There’s no denying these are extraordinarily difficult and worrying times we have found ourselves in, and for many of us it has affected our lives both professionally and personally.
If you had said to someone just a couple of weeks ago the words ‘social distancing’ and that it was on the horizon, it would have probably been met with wide-eyed bemusement and a pat on the shoulder for being an alarmist.
What Does COVID-19 Mean for Video Production?
Today for much of the world their morning commute now consists of walking to a corner of their living room where they have made a new home for their laptop and constantly refreshing their BBC News live feed. And because of this a lot of video production has understandably been put on ice.
But this needn’t be and more importantly shouldn’t be the case, as it has been proven that companies that continue to market during times of economic uncertainty have a better chance of prospering when the dust has settled and things pick up again.
And the great thing about working with creative video agencies is that we’re very good at coming up with innovative solutions for getting around pretty much anything, COVID-19 is no exception.
So here’s a couple of things you can do to produce quarantine proof video content without leaving your own four walls.
1. Upcycle old video material
For most of you not new to video production, you have a whole bank of content just waiting to be repurposed. Think of it in terms of a house – you can’t afford to rip up those dated floors or tear down that gnarly wallpaper but that doesn’t have to stop you giving it a little spring makeover.
And that’s exactly what you can do with your old video content during this corona lockdown. With a good edit, a new music track and some stylised motion graphics or typography you can literally find yourself with a whole new video within a couple of days.
Long story short, make a coronavirus video production plan with your old video material and stick to it.
2. Focus on animation films
So live-action shoots have been pretty much put on pause for the time being but that doesn’t mean you can’t get your company’s key messaging out there with other methods. Animation films are a great way to achieve this – and due to the flexibility and diversity of animation it allows you to have even more control over the final product. You can select the colour palette; to be in line with your brand guidelines, you can select the tone; a hand-drawn style will give you a more mature feel whilst a blocky, 2D vector look will feel a little more friendly and fun.
What’s more, you can write the script, you don’t have to rely on real people to deliver your video objectives, if you put it down on paper it will become a reality. And don’t worry about not being able to record voiceover for your video animation during the lockdown. A lot of super talented voiceover artists have professional sound recording facilities in their own homes, which allows both you and a producer to remotely call in and direct the session.
3. Crowdsource your videos
For some videos, crowdsourcing footage may be the best option. Most people these days have some type of smartphone which is more than enough tech to film a usable piece to camera or some observational b-roll.
By working with your video agency during COVID-19, they can provide you with an easy to follow spec to send to your contributors so that they can record footage themselves.
This type of content actually has a lot of positives in a lot of cases because it will have an intimacy that you wouldn’t necessarily get in a studio.
4. Use video live streaming
Why not plan a video live stream? IGTV on Instagram is a great way of connecting with your followers, showing them what you’re up to. You can then use that content to edit short social clips, teasers and promos to entice your viewers to log in next time you go live, at the same time building your brand and staying visible. Tailor-made for your corona video production plans.
So why not get in touch and see how we can help you keep your marketing wheels turning during COVID-19 from the comfort of our own sofas! 🙂
