An explanimation helps your target audience immediately get what you’re on about and what you can mean to them.
Why a Mutant Worm explanimation? Why an explanimation at all? Mutant Worm likes doing them, but please – pretty please with sugar on top – just watch the 1’05 minute video above. You’ll get the point.
Below is the transcript and then: a bunch of text.
Mutant Worm here
and I’m going to tell you about motion graphic promotional videos.
For instance,
imagine you have a brand that you want to share with the world.
That brand could be anything:
a product, a company, an institution, a person, even a manual.
Now you don’t have tons of cash, so how do you get it out in the open?
Not with a bunch of boring text.
Not with an uninspired video of a talking head.
Visitors will flee
from your youtube channel, your website, your powerpoint presentation.
But you want them to come back,
to turn into customers, sponsors, or promoters.
So what you need is a video that grabs their attention and holds it.
One that captures your brand in a nutshell and is also fun to watch.
Your brand will spread like wildfire.
So you contact Mutant Worm and you ask him:
“Hey, Mr. Mutant, can you do one of those swhippety swoosh-swoosh animated promo’s for me?”
And I’d be like, “Yeah man. What’s it about?”
ANIMATED PROMO VIDEO | ANIMATED DEMO VIDEO | INFOMERCIAL | EXPLAINER ANIMATION | MOTION GRAPHIC PROMO VIDEO | EXPLAINER VIDEO | EXPLANIMATION
Several terms are used to describe promotional or informational animated videos. This last one is probably the most fitting description: EXPLANIMATION. Until there’s a better one, I’ll stick to that. Let me know if you think of a better one.
Text, image, sound and humor come together in a short, powerful and effective communication of your core message. In this day and age of digital information this is a not to be underestimated asset.
What is the added value of a Mutant Worm Explanimation?
What Mutant Worm really stands for are animations that resonate, preferably with a healthy and disarming dose of humor.
Ready to make an cool explanimation with Mutant Worm, just call or contact us here or call now: 06-17096032!
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This post features the essential steps in the production process of an explanimation.
PROJECT BRIEF
Indispensable in getting mutual expectations clear.
SCRIPT
This is the most important step in production. Changes after the fact result in a lot of extra work, especially when it concerns animation.
Cutting down on the budget by providing having the client provide its own script is only realistic if the client has sufficient knowledge of this art.
Experience teaches that guidance is generally advisable to prevent problems lateron. This means good collaboration is indispensable.
With a proper script as a guideline this part of the process can be cheaper. However, in order to estimate necessary adaptations to the script, this guideline will be needed before giving an estimate of the costs.
Beware: 170 words = about 1 minute of animation
For instance: structure for a start-up explanimation:
It’s important to keep your message short and structured in communciating your brand (no more than 170 words per minute). After all, you are telling a story with a beginning, a middle and an end: a probleem, a solution, and clear call to action.
This last part urges a viewer to take action, such as: ‘mail now’, ‘call now’, ‘click here’, ‘leave a message’, ‘share this video’, ‘visit the website’, and so on and so forth.
A start-up script looks like this:
VOICEOVER
The voiceover comes in various price categories. A famous actor/actress would be it more pricey, for instance. You can also use my voice or express your wishes. Of course, you can also provide your own voiceover.
With some simple instruction you can cheaply record your own voiceover, for instance with your iPhone under a (soundproofing) blanket and a light to read your text by. Or we can head over to the soundstudio which is also available in the Puddingfabriek where Mutant Worm is based.
STORYBOARD
While writing the script, visual elements are taken into account. The storyboard fase actually starts during scripting, showing what the visuals can be for each text fragment.
The script is divided into logical shots. Next to the sketches for each shot, the following are placed:
Based on a total list of the graphic elements it’s also easier to estimate how long the animating process will take.
ILLUSTRATION (about 25% of the animation time)
I can do the drawings in Adobe Illustrator myself, or I can hire someone with a specific style. You can also use other graphic elements – such as photo’s, video and text. Stock photo’s and footage can be used; these vary a lot in price.
All in all this part of the production greatly influences the budget.
Your corporate design is very important. Any pictures, illustrations, fonts you can provide for the animation are timesavers, which is good for the budget. I prefer vector-files, such as .eps, .pdf, .ai. Otherwise large resolution files, so close ups do not result in rasterized images.
ANIMATION
Animating one minute of relatively simple animation takes about a week. Excluding revisions.
I use Adobe After Effects for most animation. In comparence with traditional animation, this software takes care of many frames that I won’t have to draw. Take in to account that one second holds 25 frames and there you have it: explanimations in the olden days would have been pretty costly.
Animation is tough on the computer’s rendering capacity and timelines on the digital editing table can become pretty complicated. So bear in mind that changes afterwards are time consuming. Hence the importance of the script fase.
The Mutant Worm Promo Video has quite a bit of character animation — animated puppets — which takes more time. Depending on your wishes the animaton can be simpler or more elaborate.
You might need a longer video to get across more elaborate and complex content, such as manuals or financial, economical and legal puzzles. In short, length is a key element for the price, as is the complexity of the animation.
By the way, you wouldn’t want to disregard brilliant insights during animation. It does remain an organic process in many ways and it would be a shame to not include them.
By adding 3D to the mix a higher budget would be needed. Since customer is king, it is a possibility; 3D specialists are standing by. But lets not stop there: stop motion would be cool, and you could even make an explanimation with practical means where the elements are on wires and manually animated in real-time and it becomes a performance.
SOUND DESIGN
Sound design covers all sound, besides the voice over, that further dress the video and make it more pleasing to watch. They involve sound effects and music. The choice in music is essential for setting a mood. However soft and unobtrusive music is suposed to be, Explanimations without music do miss a sensory dimension. Cutting down on this budget would be a shame and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
REVISIONS
The number of revisions depends on the budget. Revisions lift the end product to a higher plane, without them it is simply not possible to attain the highest expectations of the client.
Cutting down on this budget will therefore not benefit the end product and its quality.
COMPRESSION AND DELIVERY
The computer will often have to render (read: calculate) the animation, which can take quite some computer power and time. Then a version can be send though WeTransfer or placed on Vimeo behind a password. This can happen at various stages of development for feedback. The number of feedback moments depends on the budget. Luckily Mutant Worm works on a 12-Core Mac (read ‘calculation monster’) with high speed internet.
Ready to create something cool with Mutant Worm? Get in contact here, or call! +31 617 096 032
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You want the explanimation of your brand to be seen by as many people as possible and spread like a virus. So what can you do to make the video go viral? Just google ‘viral marketing campaign’ and you’ll find plenty tips.
Here’s a shortlist:
(preferably all at once for a more widespread impact, higher ratings in google search engines and consequent bigger chances of being seen)
Ready to make an cool explanimation with Mutant Worm, contact us here or call now: +31 6 170 960 32
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Without concrete contribution by the client, an explanimation can costs between
€ 3000,- and € 10.000,- per minute. Below you’ll find more options for monetarily challenged budgets. Name a sensible budget and there’s a fitting solution. But hey, if you have a ton to spare imagine what we could do with that!
De price depends on the complexity, length and number of people involved in the production. A bigger budget means there will be more time to really fine-tune the end-result. In short:
Still sounds expensive? Yet it’s very cheap compared to a traditional TV-commercial worth tens of thousands of dollars, pounds even. After all it’s about its added value, the impact the video has for your brand.
Cutting down on the budget takes place within a few variables in the production process. For more details see that related post.
Realize that the project management triangle is always in effect.
PIMP YOUR POWERPOINT (www.powerpointpimp.com)
A cheaper alternative looks more like – or can even consist of – a Keynote, Powerpoint or Prezi presentation, with added voiceover, sounds and music. You can provide this Keynote, Powerpoint or Prezi presentation yourself to fit the budget. At all times a captivating script should be the driving force.
Ready to make an cool explanimation with Mutant Worm, contact us here or call now: +31 6 170 960 32
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Need a startup video for your website and online presence?
Want to make clear what you stand for? What you’re on about?
Get a clear, concise and playful Mutant Worm explanimation!
“Mutant Worm here, and I’m going to tell you about motion graphic promotional videos. For instance, imagine you have a brand that you want to share with the world. That brand could be anything: a product, a company, an institution, a person, even a manual …”
Call them whatever you like: ‘I get it now’-videos, explanimations, epipheos, explainer animations, lightbulb animations, illuminations. The main gist is that Mutant Worm can help you out with a short, clear and playful animation that helps people understand what you want to convey.
You’ve probably seen them, and everybody wants one. But not just any one, right? Mutant Worm is very keen on script and humor.
Voiceover by Frank Boxman himself.
learn more?De Nederlandse versie
