{
 "slug": "screen-zones",
 "name": "Screen zones for vertical video",
 "category": "effect",
 "group": "Layouts",
 "media": [
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-11-13",
 "effect": "Each layer sits where the eye and the interface leave room for it.",
 "use_when": "Any talking-head video with a text hook and captions.",
 "phrase": "text hook in the top fifth, the face in the middle, captions in the lower fifth above the platform's buttons",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "Keep text at least 10 percent away from every edge; devices crop differently.",
   "evidence": "practitioner",
   "source": "The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"
  },
  {
   "text": "Do not stack hook text, face and captions all in the dead centre.",
   "evidence": "practitioner",
   "source": "The Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [],
 "external_refs": [],
 "licensed": [],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "caption-safe-zones",
  "text-first-hook",
  "three-layer-hook"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "practitioner",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Own words from the Director Chair hook framework (our 2026 synthesis of @marco.thecreative's TikTok series, OpusClip's hook formulas, a Brandefy article, Meta retention research and a Gemini research report)"
 },
 "body": "",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/effect/screen-zones",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/effect/screen-zones.md",
 "prompts": {
  "chat": "Give me an edit brief: where it goes on the timeline, the exact settings, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is screen zones for vertical video: each layer sits where the eye and the interface leave room for it. How it works: text hook in the top fifth, the face in the middle, captions in the lower fifth above the platform's buttons. It is right for: any talking-head video with a text hook and captions. Keep text at least 10 percent away from every edge; devices crop differently. Do not stack hook text, face and captions all in the dead centre. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing."
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}