This is an explainer video created for the Equal-Life project, a collaboration between several European universities and centers for public health. The Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) commisioned this video to explain what the Equal-life project is about. According to their website:
Mental health is the result of the complex interplay between genetic, psychological, environmental and other factors and experiences. The exposome concept, referring to the totality of exposures from conception onwards, is emerging as a very promising approach in studying the role of the environment in human disease. The EU-funded Equal-Life project will develop and utilise the exposome concept in an integrated study of the external exposome and its social aspects and of measurable internal physiological factors and link those to a child’s development and life course mental health. This will be done using a novel approach combining exposure data to characterise, measure, model and understand influences at different developmental stages. The goal is to propose the best supportive environments for all children.
Equal-life.eu
Challenge
The goal of this explainer video was twofold: first to explain to potential partners and collaborators what the project is about, and second to inform children willing to participate in the project, and convince them to do so. This meant that the target audience for the video was actually two separate and very different groups. For the partners and collaborators a more complicated explainer video could provide them with better insight, but the complexity and tone-of-voice was limited by the other target group, the children.
On a technical level the challenge was to depict relatable characters throughout the video. These needed to be dynamic and respond to each other and their environment. Part of this was also the design of the characters themselves, being unique and recognisable, but also able to be animated without it consuming too much time.
Storyboard
Styleframes
End result
Lessons learned
The character design was an area I spent a lot of time on, and learned a lot about on a technical level. I ended up giving the characters an oversized haircut to give them a cartoony aspect. This also allowed me to hide their eyes, thus saving time in the animation process by not having to animate them. The characters’ looks were also determined by the way I planned to animate them. I used simple lines with different types of strokes for the arms and legs, resulting in fairly minimal limbs. This meant that most of the identifying features of each character had to be added to their torso and hair.
This animation was also the first where I was in charge of providing a voice over. Even though I have worked on numerous animations before, for most of them the voice over was handled by a colleague or the client themselves. I learned a lot about the process, and what to expect in terms of availability and planning for future projects.
