rowland video.

Rowland’s Motion Graphics Video Process

You know it’s essential to tell your story as clearly as possible. Getting it right isn’t as easy as it sounds. There’s always one more product spec or customer success story to share. How can you get the message across while being authentic, informative and, dare we say, entertaining? And most important of all, brief.

The solution? Video.

At the most basic level, videos combine the aural and visual parts of our brains – meaning that when it catches our attention, more of our brains are involved. More importantly, presenting information via video lets us tell clear stories about complex problems—which is what Rowland does best.

Complexity is what Minitab’s Companion software is designed to solve. The leading provider of statistical software needed to introduce their new process implementation product in a clear and visually engaging way. So they turned to Rowland. We used our signature motion graphics style to create a video that triumphantly announced the product to the world. And we made sure everyone knew why it mattered. rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 1: Discovery It might seem like overkill to do in-depth research into your audience and competitors for just A deep dive into product positioning and potential users a video project. We firmly believe it’s not. Here’s why: even the best visual execution won’t and decision makers for Companion by Minitab had reach your goals if there’s no meaning behind it. That’s why we devote time before we start been conducted by their internal team. We leveraged writing scripts and designing storyboards to define personas of your customers and to research their work to guide us into pre-production knowing your competitors’ marketing and communications. If we’ve been working with you for a while exactly who we were speaking to and what we needed and have already completed discovery work – or if you’ve completed the effort internally – this them to know. process is likely not terribly time-consuming. But the ideas behind it are very necessary for a successful and strategic final product.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 1 rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 2: Story & Script Development Marketing plans and materials were readily available Our creative process begins with a story. The goal we identified during Discovery determines for Companion by Minitab. This allowed us to quickly the story we need to tell. Since most of our videos introduce a new offering and the unique dig in with their team and define the challenge that problem it solves, we usually start there. No matter what, we can’t move forward without a the software solved: tracking progress within a quality compelling tale to tell. Once we have the story nailed down, we’ll draft a script that tells it well. improvement initiative. Managers needed the ability to At this point, it’s also important to emphasize key details and phrases that will instantly connect instantly see how their team was progressing toward with your customer. their improvement goals, and the team needed a solution that didn’t require wasted time entering their progress into a program. We drafted a script that introduced this idea, detailed the specific selling points that the customer would respond to, and restated the ultimate solution to make sure viewers got the message.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 2 rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 3: Storyboards & Style Frames Our storyboards for Companion by Minitab helped Creating a storyboard bridges the gap between words and images. We break down the determine what graphics and images would best suit the script into bite-sized chunks and show what should be represented visually in hand-drawn customer. We highlighted key elements of the software, storyboards. Technical details and cues are also noted in these storyboards. Another important visually demonstrated the ease with which roadmaps step in this phase is to establish a visual style. This creates a look for the video that aligns with and other product elements were created, and added your brand and industry. We show this in a series of style frames that represent the overall look flair with large, graphic transitions. Familiar phrases and and feel of the completed piece. Because our videos are animated with motion graphics, this names were included in the software images to better part of the process is critical. relate to the customer’s world.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 3 rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 4: Narration Following approval of pre-production elements, narration can begin. Finding a voice to perform For Minitab, the Companion by Minitab video needed the narration that appeals to our audience is a part of the process that’s sometimes overlooked. to have a calm, knowledgable voiceover. We imagined There’s nothing worse than a mismatch in video content or style with the voiceover artist. To it comforting a frazzled manager and staff, letting them achieve the perfect fit, we identify key qualities the voice should have, like empathic, persuasive know that a solution was possible for their process or high-energy. We’ll listen to hundreds of voices, send our favorites your way and work with improvement tracking woes. you to pick the perfect voice for the piece.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 4 rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 5: Animation, Photography & Video Once we have the voice recorded, we can move forward with the actual animation of the piece. We flexed our motion graphics muscles in the Each frame of video is carefully designed, taking our initial storyboard and style selection into Companion by Minitab video animation process, using account. We share a preview of the piece midway through, to ensure that everyone is still in our animation software in new ways to bring the software alignment with our chosen visual direction. (Popcorn and theater seating might be included to life in a 3-dimensional environment. This technique in that meeting.) While we’ve spent time describing our motion graphics expertise, we’re also allowed us to bring more visual interest to what could be skilled at incorporating photography and live action video when the time is right. All of our a simple software walkthrough video. animation and video projects produce broadcast quality, 1080p HD content using industry- leading Adobe software.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 5 rowland video.

1/ Discovery 2 / Story & Script Development 3/ Storyboards & Style Frames 4/ Narration 5/ Animation Photography & Video 6/ Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion

Phase 6: Post-Production, Delivery & Promotion Once you’re totally happy with the piece, we’ll complete final edits for color and sound, and we’ll begin rendering the approved video in a variety of formats, ready for you to show in places Click here to watch the video like your website, social media, on an iPad in a sales meeting or on a trade show monitor. We’ll or visit also work with you to determine where to place the video, where it can be shared and what vimeo.com/rowlandcreative/ marketing activities we can do around the video to help it get its full impact in the market. companionbyminitab Because we’re always thinking strategically, we want your video to be more than just beautiful. We want it to be effective.

rowlandcreative.com | 814.308.0358 | 6