Animated Training Video for a Revolutionary Reading App FUNetix
This video offers a clear explanation of FUNetix, a reading app designed to teach children how to read in 12 hours.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Goal: Provide an instructional resource for parents, teachers, and tutors, outlining the app's functionalities and best practices for use.
Objectives: Create a visually engaging and informative video that resonates with the target audience. Present complex information in a digestible and understandable way. Showcase the app's features and benefits through visually appealing demonstrations.
Target Audience: Educators and Parents.
MY ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Stepping in to accelerate the first version, I delivered a section lauded for its clarity and accuracy. This impactful contribution earned me the responsibility of crafting the final version.
Specific Contributions: I handled the visual concept development, animation, and sound design.
Collaboration: I worked closely with Kali Woodward (Executive Director) and Anna Starman (Project Manager).
DESIGN DECISIONS: CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS
Improving Visual Consistency:
Goodbye Stock Videos, Hello Illustrations!
Challenge 1: The first version relied on stock video. Sourcing stock footage that accurately captured the nuanced emotions and key interactions we wanted to emphasize proved surprisingly challenging. Generic scenes often felt inauthentic, and finding diverse characters was difficult.
Solution: I strategically shifted to illustrations for the final video. Illustrations offered a flexible canvas. I could modify every detail on stock illustrations – expressions, body language, even clothing styles –, and create my illustrations to perfectly convey the desired message.
Challenge 2: Existing stock videos lacked visual cohesion with the app's overall aesthetic.
Solution: Illustrations complemented the app's existing illustration aesthetic, creating visual integrity. By shifting illustrations, we were able to enhance the video's impact and strengthen its alignment with the brand's overall aesthetic.
Background, Font, and Animation
To offer viewers a seamless introduction to the FUNetix app, I opted for a consistent background throughout the training video, mirroring the app's familiar design style.
I crafted a cohesive visual narrative through consistent font choices, color schemes, and animation styles, meticulously ensuring seamless transitions and timing throughout.
Maintaining Visual Harmony in Demonstration Videos
Challenge 3: Videos were shot by the children's parents. Varied video quality and recording environments posed a challenge: diverse children's rooms, lighting conditions, and screen recordings created visual inconsistency in demonstration videos.
Solution: I overcame this challenge by implementing a design template that ensured visual consistency and efficiency across demonstration videos featuring children interacting with the app.
Challenge 4: Since the training video shares the same background design with the app itself, app backgrounds in demonstration videos could potentially overlap, generating confusion.
Solution: I made subtle background modifications (blurring and a green filter) in the design template of demonstration videos to prevent potential conflicts with the training video background. This approach effectively maintains visual consistency while preserving the intended familiarity with the app's environment for viewers, ultimately creating a cohesive and visually pleasing experience.
Improving Viewer Engagement
The first version lacked sound effects. Matching sound effects to visuals fosters a deeper connection with the content. By adding sound effects, I aimed to spark emotions, capture attention, and make viewers feel more invested in the story.
My Suggestions
I suggested some script adjustments, including revising this sentence:
“Unlike many phonics curricula that use silly, nonsensical stories like "the cat sat on the mat," FUNetix brings common, everyday language immediately within the reach of young children that describes the world around them.”
While some phonics programs rely on simple, limited examples, I felt this language could potentially alienate users with positive experiences elsewhere. Attracting everyone is crucial, so I thought we need to aim for a more inclusive approach. The team agreed, and our scriptwriter revised it to:
“Unlike ALL other phonics curricula that are forced to use simple, decodable words and sight words like "the cat sat on the mat," FUNetix brings common, everyday language immediately within the reach of young children that describes the world around them.”
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Software and Tools Used
After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Media Encoder.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
For voice-over redos, ask to reference the original recording to ensure consistent tone, pacing, and energy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1ElTXHo9Ew