while still carrying the visual quality of a proper production.
Make a phone format feel like a film.
Vertical video is usually an afterthought, a horizontal film cropped and hoping for the best. The challenge here was to treat the 9:16 frame as the native format from the start: composing for it, lighting for it, and editing for the rhythm of a social feed without losing the craft that makes the image worth stopping for.
SALSWEE
Social Media