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Communicating during Covid-19

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Challenging Times call for Great Communications

At Dependable Productions, we understand that in these strange times, it’s more important than ever for organisations to keep communicating with their staff and customers. Circumstances are changing daily, new ways of working need to be communicated and it’s vital to keep team morale as high as possible.

We’ve continued to film and produce videos throughout the current pandemic, developing COVID safe methods. At the same time we know it’s not always practical to produce what you might term as “conventional” communication videos.

So, here are a few ways we can help you keep talking to those that matter most, as we all navigate a new “Business as Usual”

1. COVID safe filming.

We’re continuing to travel within guidelines to film when you need us. For now, we’ve adopted new practises which mean we can social distance 2 metres from interviewees. Our staff wear masks and sanitise regularly.

2. Remote filming

During the first lockdown we adapted quickly to keep delivering for our clients. We’ve developed training to coach interviewees remotely to film themselves on smart phones. We help them frame properly, improve backgrounds, quality and sound. We’ll then help you share those clips back to us so we can make the magic happen in post-production. If appropriate, we can “house” these interviews in dynamic, graphic backgrounds to make the videos even more engaging.

3. Online Video Training

Create videoWe know that many communications at the moment need to be more urgent or immediate. Of course, with smart phones, it’s possible for your CEO to film themselves delivering a firm wide message or even for you to film a message for your customers. However, lockdown shouldn’t mean you need to abandon your brand values completely and we can help you make your in-house efforts as good as they can be with our online video training courses. We can train you how to film and edit a decent talking head clip and even shoot a short film, all with a smart phone. Out trainers can teach in real time how to get the best out of your phone and offer you advice on basic kit and programmes that can help. We can even create bespoke graphics that you can use to “bookend” your videos.

4. Animation

Animation is a great way to succinctly convey messages in a clear and direct way. It can be incredibly engaging and there are loads of styles to choose from. Typographical animation and infographics are a great way to deliver information in a dynamic and direct manner. You could also consider simple 2D animation to portray new working practises and methods. If you have more time and resource, 3D animation can be as good as real images. On the other hand, whiteboard animation has a “fun” feel to it and is very cost effective. Whatever the style of animation, it’s best to keep messages concise and direct, so take time with your script: Write it out, then take out all the words you don’t need and then edit it again! And don’t worry we can help!

5. Stock imagery

Ok. So you can’t get a film crew to come and film your message. But don’t despair, a bit of lateral thinking can get you a long way! Did you know there are loads of stock image libraries where you can find photos and videos of pretty much anything! We’ve used stock imagery lots before: When budgets don’t allow us to travel abroad to film glossy foreign cityscapes or when it’s impractical or too time consuming to the film the variety of shots needed for a film. You can add information with on screen text  and even voiceover. For example, we used stock imagery and graphics for this film about Physical Literacy. So, in these strange times, it’s worth thinking about how you might be able to use more generic imagery to communicate with those you need to.

Whatever your circumstance, why not get in touch, even if it’s just for a chat, to see how we can help you keep communicating.

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