The Ordinary UGC — Sheet First, Then the Video

GENERATION GOAL
Generate a 15-second vertical UGC-style skincare video, filmed as if on a phone by the woman herself. One woman, one product. The primary event: she introduces a facial oil, dispenses it, applies it to her face, and closes on the product.
REFERENCE MATERIALS
Image 1 is a six-panel product reference sheet. Use it to define the white carton and the amber glass bottle — the same proportions, glass tint, white dropper cap and printed label as in the reference — and the four product states it shows: closed carton, carton open with the bottle rising out of it, closed bottle, open bottle with the dropper removed. Do not reproduce the panel grid, the panel divisions, or the white studio background. Do not place more than one carton or more than one bottle in any frame.
Image 2 defines the glass dropper with its tube filled with golden-amber oil, the amber drop forming at its glass tip, and the bare glass neck of the opened bottle. Image 1 and Image 2 show one single product. The reference contains two bottles; the video contains only one bottle. Do not duplicate the bottle. Do not use its white studio background.
Image 3 defines the woman’s face, identity and hair colour. Do not use its hair texture or styling, the black t-shirt, the white background, or the neutral expression.
SUBJECT
The woman is the same as in Image 3. Her hair is wet, pushed straight back off her face and behind her ears, darkened at the roots by water, with the colour gradient from Image 3 still clearly readable through the wetness. She wears a white waffle-weave bathrobe with a shawl collar, tied at the waist. Her hands are bare: no rings, no bracelets, no watch, no coloured nail polish, short natural nails.
SETTING AND LIGHT
A quiet home interior. The wall behind her is deep forest green, held soft and out of focus at all times. Warm natural side light falls from camera left and keys her face and hands. The green wall stays unlit — background separation only. Her skin stays warm and neutral.
STAGE 1 — 0 TO 4 SECONDS
Initial state: she stands close to camera in the robe, the closed bottle in her hand, the carton out of frame.
0-1 s: close-up at a selfie angle, phone held at face height. She raises the closed bottle beside her cheek and holds it steady. Handheld frame with a slight natural drift.
1-2 s: cut to a product close-up of her hands only against a plain neutral surface. She rotates the closed carton slowly, bringing the front face and then one side panel toward the lens. The printed label stays legible.
2-3 s: cut to an unboxing close-up. The carton stands with its top flap open; her fingers grip the white dropper cap and lift the bottle slowly and smoothly straight up out of the box.
3-4 s: cut to a close product shot. She holds the closed bottle upright, front label square to camera and sharp, background soft. The camera pushes in slowly by a small amount.
End state: the carton is out of frame, the closed bottle stands upright in her hand.
STAGE 2 — 4 TO 8 SECONDS
4-5 s: extreme close-up on the top of the bottle. Her fingers squeeze the white silicone bulb twice, gently. The glass tube is still inside the bottle. The label sits below the frame line.
5-6 s: cut to a medium close-up. She holds the glass dropper, its tube filled with golden-amber oil, above her other palm, which is open and level. She presses the bulb and three drops fall in slow succession into the centre of the palm.
6-7 s: cut to a macro shot. The glass tip of the dropper hangs in frame with one rounded amber drop forming at its end, catching a small highlight. The open glass neck of the bottle sits behind it, soft and out of focus. No label in frame.
7-8 s: cut to a macro shot of the back of her hand. One drop releases from the glass tip and lands on the skin, holding its rounded shape.
End state: a single drop of oil sits on the back of her hand, the dropper is in her other hand.
STAGE 3 — 8 TO 13 SECONDS
8-9 s: macro on the back of her hand. The fingertips of her other hand spread the drop in small slow circles; the skin takes on a soft even sheen.
9-11 s: cut to a close-up of her cheek and neck, her head turned three-quarters away from camera. She holds the dropper above her cheekbone and releases two drops onto the upper cheek; they run slowly downward across the skin.
11-13 s: cut to a frontal close-up of her face. Her fingertips work the oil across both cheeks, then both palms press and smooth it along the cheeks and jawline with gentle patting movements until it is absorbed. Her eyes stay lowered toward her own hands.
End state: the oil is absorbed, her skin carries a soft even sheen, her hands lower out of frame.
STAGE 4 — 13 TO 15 SECONDS
13-15 s: close-up, her face front to camera. She raises the closed bottle beside her cheek and holds it there, lifts her eyes to the lens, and gives a small closed-mouth smile that reaches her eyes.
End state: the bottle is held beside her face, her gaze is on the lens.
AUDIO — VOICEOVER
A female off-screen voiceover speaks in natural, warm, conversational American English at an easy unhurried pace, as if talking to a friend. Her lips do not move at any point — this is narration over the footage, not speech delivered on camera.
0-2 s: This is my secret to glowing, hydrated skin.
2-4 s: It’s the 100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil by The Ordinary.
5-8 s: It hydrates, supports skin elasticity, and gives you that glow.
8-11 s: It’s an oil-based formula, soft and smooth on the skin.
11-13 s: Apply it in the evening, after your water-based products.
13-15 s: You won’t regret it.
AUDIO — SOUND DESIGN
Quiet room tone throughout. A soft cardboard rustle as the carton flap moves at 2 s. A light glass-on-glass tap as the dropper clears the bottle rim at 3 s. A small soft squeeze of the silicone bulb at 4 s. A faint wet friction of fingertips against skin from 11 to 13 s. No music.
MAINTAIN CONSISTENCY
One woman throughout, the same face and hair colour as Image 3 in every shot. One bottle and one carton in the entire video, never two of either. Her hair stays equally wet from the first frame to the last — it does not dry, loosen, or fall forward. The white robe stays identical in every shot. Her hands stay bare in every shot. The bottle’s label artwork stays identical to Image 1 wherever it is visible. The deep green wall stays behind her and stays out of focus in every shot. The warm side light comes from camera left in every shot.
DO NOT
No on-screen text of any kind: no captions, no subtitles, no titles, no overlay plates, no burned-in words, no watermark, no timecode, and no logos other than the label printed on the product itself. No panel grid or split-screen layout carried over from Image 1. No second bottle carried over from Image 2. No dry or loose hair. No rings, bracelets, watches, or coloured nail polish. No green light and no green colour cast on her skin. No sofa, no plants, no clutter in frame. No fast or jittery movement — every hand movement and every camera movement is slow and smooth. No zoom other than the single slow push-in at 3 to 4 seconds.