What is the core issue – good entertainment or mass production?
Creating good explanatory films that stay in your head is a challenge. When you think back to your childhood, does “Once upon a time there was life” come to mind? Who didn’t share in the excitement when police helper cells, blood cells and the brain command center fought with spaceships against evil viruses and bacteria? The complex biological processes in the body are not only made understandable by the popular comic video series – it’s also great fun. “That’s what it’s all about: Infotainment!”, Renatus Töpke, an expert in screenwriting and directing at Eigenart Filmproduktion, has already worked on many explanatory videos with over 20 years of professional experience. “Simply presenting complicated issues is not enough. We have to offer viewers good entertainment and add value to their precious time by picking them up and taking them seriously!” Managing Director and production expert Daniel Leonforte goes one better: “Viewers are the best critics: each of us has seen hundreds of films and has an understanding of high-quality content. What is boring is zapped away immediately, what is convincing is liked and shared and is remembered.”
It’s all a question of style!
The bar of expectation is high: Our eye is trimmed to Hollywood productions, 3D animations that look as if they were reality and cartoons that are animated ever more virtuously. 10 years ago, things looked very different. When whiteboard and layup videos were commonplace. Hands placed icons on tables and a voiceover explained from offstage. After that, the rather sober pictogram style became fashionable, which mostly worked with internal company material and did without any storytelling at all. The flat style, on the other hand, finally brought characters – elaborately created in 2D graphics programs – into motion, thereby opening the door to stories. After the complex comic style videos, the mixed style came into fashion, which mixes photos and graphics. The Parallax style followed with 2D objects in three-dimensional space. 3D animation is still considered the supreme discipline today: Here, products and processes – for example, hidden processes in a machine – can be visualized in such a high-quality way that they appear to be real. When 3D is mixed with moving images and incorporated into live-action films, it is referred to as VFX compositing.
This short excursion into the history of the explanatory film makes it clear: there are many ways to get your product, your service, or your complex issue moving. And movement peppers dry statistics, facts and figures, yet it contains room for liveliness and narrative depth. Accompanied by a convincing voiceover and fitting music, static information becomes a multi-sensory experience and “Pling” – the penny drops for the viewer.
Boost SEO ranking with explanatory films
Leonforte, an expert in audio-visual communication, sees Eigenart Filmproduktion as a translator into the appropriate design language. He emphasizes how important it is to remain individual: “To stand out from the competition in the market, you need the courage to be authentic. This also includes throwing existing ideas overboard and trying out new things that seem more elaborate at first glance, but have a greater impact on the bottom line. Anyone offering high-quality products or services should present themselves in the same way.” At the same time, an explanatory film is also an important marketing tool: visibility to the outside world is increased and, with the SEO you will appear in the video search and be ranked higher by Google.
Quality in communication = high employee motivation, generation of valuable leads, brand visibility, trust, …
With its many years of experience and with major clients such as Würth, Leica, or Boehringer Ingelheim, Eigenart Filmproduktion has already realized many films and knows the demands of both the client and the end customer. Eigenart’s broad-based team of experts consists of studied film enthusiasts who are well-versed in both theory and practice. The most important basic element of a successful cooperation is and remains honest communication with mutual trust. Because quality is not only needed in film – it is especially important in interpersonal contact.
You can see examples of what well-made explainer videos can look like here:
Would you like to have an explainer video produced yourself? Contact us!
