Animation is everywhere; from creative adverts and short stories to website explainer videos and blockbuster films. It’s an incredibly creative way to engage with people and to tell a story but the difficulty arises from narrowing down the available options to find a style that fits your message.
There are countless ways in which the video can be created and the style is as important as the script in order to convey the right message. Pre-production is key to getting this right. This is where the script is finessed, but most importantly the look and feel of the video is established through the development of sketches, mood boards and other videos.
Below are three main areas of animation that may be worth considering for your next video:
Stop-motion
Stop-motion animation invokes imagery of hand-crafted, lovable videos that can creatively showcase an idea in a unique way. It certainly takes a lot of time, and patience, but the end result is always lovably impressive.
We’ve previously used stop-motion techniques to create a series of videos that needed to stand-out whilst also being engaging for an international audience. The videos included one-off handmade assets that were used to raise awareness of cyber-attacks and phishing techniques. The style of the video softened the message and helped to create something more memorable and engaging.
Other recent examples of stop-motion videos range from the large-scale, Oscar nominated ‘The Bigger Picture’ to the Honda “Paper” advert created by award-winning director PES, both of which convey very different messages but both will keep you engaged throughout.
2D Animation
2D animation has been a popular technique for 150 years but has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years, being used to create anything from intricate short stories and TV shows to custom logo animations and explainer videos. It’s also being increasingly experimented with through UI animation on smartphones to help everyday interactions feel natural. It’s a versatile art form and the increased availability of software and hardware, as well as education and awareness, means that it’s even easier to start developing something from scratch.
The possibilities are endless and it can be used to create videos that range in style, from a pinball animation created for TFT Consultants to a video that brings ferrets to life to explain how Feedback Ferret handle customer feedback.
3D Animation
It was a love of Pixar that got me into animation but it certainly isn’t the only use of 3D animation around. The possibilities of 3D animation are endless and it can be used to create rich, detailed worlds that can explain a concept or demonstrate an idea more clearly.
Previously we’ve created a video for AsphaltRS that demonstrated their pavement reinforcement technology using 3D animation to focus on a stretch of road that would otherwise have been prohibitive to film. We also created a series of videos for Fleetmatics with 3D vans, something which gave the videos more breadth in terms of the story that could be told. This could have been created in a range of styles but after producing initial designs, the client felt that the 3D vans suited their brand more closely.
Combined Styles
The line between each category is becoming increasingly more blurred as different techniques are combined. A great example of this is the video below which combines stop-motion, 3D objects, as well as 2D text and graphics.
Getting the style right is important BUT the idea has to come first. So, whatever your idea, we can help to offer suggestions and examples in order to give you the right style to fit your message.