EISENHOWER HEALTH
BROADCAST :30 SPOT
A DILEMMA
I wanted to up our game when it came time to do another animated spot for this client. Before this, we'd inherited a very VERY simple animation style, and I'd stayed in that vein as requested for the two previous spots. This time I wanted us to do better,
MY STRATEGY
On my own time I did some research on what captivated or held my interest in animated spots, and one thing I noticed was that a super consistent visual style all the way through didn't hold my interest as much as spots that changed it up once or twice.
I found two styles of stock illustration to do this with, choosing what I liked, what would work for the script, and what could be pretty easily animated to a degree. The budget wasn't the kind that lets you hire an illustrator/animator, so I had to make sure the art was vector and easy to break up in order to rotate arms and such.
Next, I did a comp to get client blessing on switching to a whole new look and feel. I put a lot of time into the comp because I really wanted to sell it, and I thought I just wouldn't charge those hours if the client wanted to stick with the original path. But it wasn't wasted time after all, because it got an immediate green light, and the project was partway done.
WHAT ABOUT THE ART?
I created the final art panels in Illustrator: adding textures to backgrounds, buying fonts for the typography, adjusting and even wholly illustrating elements.
I really trust in the artistry of the animation guy at our production company, so we gave him some instruction for motion and sound, but also asked him to do his thing as he saw fit. Great guy to work with.
HOPING
In the end, because the project had more visual elements, it did take longer to execute. Not a huge amount longer than the simple spots we'd done, but enough that my CD didn't want to charge client for all of it. I agreed to share in the hours we'd eat. My hope? That the client asks for something similar in scope the next time, and okays a bigger budget.