I paid $200 for an explainer video
Here’s what I learned.
You can have good ideas for days, but it doesn’t matter unless you do something about it. This is the story of how I took “the leap” and doled out cash for a video project.
First, I got inspired
I started watching people make stuff in live streams. In February 2020, I watched one in particular, a Livestream with Paul Trani, about the principles of design in Adobe Photoshop.
Paul talked about scale, hierarchy, similarity, dominance, and color. That got me thinking. If a single element could express so much — stability, strength, weakness, balance— could it also express complex, abstract ideas like trust, emotion, intensity, progress?
I let that idea hang for a while.
Then, I found my purpose
I was applying for a job at an international school as a communications director. The job description listed as a primary responsibility the development of a “communications strategy.” (A complex, abstract idea!)
This was a crucial moment. I could go the expected route and prepare a standard job application with a run-of-the-mill cover letter and resume. Or, I could go the extra mile and develop a creative way to express my qualifications. Better yet, I could “show, not tell” what communications strategy means to me, by applying communications strategies!
My goal became thus: explain my communications strategy using principles of design.
After that, I found help
I reached out to JP Talty. A few months earlier, I watched and was blown away by his 2020 Motion Graphics Reel. I pitched the idea to turn my “communications strategy” into an explainer video. Here’s the voice message:
Hey JP, I wanted to see if I could get a quote from you for some motion graphics work. I want to have five drawings, for these simple lines to show different ideas — like one for amplify, one for advance, one for relations, analytics, and products — to make a video, to sell myself for a job I’m applying for. But, I wanted to maybe turn it into a collaboration with someone, and just have fun with it, as a creative way to show some different ideas of ways that I think. So the idea is to have these, in After Effects or something, as like a graphite or lines that are kind of minimal but messy as they’re drawn here, and just white all the way around and maybe text or a word beneath, but what I could use help with is just getting the lines drawn and pretty.”
JP liked the idea, so I sent him a more “complete” brief on Loom. (It was really hot in Spain, in July, so you can see I am not actually wearing a shirt in my kitchen.) Here is an excerpt of that brief:
I had the thought to make it live on this website, on this page, so you have an idea of the context and the distribution plan. The narration is just going to be ‘ I’m Phil, and my approach to communication starts at a high level with amplifying, focusing on what people are doing well right now, and then advancing, so looking at what the goals are on the horizon, and moving into the next frontier…’
Because I’m always interested in learning new things (partly out of curiosity and partly out of the knowledge that it will make my future work easier) I made a special request that JP record video highlights of the process for me.
Next, I worked with JP
I sent him a storyboard, with the narration script (highlighted with words I wanted to appear on-screen), reference videos, an audio test run-through, and questions (ie, would he include SFX).
Because I live in Spain and he lives in the USA, and just because it felt right, we continued to communicate over Instagram — using voice messages, videos, and texts.
We were both excited about the first round. I told him it was really hot. I was on fire. I also had some ideas for changes. Here is that:
I had two ideas. You can tell me if they’re possible. Number one, I think it would be super if we re-used the animations altogether at the beginning and end. We could replace that head with the cogs. That would show how the animations work together as “complex, moving parts.” The second idea was to have pop outs of text that are key words. That would be a really nice flourish, finishing touch. So, I just updated the storyboard. You can let me know what you think about those two ideas.
Making compromises
JP got back to me with a reality-check. (Luckily, JP is awesome and compassionate and graceful, so it wasn’t crushing.) I was asking for a lot (too much) and JP let know, gently, I was asking for more than I paid. Here is the message he sent me:
One thing to know is a regular, one-and-a-half minute scripted animation — because of all the details, and the textures, and timing that goes into it — it’s around 750 dollars. So, what I can do is, based on our budget, I can come up with some changes for the things that you requested. With a lot of really cool animations, there’s detail and process that goes into it that makes it feel like a whole system. Granted, we don’t have the resources to make it feel that big, but we can do a lot of good with what we got. So let me try it! Do you have a timeline that you think would work for this next version?
I modified my feedback to allow him more creative license. He got back to me with revisions that stayed within scope.
Besides buying a domain for a personal website, and paying for a couple resume reviews, this was the first project I’d spent serious money on to “promote my business.” I was pleased with the result, and I like to recognize good work, so I wrote JP a testimonial and gave him a 15% tip.
That’s it!
Have you ever been on the client-side of things? Are you thinking about doing something more to invest in or reinvent yourself? Where are you at with that? How did it go?
Watch the video:
See more of my work at philmendez.com.
See more of JP’s at thedallasdads.com
