The 7 Biggest Video Production Trends During COVID-19
Video has never been more important. The Facetime calls to grannys and granddads have helped to ease the sting of isolation. All of us have experienced the call to rally our resilience and get through this together. Many of these messages have hailed from the power of compelling video content.
Businesses have also created videos not only to stay in touch with their customers but to expand their reach and send essential messages of safety and hope during the pandemic.
One thing is certain– the economy is going to take a battering over the next couple of years. Hopefully, the incentive packages will help companies to get back on their feet. But companies are getting creative and thinking outside the box for themselves. This list contains companies that make content creation during COVID look like a stroll through the park.
As internet use has spiked by 70 percent, it’s a great time to get a video campaign out. Here are some of the video production trends that are really connecting with people as they live in this strange dystopian-like time.
1. Live-streaming events through social platforms
Here lies the biggest change in video production. Live events were not all that commonplace before, but they have become pillars in modern marketing these past few months. The demographic of people who partake in live events is also broadening. Plus, the moment to moment interactions is an incredible way to connect with your audience.
Once everyone suddenly wasn’t able to interact with the world in the way they once did, people naturally found alternatives. For instance, when Italy became the epicentre of the virus back in March, Instagram Live views doubled in just one week. It just goes to show how human adapt and find ways to cope, even when faced with months of isolation.
Live broadcasts on social media have been used from everything from the massive trend of live workouts, to live, unscripted gardening shows and yoga classes. These trends are unlikely to go anywhere quickly, as although a lot of people are eager to return to normality, learning from home has brought with it a slower lifestyle that many are hoping to take with them even as the world opens back up.
2. Lockdown’s shown that video production isn’t everything…
Before we get into any of the other points, people have something essential in video production during this lockdown. And it’s this – content is what people are craving and not all of the bells and whistles. Obviously, with social distancing, it’s impossible to have the production scale that we saw in 2019. And guess what? People are enjoying clips more than ever. Think Tik Tok. Those videos are hardly masterpieces in cinematic art – and yet the app enjoys 800 active users worldwide.
So if you’re thinking of putting your video campaigns on hold until things pick up again, perhaps think again.
3. Animation
Before the coronavirus, animation was a vastly underestimated and under-utilized storytelling medium. The flexibility and endless opportunities to make your ideas come to life make animation a rich tapestry that instantly creates moods and tones from the first scene that are hard.
The Canadian government created a lego animation thanking Canadian children on their commitment to tackling the coronavirus. This masterpiece is such a wonderful example of how animation works to tug at the viewer’s heartstrings.
4. Live-action
It’s a refreshing take. Everything goes these days. Smartphones, tablet cameras and GoPro footage have all been accepted into advertisements of even the behemoths of advertising. Before all of this, all of us expected ads and commercials videos to be polished, high budget, glossy and flawless. However, this new style of video production relaxes the imagery and gives your audience an insight into real life and maybe reflect their own back at them– which is a welcome novelty for many.
5. The Human Touch
The coronavirus has made us more aware of our shared humanity and some companies have made us seriously sniffle through their video – even if it’s barely a minute long.
Behold the 2020 Uber ad
The power in this ad is in capturing emotions. It’s the frustration, the laughing through the pain, the glowing, hopeful eyes of children and those that are just holding themselves together as they wish everything would just go back to normal.
When creating an ad, it’s vital to know how you want your viewer to feel. Uber obviously wanted to reflect the ups and downs people are experiencing right now and acknowledging people’s struggles.
6. Humour
Moving on from this, another route that businesses have taken is to help lighten the situation. British Gas have certainly taken this approach in their stride:
Playing on the regular routine of the “man in the van” from a flask of tea to filling at the petrol station and adding in the full and heroic orchestral music is a stroke of genius. You’d also have to be made of stone not to crack a little smile at the toddler acting as customer care support help for her mother.
British Gas shows that capturing your business in its every day right now can be pretty hilarious material for your audience.
7. Mobile viewing is down
In this brilliant article from The New York Times, The Virus Changed the Way We Internet, we can see how the use of websites have shot up while app usage has declined.
So while mobile-first has been drilled into us over the past five years, suddenly we see a spike in computer viewing. As Koeze and Popper put it we “appear to be remembering how unpleasant it can be to squint at those little phone screens”. So while your mobile is, of course, still prevalent, don’t expect all your view to come from a 4.5-inch screen anymore.
If you’re looking for help to create video campaigns and reach your audience now, then you can contact us here. Whether you’re looking to educate an audience, inspire your clients or ignite their imagination – we help to turn concepts into beautiful videos that capture your viewers.