I created this video while working as an internal media developer for USA Funds. Apart from the script writer, I was the sole creative talent on the project. My roles included art director, character designer, animator, and audio engineer.
This video appears with the permission of USA Funds.
The major challenge I faced was to quickly and simply explain a rather complicated message. USA Funds provided a service that connected borrowers of student loans to conselors who would help them find solutions to any repayment issues they might have. The service was free to the borrower and paid for by the school they attended.
To help convey the idea that our service understood the borrowers' situation I created imagery that reflected their feelings towards the subhect of student loans.
Confusion.
Intimidation.
My storyboards break the ad into four distinct parts. The first sends the message that the borrower's predicament is understood.
The second shows the borrower taking action by calling a loan counselor.
Next I emphasize the fact that the service is not charging them a fee and the service is not collecting on any bills.
The video concludes with the counselor assisting the borrower and the borrower gaining a visible feeling of relief.
Another challenge that had to be overcome was budget. While the internal client was willing to expend a large amount of my time there was no cash for music or a professional voice talent.
In response I recruited the script writer to provide the voiceover. My "recording studio" was the quietest room I could find in the building. It had a very noisy HVAC fan in the corner, but I was able to remove that using Adobe Audition. The result was a clean audio track to accompany the animation.
A third obstacle was defining an art style that would resonate with our audience and win the approval of our internal communicaitons team which I cover in the project Student Loan Counselor and Borrower.
