We recently created an explainer video for Lending Stream. Lending Stream offer short-term solutions for your financial needs. I worked closely with a couple of guys from their marketing team in San Diego California and although our creative vision differed a little (a good thing) we managed to meet somewhere in the middle and find a style that worked. I don’t have to say this as they’ll probably never read this but they’re a great client and one that I’m extremely happy to be working with again on a second project for Lending Stream.
These are the rough storyboards that we created. Sometimes we produce a more polished set of boards but with time constraints, we tend to go with a ‘stick-man’ style. At this point we hadn’t completely decided on a style so a basic stick figure was used.
The character originally looked like this. We were given a sample to look at by the client that looked somewhat similar but it seemed a little bit too ‘cartoony’. After experimenting with a few ‘rubber hose’ walk-cycles and a few varying styles we ended up basing the main character off of Lending Stream’s ‘level-headed’ female actress from their TV commercial.
I set up a rough looking couple of city shots for the introductory scene. At this stage I wasn’t too sure about using 3D environments mixed with 2D characters. I also experimented with using strokes and various shading options – each time, running it past the client for feedback.
After a few test shots, it didn’t seem like the right fit. Sometimes, just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be. And in this case, simpler was the better option, so we dialled it back a little and ended up going with an all 2D – cartoonish look.
You can see the finished version at the top of this post.
We’re currently working on a second video for Lending Stream employing a faux hand-made look.
If you’d like us to work on an animated explainer video for you, please fill out the form below.
