Imagine this: You’re in a creative brainstorm for an amazing new product that you’re launching. The meeting has been incredible so far, creative juices have been flowing, some innovative ideas have been thrown about and you’re pretty sure that the team has just come up with the best launch idea ever. Just when you think to yourself that your team has hit the jackpot, you’re immediately thrown back down to earth when Sally from marketing pipes up about the exorbitant cost that this genius idea would incur. It turns out that filming a fifty-foot, flashing Santa Clause balloon floating in the skies of London is not “practical”.
However, this does not need to be the case. There is a way in which creativity does not need to be limited (unless it involves a giant flashing Santa Clause balloon). At TopLine Comms, we’ve earned our stripes as a video production agency that understands how to deliver creative excellence that doesn’t break the bank. To overcome such barriers, we often choose to create mixed media videos. This method involves merging animation and live action video. Both live action and animation have their own pros and cons, but with mixed media videos, you can get the best of both worlds.
With animation, we are free to create anything. Literally. It gives us free reign to demonstrate anything from what the future of space travel might look like, to the ins and outs of how a piece of machinery might work. Animation is very much a ‘sky’s the limit’ approach to a project.
Not only does animation allow us to create the unimaginable for your video, but it’s also a great mechanism for selling concepts or explaining something that is very technical. Humans are naturally visual creatures, and therefore will understand concepts more easily with a visual aid. In this sense, animation can bring abstract or complex concepts to life, allowing us to create a story that can evoke emotion that resonates with viewers.
Animation is a stylish art form that can be used across all sectors in different capacities. It’s engaging, memorable and effective. In addition to this, animation can often be cheaper to produce and easier to amend/alter should the information need to be changed in the future. If animation sparks your interest, contact our brilliant animation team to find out more.
On the other side of the spectrum is live action or camera facing work. This technique also has its own benefits. It is a human and personal approach. We know that people love to see faces – instinctively, we are drawn to real humans. Therefore, we choose to use live action for case studies and testimonials. However, like a pink sequined disco jacket, there is a time and a place. In the same way that animation is limitless and fantastical, live action is very much grounded in reality. It can reassure the viewer that what they’re looking at isn’t a fantasy, it’s very much real and they’re staring right at the proof. Ultimately, we use live action to bring a human element to videos, where it is constrained by comfortable reality (unlike animation).
If you’re wondering which method we prefer to use at TopLine, our answer is both! We often merge live action and animation to create mixed media videos to bring stories and concepts to life. We know that our audience responds well to seeing a person, but also realise that people love to engage their imaginations in videos. Blending the two allows the videos we create to cut through the digital noise. This is because it makes the videos dynamic and keeps viewers engaged for longer.
In the end, it all depends on the purpose of the video and the message we are trying to portray. However, by using the mixed media method, a new and innovative type of video is born. If you’re wanting to find out more about mixed media videos, or if you can’t afford to float a giant Santa Clause balloon across your city, then contact our expert video team.