What equipment do you need to start making UGC?

Which equipment do you actually need on day one?

On day one you need five things: a phone, light, sound, a way to hold the phone still and a clean background.

Think of them as jobs rather than purchases. A UGC video has to look like an ordinary person filmed it, so the bar is clean and clear, not cinematic. Each job below can be done with something in your home today, and the table shows what that looks like before you spend anything.

Is your current phone good enough to film UGC?

If your phone films sharp vertical video in daylight and has room to store it, it is good enough to start.

Test it rather than guess. Film yourself reading one line by a window, then watch it back on a bigger screen. If your face is sharp and the colours look like the room, the phone is fine and a new one would not change what a brand sees. What changes the result far more is the plan you film from, which is why it pays to write each shoot down first with something like a UGC script template that holds up and a short shot list.

Clear storage before every shoot, because running out halfway through a take costs you the take. Turn on airplane mode too, so a call or a notification does not interrupt a good line.

How do you get good light and sound without buying anything?

Face a window for light and film in the smallest, softest room you have for sound.

• Stand facing the window with the phone between you and the glass, because light from behind you turns your face into a shadow.
• Switch off overhead lights that mix with the daylight, so your skin keeps one colour across every clip.
• Film at the same time of day for one video, so a brand's editor can cut takes together without a jump in brightness.
• Pick a room with a bed, curtains or a sofa in it, because soft surfaces soak up the echo that bare walls bounce back.
• Keep the phone close to your mouth for talking parts and record a few seconds of silence first, so you can hear the room's background noise before you commit.

Sound is the one area where a small purchase can earn its place early. Viewers forgive a slightly soft picture, but muffled or echoing words make a talking video hard to follow. If your test clips sound hollow even in a soft room, a clip-on microphone is the first thing worth buying. Filming UGC on a phone goes deeper on framing and takes once your set-up is ready.

What should your filming spot and background look like?

Your filming spot should look like a real, tidy room where the product makes sense, with nothing in frame that pulls the eye.

Pick 'where would I actually use this' over a blank studio look. A kitchen counter suits a food container, a bathroom shelf suits a moisturiser, a desk suits an app. Clear the surface, then check the frame on the phone screen, because clutter you stopped noticing in person jumps out on camera. Remove any other brand's logo or label from view, so the only product in the shot is the one you are filming for.

Set up two or three spots in your home that you can reuse. Having a ready kitchen spot and a ready desk spot lets you film samples before any brand hires you quickly, and shows range without buying props.

What equipment should you hold off buying for now?

Hold off on anything that makes your videos look produced, because UGC works when it looks like a real person's post.

• A separate camera, because it adds steps between filming and sending, and the look you need is a phone's look.
• Big lighting kits, because one soft source facing you solves the problem a whole kit is built for.
• Backdrops and studio paper, because a plain studio wall reads as an advert rather than someone's home.
• Paid editing extras, until a brand asks for an edit you cannot make with the tools on your phone.
• A new phone, unless your test clip is genuinely blurry in good daylight.

A simple rule keeps spending in check: buy only after the same problem shows up in two shoots. Keep a note on your phone of what went wrong in each one, such as echo, shadows or a wobbly frame. When one entry repeats, that is the thing to fix, and it is usually cheaper to fix than a full kit. Your money and time are better spent on samples for what should a UGC portfolio include, because that is what a brand will look at.