TwispWorks
An explainer about the Methow Investment Network!
The team at TwispWorks reached out to me to create a video showcasing and explaining their unique lending connection program: the Methow Investment Network.
I was able to help develop the script before diving into pre-production, and then production.
Check out my full breakdown below for a more in-depth look at the production process!
Script / Isaac Sommers, Patrick Law, Grant Eadie
Design, Animation / Isaac Sommers
Voice Over / Grant Eadie
Additional 3D Animation / Dylan Mahood
Pre-Production
Mood Board and Development Deck
To kick things off, I put together a Mood Board and a project Development Deck, which can be seen here.
The Development Deck functions as an on-going repository for concept and design elements, which helps streamline the client approval process by keeping everything in one place.
Keeping it Simple
I wanted to keep things simple stylistically, both to keep the project scope achievable for me as a solo designer/animator, and to fit with the overall design aesthetic of TwispWorks.
So for the Mood Board, I chose reference images in a minimal, textured vector art style that I thought would work best for the video.
Script Collaboration
For this project, I was able to get in on the action of writing the script, which is always my preference.
The team at TwispWorks provided me with a long document describing the program and also met with me to discuss which aspects they’d like highlighted.
From there, I chiseled down their initial document into a tight, one-minute-long explainer script, and we were off to the races.
Rough Storyboard
I like starting the storyboarding process on paper, which gives me maximum flexibility and minimal friction. It didn’t take long for the initial visuals to start taking shape.
I rarely share these loose sketches with the client as they can be confusing without any accompanying explanation.
Final Storyboard
Once I was happy with the rough storyboard, I brought my sketches into Adobe Illustrator (though the style at this point is still rough, sketchy line work).
After completing a fully fleshed out version of the storyboard, I sent it to the team at TwispWorks for approval. I included a short Loom video of myself talking through the storyboard outline my ideas and make sure nothing was lost in translation.
Everything was approved quickly and I jumped right into designing all the assets for the video.
Design
A Valley in the Mountains
I pulled inspiration for some of the key visuals from the physical geography of the breathtaking Methow Valley itself. The rolling hills, framed by the Cascade Mountains, served as both a visually interesting backdrop as well as a symbol of distance between neighbors that the Methow Investment Network was helping to overcome.
The Palette
Twispworks already had a palette of preferred colors, which helped anchor the expanded palette I eventually settled on. Like the script, the color palette was very much a joint effort, which is always my preferred way to work.
No Strokes
I generally prefer animating designs that don’t have strokes, and given the quick turnaround for this project, it seemed like a perfect use for this simpler style.
Light Shadows
Really, I should say Lite shadows. I wanted to use shadows to give the designs depth and help the various elements stand out from each other, but I didn’t want hard, dark shadows. So I opted for simple, lite shadows wherever appropriate.
Centered Composition
I’m a big fan of centered compositions (clearly), and here I leaned on them quite a bit, with a few notable exceptions. They just look good!
Animation
Faux 3D
I wanted the scenes in this video to have a sense of realism and scale, so I used a handy After Effects script called Depth by Yat Fung Leung.
With Depth, I was able to easily push the background elements back in Z space without having to adjust their scale, thus creating a parallax effect when I moved the camera.
For the scenes with fewer elements, I just adjusted the scale and position of the background elements manually to create the same illusion.
3D
I generally avoid working with any truly 3D elements or assets, but for one shot I really wanted to have a coin flipping through the air in 3D. Since it was a tight deadline, I brought in my friend and fellow animator Dylan Mahood for that shot, which he knocked out of the park.
Parting Thoughts
This was an amazing project to work on, and I’m very grateful to the whole team at TwispWorks for giving me the latitude to bring their vision to life in one my favorite styles to work in.