Client: Chews Happiness
Agency: Redstone Media Group
Voiceover: Dana Cox
2022
I created this video within a time period of two weeks working directly with the client. I wrote, storyboarded and edited the script based on their specifications. I was solely responsible for production, including animation and sound design.
Process:
Every video begins with a script, so I created a draft drawing from the existing marketing materials that the client had as well as research into the company values and product. The first draft was close to the way it appears in the final video with all of the main points included, but also included some selling points that the client dictated they wanted to appear in the video. After getting approval from the script and recording some initial voiceovers, it became obvious that there was too much information in the script to keep it to the 30 second duration.
A few edits were exchanged between me and the client as well as some edits made by Dana Cox, my boss and editor on this project. Finally we landed on a 4th draft that the client was satisfied with and also fit within the 30 second duration.
The next step was to create a structure in the form of a storyboard for the entire script, based on the direction and motion text sections pinned down in the script-writing process. I made a slide for each section of the script and determined the colours, design and visual language of the video. While creating assets for each section I was able to make decisions about which pieces would be animated and which would remain static to keep the messaging consistent. This process is important to start as early as possible to avoid too many refinements and edits later one.
During this stage I communicated with the client to acquire any visual assets I needed from them like logo files and product images, and sourced vectors from stock imagery sites to animate. It was important to make sure that all vectors matched each other, in this video I wanted a flat and soft look to all the vectors. This style was meant to underscore the values of the company which were sustainability and compassion.
After I sent the storyboard to the client, received their feedback and landed on a design that we were both satisfied with it was time to start production of the actual video. I began by loading the storyboard slides into After Effects as references for each scene. Then working backwards I animated each element to appear as specified in the script. Using the voiceover from Dana Cox I matched the animation to the script. Even though the script was finalized and could not be changed, there was a great deal of detail to refine in how the information appeared on screen and for how long. The initial animation took approximately 10 hours to complete and then I took a few passes to refine the pacing.
Throughout the video there are small animated scenes of vector characters that appear to illustrate the selling points. These required some granular focus and specific vectors that needed to be treated in Adobe Illustrator to be properly animated. Generally speaking, each part of the image that moves needs to be separated onto it's own layer and at times pieces need to be added to the vectors after the fact (Ex. the space behind an arm when it moves in front of the body).
The longest of these animations to complete was the logo reveal at the end of the video. It included a few more animated elements than the Lab and Lake scenes above, and it was also very important to preserve the branding within the animation. Altogether it included 13 animated parts: The background wheel, both of the dog's ears, the mouth, the tongue 7 lotus petals and the 'Chews Happiness' text.
