"Hands up don't shoot vertical video": "Nightly Show" offers grim seminar on filming police brutality

"Nightly Show" contributor believes we can't put an end to police brutality but we can learn to film it well

Published May 14, 2015 8:15PM (EDT)

        (Comedy Central)
(Comedy Central)

"Nightly Show" contributor Mike Yard believes that if we, as a society, can't put an end to police brutality, the very least we can do is learn to shoot a decent video of the heinous acts. Enter: Police Brutality Video Production 101, a grim mock seminar which aired on Tuesday's "Nightly Show" filled with tips "for when you know that sh*t is about to go down.”

Among the host of tips: Don't worry about professional lighting too much ("police brutality happens in broad f*cking daylight") and never shoot vertical video ("that is not the black you want your viewers to be focused on").

“What’s a bigger tragedy: a black man getting kicked to death by the police, or shooting it vertically?” Yard says in the mock promo. “Definitely the black man getting kicked to death – however, we can’t do sh*t about that. But what we can do is respect the aspect ratio of the ass-whooping by turning our phone from (vertical) to (horizontal) for maximizing the 16:9 frame.”

Yard signs off with deeply unsettling message to viewers: "It is your constitutional right to film the police in public spaces. And make sure you tell that to the cop as he's shattering your phone into a thousand pieces."

Watch the clip below:


By Colin Gorenstein

Colin Gorenstein is Salon's assistant editor of internet and viral content. Follow @colingorenstein or email cgorenstein@salon.com.

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