Why does iMovie shrink and remove the top/bottom when exporting video on iPhone?

[slapple]

I have an iPhone 5S with iOS 8.4. I recorded a video using the built-in Camera app. This is how the built-in Photos app shows the video:

Then I opened up the iMovie app (version 2.1.2), created a new project, imported that video, did not do any editing, and then exported the video using the "Save Video" option (exported as 1080p). When I went into the built-in Photos app, this is how it showed the exported video:

Why has the exported video been shrunk, and had the top and bottom cropped off? Instead of being a tall rectangular video like the original was, the exported video is a square with a lot of black space around it.

 

[testcard]

Short answer - looks like you shot the video in portrait format with the iPhone held vertically. iMovie expects the video to be landscape format hence the cropping. Try again with the iPhone held horizontally.

 

[slapple]

Thanks. Unfortunately I have some videos taken in portrait mode that I can't re-take.

 

[doug in albq]

Try to pinch (or the opposite of that?) the magnifying glass in iOS iMovie when editing movie and i think the image will expand out to its correct size.

 

[slapple]

Try to pinch (or the opposite of that?) the magnifying glass in iOS iMovie when editing movie and i think the image will expand out to its correct size.

No, pinching or expanding doesn't help.