The urge for food for on-line video content material is rising. In a single examine, 83% of respondents stated they like to entry informational or educational content material through video reasonably than textual content or audio. With surging demand comes elevated alternatives for creatives to serve purchasers with video manufacturing wants.
In my greater than 25 years as a visible and movement designer, I’ve made promotional movies for quite a few industries and massive manufacturers, together with AT&T, Intel, Microsoft, and Verizon. Throughout that point, I’ve realized learn how to weave technical, conceptual, and inventive components into cohesive and compelling messages that differentiate my purchasers from their opponents. Right here, I share three codecs you need to use for nearly any promo video venture—together with my prime ideas for making a promo video that connects with viewers and attracts high-profile purchasers.
A promo video showcases a services or products to encourage viewers to take motion. These movies are direct, with quick bursts of simply understood info. Whereas there isn’t a good size, a normal guideline is to maintain these movies below 120 seconds as a result of viewers’ consideration spans are restricted. The problem for creatives is to squeeze our concepts, graphics, audio, and animation into this restricted time.
One sort of promo, a product demo video, demonstrates how a services or products works by specializing in particular options. One instance is a demo I lately created for the Stanhope AI advertising and marketing marketing campaign. On this video, I tried to convey a way of the corporate’s mission: to construct the subsequent evolution of AI know-how for navy and business environments.
One other sort of promo, an explainer video, focuses on describing an organization’s services or products and could be helpful for showcasing an advanced know-how and delivering quick narratives. For many explainer movies, I exploit the next course of:
- Visually current the issue.
- Supply an answer to that drawback.
- Current varied outcomes because of the answer.
I used this format once I created an explainer video with movement graphics and character animations as a part of a branding bundle for the digital well being firm Prescryptive Well being.
Demo reels, or teaser promo movies, are collections or collection of your finest movies and are an important part of your portfolio. The problem in placing collectively a demo reel is reducing longer tasks into quick video clips of only a few seconds. Demo reels are an amazing alternative to implement a less-is-more method to creating promo movies.
Promo movies embody many components, together with colour, tone or worth, lighting, shapes, area, texture, typography, timing, and sound. Making a compelling one includes combining these components successfully to reinforce the supposed message. The next ideas will assist you to do exactly that.
1. Restrict your venture’s colour palette. To paraphrase American design legend Ivan Chermayeff, utilizing an excessive amount of colour is as unhealthy as utilizing no colour. Leveraging colour properly could be particularly difficult in case your content material focuses on advanced matters, reminiscent of scientific info. In such circumstances, I typically make use of a restricted palette.
As an example, once I created an explainer video for SandboxAQ, the subject material—cryptology—was difficult. I knew that an elaborate colour palette might distract viewers and make them much less more likely to observe the narrative. My technique was to focus intently on the messaging as a substitute of lavishly coloured animations. To restrict the variety of colours launched, I targeted on the model’s major colours—orange and black. I additionally used easy iconography to maintain viewers’ consideration on the subject.
2. Deal with real looking results. Designers have an array of highly effective instruments, reminiscent of Adobe After Results and Cinema 4D, which allow us to use wonderful results to movies. The problem is choosing the suitable results for the job.
I intention to decide on results that replicate what we expertise in on a regular basis life. Right here’s an instance: About 5 seconds into the Stanhope AI video, you’ll see a black, square-shaped laptop chip with the letters “AI” printed on it. The chip splits into two components, revealing spider-web-like strands which can be highlighted with tiny droplets of sunshine—harking back to spider silk with dew on it, one thing we now have all seen in actual life. To provide this animation a extra natural high quality, I used a visible impact recognized to skilled photographers: a shallow depth of area impact, which blurred many of the strands and droplets. Such blurring helps the attention give attention to crucial visible components within the body, on this case the strands. I discover this method works properly with product renderings.
Drawing inspiration from the actual world doesn’t solely apply to visible results: It additionally works for audio and sound. As an example, about 25 seconds into the Stanhope AI video, you hear components of the drone becoming a member of collectively, utilizing varied clicking sounds. This can be a refined use of sound design that reinforces the believability of the animation. The click sound accompanies the clip of the drone and precisely displays how a drone being assembled would sound. When video animation is supported by good sound design and audio, it makes the venture far more credible.
3. Produce distinctive textures. Very similar to colour, supplies and textures can evoke sure feelings. Whether or not you select a metallic materials with excessive specularity for a shiny look or a matte end for a softer really feel, the secret’s to align your design with the model’s tone and language.
Pc-generated textures and supplies can typically seem chilly or plastic. However including noise or grain to supplies and textures creates a refined imperfection that mimics how our eyes interpret mild in the actual world. You may see this therapy within the product demo video for my ModBand venture. Right here, the merchandise have a rubbery, graphite look which suggests to viewers that the band is mushy and comfy.
4. Experiment with typography. Typically, essentially the most logical alternative of font for video textual content is a sans-serif typeface, which is simple to learn. However, for a lot of tasks I work on, I attempt to pair the typography with the video’s tone.
Think about my Acutely aware Planet venture, which includes a number of advanced layers of animation, together with clouds and a birds-eye view of a panorama. Within the animation, you zoom by means of the clouds right down to the extent of the bushes (which features a view of the underground root system). There’s additionally a further layer for an animation of a gridlike sample, which represents the NFT digital part. With a lot happening visually, utilizing a sans-serif typeface was important to make the messaging readable.
5. Use timing and tone to attach viewers to your video’s messaging. The timing or tempo of a video could make or break a venture. As an example, contemplate how lengthy a topic is on display screen. The period of time a selected topic seems in a video lets you emphasize or diminish its significance. And in terms of particular person animations, the precise timing of every animation is essential as a result of it offers an general rhythm that helps the venture’s supposed messaging.
In my Prescryptive Well being explainer video, I divided the venture in two. The primary half of the video visually presents the “drawback”: that buyers lack alternative relating to prescription drugs. The second half focuses on how Prescryptive Well being offers customers with extra choices for prescription drugs. I used two key components—timing and tone—to reinforce the composition’s emotional impression.
Within the first half, the actions of particular person animations are slower. As an example, the girl (who seems 25 seconds into the video) walks slowly and appears down on the floor. I added varied darkish grey topics to reinforce this gloomy ambiance, together with a cloud above the girl, shadows, greenback symbols, and a big, ominous determine.
When it was time to disclose the answer (simply after 00:50), I subtly modified the timing and tone of a number of the animations. As an example, the video quickly zooms previous staff. Moreover, I changed the darkish grey with white, transitioning to a vivid and upbeat setting. It’s not a dramatic change, but it surely helps the viewer emotionally join with the message we needed to convey.
6. Discover a construction and composition that amplify your message. An instance of that is my 2022 demo reel, which mixes many components I’ve been speaking about, together with timing, animation, texture, typography, composition, and construction.
The important thing a part of this demo reel is its construction, which is split into three components: The center is a portfolio of my most necessary tasks. The start and finish are a video wrapper of my model, Duro, composed of a number of 3D animation segments. Initially, I generate some intrigue and suspense by displaying clips that kind one or two of the model identify’s letters (“D” or “U”). The thriller is solved on the finish of the video with 3D animations that reveal the model’s full identify.
7. Check your video. How have you learnt in case your promo video is excessive caliber? One of the best ways to check the standard of your video is by hitting the “pause” button in order that your display screen shows a single body. A well-crafted video will replicate the integrity of your general venture at any given level. I recommend doing this at a number of factors inside the video because it performs for the most effective outcomes. As you’re taking a look at these frames, ask your self:
- Does this body assist present a transparent and concise message that clients can relate to?
- Does the inventive method resonate with the model language?
Then, replay the complete video and ask your self:
- Can this video be simply reformatted to suit completely different mediums, reminiscent of a touchdown web page and social media platforms?
- Does the video embrace a name to motion that may assist drive conversion charges?
In case your work meets these necessities, you’re heading in the right direction.
Promotional movies are a novel mix of formal design components, storytelling, and advertising and marketing ideas that encourage viewers to take motion. These movies generate gross sales for the services or products they promote and enhance model consciousness.
Profitable promo movies are concise: They don’t burden viewers with detailed buying info. Additionally they current viewers with an final result they’ll join with personally. Viewers have wants, and essentially the most convincing movies present how these wants are met. Use the following pointers in your subsequent venture to create a promo video that may ship your shopper’s model hovering.
