Given the current crisis, the advantages of User Generated Content speak for themselves. (And if you need a refresher of those advantages, you can read our Q&A with our Senior Learning Producer & UGC guru Martin Ross here).
Below is our four-step guide to making your own content, allowing you to keep in touch with your employees, and doing it well. If you need any further tips, feel free to drop us a line, we’re here to help.
In today’s ultra-modern, digital world you have the power of a professional filmmaker just by having a smartphone in your pocket.
With a little ‘big-picture’ thinking and a bit of a planned approach, you can teach, train and notify your colleagues remotely and distribute the resulting content digitally – forming deeper relationships with your customers, coworkers, and industry colleagues.
So how do you get started?
Well, you’re going to need a camera. More or less any camera will be good, as long as it doesn’t record to a tape. Smartphones, tablets, digital cameras, even camcorders are good.
Step 1
How to use your camera
Turn your camera on, set it to auto-everything (if you’ve got the choice), point it at something and press record.
The video below shows you the basics of how to shoot decent stuff from your iPhone.
Step 2
But what about sound?
A lot of the time the material you shoot is used as pictures over someone talking, and so the editor will throw the sound away.
But not always!
If you’re hearing something great, or recording the person talking, then you need to do it right. This short film will give you the basics of recording usable sound without specialist gear.
Step 3
Going up a level: shooting for the edit
When we edit, we work in sequences, not just shots. So when you shoot, you need to think about what’s in front of you and shoot material that will let you edit.
It sounds complicated, but it’s not. Watch our final video to see what you need to do to keep the editor happy.
Step 4
Is that all there is?
Filming good stuff is only half the battle. The edit is where the fun really starts. If you’ve got a lot of spare time, you can start mastering tools like iMovie for iOS or Power Director for Android. What makes a good edit? That’s for another post.
If you’ve not got a lot of spare time, give us a call. Our edit suites are humming in living rooms and kitchens around the world.