UGC — THE FIRST THREE SECONDS
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Category: UGC  |  Level: Essential

Creator reference: Image 1 is the attached creator sheet. Match the face, hair, wardrobe and room exactly — this is the same person for the whole campaign, and the audience has to recognise them between posts.

Shot on a phone, held at arm's length, slightly too close to the face. Vertical 9:16. Natural window light from camera right, no fill. The room behind is lived in and slightly out of focus: a plant, a shelf, a doorframe.

The first three seconds are the whole job. Open mid-sentence, mid-gesture, already talking — never on a smile at the lens, never on a title card. The creator says one concrete thing about a problem the viewer has, in their own words.

Locked: the creator, the room, the lighting, vertical framing. Free: the words.

No captions, no music sting, no logo animation, no slow zoom, no ring light, no studio background, no second person.

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WHY IT IS BUILT THIS WAY
UGC fails in the first second far more often than in the last. Starting mid-sentence and banning the smile-to-camera is what stops it looking like an advert pretending to be a person.