Original subtitles

(happy music)

(upbeat music)

Last week, we started out with an overwhelming

amount of information about Photoshop.

But this week I want to pull back a bit

and start building a strong foundation for concepts.

Today, I'll be walking you through planning a motion project

by way of researching, brainstorming,

by way of researching, brainstorming,

problem solving and sketching.

I'll begin by breaking down a project brief,

analyzing a script, and researching the client's needs.

From there, we'll begin ideating concepts for the project,

and trying out some different brainstorming techniques.

Finally, I'll gather image references

to create mood boards, and I'll start sketching out ideas.

Let's get started.

So, this client, PortaPill, has reached out to me

about creating a brand anthem video.

about creating a brand anthem video.

And today I just want to start creating

some visual and conceptual development for it.

So, before I get too deep into thinking anything about

what I'm gonna do for my R and D,

I want to just read over the brief really carefully.

So here's the opening page.

Just says the client's name, and the animation brief title.

Meet PortaPill, we're an app that delivers

all of your medications in under an hour.

PortaPill introduces a new spin on the classic pharmacy

to everyday smartphone users.

to everyday smartphone users.

It's like Postmates, but for your pills.

After many tedious rounds of user testing,

we now want to introduce our revolutionary service

to the world with a 20 to 30 second pre-roll brand video.

This video will release next month,

and we need your help to bring it to life.

So, what I can take away from this is that

this is a new app, they don't have any content

for it already, so I will probably be the first person

developing a video for them.

This is kind of just an introduction to their product,

so it's important that we show their product in this video.

so it's important that we show their product in this video.

They say they need our help to bring it to life.

So I'm assuming that they might not have

much experience with animation here.

They seem like they have a script down,

but they don't seem like they've given me

too much information on visual direction.

They haven't given me any design or animation references.

So I think it's safe to assume here

that I am going to be in charge of that.

And hopefully they're trusting me

to create something that works for their brand.

And so here we've got a little script,

and you can see on the left side

is the voiceover, which is VO.

is the voiceover, which is VO.

And on the right side they've got some ideas

for pictures suggested for what can be happening.

And, I see this a lot in client briefs.

A lot of times there's suggested picture.

This could be a good or a bad thing.

Like, sometimes it will tell you

what the client really likes,

or if they're attached to an idea.

But also sometimes it makes it hard

for me to think of new ideas,

because I've got these visual mental pictures

in my head already, because they've already

given them to me.

Since these are pretty vague,

I don't think it should really be a problem.

I don't think it should really be a problem.

So, here's the script.

When you're feeling under the weather,

the last thing you want to do is battle the real world

to get your medicine.

Meet PortaPill.

It's an app that delivers your medication in under an hour.

Over the counter, or prescription.

Whether you're at home, at work, on vacation, bummer,

what matters is that you get better, faster.

Bring the pharmacy to you, with PortaPill.

So it seems like they really just want to focus on

their app and just saying what it does.

On this right side it seems like they're kind of

On this right side it seems like they're kind of

making some references to bad weather,

so maybe a little metaphor in there.

They want to show their logo a couple times,

and then just emphasize the feeling of being sick,

and then feeling better.

So here's a page about their brand.

PortaPill, we want our brand to appear ultra clean,

safe, trustworthy, and serious about health,

but with a bit of fun.

We're new to the animation and illustration world,

and we're depending on you to make something

that melds together seamlessly with our brand and logo.

So this kind of confirms my suspicion that I had earlier

that they're new to the animation and illustration world.

So, they're really coming to me as an expert of my field,

So, they're really coming to me as an expert of my field,

or someone's who's done motion and animation work before.

And they're trusting me to kind of run with it

and make something that works with their new brand.

All right so there's the client brief.

Now we're gonna start diving into deciphering the brief,

the script, and really talking about

concept development as a whole.

Concept development should be the most important part

of your process.

of your process.

You don't want to skimp on research and development

just to have your project fall apart later down the line.

Take the time during this phase

to really evaluate what your client needs

and what they want, but also what you want.

Consider all aspects of the project

before diving into illustration.

Don't get ahead of yourself, and try to be patient here.

This is where all the good stuff comes in.

But why?

Why do we need to spend so much time up front

to get it right later on?

For example, you might have a client project

that you're really excited about.

You have this really fun initial idea

that you came up with, and you start sketching

that you came up with, and you start sketching

and coloring on it right away.

And maybe you haven't even shown it to the client yet.

So at this point you're really attached to your idea, right?

You send it to the client, and the client gets back to you

and is just like, this is totally off brand,

this is not what I want.

This is not what I asked you to do.

Like, it looks cool, but we can't use this.

And since you're so attached to the idea

you might be really bummed, or you might take

the client's feedback the wrong way.

And that's not what we want at this point in the project.

Your illustrations and storyboards

Your illustrations and storyboards

might seem great to you, and they might even be

breathtaking designs.

But if they're not what the client needs or wants,

and they're totally off-brand,

then it's not gonna help the client in anyway,

and that's what they're paying you for.

They're paying for you to make something

that works for their brand, not for yourself.

So I want to show you an example of a concept

that didn't work out so well for me.

I was really pushing this illustrative, fun style

for Adobe Live while I was at Oddfellows.

And, here's the final project.

(gentle music)

So as you can see what I have on my website

is not what you just saw there.

The Adobe Live YouTube channel

showcases artists of all types,

3D, 2D illustration, graphic design, photography and more.

And they came to Oddfellows to create

something unique, like what you just saw.

Something that shows a diverse range of styles,

different types of creatives.

They like to interview and show workflows

of all different types of artists.

And, I was sort of tasked in the beginning

And, I was sort of tasked in the beginning

to create a visual style for this project.

And, the timeline was pretty lenient

so I had a lot of time to develop it.

And, as I started story boarding,

and like looking at references,

I came across this fun, like isometric 2D graphic

shape style that I really liked.

And I just got so attached to it.

Like I didn't go very far down the visual development path.

I kind of just stuck to my original idea.

And, I was pushing it so hard

and there were a couple rounds where the very nice

and there were a couple rounds where the very nice

and amazing clients were like,

yeah this feels great, like if you can show us

a way that it can work, then we'll be down for it

and we'll go for it.

And I just, I was like yeah this is definitely

the right way, this is how it has to go.

And when we got through the first round

of concept and development,

I think that my creative director Chris Kelly

and the client started to realize

that it really wasn't the correct style

and idea for this project.

It wasn't the right concept.

It wasn't the right concept.

So we got pretty far with like this fun style,

and it is really cool, and it's something I'm proud of.

But, it's not something that the client wanted.

I was kind of ignoring what the client's needs were,

and just kept developing this style that I really liked

because I was having fun with it.

Thankfully the client and my creative director

were really awesome, and let me go down

this rabbit hole for a while.

They were very kind when they decided

to go with a different direction,

that ended up being really cool.

And you can see this whole article

about how they created the style,

and how we started with this and kind of went

and how we started with this and kind of went

a completely different direction later.

But, I think what they came up with

was a much better solution than what I was pushing

so much in the beginning.

So this is just an example of a project

where you can get really attached to something

and get defensive of it, and get stuck in this

like little rabbit hole, and not be able

to pull yourself out of it because you've

already gone too far.

This is an example of why you should always

pull back a bit and come up with multiple options

for the client.

Give them a few different options to explore,

and you yourself will probably come up

and you yourself will probably come up

with something that works better for them,

and for you down the line.

So, what exactly is a concept?

The concept itself is not the message.

The message is the idea that the client

wants to get across to their audience,

and like what they want to sell.

A concept is an idea that frames the client's message

in a purposeful, appropriate, and memorable way

through form and content.

A solid functioning concept reinforces brand strategy

while remaining appropriate for the target audience,

and calling them into action.

and calling them into action.

Once you've established a great concept,

this will be your groundwork for the rest of the project,

and this is how you will make future design decisions

down the line.

A long design process is a good design process.

And that's not always the case.

Sometimes your timelines will be a little bit

too short for it.

But if you follow some of the steps

that I'm going to teach you here,

this will really go a long way in establishing

a foundation for your project.

Good design is engaging every idea

you come up with for effectiveness.

An ideal concept, one provides solutions

to a design problem.

to a design problem.

Two, adequately communicates a message on multiple levels.

And three, stands out in a sea of competitors

by being unique.

You shouldn't start illustrating and designing

without going through a bit of a concept,

research, and development process first.

Try out different ideas and visual approaches.

Compare and evaluate your multiple ideas,

and then from there select the ones

that suit the project best, both for your client,

for yourself, for the timeline, and the budget.

And then, select the ones that work best

and show those to your client.

and show those to your client.

This development process applies both to the idea,

and the visual style.

So now I want to get into the nitty gritty

of deciphering a client brief.

This is what I would call the researching phase.

Make sure to read through your client brief twice.

Just go through it and make sure

that you didn't miss anything,

that you caught all of the details you needed to catch.

Then on the second time, just jot down some notes about this

Then on the second time, just jot down some notes about this

which I'll do here in a second.

Maybe you could even print out the brief and doodle over it.

You can also do this in Photoshop.

Underline key words, write notes on feelings,

emotions, or visuals.

When you're reading this, can you tell

what the overarching design problem is?

What is the client trying to achieve?

It seems like here PortaPill needs to clearly communicate

their brand mission to potential customers,

which is delivering medication to their everyday users.

So, who is their audience?

Ask yourself some questions.

So, who is the client?

What do they do?

What do they do?

What type of work has the client done in the past?

Why did they come to you specifically?

What work of yours are they interested in?

What are they advertising?

What doesn't the client want?

What's important to them?

What's important to you?

What's the timeline, what's the budget?

So after asking yourself all these questions,

write a small translated brief for yourself.

Just summarize it in your own words.

The client is X company, and they want to showcase X.

They want viewers and customers to come away

from watching it with this feeling.

from watching it with this feeling.

So, keep this description that you write down handy

as you look through references.

so I'm just gonna go ahead and do a little bit

of that deciphering myself here for PortaPill.

So, I'm gonna dive into Photoshop

just because it's so comfortable for me,

but you can do this on paper, use Google Docs,

like anything that you want to do.

Just whatever works for you.

But since I am about to work in Photoshop anyways,

I feel this is best for me.

So, I'm just gonna drag the logo in here

that I got from the brief.

And just write a little description

of the project for myself.

of the project for myself.

Something that I can reference in my file

when I just want to quickly take a peek

at what I need to be doing.

So, I'll answer one of the questions I just asked myself.

What is the problem?

What's the design problem that the client

is trying to solve?

I think it's something like,

they want to make a brand video about their product,

but they don't know what it should look like.

And obviously there's the idea

And obviously there's the idea

they need to get it across to a new audience.

People they want to get to use their app.

So I could add something like this.

They want to show their app to the world

through animation, a story.

So, what should this animation be like?

It should be on brand, clean,

serious with some fun, and it should probably end

with a call to action.

with a call to action.

And, a call to action is just trying to get

the consumer or whoever is viewing your video

to actually buy or use your product.

And then another thing I should really consider here is,

what's the timeline?

And I don't know much about the budget here

but the timeline seems pretty important.

So they said right here in their brief

that they need to release this next month.

So, our timeline is probably only about a month,

which isn't super long for a 20 to 30 second video.

So, what are some things I could do

to make sure that this project fits in the timeline?

to make sure that this project fits in the timeline?

So, I have one month for both design and animation.

So, I should be thinking about style a little bit here

before I jump right into development.

I should probably keep it fairly simple,

with no characters, because those are too complex

to animate within a month.

I'm sure if you had a stellar team,

and you're feeling really confident

with all the people that you had working on the project,

with all the people that you had working on the project,

you could probably get some characters done.

But right here, I think it would be a safe bet

to just stick to this like clean style with no characters.

Keep it more about the product.

And, what are some other things to consider

while I'm brainstorming?

How can we make it unique and different?

How will it grab the attention

of a random pre-roll ad viewer?

When I'm talking about a pre-roll ad,

which is what they talked about right here.

which is what they talked about right here.

They say it's gonna be a pre-roll brand video.

That basically just means it's gonna be

one of those videos or ads that you see

before a YouTube video plays, or on Hulu,

or like some kind of streaming service.

And so, it's not really gonna be people

who are going to this video specifically

to see our great animation and design skills.

It's just gonna be someone who is trying

to get past the ad.

So what can we do to make it interesting

for the viewer, and then actually encourage them

for the viewer, and then actually encourage them

to keep watching the video,

or at least take action when they're done watching it.

So that's something to consider while I'm brainstorming.

And then, I also like to write out

some personal goals for projects,

because even if the client isn't exactly

maybe the first client I choose to work with,

or maybe they're not exactly my style,

I still want to get something out of this for me.

Like, I'm getting paid to work on this,

but it's still something I want to add

to my portfolio later.

Like, how can I make this work for me

Like, how can I make this work for me

as well as the client?

Obviously the client is the first person

that matters in this, because it is their project.

It's their product.

They're paying you.

But, it doesn't hurt to have some personal goals

that you keep to yourself, and kind of look towards

as you're designing later on.

I'm just gonna write out a few things here.

I want to make this clean, but not your boring

average pharmaceutical vector style animation.

So, I see a lot of like health insurance,

and pharmaceutical ads out there

that just feel so easy to pass over.

Like they're not necessarily bad,

but they're just not really eye catching.

So it would be really cool if I could

figure out a way, a clever way to make this

more interesting somehow.

And it would be nice if this wasn't just

comprised of cuts for transitions.

Try to think of a more clever way to transition.

Try to think of a more clever way to transition.

A lot of times with these we just do

like a camera pan, or we just cut.

And I think it would be kind of fun

to challenge myself to do a little

something more interesting.

And on that note, I'd like to try implementing

a storytelling device as well.

Those are some personal goals.

They're not something that the client

has asked me to do, but they're just little things

that I want to point to later.

Like, I can come back to this little brief

I've given myself later, and to see if I am still

on the right path.

on the right path.

So I'm just gonna put all this in a group

and name it Research.

Another thing I want to add in here

is the script, just so I have everything in the same place.

It'll make it really easy when I'm sketching.

I love putting everything in Photoshop files

because it's just so much easier to find later on.

Like if I just save this one Photoshop file

and took it with me somewhere else,

or sent it to someone, they'd be able to see

my whole process of brainstorming

right here in this one file.

That's what I love about Photoshop.

I can put in images, I can put photographs, I can type,

I can put logos.

I can put logos.

So, it's just a great tool and way

to organize your thoughts.

So I'm also gonna put the script in here,

and I'm just gonna actually screenshot it,

because it's just much easier than typing it all in.

Just grab that from my desktop, and keep it in there.

Okay so now that I've summarized a few things,

I have some personal goals,

and I have my script in here,

I'm just gonna start mind mapping.

I'm just gonna start mind mapping.

And, mind mapping is a great tool

because it really means you can start from scratch.

And here is kind of like what a mind map looks like.

It's really just a different way to brainstorm.

You can start with one word, go on from there.

Birthday, party, what does that make me think of?

It makes me think of invitations and food, and decorations.

And then those stem onto new things.

So it's kind of like a little tree of ideas.

It's like a map, a tracing of all the ideas you've had.

And I like starting with mind maps sometimes

because they're just an easy way to get my brain

because they're just an easy way to get my brain

moving and flowing.

Like, if I look at this brief and I'm like

I have literally no idea what I want to do for it,

it's a great place to just start blurting out words.

I'm gonna show you this little tool

that I've used occasionally.

This is called MindMeister.

It's just a free online app,

and you can pay a little bit more for it.

But for this class you don't really need to upgrade.

It's really just to get your ideas written out.

I'm just gonna start and I'm gonna

put PortaPill in the middle.

And what do I think of based on the client brief

And what do I think of based on the client brief

when I think of PortaPill?

So I'm just gonna press this plus

and I'm gonna write delivery service.

And what about medicine

because they're delivering us medicine.

It's also a mobile app.

And then on top of that, like what's it for?

It's for people who are feeling sick.

So being sick is another general idea

that's associated with PortaPill.

And then maybe we could do a little play

on the name somehow.

So like, we have porta.

I'm not sure where I'm going with that but we'll see.

I'm not sure where I'm going with that but we'll see.

So, from here I'll just expand on each of these things.

Like, what does delivery service make me think of?

So, in their brief they say they deliver things

in under an hour, so that's really fast.

And then, maybe a friendly face,

like someone appears at their door and is happy,

and they give you this prescription

or medicine that you've been yearning for

because you're so sick.

Mail, like I guess that's somehow related but probably not.

Mail, like I guess that's somehow related but probably not.

It's convenient.

Okay, so what about medicine?

A cure.

Medicine is relief.

Is it somehow like a shortcut to feeling better?

I don't know if that's a negative or positive thing

but we'll leave it in there for now.

Sometimes medicine is a hassle to get.

Or it could make you really excited once you get it.

Because you know that you're gonna start feeling better

when you take your medicine.

So that can change your mentality.

So that's like a pretty solid few ideas for medicine.

We'll get back to porta and pill.

We'll start with the easier ones here.

So, being sick.

No fun at all.

Being sick is sitting at home.

Being sick is being isolated.

Being sick is being contagious.

It's also trying your best to feel better.

You don't want to feel sick forever.

You're gonna do what you can to make yourself feel better.

And feeling dead.

Okay so what about the mobile app?

It's great because it allows for ease of use.

It's revolutionary, like they said in their brief.

And it's accessible for all demographics.

I mean everyone these days has smartphones,

so it's gonna be something that

the general public uses probably.

And just as I was doing this I kind of thought

And just as I was doing this I kind of thought

about this word porta.

It kind of feels like, I mean obviously portable,

but it could also maybe be like portal.

I'm not really sure what I'd do with that,

but maybe it's like the medicine jar

becomes like a door to a world of happiness

or something like that.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with that yet

but that could be interesting to play with.

And when I think of pill I think maybe of like,

I think of a bottle that you keep your pills in.

Maybe small in size.

Maybe small in size.

I don't really know what I would do with that one,

but it's just something to throw in there.

It doesn't hurt to put everything in here you can think of.

Like go crazy, it doesn't have to be perfect.

Okay, so I've got a pretty good start on my mind map here.

I think this is at a place where I can maybe

drag it into my Photoshop file so that I can

add it to my brainstorming file.

So you could upgrade MindMeister so you can

actually export it and download it as a PDF or a JPEG,

but I don't actually have that, so I'm just gonna cheat here

but I don't actually have that, so I'm just gonna cheat here

and take a screenshot, which is Command + Shift + Four,

and then select that section of the screen,

and it will automatically save to your desktop

if you're on a Mac.

So I'm gonna hide my Chrome,

and then go back into my Photoshop document,

and create a new folder called mind map,

or actually brainstorming.

So, I'm gonna drag that new screenshot into Photoshop.

And so now I have this mind map,

and while it did its service on the internet,

I could type things out quickly,

I can actually go in here now and just

kind of scribble some ideas over everything.

I'm gonna circle some ideas that I think

could be really great for this project.

Something that kind of stood out to me was portal.

I was like, there could be something more abstract

that we play with.

No fun, like sitting at home.

I think those are some visuals that they pointed to

in their brief.

We have under an hour slash fast

which seems pretty important to their brand.

which seems pretty important to their brand.

Relief, and I'm kind of interested

in this idea of a shortcut.

I'm not really sure what I could do with that,

but maybe it has something to do with our transitions.

And then, the mobile app is accessible.

So anyone can use it.

So these are just some key things that stood out to me

as I was mind mapping.

Now that we have some initial ideas laid out,

I want to start talking about how we could use

those initial ideas and foundation we've created

those initial ideas and foundation we've created

to frame a story.

How can we tell that story?

Well, I want to talk to you a bit about rhetorical devices.

And, a rhetorical device is a technique

that an artist can use to convey meaning

to their audience by considering a topic

from maybe a different perspective.

There are so many different types

of rhetorical devices out there,

and not all of them apply to visual design.

Now I'm just gonna go over these pretty quickly

because I don't want to get too deep

into a rabbit hole here.

But, I want to talk to you about a couple

different ones that I've seen in some animation

different ones that I've seen in some animation

and video references on Vimeo.

First up is allusion.

An allusion is a brief reference to a well known person

or a piece of culture.

It's a reference to something that the viewer

is already aware of.

So here's a video that includes a lot

of cultural references, mainly art history.

I just want to show you how they use this.

I'm just gonna skip ahead here.

As we're watching this we realize

there's a lot of famous paintings in here,

and while they're not directly called out,

the videographer uses them here to portray an idea.

the videographer uses them here to portray an idea.

So this first one is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

And later we see Vincent van Gogh.

And that's one of my favorite parts

because it mixes pop culture references with art history.

So right here, we have The Scream by Edvard Munch.

And then randomly a Men in Black reference

where they're like erasing her memory.

And then we pan over and we see some Salvador Dali

brought to life.

So, this whole piece is basically driven by allusion.

Next up we have irony.

Irony is used to indirectly call attention

Irony is used to indirectly call attention

to a point that is different from what one is saying.

It's often used as a tool of humor

in order to deprecate or ridicule an idea.

(gentle music)

I love this piece because you just see

this really silly, like it seems like

it's gonna be an inspiring moment.

it's gonna be an inspiring moment.

You see this happy face and then all of a sudden

it's just like your feelings are meaningless.

So it really ridicules the idea

of I guess this would be like

a seed of inspiration or something,

and then just makes it completely bite the dust.

It's totally making fun of anyone

who felt happy in that moment,

and just brings you back down to earth.

Another rhetorical device is amplification.

And amplification is the repetition of an idea

through words and images,

while adding some detail or emphasizing it in some way.

It emphasizes what may not be obvious at first glance,

It emphasizes what may not be obvious at first glance,

and it expands on an idea to make sure

viewers understand how important it is.

This whole piece is driven by this word some.

It's based on a poem inspired by the work

of Italian designer Ettore Sottsass,

but the way that Wonderlust has gone

and really emphasized the word Some

and repeating the word some,

that emphasizes and amplifies the variety of emotions

that the protagonist is feeling throughout the piece.

I love the transitions in this piece, it's so fun.

There's also metaphors and analogies.

There's also metaphors and analogies.

Metaphors and analogies will compare

two similar things in order to explain

an otherwise difficult or unfamiliar idea.

It draws connections between a new object,

an idea with a familiar one.

And I think this is a really fun

more abstract use of metaphor.

So, this piece is about ChildLine,

which is a UK-based confidential

24 hour counseling service for children

and young people under the age of 19.

It's for people who have experienced

distress or concern, or sexual abuse.

And, I love that Buck used this chaotic feeling

And, I love that Buck used this chaotic feeling

of weather, and things tumbling around in the wind

to really tell you how that kid who's calling is feeling.

So the metaphor here is between like chaos

and this kid's emotions.

But, there are also more literal uses of metaphors

and analogies in animation out there,

and this is a great example.

We often describe our hosts as superheros.

We realize you don't run around wearing capes.

Actually if you do we wouldn't be that surprised,

because the hosts in this next category

because the hosts in this next category

have proven their superpowers in incredible ways.

So this one is more obvious.

Airbnb is comparing their super hosts

to actual superheros, saying that they go

above and beyond for their customers

and for their Airbnb guests by using

their superpowers of hosting.

And the last rhetorical device I'll discuss quickly

is personification, and we see this a lot in animation.

Personification gives an animal or inanimate object

Personification gives an animal or inanimate object

human characteristics, such as form,

character, feelings or behavior.

Ideas can also be personified.

So here's a more straightforward use of personification,

and obviously I'm not gonna play this whole thing,

but anything that I've skipped over here,

you can see later in the show notes.

So there's actually a lot of personification

in the beginning here.

But we also see some here, with the seed.

So, I think personification here is pretty obvious.

So, I think personification here is pretty obvious.

It's making a seed into an actual human character

that we can relate to as an audience.

But, there are some less obvious uses

of personification out there.

This is open to interpretation,

but I think this is a good example of what I mean.

Our fondest memories likely involve

those who are kindest to us.

So why aren't we kind more often?

It's a tricky question to answer.

Is it difficult?

Kindness can be expressed through a smile,

a thoughtful word, or a helping hand.

But the magnitude of these small gestures

can't be underestimated.

The effects are experienced by everyone involved.

Those who simply witness it feel the same

warmth and comfort as those who offer

or receive the act.

So this is kind of my interpretation,

but I feel that in this spot,

Giant Ant turned kindness into a bit of a person here.

Giant Ant turned kindness into a bit of a person here.

So we see a lot of like invisible people

throughout this spot, and forces of nature

helping people along.

And it's kind of my theory that we're seeing

kindness personified here as a force of nature.

It's given a little bit of human characteristic,

but we don't actually see any real humans in this spot.

And I really encourage you to do

a little bit further research on rhetorical devices.

There are so many different ones out there,

and a lot of them are used in writing

more so than in animation, but they can totally

more so than in animation, but they can totally

be applied visually.

This is a site that totally looks

like it was made in like 1998 or something.

But, it has a lot of great information on it

about some of the rhetorical devices we just discussed.

But there's other ones, like onomatopoeia,

and the climax of a story.

And there's all these different rhetorical devices

that I really personally don't know very well.

But the ones that I just went over

will be super useful when brainstorming

for your own projects.

Now I'm gonna go over a few problem solving exercises.

How do you narrow down all the ideas you have

to decide which ones to show to your client?

Now that you have a bunch of ideas,

go through the list of those ideas,

and eliminate the ideas that you're sure

that the client doesn't want.

Ideas that won't be appropriate for the project.

One thing I like to do a lot of the time

is come up with an idea sandwich,

which is coming up with three different options

for the client.

So you have one, the client safe option,

which is gonna be very safe, probably sticking exactly

which is gonna be very safe, probably sticking exactly

to the ideas that they had in their deck.

Then you'll have two, which is a crazy wild card option,

like an abstract option, which is where you do something

totally out of left field.

Something that you really want to make

but you're pretty sure that the client won't want.

And then you sandwich that abstract idea

between another idea that seems a little bit more safe,

and I call this the literal idea.

So this last idea is somewhere between

the client-safe option and the abstract option.

And for every project you're not gonna have

like these three specific ideas,

like these three specific ideas,

literal, abstract and safe.

But, this is what works for this project

that we're working on right now.

And I really want to emphasize that you should not

send something to the client that you don't want to make,

or don't know how to make.

Because I swear every time I send the client something

that I don't want to make, they almost always choose it,

and then I'm not passionate about my project,

and I don't really have fun making it.

Which makes the process a lot more tedious.

So, try not to do that.

Don't follow in my footsteps in that case,

and only send the client things that you're excited about.

and only send the client things that you're excited about.

Okay, so now that we know some rhetorical devices,

I want to use those here to maybe come up

with a few ideas based off of this mind map.

So I'm just gonna pick three random rhetorical devices,

and see if I can challenge myself to make them into an idea.

So I'm gonna start with personification.

Kinda thinking hard here about what it could be.

Like maybe weather is personified

because they talked about weather in their PDF.

because they talked about weather in their PDF.

Perhaps the delivery truck is personified.

Maybe the delivery itself, like the bag or package,

comes alive with animation and makes little sounds.

Like we can maybe think a little bit

about sound design here too.

Make PortaPill itself come to life.

Okay so that's a pretty general idea,

but maybe we can frame our story around that.

And how about some amplification?

That's really emphasizing something

by adding a bunch of detail to emphasize it,

or expanding an idea and pushing it and repeating it.

So maybe we talk about how the protagonist

or the person who's feeling sick goes from zero to hero.

And we can really emphasize how horrible things are

before PortaPill, and how great they are afterwards.

And then maybe we can play with a metaphor, or an analogy.

And then maybe we can play with a metaphor, or an analogy.

And when we look back on their brief

we see that they're referencing bad weather a lot.

So they kind of already have an analogy worked in there,

so it seems like this might be a fun direction to take it.

Also seems like this is something the client might like.

So I'm just gonna write compare to weather.

Not feeling good equals rain and storms.

Feeling better equals vacation and sunny beaches.

We have some really, really basic ideas,

We have some really, really basic ideas,

and maybe this is enough to start thumbnail sketching.

Maybe we don't need too much of a detailed idea

before we can really get it out there visually.

Something I really like to do is come up with

an idea sandwich, and what I mean by that

is I'll present the client with three pairings.

So the client safe option here might be

the one where they're talking about the weather,

because that's what they have in their brief.

And when I say idea sandwich I am just talking

about the three different parts of your ideas

that you're presenting to the client.

You obviously don't want to give them like 20 ideas

You obviously don't want to give them like 20 ideas

because that's gonna be a little bit overwhelming.

But you want to present them with enough ideas

where it seems like they have choice,

and I like to call it an idea sandwich

because it's like the crazy wildcard idea

is sandwiched between the two more safe options.

And I'm just gonna make a note to myself.

Since we have three ideas, maybe this analogy one

can be the client-safe option.

And we can illustrate that in a style

that feels more safe and on brand for them.

And maybe this personification option

because it's a little bit more crazy sounding

can be the abstract idea.

can be the abstract idea.

And maybe we can design that with a more fun crazy style

that I am excited about, rather than something

the client might be excited about.

But it doesn't hurt to put it in there.

And then since this is what's left,

we'll have this as the literal option.

And when I say literal I just mean

we're actually showing what the script is saying.

And it seems like that could work really well with here,

we're seeing from zero to hero.

So maybe in the beginning of the story

we see a scene of a house,

and in that house there's just like tissues everywhere,

and in that house there's just like tissues everywhere,

and it looks dreary and drab,

and we're just really emphasizing how sick the person feels.

And then at the end we see their house

and it's clean and put together,

and we're really amplifying that contrast of feeling

throughout the piece.

So, later in the course we'll be talking more

about research and development,

and maybe going out into the real world

and finding some inspiration.

But since this project has a short timeline

But since this project has a short timeline

and it's only a month to design and animate,

I'm gonna start looking through Pinterest

to find some images for a mood board.

I always want to present the client with a few mood boards,

or at least one mood board depending on the project

so that they can get a sense for how the project

is gonna look and feel.

And as I'm working here, now that I have

the rhetorical devices in my brain,

I've got my mind map, I've got some ideas listed out,

I'm gonna start looking at actual images.

And then as I'm looking at those images,

And then as I'm looking at those images,

I'm gonna think about how maybe those can be used

with my abstract, literal, safe options.

I really just like to look through

all of my Pinterest boards.

I'll open them in a new tab,

and I'm just gonna open a few that I think might work here.

So I have an illustrated board.

Beziers, which is like my vector, clean cut board.

And I'll probably just start there.

So, now let's start looking through

my illustrated board, and this is just

kind of where I almost dump everything that I like

that looks cool.

So I'm not gonna find anything I like here right away.

So I'm not gonna find anything I like here right away.

And I almost always open things in a new tab

so that I don't have to go back.

I'm just gonna start pulling things,

like maybe that can work for the abstract one.

Like this could be crazy.

Obviously we don't want to show anyone smoking,

but this could be interesting for the abstract.

Maybe we have some crazy proportions,

or maybe there's some really wacky

abstract geometric shapes.

And I'm really loving these illustrations from ILLO.

They feel really abstracted,

but also grounded in reality,

and I can see the client really liking them

because they have like that playful, quirky,

yet safe vector style.

So, I might just go to ILLO's site

and see what else they have there.

I like to go on mind tangents sometimes

when I'm looking through Pinterest.

I think sometimes I find some more interesting

things that way.

They have a lot of really fun GIFs in here.

So obviously I already took that one.

This is pretty cool.

And I'm gonna go to their main site.

Maybe they have something else on here that could be useful.

And sometimes things, I can't download them

And sometimes things, I can't download them

so I'll screenshot them just so I can have

them in my mood board.

And, I'm specifically looking at the bezier board

just so that I can find something that works

more for the client-safe option.

I think that I'm more likely to find something clean

and playful, but also feels more health-focused

in this bezier board.

And as I'm looking through all this stuff,

And as I'm looking through all this stuff,

I'm finding a couple things under here

on the suggested pins.

But I'm not finding too much that I feel

is right for this spot.

There's a lot of cool vector stuff out there,

but a lot of it looks the same.

So, as I'm looking through this I'm kind of thinking

through artists that I like already.

And I immediately thought of my friend Lynn,

Linn Fritz, who has this beautiful vector style.

So I'm just gonna go to her website and see

what she has on there.

And already I'm looking at this and I'm feeling

better about it.

Obviously, I don't want to copy her style,

but it's great inspiration.

And I think it will be really nice

And I think it will be really nice

to look at briefly before starting my project.

This is super nice and clean, and fun,

and I can see the client really being into this.

I'm gonna save a few of those.

Okay, so after I've gone through Pinterest,

I've browsed some friends' websites,

I've browsed different creative resources online.

I've gone through and organized all of my references,

so I've separated them by the three different ideas

I've had based on this brainstorming session I had.

So it's all based off of this,

and I was thinking about this as I was looking

at references, and thinking about what the best style

at references, and thinking about what the best style

would be to execute these options.

So I've got my abstract.

Which has a lot of more crazy, wonky, less literal options.

And I've got my literal, which is still kind of funky

but is a little bit more grounded in reality.

And then I've got my safe option,

which feels a little bit chunkier.

It's a little bit more playful, friendly,

but it's also very bezier vector-based,

and feels more client safe.

So now that I have everything organized,

I'm gonna select a few of them and add them

I'm gonna select a few of them and add them

to a mood board in my PSD.

Just so I have it to reference as I'm sketching.

So I think this one could be really cool.

And I've labeled this group mood safe.

I'm just gonna name it up here safe,

and I won't necessarily write Safe out,

or safe option when I'm sending it to the client.

This is more for my own reference.

I might label it a different version,

or I might label it direction one or version one

I think this one feels pretty nice.

Make sure everything's lined up, use my ruler.

And obviously I'm sure many of you watching this right now

And obviously I'm sure many of you watching this right now

are like, oh why is she doing that in Photoshop?

Like it's so much faster and better

to line everything up in InDesign, or even Illustrator.

And that is totally true, but just make your mood board

in whatever you're comfortable in.

For me, I just like having everything in one PSD file.

I like being able to reference my research,

script, brainstorm, all of my different mood boards

and sketches in one file.

Just so that I have everything in one place,

and it's easy to reference stuff as I'm working.

Of course you don't have to make this

mood board in Photoshop.

mood board in Photoshop.

Whenever you're making mood boards

you can do them however you'd like.

You could make them in Google Slides,

you can make them in InDesign,

you can make them in Keynote.

Just whatever works as long as you're getting

something out there for the client.

I really like this one.

But I don't want to have all this type on the top.

So this is where Photoshop comes in handy.

I'll just mask that out.

And along this process right now,

things don't need to be perfect.

You can just have this here for your own sake

as you're working.

But, I like to line everything up

just so I'm happy with it as I'm going.

Okay, so this obviously isn't perfect,

but here's my safe mood board.

And this is something I can look at as I'm working.

This might not be 100% client-ready.

I might tweak it a bit before I show it to the client

if I find another reference I like better.

But I just like having a few mood boards

as I'm working on my sketches to kind of give me

an idea of how things will move.

So as I'm looking at this safe mood board right here,

I know that everything is gonna be

a little bit more rigid, and it won't have

a little bit more rigid, and it won't have

any crazy fluid transitions,

because of all these straight geometric lines.

So I've gone ahead and created the other mood boards

out of the references I pulled.

Here is my abstract mood board.

Here is my literal mood board,

and here is my safe mood board.

So I just want to talk to you a bit

about my other mood boards that I created.

Here's my abstract mood board,

and it obviously looks a little bit more of like a wildcard.

It still might feel on brand with this PortaPill logo here.

It still has some of those chunky vibes

that the PortaPill logo has.

And it's still playful and quirky.

And it's still playful and quirky.

But it might just be a little bit too weird for the client.

It doesn't really have anything that's grounded in reality.

It's more about like geometric shapes

and playful moments, rather than the actual

showcasing of their product.

So we can throw that one in there,

and design some sketches for it.

But, I'm assuming that the client

probably won't go with this one,

but it doesn't hurt to put something in

that I'm really excited about.

And I think this one could be really fun to make.

And then we also have the literal option,

which differs from the safe option

as it looks a little bit more grounded in reality.

We've got horizon line here, we've got some maybe

We've got horizon line here, we've got some maybe

real world looking vases with shadows.

We have an actual environment of a kitchen up here,

and a bottle that holds pills.

It's a lot more relatable and the viewer

can look at this top left image

and be like oh okay clearly that's a house,

and this guy is checking his phone.

It's a little bit less chunky than this.

It feels more like a Photoshop painting

rather than this which feels like

it might have been made in Illustrator.

So here we are in the thumb nailing phase

and this is where we really start thinking about motion.

Now I know generally what styles I'll be playing with

I can start applying that to narrative thinking.

What's the story that the client will tell,

and how do plan on telling it?

And now that we're thinking about motion

we're also thinking about the realistic process

behind the project.

We're thinking about budget and timeline.

What transitions will be appropriate for the time

that we have to animate it?

Are we going to use match cuts?

Are we going to use match cuts?

Are we gonna use some crazy morphing transition?

Are we gonna use characters?

We really start thinking about how the project

is actually gonna get done here.

This is where we bring things back down to earth.

And we're thinking about the client here,

but we're also thinking about the animator.

If you can, bring an animator friend on

from the beginning after you've done

a few thumbnail sketches, and see what they think

of the ideas you have for these transitions,

and how things are gonna move.

Because sometimes I might think something's really simple,

and easy to animate, and then I have my husband Tyler

and easy to animate, and then I have my husband Tyler

who's an animator come in and look at what I'm designing,

and he's like, that definitely won't get done in time

unless you have this like crazy superstar

animator working on it.

So talk to an animator about transitions,

and then think about how much you actually need

to plan them out.

Like, if you have a really, really genius animator

working on it, you might not even need to worry

as much about the transitions here,

unless the client wants to see them.

You can think about the client and their role

in this project now.

Are they really insistent on having their product

Are they really insistent on having their product

front and center the whole time?

Or are they more trying to evoke a feeling?

So think about what your capabilities are.

Think about what your animator's capabilities are.

And also think about how the client

is gonna perceive the project once you put it

into thumbnail form.

Another thing to consider is a storytelling device.

Maybe a storytelling device will help you

plan out your narrative, and how you're gonna work

on your thumbnails.

Maybe it'll help the animator get a better idea

of how things will be put together.

And let me show you what I mean by storytelling devices.

And let me show you what I mean by storytelling devices.

So I'm gonna show you examples of different transitions

and storytelling devices that you can keep in mind

while story boarding.

So this one has a really nice storytelling device.

We're literally just using a vertical camera pan

throughout the entire piece to tell a story.

So the storytelling device that this piece uses

is match cuts, and I love using match cuts.

They're a great way to avoid having too much

animation time spent on transitions.

But basically a match cat is a cut

which uses some elements from one scene

which uses some elements from one scene

that carry over to the next scene

to provide the viewer with a seamless viewing experience,

which is way less disorienting

than just cutting to a random shot.

We also see a bunch of match cuts

in the School of Motion intro,

where we're focusing on this geometric shape

in the middle of the frame to cut between.

So we always see this like white shape in the middle.

And I love this piece by Foreign Fauna.

It is so funny and amazing.

But their storytelling device here is a little different.

They're using geometric frames to tell the story.

There's no like specific name for this,

but you can tell that they chose a style

but you can tell that they chose a style

of maybe like this comic strip type storytelling device,

and utilized that throughout the entire piece.

And here is Infinite Doom for the Venture Bros

by Golden Wolf, and this storytelling device

is just an endless zoom that carries us

through the entire piece.

The storytelling device that's used here

is that we follow a character through

this crazy moving world the whole time.

Even if the camera's shifting around,

we're always staying on this one character protagonist

through the whole spot.

And this piece by Oddfellows Works With Nest

And this piece by Oddfellows Works With Nest

is an awesome example of a piece that uses cuts,

and match cuts, and all types of different transitions.

They use camera pans, pullouts, zoom ins, door closes.

They have really creative wipes that they use

throughout the whole piece.

Even though they're using different storytelling devices

and different transitions through the whole piece,

it still feels super elegant and seamless.

So now that I have my three mood boards,

I've talked about rhetorical devices

and ways to transition, I really want to start

getting into the sketching phase.

Now, a lot of times when I start the sketching phase,

Now, a lot of times when I start the sketching phase,

I feel absolutely horrified.

I am so scared to start putting pen to paper.

And I just want to encourage you to just go for it.

Right here nobody is gonna be seeing your sketches.

These are just for you at this point.

You can be really rough with them.

We're gonna refine them later.

These are really just to get your ideas out really rough.

Nice, easy thumbnails.

They can be really crappy ideas to begin with

and nobody has to know.

So I've gone ahead and created this

So I've gone ahead and created this

little template for myself.

And I really just want to focus on three frames here

for each of my three ideas,

the abstract, literal and safe.

Because I don't want to overwhelm the client too much,

and I also don't want to put way too much work into it.

Now, this might not be right for every project you're on,

but my client seems pretty trusting and easygoing here

so I'm gonna start with this.

And I thought it would be best to show

some moments of action, and show a little bit

of different parts of the piece.

So in the frame one here, we've got VO,

and we're talking about the last thing

you want to do is battle the real world

you want to do is battle the real world

to get your medicine.

So, this is the frame where we see someone being sick.

And then in the second frame, I want to focus on their logo.

I really want to tell them that their brand

is important to me.

It's a big part of the story.

So we're just gonna have this lock up in the center frame.

But maybe it's transitioning from frame one

to frame two here.

So we actually see some moments of action,

and we can show how things will move in this part

of the storyboard.

And then frame three will be transitioning

out of the logo lockup, and we'll be landing

on something a little bit more positive

on something a little bit more positive

than what we see in frame one.

So, it's an app that delivers your medication

in under an hour.

And if we look back on the script,

it seems like the client wants to show

their logo or their app on the phone.

And that's just to show the accessibility of it.

And it seems like that's a suggested option,

but I definitely want to include that in one of my options.

It might not be in this first analogy option

with the client-safe option.

So now I'm just gonna get super, super rough

with my client-safe option.

with my client-safe option.

I decided to go with this one first

because it seems like the most straightforward option.

I'm basically following exactly what they have here.

Not exactly, but very close.

I'll be using that bad weather analogy,

so everything is pretty easy to jump into

with this client-safe option.

For this one I kind of just want

to literally draw out what I am seeing

and hearing from the voiceover here.

So, the last thing you want to do

is battle the real world to get your medicine.

So maybe literally showing some kind

of battle scene where I see these like raindrops

of battle scene where I see these like raindrops

going against some objects that help you when you're sick.

So maybe a thermometer, and like some tissue,

obviously that's some really beautiful tissue right there.

And then, I don't know, like some tea.

Obviously this isn't where I'm gonna go with it,

but super rough.

Next frame we're definitely gonna see the logo,

so I need to show that.

And I want to show a bit of contrast.

We were talking about the weather here.

We're using that as an analogy,

We're using that as an analogy,

so PortaPill should be the opposite of bad weather,

it should be sunny.

So maybe we see the sunrise up behind the logo.

And then in frame three we're talking about a delivery.

Maybe that's you using your phone

to create the delivery, or maybe that's actually

a delivery truck.

I think a delivery truck could be cool

and really easy to transition between frames with,

so I'm just gonna draw that here.

And, I really don't think delivery trucks

have three wheels, but we'll just go with that.

Looks great, looks like a real trusty vehicle right there.

So here's my delivery truck,

and this is not great, right?

Like I'm looking at this and I'm like,

I don't want to make this.

But we can make this much better.

The real question that we have here is,

how are we gonna transition?

And obviously right here it's like

how do we get from this weird battle composition

to the PortaPill logo in the center of frame?

to the PortaPill logo in the center of frame?

That's a really hard question to answer at first,

but I'm thinking about some of those transitions

that we were looking at earlier,

and I immediately thought of this piece

where we use this geometric device to transition.

And, I don't want to do that.

I don't want to make like a comic strip,

but seeing this square frame just reminded me of a window.

So, since a window is common in a house,

and you're looking out at the weather

from your window, maybe that's something

we can use to frame this transition here.

I'm gonna go ahead and kind of add that in here.

I'm gonna go ahead and kind of add that in here.

Maybe we transition from the window,

and then the sun rises in the background

behind the window, making the rain disappear.

And maybe the truck appears outside of the house too,

so maybe all this stuff is happening within a window.

I'm gonna go ahead and just try to make this

sketch a little bit better,

make it a little bit more interesting.

So I'm literally just gonna start with a rectangle,

and I'm using the Shift tool a lot here

to get those straight lines.

And we've got maybe the top of the window here.

And we've got maybe the top of the window here.

I'm gonna draw like a little arrangement

of those objects I had in the first frame,

where they're battling.

Maybe we see those in the foreground here.

Maybe someone's couch is in front of the window

and they've got some of those objects,

and they're looking outside.

So I always need tissues when I'm not feeling well,

so I'm gonna draw those in.

And don't worry too much about your layers here.

You can flatten thing as you work here.

It's not a big deal since it's just the sketch,

and we won't actually be using it later.

Maybe this person has some tea.

Maybe this person has some tea.

I always want something warm when I'm feeling down.

And perhaps there's a little thermometer.

They're checking their temperature,

making sure they're still alive.

We've got some window lines here.

And of course we want to see the rain outside.

So maybe that's just some like abstracted lines.

So yeah that's feeling a lot better

So yeah that's feeling a lot better

than this shot that I had going.

It still has the same idea.

You still see the weather and there's that analogy

to you feeling sick, and under the weather,

but it's framed in a little bit nicer of a way,

and we can maybe use that window as a storytelling device.

So in the next frame we really want to see the logo,

but maybe it's arising behind this window.

So we use that same shape that we have in frame one.

And we actually, maybe see the sun appear out here.

So all of the rain disappears.

And the sun arises with the PortaPill logo.

And I'm wondering if there's a way

that we can add a little bit more emphasis to this.

Like, what kind of motion or what secondary motion

can we add to this frame to make it feel more alive?

And I'm wondering if it would be kind of nice

to have some curtains, like some wind blowing.

Maybe it's like this beautiful like hair flipping moment

Maybe it's like this beautiful like hair flipping moment

where PortaPill becomes the hero,

and we see these curtains blowing in the wind.

Ta-dah, PortaPill is to the rescue.

So don't worry too much about everything

being the correct proportion and size.

This is really just to get your idea across.

And when I see this I'm like,

okay that's a pretty cool idea.

Maybe we have these objects blown away by this wind.

Maybe PortaPill is actually coming to the rescue

Maybe PortaPill is actually coming to the rescue

and you don't need your tissues and your tea,

and your thermometer anymore.

Maybe you just need PortaPill.

So that's really emphasizing what the client wants,

is we're really focusing on their logo here.

But I'm also realizing that I don't have

a curtain in this first one,

so I'm just gonna draw that in,

and maybe it's not moving here so it looks

a little bit more drab.

We just want to make sure that we keep everything consistent

and we see all the same elements across the frame.

We don't want something to just appear out of nowhere.

We need to make sure it's there

so that the animator can use it.

And then onto this third frame.

And then onto this third frame.

We still want to use the delivery truck

that I had in the last frame,

but maybe it's outside here.

Maybe it's outside this window.

But I'm wondering if maybe this is

a great time to transition.

Maybe we push into the window,

so the window almost takes over the entire frame.

And then after this, we can actually go outside

to where the delivery truck is.

So, we want to indicate that we're pushing

into the window here, and maybe those curtains

have settled down a little bit.

have settled down a little bit.

And we see the delivery truck outside.

I want to make sure that it's still sunny.

Woo hoo!

And maybe the PortaPill logo is actually on the truck,

or we could see some other kind of indication

that it's the PortaPill truck there.

And now that I'm looking at this,

it could be kind of nice to have this truck

kind of wipe out the PortaPill logo

kind of wipe out the PortaPill logo

so that we continue staying in the narrative of the story.

So I'm feeling like this is like

a pretty solid idea right now.

I still am excited about playing

with my other two options, but I think that this is

something that the client can be really excited about.

And it will be really fun to animate.

It has a lot of focus on the logo reveal.

It has focus on the person being sick,

and PortaPill coming to the rescue.

So I think this is a pretty great option for them.

I also want to explain to the client

what's happening in each of these frames.

what's happening in each of these frames.

You don't want to just leave them hanging

and send them these images, and just be like,

okay figure it out, this is how it's gonna look.

I want to explain to them through this action line

and tell them what actually will be

happening with animation.

And I really want to emphasize

that the way you describe the action

can really help sell it to the client.

Add in some adjectives that speak to their brand

and emphasize their goal.

So here I'm really emphasizing the idea

of someone being sick.

of someone being sick.

It's dreary and dull colored.

Can also add in some adjectives

that will describe how it will look when it's colored in.

And just explaining that someone here is sick obviously.

And it's cold and rainy outside.

So it's pretty straightforward, but you don't want

anything getting lost in translation.

So that's really emphasizing that PortaPill

is there to save the day.

And then in this last frame we can talk

a bit about the transition.

So, the camera pushes into the window

So, the camera pushes into the window

as a speedy delivery truck drives into frame,

wiping away the PortaPill logo.

So obviously we'll come back to the PortaPill

logo at the end.

That's why it's wiped away here,

but I really want to emphasize to the client

that their delivery is super speedy.

And it's sunny outside, and we're using adjectives

that they used in their own brand guidelines,

and in the deck they sent us.

So I'm really hoping that the way

I describe the action here will help sell my idea to them.

I describe the action here will help sell my idea to them.

And so fast forward a bit here,

I think it would be a little bit tedious for me

to sketch everything out fully in front of you.

But I want to talk you through

some of the decisions I made as I was

sketching out the literal and abstract options as well.

So for the literal option, I was following this mood board

a little bit more closely.

This frame right here seems to have

a little bit more grounding in reality.

It is still slightly abstracted

and quirky, and fun, but it's got shadows.

There's like a horizon line.

There's like a horizon line.

The perspective seems pretty normal.

And then up here obviously we still get

a little crazy with the framing of everything,

and not everything feels like real true to life.

But you can tell this is an environment

that someone would live in.

I'm using queues from this mood board,

and from my brainstorming session on amplification

from zero to hero to construct my sketches,

for this literal storyboard.

So I am designing the same frames

as I designed with my safe option.

as I designed with my safe option.

I'm using the same VO lines so that

everything can be compared and contrasted

a bit easier by the client.

Here I'm actually drawing a real scene of a house,

and not focused on just that one window

that's kind of floating in space.

This is more someone's house.

They're watching TV because they're sick.

It's less focused on the weather.

It's more about how they've got tissues laying over there,

and they've got the trashcan filled with tissues.

And I'll use my colors and lighting

to really emphasize that it's a drab scene.

So the action is open on a drab scene.

So the action is open on a drab scene.

We can tell that someone sick is living in this house.

And for this spot and for this direction

I was thinking about using cuts,

because cuts feel a little bit more cinematic,

and this style that I'm using,

this more literal style feels a little bit more cinematic.

It feels more true to life, and more like a movie scene.

We cut into another section of the table,

and we saw that in the first frame

this water glass was half empty.

And then maybe when we cut into a PortaPill brochure

sitting on the table, the colors suddenly

sitting on the table, the colors suddenly

lighten and grow more warm.

The light seems to beam from this logo

on the table, and wait a second.

Did that glass of water just fill up a little bit?

We really are emphasizing that zero to hero concept here

where everything's a little bit empty,

a little bit dreary, and ta-dah we meet PortaPill.

So once PortaPill is in the picture everything brightens up.

Maybe the colors get a little bit more ecstatic and happy.

And then in frame three we're gonna cut out.

And referencing their script

where they saw the PortaPill logo on the phone

where they saw the PortaPill logo on the phone

in this section, it seemed like that was kind of

important to the client, so I want to provide that option.

In frame three we actually see

the PortaPill logo on a phone.

So we're cutting to another shot of the table

that we saw in frame one and frame two.

This time we're looking top down at the phone,

and we see the PortaPill logo on there,

as if someone had just ordered some medication

from the PortaPill app.

So, we're actually showing how the device

and app works here, so it's a little bit more practical

of an idea than this safe option.

So, we're giving the client some things

So, we're giving the client some things

to pick and choose from.

So, they could possibly combine these two ideas.

Maybe they're really happy with frame one

and frame two of this more safe option,

but they want to see the phone in frame three.

So, that's also something that the client can do,

and that you should be open to them doing,

is to have them mix and match from your ideas.

And same goes for storyboards.

They can mix and match ideas from those,

and visual queues from those as well.

And now onto the abstract sketches.

So this one I clearly didn't get as refined with.

I'm not like 100% sure about this idea,

I'm not like 100% sure about this idea,

but I just wanted to get it out there.

This one I wanted to focus a bit more

on some of the ideas I had from the mind map.

So as you can see here I was really interested

in the idea of portal, and I was also interested

in the idea of shortcut.

So it made me think of this animation

I had seen awhile ago from Device,

and it's really crazy and abstract.

But I just wanted to show it to you real quick.

They have all these funky transitions,

and it's more morphing, and we even see

some camera panning, pushing in.

some camera panning, pushing in.

It's very abstracted and honestly I don't know how

they came up with this idea.

It's really cool.

And I obviously don't want to steal that idea or anything,

but I just love how the motion plays out.

So, I'm kind of keeping that in mind as I sketched here.

So in this one I wanted to focus on literally

battling the elements here.

So maybe we actually see some battle tools,

like a sword and a shield.

And we see a crazy mashup of chaotic doors

and rain, and clouds.

and rain, and clouds.

Like, it doesn't really make that much sense,

but it's kind of a fun collage,

and I could see once we actually got into design,

I could see it looking really crazy and fun.

Kind of like this illustration that's in

my abstract mood board.

I think that could be really neat.

But, I don't know if the client would go for it.

So that's why I'm providing the literal

and safe options as well.

Frame one, we open on battle tools, literally battling

the elements in a frenzy.

It seems the tools are losing the fight.

What's gonna happen next?

So in frame two, which is the transition and logo lockup,

So in frame two, which is the transition and logo lockup,

before we can even see who wins this battle

the entire frame rotates, and all extraneous elements

fall out of frame.

The door remains, dropping open to reveal the PortaPill.

It's like a portal to another world has opened.

A sign of hope.

So this one I really wanted to play

with some of those crazy transitions we saw

in that John Carpenter video,

but I also wanted it to work with the idea

I had in the mind map, which was a portal.

Like, PortaPill is this surreal new place

that this app will take you to,

that this app will take you to,

and you'll feel better once you're using it.

My thought was that this door here

could literally turn on its side.

The whole frame turns left, everything falls out of frame,

and the door drops open, revealing this logo.

Now, I think that's kind of crazy,

and maybe doesn't feel as on brand.

But, could be a cool idea that we could implement

somewhere else along the way.

And then frame three, the surreal scene shifts

and unfolds to reveal arrows reminiscent

of a speedy delivery service.

A clock happily counts down the hour.

So we're really emphasizing the time here,

So we're really emphasizing the time here,

how the medication is getting to us in under an hour.

And we're already in this strange PortaPill portal world,

so we can have these like flying elements,

and maybe it feels a lot more abstracted,

like our mood board does.

Maybe it feels more like this shot where we just have

a bunch of stuff floating in space.

I don't really know if this hits on their on brand idea

but if I could refine these sketches

or show them a frame of something

that felt really exciting, use some verbiage

and talk to them about how excited I am about it

and talk to them about how excited I am about it

and convince them of it, it is a possibility

that they'd choose it.

But, I am glad I have these other two options

which seem a lot more safe.

I'm also really excited about making these,

so I wouldn't be devastated if we didn't go

with this option.

So as you can see from this whole lesson today,

the directions that we show the client

should be different enough to where they seem

like different options, but some of the content

can be the same.

It doesn't need to change completely,

or be an extreme or dramatic difference

between each of these sketch rounds.

between each of these sketch rounds.

As you can also see, these sketches aren't

really super polished or refined yet.

This is really just me getting my idea out,

and I think that you should also have

that mentality as you're working on your own sketches.

Not everything needs to be perfect right now.

It's really more about the concept behind it,

and maybe a fun transition that you come up with.

You don't want to get too attached to your ideas

in this beginning phase anyways.

It's okay to be a little rough.

So this is really just to come up with ideas,

practice the written treatment,

and have all your mood boards

and your brainstorming out there

and your brainstorming out there

for you to use in future processes and projects.

So now that we've touched lightly on all of these

different brainstorming techniques,

mind mapping, sketching, mood boarding,

researching the client, deciphering a brief,

analyzing a script.

Now that we've done all of this,

we can start to use these methods

in our future projects for this course.

I really hope that you learned a lot here.

Even though I fit this into a short lesson

that you could digest in one day,

I hope that your concepting,

researching and development can be expanded upon

researching and development can be expanded upon

in the future.

So just try to incorporate these in future projects

and the rest of this course,

and I think it will do you a lot of favors.

(upbeat happy music)