Client: International Republican Institute (IRI)
The project goal: create educational video content on the development of a democratic society
Scope of work:
- 34 minutes of whiteboard animationÂ
- 24 minutes of animation overlays
- 5 minutes of live-shooting
- 26 illustrations for books
Team: 5 artists, 5 motion designers, 2 scriptwriters, 2 vectorizers, 1 project manager & art director, 2 sound designers, 2 operators, 2 actors, 2 voice over artists
Timeline: 4-5 months
                     The Challenge
It was a nice summer day when our CEO received a call out of the blue. After a lengthy conversation, Tim announced that we’d scored a huge customer, the International Republican Institute.
   At first, everything seemed pretty standard for us: topic analysis, investigation of the target audience, key message creation, scripts, and concept development, etc. But then IRI tripled the amount of videos we were to produce within the same deadline–and we accepted the challenge!
To produce 11 educational videos we involved our Creative Producer, Art Director, 2 scriptwriters, 5 illustrators, 5 motion designers, 2 sound designers, 2 actors, 2 cameramen, and other specialists.
Due to the tight timeline, we had to complete a script each day. The next day, as the first script was being approved, we started creating the second, then the third, the fourth, and so on. Â
The scripts included a large amount of political theory, so we had to explain difficult terms using examples and talking animation. Half a day was spent getting accustomed to the theme, while the other half was spent on script development.
As the videos were about politics with intersecting images, it was a challenge to find the best images that clearly and vividly explained the meaning to the viewer so he or she would understand and remember it. An additional challenge was the viewer’s attention span: it was a difficult task keeping them concentrating for 4-5 minutes (average length of the videos) while, according to Wistia’s research, attention is lost after the first 2 minutes of watching a video.
As part of the scope of work, we also made a live-action video on our own, where our scriptwriter Marina was a speaker:
The most important aspect for us was the fact that our client was satisfied. IRI left us with smiles on their faces, positive emotions in their hearts, and a playlist:
As a result of the project, IRI published all our work on their educational platform
(https://www.iri.org.ua/navchalni-resursy):Â
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We had a difficult task. We had to create 12 learning videos in a short period of time and we hired 2 animation companies to be on the safe side and shared equally tasks between them. However the circumstances changed suddenly and Blue Carrot Studio had the courage to help us in our hour of need, where there was a lot of work and so little time. We gave them almost all the work–11 videos.
They were met with some tasks they’d never before considered, but the guys found a solution in every case and created something, and as a result they delivered marvelous videos.
Our videos are social. They are educational, but we also show through them gender equity, respect to diversity, the availability of space and opportunities for disabled people, and the encouragement of involving young experts. The whole team sensitively caught it and illustrated the world which we are trying to reach.
The guys were always creative and client-oriented, but that doesn’t mean that they always agreed with us to the detriment of the product. Even when we were tired and were ready to finally finish it, Blue Carrot had enough strength and inspiration to improve their work.
A lot of thanks to Alex, who passed through all the approving stages with the main office, which followed enormous changes sometimes. Everything was done in time and every offset was agreed. There was never an unpleasant surprise from the Blue Carrot Studio side.– Anna, Project Manager at IRI
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We had an opportunity to work on such useful videos and help Ukrainians to become more aware of politics and activism.
– Tim, CEO at Blue Carrot
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The IRI project was very exciting from the very beginning. The main challenge for me was to coordinate almost 20 people who worked on 11 videos at the same time. I had to devote time to everyone, give clear feedback, and make sure everybody would be ready on time, and if not, I had to implement additional measures to involve extra resources and successfully deliver the projects. As an aside, I tried to find one or two minutes just to go climbing, to relax and not turn into a tree.
– Alex, Creative Director at Blue Carrot
