Due to the nationwide quarantine, video productions have been put at a sudden stop. Like with all other industries, this is a devastating blow to the industry. According to the City of Toronto , production investments in film, television, digital and commercial media contributed $1.96-billion to the local economy in 2018.
However, just because video production has come to a halt does not mean your business can’t still be looking at producing content. In fact, now may be a more important time than ever to promote how your business is changing gears to respond to COVID-19 or maintain business as usual. Whether you’re in healthcare and need video content to easily provide instructions to new recruits or volunteers, or whether you’re in the restaurant business showing how you’re spicing things up in your takeout menu, there are still ways that video can make an impact.
The best part is, there are types of video that can be produced and used to great effect even without needing physical production with cameras. Here are some ideas to get your ideas spinning.
Animation
The first solution, of course, is animation! There’s no camera required at all for animation, as it’s created from scratch or manipulated using existing graphics. Choosing between animation and live-action is a common debate when producing corporate video content. What we tell clients that ask us this very question is to consider what they want to get across. At the end of the day, are they trying to teach something, or get the viewer to feel a certain way?
Live-action is an ideal choice for getting audiences to feel a certain way, like excitement or pride towards the brand. This is because people connect with other people, especially when there is a story that can be told. That engagement drives strong brand and company appeal.
However, for more complex, information-heavy or informational subject matter, (think complicated software, brand-new tech, or finance), then, going with animation is a great choice. It lets you explain big concepts in simple, appealing and visual ways, which helps viewers understand quicker and remain engaged.
Stock Footage
We just mentioned the effect of seeing real people, but that comes with the difficulty of not being able to assemble many people at once to conduct a proper video shoot. However, this opens an opportunity to instead make use of high quality, professional footage that has already been shot and is made available for purchase to use! Many available stock footage on sites like GettyImages use content shot by professional videographers that also join on large productions. This is an incredibly cost-effective method as sometime going out of your way to procure a specific shot can cost thousands of dollars. As stock it might only cost a small fraction of that.
We recently shared a thank you to our nurses, and many asked us how we got into a hospital to shoot. Actually, it was all stock! We never had to walk into a hospital and endanger ourselves or anyone onsite.
The natural limitation with stock footage is that you’re really able to work with what’s available. It’s also worth noting that different stock libraries are associated with different costs, and potentially even different legal rights for use.
Creating video content that is largely reliant on stock footage requires a different kind of storyteller, one who is capable of putting existing pieces of a puzzle together to create a cohesive narrative rather than coming up with an idea from scratch. The benefits of contracting a video production company to produce content based on stock footage are that they can potentially leverage their partnerships with stock resources for better pricing, and they will know how to best make use of stock footage so that they don’t come off as felling like stock.
Self-Shot or DIY Video
We believe that all content is good content. In these times of global pandemic the best thing a business can do is stay relevant with continuous communication. Owners especially have good reason to put themselves forward with video content to share with employees, like Galen Weston (Executive Chairman, Loblaws) has done:
Maybe you have a camera and can record your message that way. If not, perhaps it is more likely that you have a smartphone. We recently released a video all about how powerful your smarphone can be for video – and ways to make smartphone video look professional!
The COVID-19 crisis has been a test of every business’s mettle, and we’ve seen many brands step up to the plate and display their faith in their causes. Now is the best time to put out video content to show how your brand is responding, or make an impact on your business.
Interested in producing video content with us? Share with us your needs and we’ll send you a free quote!
The post 3 Types of Video That You Can Still Produce During COVID-19 appeared first on Arc and Crown Media.
