Don’t know whether to go for animation or live action – let us help you decide.

There are many things to consider when thinking about the best way to create, produce and market your start up or advertising video. As you well know, it comes down to your budget and your audience, but how do you utilise both of these factors to benefit your business in the most successful way? We want to look at the pros and cons of using animation versus live action video techniques in order to help you decide exactly what your business needs.

Budget

No matter what style of video or website, this is always our number one priority when considering the project that we are getting involved with. You have to have a realistic outlook of how much you are willing to spend on your start up or advertising video. By creating a reasonable budget, it allows you to have a better idea of how to create a suitable video without over or under doing it.

Audience

It may sound blaringly obvious, but when creating your start up video, the most important thing to think about is your audience. Who is going to be watching this video? How will this video make create more clicks for your website? These are important things to think about when you are deciding between whether you want to use live action or animated video. It is not enough to think, “I’d love to have an animated video of a dog running through a garden!” or “we need to have a live action shot of a man standing by a river” without thinking about the appropriateness for the demographic and the different effects that they have (Although, I’m not sure what this particular business would be marketing, to be honest with you!) However, what we are trying to say is, appropriateness is key and the decision between animated and live action could make or break the barrier between you and your desired audience, so think carefully.

Appropriateness

We are not trying to say that animated videos are not effective, as we at Stormnet Media love a good animated video and they can be very informative, concise and fun. But sometimes, depending on the message you want to convey and considering the audience, some videos may benefit more from a human touch. Having a well-known face to bring a message alive can really instill trust in your business, as it can illustrate certain professionalism to your campaign.

Resources

So, you have considered your budget and thought about which type of video is better for your business and how you would like to market it. But before you start putting the final touches to your mood board of ideas, have a think about your resources, as this can ultimately effect your decision about the use of animated versus live action. If you are outsourcing in order to produce your video, there is often not much difference in price, but of course costs will vary depending on the style of your video, production time and length, etc. If you are wanting to do a DIY job or you know someone that may be useful to talk or appear in your video then it is possible to do a live action video without outsourcing, however, this is much more difficult when it comes to animation.

DIY and live action

With a greater quality of affordable technology at our fingertips, it is no surprise that you can see and endless amount of ‘vloggers’ running businesses from their bedrooms using smartphones and cameras. With this in mind, there are so many pieces of technology that make it much easier for you to produce your own live action videos using things such as GoPro’s, iPhone’s and Drones. However, the devil is in the detail, and often it is the professional touch of a seasoned video producer that creates that final touch to your video. DIY can be truly magnificent when utilised and put together in the right way, and for many of these vloggers we have spoken about, it is endearing because it is very personal and conversational. However, if you seek a more professional look for your video then there is often no replacing the experience of a good video production team to advise and guide you.

Animation

Animation can be a great tool for a concise but fun start up or advertising video. We are big fans of the use of animated videos as there are no limits of what you can create because there are so many possibilities. DIY animation can be much more difficult to create at home unless you are knowledgeable in all aspects that come with it. There are many things to consider when creating an animated video, such as voice-overs, sound effects and illustrations. Unless you know what you are doing with animations, it can be very time-consuming and often less cost effective than outsourcing the talent to do it for you. A film such as Disney favourite, ‘Up’, is a great example how to use animation in a way that touches the audience and creating an invaluable emotional connection between the audience and the characters (the animation and a great storyline of course!). Due to the advanced animations that we can now create, it shows that you don’t always have to use live action to truly connect with your audience emotionally.

As you can see, both techniques can be very effective but there are may things to think about when considering how to use them. So, if you cannot decide between whether to use live action or animation for your start up, advertising or promotional video, or if you need an advice or quote then we would love to help you.