Show Them Pictures

Making the RST animation #5 - sound design

When we've finished creating all the animation footage for a project we have... a completely silent film. All the sound effects, background noises and so on have to be added afterwards.

Adam did the sound design for Refugee Survival Trust's animation. As we had zero budget, he sourced sounds from freesound. Freesound is a great resource - a database of audio files released under Creative Commons licenses.

Many thanks to freesound and each of the following individuals whose sounds we used in this animation:

• Sounds: Ropeswoosh 3.wav and Ropeswoosh 4.wav by Benboncan
• Sound: 8BitSFX.aif by bennychico11
• Sound: Game Sound Correct_v2.wav by Bertrof
• Sounds: Jump.wav, timer ends_time up.wav, Access computer.wav, toss_throw.wav, through a door_down a ladder.wav, Collect special coin.wav and level up.wav by Cabeeno Rossley
• Sound: To_Be_Booed2_ses1.wav by freesound
• Sound: object falls (2).wav by FreqMan (Richard Frohlich/Texas Radio Theatre Company)
• Sound: Chip124.wav by HardPCM

Adam also composed the score - a catchy, chirpy little piece of music that sounds as if it comes from an old platform game. Warning: once it gets in your head, it's hard to shift!

» Watch the RST animation Destitution on our portfolio page

Making the RST animation #4 - voiceover

On Monday we recorded the voiceover for the Refugee Survival Trust (RST) awareness-raising animation. Our narrator was the writer and comedian A.L. Kennedy (in the middle). She did a beautiful job.

We recorded at Pacific Audio in Glasgow, with lovely sound engineer Dave Fisher (on the right). As always, Dave got us a top-quality recording.

Michelle Lowe of RST (on the left) came along to supervise, while Adam and I shared directing responsibilities and stayed behind the camera.

Many thanks to A.L. Kennedy, Dave and Pacific Audio for donating their time. We're working to a zero budget and are delighted to have such brilliant people supporting us and Refugee Survival Trust.

» Watch the RST animation Destitution on our portfolio page

Making the RST animation #3 - development

Once we had both a concept and character design for the Refugee Survival Trust animation, the next stage was to get into the detail.

Concept development involved designing the world our characters live in. It's a combination of a board game and a computer game. The board game gives a clear path for the characters - they're making their way around the board, facing various obstacles that the asylum process puts in their way. The computer game allows us to show additional information, such as how much money a character has left.

Adam produced a series of sketches like this one, to show each of the situations our characters would have to deal with.

» Watch the RST animation Destitution on our portfolio page

Making the RST animation #2 - character design

Our character for the Refugee Survival Trust (RST) animation needs to be:

• Appealing - we want viewers to empathise.
• Simple - it will be a piece on a game board.
• One colour - each character/game piece will be a different single colour.
• Scalable - we need a small version for a child character.
• Not too cheerful - it's playing a game, but not an enjoyable one.

Adam did pages of sketches before moving into plasticine. The sketch model above shows the final version of the character. We took it along to a meeting with Michelle from RST, who loved it.

» Watch the RST animation Destitution on our portfolio page

Making the RST animation #1 - brief and concept

During the briefing process for an animation we need to work out what message the animation needs to communicate, who its audience is, and how they'll see it.

Michelle Lowe of the Refugee Survival Trust (RST) had a good idea of what she was looking for in an awareness-raising animation. After a couple of meetings we were able to agree a clear brief:

• Message: explain how/why refugees in Scotland become destitute.
• Audience: professionals in their late 20s/early 30s.
• Distribution: primary - talks/lectures. Secondary - RST website.

In many ways, that's the most important and most difficult part of the project complete! If the brief isn't right, it's impossible to produce the right animation. It's worth taking the time to think through and talk through the options.

One idea kept coming up in our conversations: that the asylum process could be seen as a game. Our early sketches developed the game idea and it became the concept for the animation.

» Watch the RST animation Destitution on our portfolio page

Storyboards and shortcuts

We're animating an educational video for Rainforest Saver at the moment. Before starting animation, we storyboarded everything in detail.

We've chosen a very different style for this project: 2D silhouettes rather than our usual full-colour 3D computer models. The storyboards are more than sketches: the cut-out graphics shown are being re-used to create the animation itself.

This approach has meant that we've been able to move straight from storyboarding to animation, without designing and building computer models in between. It's a good feeling to be able to take a shortcut and still get the result we want!

» Watch the Rainforest Saver educational animation on our portfolio page

The right brief

"Everything was completed as promised. Added value with clear interpretation of brief." Ashley Moore, Account Director, Designline

It's always important that we communicate exactly the right message to the right audience.

On some projects there's a clear brief from the first phonecall or email. Sometimes the brief will develop over several conversations or meetings. Either way, it's part of my job to analyse what the client is asking for, and what they need - not always the same thing!

We recently produced some marketing animations for Deeside Timberframe. The aim was to explain a new eco-home wall system to Deeside's customers. We were originally asked to create a rotating wall. After talking through what was needed, we suggested that showing each layer of the wall being added in turn would make it easier to understand the construction. Deeside agreed, and we had our brief!

» Watch Deeside Timberframe's animation on our portfolio page

Mobile phone films

We're developing the brief for our next Free Fridays project at the moment, with client Rainforest Saver. One of the ideas under discussion is mobile phone distribution. It could be an extremely powerful way of getting the animation (about sustainable farming methods) to lots of people.

There are some implications. Even in countries where smartphones are common, many people have phones with tiny screens. File sizes have to be kept small, to minimise download times. You're speaking to your audience one-to-one, rather than the more familiar one-to-many of cinema or broadcast.

As we discovered when making the About Here mobile phone films, this affects decisions about everything from colour palettes, to cameras - fast camera movements really don't work well - to sound design. Mobile is a great medium, but it's very different from other screens.

We're gathering information about network coverage, phone ownership, and download costs in rainforest areas - specifically Honduras and Cameroon, where Rainforest Saver have current projects - at the moment, before making a decision about whether mobile distribution is the right approach.

The voice of The Helix

I was in the recording studio yesterday to record the voiceover for an animated teaser trailer we're producing for the Falkirk Helix. I was lucky enough to have talented actor Paul Thomas Hickey at the microphone. We last worked with Paul on our About Here short films.

Paul's got a fabulous voice. He's also a complete pro. The Helix teaser is only 30 seconds long, so Paul's voiceover consists of a mere three sentences. After a quick levels check, Paul captured the lines perfectly on the first take.

But, I had the studio booked for an hour so I wasn't going to let Paul get away with only one take. I made him do another eight...

I've now got nine takes, any of which I'd be happy to use. It means that when we put together the final edit we'll be able to pick the line readings which go best with the timings of the visuals. Plus, I feel as if I got my money's worth. Thanks, Paul!

» Watch the Helix teaser on our portfolio page

Storyboard sketches

We produce two different types of storyboards for animation projects.

Sometimes they're presentation storyboards to show a client or funder. These are beautifully drawn and often coloured. They're about making sure that everyone involved with the project knows exactly what's being proposed. They need to be very clear and convincing.

And, sometimes storyboards are for internal use only - as with the example above, the opening shot of our advert for the Edinburgh International Film Audiences Conference. These are about communication, but also about speed. Stick people and quick sketches are fine. They allow us to decide how we're going to tell a story, without spending too long on the drawings.

The designs for the final animation might look quite different, but the visual storytelling worked out in the storyboards doesn't change:

» Watch the conference advert on our portfolio page