OpenReel™ Empowers The Dodo, the Most Engaged Media Brand Globally, to Turn UGC Content into Professional Videos at Scale
The Dodo, a digital media company, needed to find an innovative way to easily capture, edit, and share engaging video content at scale. They chose OpenReel™’s remote video product to allow them to have more opportunities to produce HD video in the best way possible. The result was more engaging, creative video that created stronger engagement with its audiences on social media, the publishers’ main platform.
More creative value
Higher social engagement
Quicker content output
Maintained low budget
The Company
The Dodo is the #1 media brand for reach on mobile in the U.S., and the most engaged media brand globally across all content genres. They tell fun, entertaining, emotional stories about animals that make people laugh, cry happy tears, feel ALL the feels, and fall in love with animals.
The Challenge
The Dodo relied on remote content creators, but was hampered by quality and lack of directorial control
Since its inception in 2016, The Dodo has utilized user-generated content. The media company’s videos feature animals from all over the world and, because of the logistical and financial limitations of getting film crews on-site, the internal production team relied almost entirely on individuals, called content creators, to film their own stories. The production crew previously produced those videos in two parts: the first part was a video call during which the producer interviewed the content creator. For the second part of the video, the team would ask the subject to film footage from their phones and send it to the production team separately. The internal crew then took those two pieces of content and edited them together into the final video.
Before licensing the technology from OpenReel™, a lot of the Dodo’s video interviews had low audio and low video quality because they were very dependent on both the production team’s and the content creator’s Internet connection. The quality was also dependent on the creator’s own skill level shooting and ability to capture enough and the right footage. An additional hindrance was that the filmer then had to transfer the final content from their device to the editing crew.
In addition to quality and logistical concerns, The Dodo was limited creatively. Not only was their directorial oversight restricted to pre-production coaching with the content creator; but also the editing team was only able to work with the footage the creator shot, which frequently did not include the angles or scenes that the team needed to make a dynamic, engaging video. Together, these issues limited how the team was able to edit the final video. When producing videos at the scale for which The Dodo required, that meant videos could be very similar and have the same format.
The Solution
OpenReel™ empowered producers to direct and film remotely at scale
The Dodo now harnesses OpenReel™’s Remote Video Creation™ technology to film both the content creator interviews and to direct the videos filmed by the content creators. Because OpenReel™ films locally on the content creator’s device, each interview is filmed in 4K/HD and without any effects from internet connection. By turning the local device into the producer’s camera, it also empowers the team to capture the content they need, do multiple takes, and utilize professional camera capabilities, like focus and frames-per-second.
OpenReel™ is also alleviating the technical and logistical concerns of the operators. The content creators only need to download the Remote Capture application and enter a code. After that, The Dodo’s crew is in charge of shooting, directing, and uploading. This removes stress from the content creator and allows them to focus on telling their story, while the production crew focuses on their own job.
Results
OpenReel™ enabled more creative, dynamic video to engage The Dodo’s social audiences
The most impressive result from the switch to OpenReel™’s technology is the quality of The Dodo’s video. OpenReel™ has empowered the team to capture high-quality interviews outside and inside. All of the footage both looks and sounds better than what was shot over conferencing programs because it is filmed locally. Additionally, with higher quality interview footage and with fully produced creative video, there is more creative video to actually work with; The Dodo is truly able to capture the exact video they need to make a better end product.
The Dodo has also seen a response from its audience who is more engaged with content when that video is more creative and more interesting. The production team is able to tell stories differently and give its audience a different angle than they were previously giving. It makes a much more enjoyable and impressive viewing experience if the producers are telling these stories in different ways.
OpenReel™ ensured the Dodo has seen these results without the initial logistical and financial restrictions that make it and other publications reliant on local content creators. The flexible licensing is affordable for the business’s production schedule, and the in-house production crew is able to produce, direct, and film without leaving the office.
Learn more about how OpenReel™ is working with customers like The Dodo to achieve scalable, professional quality videos.
