Creating an Animated Commercial

Creating an Animated Commercial

Have you ever seen an animated piece on TV, whether it’s a commercial or a movie, and asked yourself “how do they do that?” Have you ever wondered what actually goes into creating an animation? To get a better idea of what’s involved, let’s examine the process that was involved when creating a couple animated spots for one of our clients, HealtheConnections:

1. Character Development
After coming up with the initial concept, we first came up with a design for the main character, Frank. Everything else that was designed was based around the look and feel of Frank. After he was finalized, we had to create each additional character, including main characters like violet & Mr. Snickers or the various doctors and nurses that were needed to tell the story,

2. Scene Design
Once we had all the characters ironed out, then the remaining visual pieces had to be created. For example, the background for the opening scene had to be designed – the trees, the house, the street, etc. Next, each of the props had to be created, like Frank’s bike, the stretcher he falls on, the ambulance he enters, everything that was needed to tell the story. This process had to be repeated for every scene that was featured in the piece.

3. Scripting
Now that all the visual pieces had been created, they all had to be combined to create the animation. In order to do this, aspect of the story had to be planned out. This included storyboards to show how each scene would progress to the next, the voiceover to narrate the story, and finally, how the characters were going to interact with the props.

4. Keyframing & Animation
Next, everything passed was on the animation stage to create the final piece. This was probably the most difficult step in the process. Every item in the commercial that required motion had to be keyframed to create a fluid story. It needed to look realistic. This included every little movement of a character’s limbs or their facial expressions, every moving prop; and even the “camera” movements to show the linear progression of the theory

5. Music & Sound Effects
Now that we had a completed animation, sound and music needed to be added to give the story more life. Background music was added to help express the feeling of the piece. On top of that, sound effects were inserted for that final touch to make the character interactions a little more realistic

And there you have it! The final commercial then get sent to media stations to be featured on TV.