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Carefully, Warmly, Calmly our high streets have returned

Shops have been able to re-open and high streets across the borough have seen the welcome return of shoppers.

As part of a social media campaign to encourage people to support their favourite shops, businesses across the borough are sharing short videos about how they had to adapt during the restrictions.  

Margo from the Big Apple in Ellesmere Port Market shares her experiences through Covid lockdowns, that resulted in setting up a new delivery service for customers: “People have been frightened to came out, but we’ve been doing home deliveries.”  

Even a solution for making payments was found, as customers left money in a bag to maintain social distancing: “The market is very important for the local community, it’s a place where people will meet when the cafes are open and have a laugh. People love coming here, to tell you the truth, if they don’t go out smiling then I haven’t done my job properly have I?”  

Also, in Ellesmere Port Market, Humpty Dumpty’s who sell cooked meats, bacon, sausages and eggs had to cut back their opening hours during the times that less people were visiting the market. Owner Michael said: “We’ve been here for about fourteen years now. The Covid situation has affected us in a big way, a lot of our customers aren’t able to come. We wear masks and use sanitisers ourselves; we’ve adopted as many of the guidelines we can to stay safe.”  

Four traders stayed open throughout the lockdown period N&N Meats, Humpty Dumpty’s, Big Apple and Cristina`s bakery. Now that restriction have changed allowing non-essential businesses to re-open the market is back with 42 traders.

Councillor Richard Beacham, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Growth, Economy & Regeneration said: “Funding from the European Regeneration Development Fund has helped us with a number of activities to make the high streets safer and more welcoming. Starting the second phase of the government roadmap we’ve distributed face masks to shops, helped share safety massages with an Ad-van and we’re also sharing videos from some of our small businesses.

“We’ve worked closely with each area, that all have slightly different priorities which is why shoppers to some of our rural locations will find brightly coloured umbrellas at shops where there isn’t enough cover from the rain. There is far more to come over the next few months with further help to encourage alfresco dining and an events programme to further animate the area.

“It’s great news that Ellesmere Port Market can now fully re-open, we know it’s been missed as visitor numbers jumped from just under one thousand in the first week of March to over 20,000 once they could fully re-open.”

The Council is also sharing a tip sheet to help businesses produce their own social media video posts.

See The Big Apple video at:

https://youtu.be/dN6VF78AK_Y

See Humpty Dumpty's video at:

https://youtu.be/-C-j_8FsiB8

How to shoot your own social media video : 

Step one
Your devices  

If you don’t have a high-performance camera, high quality video can be captured on different devices including smartphones. Make sure you have it set to the highest quality video settings and record at 1080p or 4K.

Step two
Shoot portrait

As a rule of thumb, you should always shoot landscape, but to create content for TikTok and Instagram stories, film portrait. This prevents cropping into the video which results in grainy footage and losing parts of the composition. Your business and the high street can form part of the inspiring back drop.

Step three
Composition and angles

Considering the setup of your shot is extremely important, whilst over staging a shot can be seen negatively, ask yourself these quick questions: Have I captured the best angle? Can I tilt up to avoid the rubbish bin? Is the shot level? Build up the story – show your creative process from start to finish if you produce something physical. Cutting from one angle to another is a good and simple way to add visual interest to video.

Step four
Use plenty of light

The sun is one of the best light sources for video. If you’re filming in natural light, do your best to get your footage in the morning or evening, when the light is softer. If you’re filming indoors, you will need to be more intentional about the types of lights you use and where you place them. One thing to avoid is overhead lighting, it can cast unflattering shadows on faces. Windows are a good natural light source. You can also use a large lamp or two to cast the type of light you want.

Step five
Don’t shake, focus

It’s hard to hold a camera completely steady, so try not to hold your camera at all if you can help it. Instead, use a tripod, or set your camera on a sturdy surface or tripod. Always consider the focal point of the image. The human eye is drawn to parts of an image that are in focus first. Therefore, focus can be used to great effect, changing the way we see things and to give greater prominence to product/activity or location.

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