GUIDES & TIPS

Our round up of tips and terminolgy for introducing motion  

Animation can make a big impact, a small amount of movement can really grab attention and enhance your message, and a short animated film is a great way to get across an idea or tell your story in an engaging and digestible way. 

Whatever you’re creating, be it an ad campaign, a film about your organisation’s story, or simply enhancing your comms with a touch of movement, there are a few things you will want to think about. No two projects are the same, but we’ve put together a few handy pointers to help you get started, from the idea through to project prodction.

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The idea & brief

You might have a very clear idea already about what you would like to create, or you might simply have a list of requirements. In order to help shape your brief, you will need to consider what you need the finished pieces to do for you – what is their purpose and where will they be seen, and by who? Consider how the answers to these questions impact how they will look, the tone, who will be involved, and ultimately where you will need to share them. 

From a creative perspective, if you aren't sure where to start, be on the look out for great examples that will help you explain the tone you are looking for, or anything else on your mind (check out the Grand Motion page for a bunch of our artists work). 

There are also a few practical things you will need to consider before commissioning –

• What size, resolution and file types do you require? Are there multiple sizes and formats?
• What is the optimum length of animation for your needs?
• Will you need shorter edits or variations for different formats or lengths?
• Do you need music or voice over? If so, what mood or tone do you want to create?
• Will you need subtitles?
• Do you already have a script? 
• What is your deadline and who needs to input & approve the work along the way? 
   

Assembling the right team

You might be looking for an illustrator who can animate, an animator who can make static illustration move, a team up of illustrators and animators together, or an animator who can do it all. And you might want to include music or sound. There are lots of possibilites, and it depends on what you are trying to achieve as to what the right option is for you. Our team can help guide you through this. 

If you are looking for a specific visual style, or want to work with both motion and static imagery for your project, it could be worth considering commissioning an illustrator. Some illustrators are able to offer animation too, but if not, or you're looking for something more complex for the motion side of things, you may want to pair an illustrator with an animator who can make their work move. 

If you require sound effects (SFX) or music, you may want to work with a sound designer, someone who can create all the sound and compose the music needed for the project. If you don't need bespoke music, there are lots of music libraries offering tracks available to license, and if it's a particuarly complex project or you require some guidance you may want want to work with a music supervisor.  

Production

There are a number of stages to creating moving image. Depending on your project, you may be able to skip some – when commissioning short or looping gifs, you probably won't need things like a script, storyboard, voice over or sound, but it's worth bearing in mind the below most common components of the animation production timeline when creating something a little longer.

www.grandmatter.com/animation

Illustrations by Thomas Hedger

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