Holiday video fun!

At Wienot Films, we have had a great time making various holiday videos, maybe we can make one for you? Here are a few examples of what we've done in the past.

Each holiday provides some fun ideas and opportunities for some cool visuals. During the production of this video I took on the initial editing responsibilities and worked on extending my tool box. It was a real challenge to have the characters move in a way that would resemble the unique attributes of each character's personality. There was a steep learning curve but it was an exciting adventure to see each individual come to life and see them move! 

This one had a little extra as we were trying out the skills of another animator and we got a fantastic video to share with you! The unique style of animation is one that we do not often use as it quickly raises the price of the video but when the budget is adequate for this sort of movement the results are stunning. 

This was an early attempt of mine at the holiday fun and trying to get lots of characters on a single sheet! I have not presented these videos in an order that represents the date they were published to the world and this video was early in my learning curve of the whiteboard medium. On top of that fun I think this had the additional challenge for the first time of trying to invert the colors/light. It was quite the equation to not get confused with the all too simple compliment of colors. 

This video was both a great success of mine to create a cool illustration but it also contains a small but glaring goof of mine. I had a character style that I was enjoying using and the turkey was a creation based on reference from real turkeys and some other cartoon images to see how other artists solved the challenge of turning a turkey into a cartoon. I wanted to have a pilgrim sitting on a turkey going on a hunt. I thought the basic idea was fun enough but my biggest challenge, the one that got me in the most trouble was that I couldn't lose the concept that he needed to be sitting in a saddle. There wasn't much to be able to see the saddle except for the saddle horn. That's where I got in trouble! We were well into production and at the time I was not doing the editing and there were lots of reasons I could give for needing the saddle horn but when my boss showed it to a few people they loved the video except for the 'thing' coming out of the pilgrims crotch. I guess it does look too much like something that would be horribly inappropriate if it really were something anatomical coming from his crotch but the concept of riding a saddle won out and now I would love to go back and fix this if I could!

BlackRock Model Portfolios Investment Philosophy Explained

This animated video that Wienot Films produced for BlackRock started its visual conception on my desk as I had the honor of working through the storyboard and how we might visually see the narration come to life. It is always exciting for me to work work on an explainer video like this, in which I will not follow it all the way to a whiteboard video but will see another artist, illustrator or animator take my storyboard and create an awesome product video or explanatory video like this one. I really enjoy seeing the visual seeds I get to plant and watching them bloom into an incredible garden of activity in animation.
This was particularly fun for me as at first I wasn't clear on it not being a sketch or hand drawn video in the whiteboard style. I only have myself to blame for the unclarity but I believe this one was part of a few others that were in production at the same time and I do tend to get confused on which is which when there are multiples in the pipeline at the same time.
When the realization finally occurred to me that I would not be drawing on the whiteboard for this video I was almost a little sad as I had imagined a lot of the fun drawings to try and portray the difficulty the climbers were going to have reaching the summit.
I think the animator did an amazing job in their style to create a really cool video and you too can now watch our guest couple reaching their financial goals as they metaphorically reach the top of the mountain!

CX: Epic video in the Mud

I get to work with a guy that is awesome with the editing and fantastic with some sweet action shots. I just get to claim the association with the guy that makes these awesome action videos. Wienot films has done some really awesome action videos. I can’t say I know a whole lot about cyclo-cross bicycle racing but if this landing page video were on the website it would totally get me excited to be part of the action. This is what it looked like at the USA Cycling National Championships in Austin, Texas. I can image a cool product video having this level of excitement in the way of a cool bicycle or maybe even an energy drink. It would be tough to do this level of action in a whiteboard animation or an animated video using the style we do for other explanatory videos but we could definitely do some other great explainer videos that could be more educational on the subject! 

For now you’ll have to check out this cool cycle-cross video!

Super Sleeper A Music Video!

I didn’t know I’d ever get to work on a music video. I never really know what each different project is going to bring at Wienot Films and this project was a ton of fun to storyboard. Super Sleeper wanted a landing page video for this cool pillow they have. We got to work with a unique song that told their fun story of a young lady and her adventure in sleep or dream land. It was a great animated video. We only had to do a few revisions on the storyboard and then the adventure through the production of the hand drawn video was a true adventure as it did have the opening and closing had live action. 

Check out our friend in her dreamy adventure!

Binoculars Explained

We have a good looking ‘animated’ couple out on many adventures as they help us create an awesome explanatory video. This whiteboard animation was really fun to see the motorcycle scenes as they each progressed a little in different ways throughout the explainer video. Although it is a product video, and it very much as that feel, we really wanted to bring some life to the video by including this couple on their different adventures to the ballgame, the national park birdwatching, and even a romantic scene as they are stargazing. It is always exciting to work for the big time clients and being able to have Canon on the brag list is a bonus!

Follow along our pair of friends on their journey together!

Back to School Whiteboard Animation

It is an exciting time of year as kids are preparing with new clothes and ‘educational’ electronics. The elementary kids get to fill their new book bags with lots of shiny school supplies and everyone waits with anticipation to see who the new teacher will be for home room and find out how much school work they might be able to get out of in chemistry class.

For parents, it is a bit of a break for school to start, don’t get me wrong. We parents will be busy bussing kids back and forth to school, the science project due at the end of the first semester has to start this week planting seeds, and sack lunches don’t make themselves. But after a summer of keeping the next generation of leaders entertained and busy during the past summer, the school year is a welcomed break. Even if the school year brings work and worry, there is a moment of reprieve to which parents look forward.

The team at Wienot Films wanted to make this fun whiteboard animation to honor you. We recognize the hard work parents do both during the school year getting their middle school band students to that odd timed performance and all the hours of entertaining, carpooling, and care-taking during the summer months with swimming lessons, play days at the water park or skate park. We hope that after the kids get into class you can take a moment to yourself or maybe enjoy a cool beverage with a friend. But don’t take too long, you have the early pick up duty in the carpool this week. Good Luck and enjoy the show!

DirectDep's Mascot

One of the recent whiteboard explainer videos we produced at Wienot Films provided me a unique challenge. In addition to the regular storyboarding and final drawing of the whiteboard footage, I also had the challenging assignment of creating a cartoon mascot of sorts to represent the company. The company, DirectDep, provides a services connecting court reports doing depositions with attorneys who need them. I was thus charged with creating a fun mascot in the look of a stenograph machine. We affectionately called her Deppy.

We went through a few different versions of Deppy, getting feedback from the client throughout the design process. After narrowing the design to a specific look, I had to create two main versions: one with wings and one without them. We always want clients to be happy, so I even ended up producing different wing options to make sure we got everything just right. 

Another unique challenge of this video was creating a very stylized, more realistic look for the characters instead of something more cartoony. Our whiteboard characters are usually a bit more loose and less realistic in their style, making this video a fun challenge. At Wienot Films, we like to produce all kinds of whiteboard videos--from cartoony people to animals to toys to robots--so when I got the challenge to make the characters more realistic, it was a fun challenge. Plus at the end of the day, we always want the client to be happy. 

So with that introduction, here’s the final video:

For your next hand drawn whiteboard animation from Wienot Films, contact Marc and tell him Jim sent you. He’ll get you started on your next explainer video in style!

Canon Whiteboard Animation

One of our recent whiteboard video projects with Canon was a wonderful adventure. I always enjoy listening in to the early conference calls as the various representatives from Canon talk about what the new explainer video will depict and show. 

Wienot Films is dedicated to creating great stories and really crafting the perfect script for each clients' explanatory video. I personally don't deal a lot with the wording of the script but I do all I can to ensure that I put as much effort and perfection as I can into the drawings on the storyboard. This amazing attention to each word compels me to hone my own craft as I begin to work on the character development for each whiteboard animation. After I complete the initial round of character work I will start to draw out he general layout for each scene and the work of the sketch video is well underway. 

Usually when I receive a script and begin the early work, I begin with the characters. There is typically one main character, but in this particular Canon video, we used a whole family and depicted them on a safari vacation. ti is always fun to design a whole family, especially when I can use my own children as models for all the hand drawn characters. This video reminded me of similar situations on vacations with my own family. 

My favorite scene in the Canon series of videos has to be the family photo in which I had the chance to show how much fun we can . have when we want silly faces to remember the fun we have on our adventures and wild vacations. I took a little extra effort to have the dad do something I personally like to do that may or may not embarrass my children in the family photo. 

Here's the whiteboard animation we created. It talks about interchangeable lenses and different considerations to keep in mind when using them. I hope you enjoy the show!

If you want a similar whiteboard animation, get in touch with Marc over at Wienot Films. Tell him Jim sent you and we'll be sure to take good care of you!