How to: deliver an animated video
Animated videos and motion-graphics, are definitely having a moment.
We produce a lot of “live-action” video too, and often that’s the right approach for telling a human story, or really selling an experience.
But sometimes you don’t have access to real-life examples of what you’re talking about, and a more metaphorical, poetic approach might be better. Animations also have the great advantage of not requiring the often significant amount of logistical arrangements required of a video project. We’ve written about this before. For an animation, it’s a lot simpler for clients.
But, of course, there are some important things to bear in mind when commissioning one – to really get the most out of your investment and time:
1. Start with the 7 simple questions
This is what every creative project should begin with, and is about understanding messaging, audiences and outcomes of your animation. We’ve also written about this before too, but for a recap, the questions to ask yourself are:
What: in a nutshell is the point you’re putting across?
How: will it work in practice for your audience?
Why: does it matters to them, to you, and the wider world?
Who: are you aiming to reach – and how is it best to reach them?
What do you want them to think?
What do you want them to feel?
What do you want them to do, as a result?
Answering all of these questions, honestly and succinctly will set the tone for the entire production, and will help with stuff like the content and the script, the visuals, the general tone and rhythm, and the format. Speaking of which…
2. Choose your format
This relates to the channel you think is best to demonstrate it. If it’s going on your website, or on a digital screen in a public forum in your premises, you want it to be a landscape 16:9 format – and really it can be anything up to about 3 minutes in length.
If it’s going on social media, you want it to be portrait 9:16, and you should aim for it to be no longer than about 20 seconds.
If it’s going on both – you’ll need to allow for this in your project budget, as they will require a slightly different treatment.
With the recent change to the way Meta prefers videos to be formatted, and the proliferation of TikTok / Snapchat style content, this is a question that really needs consideration.
The days of doing a long 4 minute motion-graphic, taking 10 second clips from it, plonking them on your Facebook page, and hoping for the best are over.
The bad news is, that means more work (and probably a bit more budget). But the good news is that if you embrace this change you can really get ahead of the game, and your content will reach new heights of engagement.
We’ve done a lot of both, and you can see they have very different formats and narrative style. So they do require different scripts, and storyboard development - even though the basic messaging and visual style are consistent across both.
3. Understand the sign-off process
An often overlooked – but very important – element for minimising the stress-levels late in the project!
Before you start, make sure you have a good understanding of:
- Who gets to say “yes” and “no” to stuff, and ultimately who will give it the thumbs-up before you can use it.
- Whose opinion you’d like to seek – even though they don’t get final say
It is very advisable to keep your sign-off group as small as possible, but to make sure it has the right people in it.
It’s then important to put time in the diary for commenting on and signing off key parts of the development, such as:
- The script
- The storyboard
- The soundtrack
- The development
It’s really important to get everything lined up beforehand, and ensure everyone involved understands what they’re commenting on, and at what stage.
4. Engage in the script-writing process
For any kind of animation, even ones without any dialogue, they need some sort of script – even if it’s for text appearing on screen or particular transitions.
For the ones with dialogue, it is a bit more complicated. But this is all about going back to Point 1, and those seven simple questions.
If you work with us on an animation, we’ll take this from what you tell us and write a first draft for you. We’ll bring some storytelling flair to your messaging, and maybe this first draft will hit the mark straight away, who knows!
More likely however, is that it’ll be nearly there, and it’ll need a bit of tweaking. This is fine and absolutely normal! We’ll probably have 2 or 3 drafts before you sign it off.
5. Understand the soundtrack process
There are a few ways to go about the soundtrack element of an animation, but there are some fundamentals.
Firstly – you do need some music on it. Otherwise, the moving images can take on a slightly eery quality, or it can just be a bit boring. Again, if you work with us on your animation, we’ll usually pick 3 or 4 options that suit the general vibe you’re going for from the many millions of royalty-free tracks out there.
(Read my previous post on why, sadly, you can’t have Taylor Swift playing in the background)
Once you’ve picked the one you like, we buy the licence for it so we can use it freely – and without any annoying audio watermarks on. This is always included in the project budget, so it’s not an extra cost. But it does mean that once it’s bought, it can’t be un-bought, so any changes of mind will result in extra cost – so it pays to take care over your choice.
Now the question is, do you need a narrator? Silly question? Well, not necessarily. It is true that most animations we do have one, but increasingly in this TikTokky, Snapchatty world, they’re not always necessary. Check out these ones we did with NHS North West London to show how a good strong track, matched with a snappy, engaging visual, can often be enough….
In most cases however, you more than likely will have a narrator. Or possibly a number of narrators. We’ve done both recently.
A single narrator is best if your animation is short, and used primarily as an ad. Check out this one we did recently for East Cheshire NHS Trust on their NHS App campaign:
But multiple narrators can be really impactful if you’re telling a number of human stories, or if you want to put across the diversity of the team you’re talking about.
Check out our recent animation with the NHS Clinical Leaders Network for example:
Then it’s about recording it.
We will come and record your narrator(s) in a suitable venue of your choice. We have the gear to make it sound professional, and clear as a bell. We also have the experience to get the best out of everyone recording it – especially if, like most people, they’ve never done it before.
The ideal scenario is a small, quiet room (ideally where you can turn the air conditioning off). It needs to have a fairly ‘dampened’ sound. A small side office or meeting booth is ideal. It needs a door that will close firmly, and not be around too many people talking on phones or slamming doors. We can work anywhere really – but a big hall with loads of reflective surfaces (like mirrors, big windows, or a shiny dance-floor) isn’t ideal.
If it’s several narrators, we can record it in multiple sittings – but ideally it could do with being in the same (or at the very least, a very similar) location.
The voiceover is recorded according to your signed-off script, so again, once it’s done, it can’t be un-recorded, so it you want it changing at this point, it’s another recording session, and additional cost. So, again, take good care over the script stage.
We’ll then edit it together, add things like EQ and compression, and marry it up with the music you’ve picked, and that’s your soundtrack sorted.
6. Pay attention to detail in the storyboard
Usually, at the same time the voiceover is being recorded, we’re squirreling away on a storyboard for the animation too.
This will be based exactly on the script, and will be where the visual style will be set for the final product.
It’s essentially a fully designed non-moving version of the animation itself. It details, frame-by-frame what will happen when, and what it’ll look like.
This is also a document that is up for discussion. We’ll send you a version to look at and scrutinise. If anything needs changing at this stage, it can and will be.
We need to know about stuff like branding, colour palettes, fonts and a website for a call to action – and we’ll ensure we include those here too.
Once you’re happy with it, we’ll work from a final signed-off version.
So again, this is a really important stage to pay close attention to – as it’s difficult to change it once it’s in production, so we always have the storyboard sign-off as a key point of no return in the process.
But don’t worry, we’ll work closely with you to make sure it’s exactly what it needs to be.
7. Development – sit back and relax (for a week or so)
At this point, we have a signed off storyboard, and a signed off soundtrack. So it’s time to sit back and relax for a while (usually about a week) as we put them together, and make all those images move to the music.
All that close attention you’ve paid at checking over the script, the storyboard, and in choosing both your narrators and the music will have paid off nicely, as we get on with it behind the scenes.
We’ll send you a link to view it on our Vimeo channel that will be “unlisted”, which means you’ll be able to see it if you have the link, but it won’t show up on any searches or recommendations – so it’s for your eyes and ears only at this stage.
The detailed work you’ve done in Stage 3 pays dividends here too, as you have your people lined up to sign if off as quickly as possible. There should be no surprises for anyone at this point, as they’ve been involved in everything.
You give us the sign off, we supply you the finalised video file with your animation on – for you to do what you like with. It’s yours!
8. Think how to get it out there
Increasingly though, our clients are now asking us to help them get their animation out there by running a short online ad campaign via social media. We’ve had really successful campaigns via Meta and Snapchat recently, so if this is something you’d like to pursue, let us know.
You’ll need a bit of budget for this, but once we know what we’re working to, we can make it all happen, and provide weekly performance updates so you can see how it’s doing.
Alternatively, we can help you with your ongoing social channels scheduling too. So just get in touch and let us know if this is something you’d like us to help with.
And that’s it. In summary, it’s pretty simple. Pay close attention to detail in the scripting and storyboard stages; take care over the audio production: and you’ll have a unique, inspiring animation that tells your story and reaches the right people.
Interested in starting a new animation? Get in touch, and let’s talk.
