Hey everybody! Welcome back to the Fog Blog. We hope that you’re staying safe and sane during what has been such a difficult year for so many communities, businesses, and organizations.

COVID-19 has made most of our business/social lives unavailable and stressful. However, like many businesses and organizations, we put our heads together and adapted to the times. Our goal back in March was to meet this challenge with unique ideas and innovation.

While it has been challenging, we’ve learned a lot over the past 7 months about how to apply our knowledge and expertise to help people during this time. Below are some of the main service offerings that we’ve been providing to our clients over the course of the pandemic.

2D and 3D Animation: One of our services that has helped us thrive during this time has been animation. The ability to utilize our remote animation team during the pandemic has allowed us to produce some of our highest quality work. We even managed to create a 2.5 minute fully animated music video for the 2020 Census (in less than 3 weeks). Companies are spending more time and resources on maintaining their presence as a brand during these difficult times. Animation has proven to be a proactive investment that delivers tangible results for their bottom line.

Live Streaming and Virtual Events: Live streaming and virtual event requests have also increased over the course of the pandemic. Based on what we’ve seen, this may be a trend that’s here to stay. We recently put on a completely virtual event with over 500 attendees tuning in. The event featured pre-recorded content as well as live sessions shot on location. The content was then scheduled to be distributed over a 3 day period. In another project, we shot and streamed a live documentary premiere. The production took several days and was one of the most technically demanding projects that we’ve ever produced.

On-Location Shooting: At the start of Covid, it seemed like it would be quite a while until we would get back on set – however, we have found ways to make it work. We’ve attempted to mitigate risk by wearing face masks on all of our shoots. In addition, we wipe down and sanitize all microphones and lavalier receivers before and after they’re worn by clients. There have also been cases where our crew has been tested prior to being on location. We typically encourage and enjoy when our clients are on set. However, if you’re not comfortable, we’re happy to set up live streams so that clients can ask interview questions, check out a shot, or provide feedback on set.

Repurposing Existing Interviews & B-Roll Clips: There’s a lot that can be done with b-roll and archived interview footage. If you’re one of our clients, we’ve kept all of your footage archived. Some examples of videos that we can create from existing footage include: shorter social media cut downs from an existing edit, interviews with on-screen text animations, b-roll with voiceover, and interviews with stock footage to name a few. Feel free to reach out if you need some ideas on what to do with your existing footage.

Drone: With the ability to fly 500 feet above take off point, our drones certainly know how to social distance. Our team of FAA certified drone pilots are capable of capturing fully stabilized footage up to 6k. Our stock footage library also has over 150 drone clips available for purchase (see more in our next point).

Stock Footage: Using stock footage has always been a “cheap and dirty” video production hack. Depending on how it’s used, however, can either make or break a project. With Covid limiting the ability for crews to get out on shoots, it’s a safe and convenient solution to acquire footage during these times. Our stock footage library has over 150 clips available for purchase.

Creative Loans: We’re now offering creative loans on our services. This means that we are cutting up-front project deposits and offering flexible, interest free payment structures on our services for individuals and organizations in need of financial relief. If you are interested in this initiative please email info@fogcoastproductions.com with the subject line “creative loans”.

We thank you for your support always, but especially during this time. We look forward to helping each other get through this pandemic together!

Written By: Andrew Klein, Executive Producer, Fog Coast Productions