BRIEF + CONTEXT
This is one of the projects I've worked on for SUGi, an environmental organisation that plants pockets of biodiverse forests in mostly urban settings, all around the world.
The brief for this video series was to create a sequence of short teasers for the longer form films from various SUGi Projects.
CONCEPT + INITIAL STAGES
We came up with the concept of selecting one powerful quote or moment from the original videos that perfectly sums up the idea of each project. The focus of the teasers would be the quote through a clean, simple and engaging animation, paired with a dynamic sequence of videos and photos.
The first step was researching the respective project, understanding it and extracting a couple quotes options. The example showcased below is from one of SUGi's projects from Greece, a restoration project after the catastrophic wild fires of 2021, where the main planted species was the Oak tree. The quote options initially chosen were the below:
In the end, the final audio is a mix of both quotes and an additional excerpt that gives a well-rounded context of the project.
Once the audio excerpt was finalised, the next steps were creating the design elements and the animation style.
DESIGN + ANIMATIONS
The moodboard for this series were videos from various brands and companies that used large, simple fonts and short sentences that are easy to follow as they move along.
So the design focused on the SUGi font, in a large size placed centrally that would fill up 80% of the screen's width. The lines would be either aligned centre, or asymmetrically aligned to the margins of the video. Each section would have a maximum of 3 lines, so the entire quote was split into sections of 2-3 lines.
The animation is a typewriter-style animation, synced in rhythm with the speaker's pace. The challenge was in matching the animation with the intonation and speed of each individual and keeping the text neither too slow or too fast.
VIDEO EDITING + SOUND EFFECTS
The final steps were adding footage and sound effects to the teaser. The rhythm of the video was given by the animation and the audio, so there would be a cut with almost each new line of text. This created a very dynamic and engaging video that would keep the audience watching and entertained.
While finding footage that matched the video's content and rhythm was challenging, this also gave a clear structure and understanding what that footage should be. It feels like solving a puzzle.
Once the footage was in place, adding the sound effects was the final touch.
FINAL DESIGN
OTHER VIDEOS FROM THE SERIES
