We know what’s going on… right?
We’ve all been there… we get right to the end of a project, we’re about to pop the virtual champagne when suddenly we get an email – it’s the head of marketing. They’ve seen the animation and they’ve got a few comments…
Why didn’t we involve them in the first place?! Overlooking stakeholders is easily done but in an animation project it can be really costly. In this email, we’ll do a quick refresh on the animation production process to highlight why including every key stakeholder from the beginning of the project is the key to cost saving success!
Understand the process and keep everyone in the loop
Discovery call
We’ve got the green light and everyone (client and agency) comes together to gain a deep understanding of the subject matter and discuss next steps. This is the ideal time to double check – does everyone who needs to know about this project know about it? Are they fully briefed and clear on what’s going on?
Scripts and style frames
The agency takes all the info from the discovery call and crafts a script (the narrative) and possibly style frames (the aesthetic) to start to bring the story to life. Always build in time for ALL stakeholders to review EVERYTHING. Top tip – put dedicated review time in their diaries. That doesn’t mean that every single stakeholder needs to be CCed into every email, but every stakeholder does need to input as and when necessary because…
Storyboarding
…every step of the production process has a time and value cost associated with it. After the script has been signed off or ‘locked’ then storyboards are created. If a relevant stakeholder sees the boards but hasn’t seen or signed off the script, then we may have to take a step backwards, put additional time (and cost) into scripting and then, boarding. This problem becomes even more significant when…
Animating and voiceovers
…they only see the content after the animation and (if applicable) the voice over has been completed. Days of time and value cost have been spent – a voice over artist has been sourced (we’re all about human VO here at All Things Equal), a studio booked and a session recorded. Animators have been working for days to produce a wonderful piece of work only for it to be picked to bits by a key stakeholder who wasn’t involved in the first place.
It doesn’t stop there!
Animation is a wonderful storytelling tool and when the production process is tight and all key stakeholders are engaged, it can be really cost effective. The production process above helps us funnel out surprise. If you signed off the script, the storyboards shouldn’t be too shocking. And if you signed off the boards, you know what the animation’s going to look like. Don’t let an ‘out of the loop’ stakeholder add time, cost and frustration to the project, get everyone around the table from day one.
Speaking of animations, we’ve got a few on our website – take a look!
