Social Media Video Production: A Guide for Manchester Brands

Social media video production isn't just landscape film cut down. It's a different craft: shot vertically from the lens up, paced for the scroll, captioned for sound-off, and packaged so the same shoot can fuel six to twenty cuts across TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and LinkedIn.

This guide walks through how we approach social media video production at Underfound Studio, from our base in Altrincham, working with brands across Manchester, the North West and the UK.

Why social media video production needs its own track

Cropping a 16:9 brand film to 9:16 leaves subject and type drifting outside safe zones, key product moments cut off, and pace tuned for a different attention span. Native social media video production starts the other way around:

• Lens up, mobile-first. Camera framed vertical from the first frame, with subject, type and product inside the platform safe zones.
• Hook in the first second. The scroll is unforgiving. The opening frame, motion and on-screen text have to earn the second second.
• Sound-off by default, sound-on as a bonus. Captions are part of the edit, not an afterthought. Music and SFX layer on top.
• One shoot, many cuts. A hero film, supporting edits, behind-the-scenes, repurposable B-roll, all designed for a publishing rhythm, not a single drop.

The platforms (and what they actually want)

TikTok

9:16, 15–60 seconds for most brand work, with the first second carrying the hook. Trends move weekly; native captions and on-platform sounds out-perform polished voiceover most of the time.

Instagram Reels

9:16, 15–90 seconds. Slightly more polished tolerance than TikTok, with cover frames that need to read well in the grid. Cross-posts to Facebook Reels on the same export.

YouTube Shorts

9:16, up to 60 seconds. Tighter loop discipline (the last frame often cuts back to the first) and end-frames that prompt a sub or a long-form click-through.

LinkedIn

9:16 or 1:1, 30–90 seconds. The audience is slower, less trend-led, and rewards clear value or a clear point of view in the first three seconds.

How we run a social media video production shoot in Manchester

Most of our 9:16 shoots are one or two days on location across Manchester, Altrincham and the wider North West, with a small crew built around the brand:

1. Listen. Short brief, audience, platform mix, three to five hooks we want to land.
2. Sketch. A simple treatment with references, shot list, on-screen type direction, captions plan.
3. Make. Lens-up vertical capture, with parallel grabs for 1:1 and 16:9 where it makes sense. Audio captured properly so sound-on cuts have somewhere to go.
4. Ship. Platform-spec exports, thumbnails, caption packs, and an organised drive of repurposable B-roll for the brand's in-house team.

What you get back

A typical social media video production package from us delivers:

• One hero film (15–30 seconds), platform-ready for TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
• 6–12 supporting cuts: product close-ups, talking-head clips, behind-the-scenes, fast-cut montages.
• Caption packs (open captions burned in plus a clean .srt for accessibility).
• A library of vertical B-roll your in-house team can keep cutting from.

Common questions

How much does social media video production cost in Manchester?

Single-day 9:16 shoots typically land in the low-to-mid four figures, with the final number driven by crew size, locations, talent and how many cuts you want delivered. We send a fixed quote after a 20-minute intro call.

Do you shoot horizontal at the same time?

Where the brief justifies it, yes, but the vertical edit is always the priority, not an afterthought. We'd rather shoot two passes than crop a wide frame and lose the subject.

Can you work with our in-house social team?

Often. We hand over an organised drive of vertical B-roll, caption packs and templates so in-house teams can keep publishing between shoots.

Brief a vertical shoot

If you're a Manchester brand thinking about social media video production for TikTok, Reels or Shorts, we'd love to hear what you're trying to build. Start with a quick brief on the contact page, or book a 20-minute intro call to talk it through.