As we discussed in our previous blog the evolution of 2D animations has opened doors to immense possibilities not only in the motion picture industry and advertising but rather has become a crucial part for businesses to communicate their message more succinctly.
What 2D explainers give way for creative freedom, it demands time. Time for planning the animation which includes writing the script, storyboarding, getting voice over recorded and making mockups for the animation, till the team of designers and illustrators breathe life into the prototype.
Step 1: Script
A 2D explainer could have the coolest graphics and most amazing voiceover in the world, but it wouldn’t mean a thing without a solid script to get behind.
Knowing your target customer’s concerns and pain points and weaving your narrative around it is where you start—What interests your potential customers? What confuses them about your product or offering? If you haven’t already done some research to answer these questions, now is the time to consider surveying your audience and figuring this out.
A general outline can be drawn up for the video script as follows:
- Quick overview of your product and what it does
- Introduce the problem
- Answer the problem with your solution (via product or service)
- Call to action (e.g. sign up for our free trial by clicking here!)
Step 2: Recording the Voiceovers
Having the right kind of voice over to your explainer can mean the success or failure of the explainer as voice is what holds the personality of the brand, so conducting a thorough audition is of priority.
Step 3: 2D Explainer Video Production
While having the voice over recorded the script can be condensed into a shot list where each shot is detailed in terms of the shot size, animation style, voice over cue, etc. Once the shot list is fixed we then move on to storyboarding where the storyboard artist draws each frame of the video roughly, almost like a comic book so that the important elements of the frame are baked in, before the actual animation and illustrations takes over. This step forms a base for illustrators, designers and animators to work on, iterate and perfect. And then set creation takes place where the designer goes over the brand’s visual guidelines and designs elements such as the host of the video, backgrounds, objects and environments are designed to the painstaking detail.
Step 4: Music & Sound effects
While we rely on visuals for communicating and voice over to guide us, what gives the animation an additional immersive quality is sound effects and music.
And that’s how we bring an idea alive in the world of animation.
Step 5: Publish!
Post, share, review and go back to step 1.