How to Make Your Reels Look Like Art: 4 Composition Tricks for Musicians

Creating short-form content is an art.

You have so much you want to say, and so much context you wish you could give, but only a few seconds to do it.

When you're making a Reel, there's a lot to think about:

• Are the first 3 seconds strong enough to grab attention?
• Is there anything that will make people stay until the end?
• Will this even appeal to the kind of listener I want?
• And how do I get them to stream my song instead of scrolling away?

And honestly, that's just scratching the surface.

You have a tiny window to take your audience on an emotional ride, so everything you include has to be intentional.

I talk a lot about copying the exact styles that helped other videos go viral. But even then, a lot of musicians struggle to understand why something works.

So today I want to break down one specific element that can make a huge difference in your content, especially if you haven't focused on it yet. That element is composition.

What is composition?

In filmmaking, composition is how you arrange everything inside the frame. It adds meaning, it creates balance, and it can turn a regular shot into something that feels artistic.

You see it all the time on TV. A classic one is the pyramid composition, where the people in the shot are arranged in a triangle so your eye lands right in the middle.

In my opinion, composition is one of the smallest details in a video that can have the biggest impact. That's why I think it's so worth learning and experimenting with.

Here are a few ways you can use it to make your Reels more eye-catching.

1. Center your main subject

If you're zoomed in, your face should be exactly in the middle.

If it's a wider shot, make sure the most important part of your body is centered. This helps the viewer's eye land where you want it to.

In one example, the character's head sits exactly in the center of the frame, while the text sits at the 1/5 and 4/5 marks. The symmetry makes the frame feel complete.

2. Put the text where our brains want it

In music, ear candy adds a subtle kind of magic. You can apply the same idea to your visuals.

Try placing your text around 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 or 1/5 of the screen. Those little tweaks create a sense of harmony that your audience feels without knowing why.

For example, a caption placed neatly at the 1/5 point of the screen, with the people in the shot spaced between the 2/5 and 3/5 lines, is subtle, but it's so satisfying to look at.

3. Match the text to where your body is

If your face or body isn't centered, move the text so it feels balanced against where you are on screen. Otherwise the video can feel visually "off".

Say you're standing around the 3/4 mark of the frame. Put the text at the 1/4 mark. It creates a nice balance that still feels intentional.

4. Use the rule of thirds

This one is my personal favorite.

Placing yourself on the 1/3 line creates just enough tension to keep the viewer's brain curious. It breaks what we expect, so we stay to watch.

I used it in a Reel of mine that went viral. I placed myself on the 1/3 line and put the text on the 2/3 line. I also used a slight filter to make the sunset pop a bit more (but let's keep that between us).

Small shifts, big difference

These are small changes, but they can decide whether someone watches your Reel all the way through and listens to your music.

Is composition the only thing that makes a video go viral? No. But if you start treating your content in an artistic way, you might enjoy the process more, and you might start seeing better results too.

And a quick shoutout to my advertising professor at university, who first showed me the power of composition.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your framing, Content Buddy is a free tool I built. Send it a screenshot of your Reel and it tells you what to fix.