# Reframe around the face

Edit / Edit effect / Zooms and reframes. Checked 2026-11-13.

The speaker stays where the eye expects, whatever the aspect ratio.

- Use when: A wide take cut to vertical; any multi-format delivery.
- Phrase: crop the wide take to 9:16 around the tracked face, the face centre at 38 percent of the height
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/effect/face-reframe
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/effect/face-reframe.json

## Watch out

- Measured face positions in the references: 18 percent of the height on a stacked board, 23 percent in a hook over a lower panel, about 48 to 50 percent in full-frame selfie and locked shots. (measured; Director Chair measurements of four published shorts, Oct 2026)
- Without face detection the crop is centred: look at three preview frames for a whole head. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on editing)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
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 reframe around the face: the speaker stays where the eye expects, whatever the aspect ratio. How it works: crop the wide take to 9:16 around the tracked face, the face centre at 38 percent of the height. It is right for: a wide take cut to vertical; any multi-format delivery. Measured face positions in the references: 18 percent of the height on a stacked board, 23 percent in a hook over a lower panel, about 48 to 50 percent in full-frame selfie and locked shots. Without face detection the crop is centred: look at three preview frames for a whole head. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Punch-in: https://directorchair.ai/effect/punch-in
- 9:16 vertical: https://directorchair.ai/ratio/ratio-9-16
- Speaker over a board: https://directorchair.ai/effect/stacked-speaker-board

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on editing

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.