Every animated advert starts with a blank screen. On a live-action shoot you point a camera at something that already exists, whereas in animation everything the viewer sees, down to the colour of the sky, has to be designed and built from nothing.
That’s what makes animation so flexible, because it can show things you could never film, and it isn’t at the mercy of the weather or anybody’s diary. It also means that it isn’t quick, and that changes late in the day cost more than they do with live action, so a clear, step-by-step process matters a great deal. Ours has four stages, and we’ll guide you through each of them.
Before we get to them, bear in mind that two fairly different things go by the name of animation. Character animation is the kind most people picture, with designed characters who carry a story, whereas motion graphics means animated words, shapes, logos and graphics without a cast, and is generally quicker to plan and produce. The four stages are the same for both.
Stage 1: the storyboard
This is where we map the whole advert out, scene by scene. You’ll get a rough storyboard, usually as a PDF, with simple placeholder drawings, and we’ve explained what one is for in our guide to storyboards.
At this point the drawings aren’t there to show how the advert will look, only how it will work, which means whether the story makes sense, whether the message is clear and whether each scene flows into the next. It’s much easier to move things around now, while they’re sketches, than at any point later on.
The script deserves as much attention as the pictures, because an animated advert is usually timed to its voiceover, with each scene built to last as long as the words that go with it. Rewording a line later on can therefore mean re-animating the scene underneath it. As with any TV advert, we also get the script approved by Clearcast before production starts.
Anybody who’ll need to approve the finished advert should see the storyboard and be happy with it before we go any further.
Stage 2: creating the assets
Once the storyboard is agreed, we design everything that will appear on screen, which means the characters, the objects, the backgrounds and the graphics. In the trade these are called assets, and you’ll see them as still designs before any of them moves.
It’s easy to underestimate how much can ride on the design. When we made an animated advert for the personal injury firm Hampson Hughes with the agency Global, the story took place in a black and white world that gets its colour back when Hampson Hughes get involved. The characters and the city behind them were all created from scratch in a modern 2D style, and designed to incorporate the firm’s colours, which meant those colours could be part of the story itself.
This is the stage where the look of your advert is decided, so take your time over it. Check:
- that the branding is right, including your logo, fonts and colours
- that you like the overall style
- that the characters look the way you imagined
- that anyone who needs to approve the look has done so
The style is a practical decision as well as a matter of taste, because the more detailed a character is, and the more it has to do, the longer every second of it takes to animate. A simple figure that glides across the screen is a much smaller job than one that walks and talks.
This is also the point to lock things down, because once we start animating, changing the design of a character means redoing every scene they appear in.
Stage 3: the animation
With the designs approved, we animate each scene using the storyboard and the assets, and send it to you as a review link, so you can click on the video and leave comments at exact points, and share it with colleagues too.
There’ll normally be a temporary voiceover at this stage to help you judge the timing, along with the music and sound effects. Sound has more to do in animation than in live action, because a filmed scene arrives with at least some sound of its own, whereas an animated world is silent until every footstep and closing door has been added, and the music sets much of the mood.
What you’re judging now is the movement and the timing, so ask yourself whether you’re happy with the pace, whether everything flows as you expected and whether the music suits it. As with any production, it helps enormously if everyone on your side agrees on the feedback before it comes to us, so that we’re not working from conflicting comments.
Stage 4: the final polish
With the animation approved, we add the finishing touches. The final voiceover is recorded, the sound is mixed and any last refinements are made.
For a TV advert, this is also when the technical checks happen, including the Harding Test for flashing images, which fast-moving animation is more likely to trip than most live action, because the test looks for quick changes between light and dark and for bold, regular patterns. Subtitles are arranged at this point too, with a specialist subtitling service, and then the advert goes to Clearcast for final approval.
We’ll share the finished version for your sign-off before anything is sent out.
Why the order matters
Each stage is built on the one before: the assets are designed to fit the storyboard, and the animation is built from the assets. So going back a step is always possible, but it nearly always means redoing some of what came after, and that takes time and adds cost.
Live action is a little more forgiving in this respect, because a shoot usually comes back with more than the edit needs, in the form of spare takes and alternative angles, so a shot that isn’t working can often be swapped for another. Animation has no spare footage, because nothing exists except what was planned and approved, and a new shot is always new work.
All of which is why we ask for a proper sign-off at every stage, and why the quicker feedback comes in, the smoother and faster the whole thing runs.
Is animation right for your advert?
Animation is a good choice when you need to explain something that’s hard to film, when you want a character or a look that’s unmistakably yours, or when you’d like an advert that can be updated easily in future.
Explaining is where it’s often at its best, because you can show things that would be impossible with a live shoot, and it keeps things light, which helps a lot when you’re asking people to take in some information. Motor Depot had already promoted their Smart Drive product in several different ways, and felt that animation would give them a fresh way of explaining it, which is what the advert we made for them with the agency PAB Studios set out to do.
Characters are its other great strength, and it’s the one we drew on for AirFair, who had been on TV for some time with a simple, no-frills message. When they were ready to step things up, we came up with the “flightless birds”, a cast of animated characters that gave the brand a personality, on the thinking that if people remember the characters they remember who the advert was for.
Animated designs travel well, too, and AirFair’s were reused for online and outdoor advertising, so the campaign looked the same wherever people came across it. A distinctive look can also set you apart when everybody else in your field looks alike, which is what Queen Alexandra Sixth Form wanted from an advert that looked nothing like the usual school and college promos.
Animation is less suited to a business whose main attraction is something real, such as its premises, its staff or its customers, because viewers generally want to see those for themselves. The two approaches can sit side by side, though, and we’ve made both kinds for the same client, as you can see in our work. Nor is it automatically the cheaper option, because although simple motion graphics can be one of the more economical ways of making an advert, detailed character animation is slow, skilled work.
It does generally need longer than a simple shoot, so allow for that when you’re planning, and there’s more on timings in how long it takes to get a TV ad on air. Since every animated advert starts with a storyboard, a good way of finding out whether it would suit yours is to ask us for a free one, or get in touch if you’d like to talk an idea through first.
Keep reading.
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