Our aim is to ensure that every video or animation we create tells an engaging story. For that it must have a strategy and a purpose. We’ve got a great set of processes for making sure that always happens.
1. Kick-off meeting and briefing
As with any of our creative services it all starts with a meet and greet, a kick-off meeting where we can get to under the skin of your organisation, brand and project. We will discuss the products or services and the real objectives of what you wish to achieve from a motion video or animation. This feeds into a detailed brief which allow us to create an accurate estimate on time and costs.
2. Research and strategy
We’ll do a little competitor analysis to make sure what we propose is the best solution for your audiences. Channels will need to be considered, which ones can deliver the video or animation in the most cost effective way. We will think about the challenge of budget vs expectation. Ultimately, we want to ensure that what we do is unique and creates a measurable impact.
3. Script writing or refining the script
It could be that your video or animation has dialogue, or maybe not, either way we need the bones of a story. A simple script may describe each key scene or point in our animation with a single sentence. An animation that features a narrated voice over or presentation may require more involved script writing. Developing an initial script is an important first step in the creative process that we would collaborate on.
4. Storyboards and moodboards
Our next step in the process is to develop hand drawn storyboards that illustrate in simple terms the key scenes within the animation and the narrative time line that unfolds. Storyboards are rapid prototypes that can be tweaked and amended until everyone feels they are capturing the essence of the project.
During this period we would also produce moodboards that illustrate the style of art direction, tone and feel for what we feel could work. Moodboards help brainstorm ideas for the possible creative routes and helps the client engage with overall direction of the project.
5. Filming and/or animation
If the project requires filmed footage we’ll call on our camera teams to go get it, along with an art director from Carbon. We’ll ensure we get enough film in the can for all our needs and perhaps even a few out takes!
For animations most of our time will be spent creating graphics assets and then bringing them to life on the timeline. If a voice over is needed we will work with the artist and get audio recorded first so we can synchronise our animated content to the audio.
Some projects will be a combination of both filming and animation!
6. Editing and feedback
The unsung hero is in the magic of the edit suite. We may have hours of raw footage that need to be condensed in to a few minutes of video, combining audio, dialogue, music, motion graphics and titling to create the final piece. Editing is usually iterative, with a first draft which cut scenes together followed by increasing layers of post production finesse, colour corrections, transitions, audio layers, graphics and so on. At each stage we will present back an amended draft so you can watch how the editing work is progressing.
7. Final deployment
Whether YouTube, your website or other channels such as social media we’ll ensure the video is resized and ripped correctly for all the formats needed.
