Why Extreme Sports are Embracing Smartphone Video Production
If you think about it, smartphones were destined to become the ideal filming equipment for extreme sports. They’re lightweight, shoot high-quality video that can be shared instantly, and are way more portable than traditional camera equipment. Not to mention everyone has one these days. And with the recent iPhone 11 Pro delivering the kind of footage that industry professionals are raving about, it’s only natural that Pacifico’s Inaugural Rail Jam would turn to it for killer social posts.
Held in Denver on February 22nd, some of the highest-caliber athletes in skiing and snowboarding assembled to shred it for the crowds. And X-Games host Jack Mitrani took the honors as MC, ready to report on every sick trick from the contenders.
1. Embracing the Power of Smartphone Video Production
Now, the usual strategy for getting footage of an event like this would be to hire a film crew, scout the best locations for on-camera interviews and reports, and assemble everything later to seed to social.
That’s not fast. It’s not feeding the fans with the latest, up-to-the-minute content. And it’s expensive. Cogent, Pacifico’s marketing agency, had a different strategy. Namely, to embrace Cinebody’s smartphone video production to get authentic footage that could be shared with Jack immediately for an Instagram takeover.
2. Authentic Footage from Fans: Fueling the Stories
Cogent took the cameras out of the hands of industry professionals and put fans behind the lens. Three designated iPhone filmers were chosen - diehard skiing and snowboarding fans who know just what to capture - and they were given free reign to film Jack, the athletes, behind-the-scenes footage, and anything else they knew would be eaten up by both extreme sports enthusiasts and Pacifico’s fanbase.
3. The Seamless Instagram Takeover by an Influencer
Jack Mitrani himself was also on Cinebody, filming his own footage as well as accessing what the three iPhone filmers were capturing, in real time. He could then easily download their footage and post it to Pacifico’s Instagram Story as the event was happening.
“It was a pretty flawless execution of an Instagram takeover by an influencer,” said Scott Bensley, Account Manager at Cogent. “Everything was coming in super fast, the footage was awesome, and the fans got content we’d never have seen from a regular film crew. With Jack on Cinebody as well, he could view multiple angles of the event and post tons of awesome shots right from his phone. It was seamless.”
4. UGC: The Future of Extreme Sports Video Production
As smartphone quality continues to get even more advanced, and 5G speeds take content delivery to new heights, UGC will quickly become the next big thing in extreme sports video production. And with Cinebody’s quick set-up (Jack and the fans were literally ready to start filming in seconds), real-time uploading and sharing, and the collaborative way the app works, it’s primed to lead this charge. Social strategies that take advantage of this new way to capture content will almost certainly triumph over slower, less sophisticated video production tools.
