March 2020 marked the start of a new era for the film and television industry.

With a global pandemic on the rise, the industry shutdown to help avert a public health crisis. At the end of the summer, film and tv sets started up again with extensive safety protocols and a restructuring of set operations to prioritize the wellbeing of the crew. Along with restructuring, budgets inflated to accommodate the reality of working in the age of Covid-19.

The content creation, commercial, and digital marketing industries, however, didn’t take the same hit as Hollywood. They quickly adapted their creative messaging and production methods to work within Covid parameters.

The key...user generated content.

User generated content (UGC) is defined as videos, text, images, etc.–created by people rather than brands. Digital marketing and commercial production companies were quick to adopt the UGC model. However, instead of reusing existing content from social media platforms, they commissioned content that was produced at home by individuals using the brand’s creative.

KR Squared had the opportunity to produce multiple UGC campaigns over the spring/summer of 2020, the most extensive of which was a six-episode kids’ summer camp web series for Little Tikes in collaboration with MGA Entertainment.

Here are 5 tips our team learned through the remote production process:

1. Embrace the format! In the age of social media, audiences are used to seeing the look and feel of user generated videos. Don’t waste time or money trying to make the raw footage feel like it came from the set of a big budget commercial. Lean into that organic vibe and the audience will go with you.

2. Write what you know they know. I’m paraphrasing a film-school tip from screenwriting 101 here, but what I mean is: the audience knows the footage is user generated, so find a way to call it out or build it into your narrative. For example, in our Little Tikes summer camp series, the premise was that our counselors were stuck in quarantine, so they wanted to recreate the camp experience from their living rooms to yours. Once we introduced the concept in Episode 1, the visual tone for the rest of the series was set and the footage felt genuine to the story.

3. Get creative and work with what you’ve got. When it comes to resources, we found ourselves reverting back to our film school days, using props and “equipment” from around the house to substitute for the real deal. We also found that the beauty of 2020, is that everyone has an HD camera in their front pocket. However, just because your actors-turned-cinematographers have a phone that can shoot 4K, doesn’t mean their footage is going to be ready for the silver screen. Which brings us to…

4. PREPARATION. When creating remotely, it is so important for everyone to be on the same page and for your actors to feel empowered instead of overwhelmed by the process. Our team took the time in pre-production to set our actors up for success. In addition to the script, we provided detailed instructional materials that consisted of a simple shot list, tips on how to create the best lighting “set up” for their space, and instructions on how to format their phone or camera with the optimal film settings. And lastly, and this is key, we met with them over video calls to answer any questions.

5. Enhance it in post! Post production thrives in the world of Covid filmmaking, so don’t be afraid to pull out all the stops to tie the project together. Remember to color your user generated footage so that it feels as polished as possible. Also, some visual effects and a professional sound mix will be a cherry on your production sundae. Since costs will be lower than usual, plan on focusing the majority of your budget on post to elevate your final product.

Though the creative process has gone through many changes during the pandemic, KR Squared is here to help brands adapt to these new ways of creating content. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have already proven that audiences embrace the authenticity of user generated formats. The time is now for brands to do the same!