This Song Banishes Vertical Videos on Smartphones

There are few things more annoying than watching a video filmed vertically on an iPhone. The shot is almost always cropped awkwardly and the black sidebars leave you wanting to see more.

Jonathan Mann, a YouTube legend who has written, performed, filmed, and uploaded an original song every day for the past 1,649 days, knows a thing or two about filming. He posted a PSA entitled "Turn Your Phone!" on Tuesday to encourage amateur videographers to turn their phones horizontally while filming.

Accompanied by his signature acoustic foot-tapping style, the video follows Mann as he gently corrects people filming vertically as he walks around Brooklyn, New York. He advocates for shooting horizontally because it allows you to capture more in a single shot. He sings, "I wanna see that subway spat / I wanna see that roomba cat / I wanna see your baby laugh / I wanna see that bunny bath" along with the images of poorly filmed videos of said events.

We've previously jammed to Mann's tunes about the legalization of gay marriage in New York, the dissolution of his five-year relationship, and his search for a new roommate.

But above all, remember, folks, turn your phone. We'll all be grateful for it.

1. Dive From a Cliff

   Even if you are within traveling distance of a cliff, jumping from one isn't necessarily an activity for the faint of heart. However, you don't have to risk impalement by sharp rocks to experience the thrills associated with cliff diving. YouTube user Kenny Daniel has uploaded a video of his 75-foot leap into water, taking us along for the jump.

2. Wipe Out While Skiing

   Want to ski without the hassle of cold weather, the cost of expensive equipment and the embarrassment of beginner instruction? Ski with A Donnelly, who wipes on the slopes so you don't have to.

3. Jump on a Trampoline

   Trampolines are fun -- no one will argue with you on that one. Unfortunately, most of them happen to be located outside, tucked away in the backyards of people you never happen to be friends with. Enjoy Paul Siciyhvernen's solution to that problem, and go for a lunch-losing romp on his family's trampoline.

5. Get Hit by a Baseball

   It's the same story: Whenever you go to a professional baseball game, not a single foul ball or home run makes its way to your part of the stands. You might be bitter about this. But a camera set up by PJCiarrocca, capturing a child hitting baseballs with varying degrees of success, could help you see why staying out of the line of fire might not be such a bad thing.

6. March in a College Graduation

   Did you skip your high school or college graduation ceremony? If you always wanted to enjoy the experience of seeing nothing but a sea of mortarboard hats and receiving a potentially useless slip of paper from an aging educator, look no further than gortexKID's video. Congrats, grad!

8. Crash While Mountain Biking

   Once we get cars, our bicycle riding skills take a backseat in terms of personal mobility. Thus, mountain biking is out of the cards for many of us by the time we reach adulthood. Join GlobalLeaks on a mountain biking adventure and discover the hard way that perhaps he, too, should have stuck to driving.

9. Use a Jetpack

   If you don't want to know what using a jetpack would be like, there may be something wrong with you. Everyone wants to fire up one of these devices and take it for a nice little flight -- even if we're a bit terrified of falling out of the sky. Join JetLevSouthWest on a short voyage over suddenly-churning water.

10. Play With Your Dog

    Is your dog boring (or non-existent)? Do you have allergies or a landlord who won't let you get a pet? Not to worry! Megan Eilts' dog has got your problem solved in this video, giving you all of the playful joy without any of the slobber.

Homepage image courtesy of YouTube, Jonathan Mann