What is short-form video:
three real examples.

The short answer.

Let's start with the answer.

Short-form video is a short, vertical video, from a few seconds up to three minutes, made to be watched on a phone in a feed. TikToks, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts are all short-form video. One idea, filmed in 9:16, cut so you don't scroll past it.

That's the definition. But it leaves out the part that matters when you make one: what goes inside. So in this article, I'll take three real shorts apart, at 38 seconds, 56 seconds and 2 minutes 7, and show you what each one is made of.

If you already know what it is and want to make one, start with how to edit TikTok videos.

A short is one idea, cut to the bone.

What short-form video means.

So, what makes a video « short-form »? Three things.

1. The length. Most glossaries say under 60 seconds. That rule is out of date. YouTube Shorts launched in 2021 at 60 seconds and went up to three minutes in October 2024 (Wikipedia). Instagram Reels go up to three minutes too (Brandwatch). So today, short-form means up to three minutes.
2. The shape. Vertical, 9:16, the full height of a phone screen. Here's the TikTok aspect ratio in detail.
3. The intent. One idea, made for a feed, where the next video is one swipe away. Brandwatch puts it well: the key distinction isn't just the length, it's the intent.

What are short-form videos called?

It depends on where they live. On TikTok, they're TikToks. On Instagram, Reels. On YouTube, Shorts. Same idea, three names. People also say « shorts », « vertical videos » or « short-form content ».

Where it comes from

Short video is older than TikTok. Snapchat had 10-second videos in 2012. Vine had six-second videos in 2013, and Instagram added 15-second videos the same year. TikTok merged with Musical.ly in 2018, and YouTube Shorts came in 2021 (all from Wikipedia). Since Vine, the limits have only gone up.

And it works. By mid-2024, YouTube Shorts were getting 70 billion views a day, per YouTube's own blog (quoted by Brandwatch).

Short-form vs long-form video.

Okay. Let's put the two side by side. For the long-form side, I'll use a real one: my film From Disney star to space CEO, 9 minutes 18, in 16:9.

	Short-form video	Long-form video
Length	A few seconds to 3 minutes	Longer than that (my example: 9:18)
Shape	Vertical, 9:16	Horizontal, 16:9
Where it lives	TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts	YouTube, podcasts, courses
How people find it	In a feed, one swipe from the next	By searching, or from a channel they follow
What it's for	Getting noticed	Keeping people around
One video holds	One idea	A story, a lesson, an interview

Brandwatch sums it up in four words: short-form attracts, long-form retains. I agree. In my opinion, people find you through a short, and stay for the long ones.

Short gets you found. Long gets you known.

The platforms and their limits.

Here's where each one stands. The numbers change, so check them before you post.

Platform	What they're called	Max length	Source
TikTok	TikToks	Uploads up to 10 minutes	Brandwatch
Instagram	Reels	Up to 3 minutes	Brandwatch
YouTube	Shorts	Up to 3 minutes (60 seconds before October 2024)	Wikipedia

So, 60 seconds or three minutes? Let me explain. Three minutes is where most people draw the line. It's a limit, not a goal. For the right length on each one, see the right length for a Reel and how long a YouTube Short can be.

What's inside a short: three real ones taken apart.

Now the part nobody shows you. Here's the thing: every page that ranks for this question defines a short by its length and its platform. None of them opens one up.

So let's do it. Three real shorts, all vertical, all 9:16. Each one asked for in sentences, then commented on.

1. Edit it all with AI: 38 seconds, an ad

• The hook: a white Instagram reply on screen, made as a component and reused.
• Captions: one line at a time, white on the take, dark on the white stage.
• B-roll: the site drops in on a white stage while I say « go to this app called Montage ».

2. Way too curious: 56 seconds

• Captions: yellow, uppercase, a blue drop shadow, and the key word drawn bigger.
• B-roll: I say CrossFit, my photo drops in. One picture for each thing I love.
• Zooms: a slow push-in on every shot, and on « everything » and « curious » the picture pulls back on black.

3. How to be creative: 2 minutes 7

• Captions: every line on screen in my own font, timed to my voice.
• B-roll: while I talk, it cuts to the right shot: the book, the notebook, the whiteboard.
• Color: filmed flat in Apple Log, my LUT on every shot.

Do you see the pattern? The first two sit under the old 60-second rule. The third one is over it, at 2:07, and it's still a short: vertical, under three minutes, one idea.

And look at what's packed in. A hook, captions, B-roll, color, motion. In under a minute. That's why a short is denser than its length suggests. Truth is, the filming takes minutes. The edit is where the time goes.

A short is short to watch. It's not short to edit.

Short-form video marketing: how brands and creators use it.

So why does every marketer tell you to make short-form video? Because it's where people discover new things. Short-form video marketing is pretty much using that feed to get in front of people who don't know you yet.

Here's how it's used, most of the time:

• Ads. Edit it all with AI is one: 38 seconds, a hook first, then the site on screen while I name the app.
• Product demos. Show the thing working, fast. Here's how to make a product demo video.
• Teaching one idea. How to be creative is one lesson in 2:07.
• Showing who you are. Way too curious is one person and the things they love, in 56 seconds.
• Cutting long videos down. One long piece, many shorts from it. A Forbes Agency Council piece calls it Gary Vaynerchuk's pillar-content model.

Whatever it's for, the first seconds decide. Here's how to make a hook in the first seconds.

How to turn a video into a short.

You've got a video and you want it as a Short, a Reel or a TikTok? Three steps.

With Montage, you drop the file in and say what you want: « make it vertical, under a minute, captions, cut the pauses ». It makes the video vertical and adds captions in your own fonts. Then you watch it and comment on what's wrong.

One thing to know: Montage works from the file you upload, not from a YouTube link. And it doesn't post for you. You export the video, then post it yourself.

If you edit shorts every week, here's an AI editor for TikToks, Reels and Shorts.

FAQ: what is short-form video?

What is short-form video?
A short, vertical video of up to three minutes, made for a phone feed: TikToks, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. One idea, in 9:16.

What does short-form video mean?
It means video made to be watched in a feed, in seconds, on a phone. The length is part of it, the intent is the rest: stop the scroll, say one thing, end.

What is an example of a short-form video?
Way too curious, 56 seconds: yellow captions, a photo for each thing I love, a slow push-in on every shot. Or Edit it all with AI, a 38-second ad that opens on a hook.

How do I turn a video into a Shorts format?
Reframe it to 9:16, cut it to under three minutes, and add captions. Then upload it as a Short.

What are short-form videos called?
TikToks on TikTok, Reels on Instagram, Shorts on YouTube. Also « vertical videos » or « short-form content ».

See them for yourself.

The three shorts in this article, and the long-form one for contrast, are in the showcase videos. Watch them, then watch them again with the sound off. You'll see how much the captions carry.

That's it for this one. Now go make a short.

See you in the next one.