I've had a surprising amount of fun concepting, scripting, storyboarding and creatively directing a number of internal films (for Ladbrokes, Vodafone, John Lewis, M&S, and the travel group TUI). Unfortunately they're too confidential to post here, but here's the creative skinny...
An Incredible Journey
Ladbrokes wanted something that summed up the transformational work they'd done with SapientNitro. There were lots of facts and figures to deliver, so I geared each creative decision towards adding as much personality as possible. I scripted the story of this partnership as 'An Incredible Journey', illustrated by animated infographics in red, black and white (colours that nod to the brand identities of both the client and the agency). To emphasise the sense of upward progression, the animation unfurls as the frame pans up and up a long, vertical canvas. A few eyebrows were raised when I first suggested the theme to the 1950's Western The Big Country as a soundtrack, but its pioneering spirit really lifted the visuals and glued the film together. Click the image below to see a few key frames.
Data is Everywhere
Vodafone were keen to get key stakeholders excited about the commercial possibilities of 'big data' - another potentially dry piece of comms that needed lifting with an engaging creative angle. I decided to focus on the fact that, despite being invisible, data is all around. We’re all creating it - a trillion bytes a day, to be precise - simply by interacting with the world around us. These digital traces are visible to few, but valuable to many. So what if we could see it? I worked with the production team to develop a visual approach that was eye-catching, ethereal and subtly Vodafone-branded. These glinting trails of molecules illustrate Vodafone's unique ability to capture, sort, and unlock the meaning of data for other companies, and thus create new business models, revenue and jobs.
"This is the fish..."
TUI wanted to share some ideas for enhancing their customer experience. These ideas effectively join up their fragmented products, services and people, so I suggested dramatising this super-connected, seamless new user journey by describing it in one loooooooooong sentence. Beginning with a fish (why not?) the rhythmic structure allowed us to highlight the various touchpoints in a charming, memorable way:
"This is the fish that Jack ate... on the best beach in Ibiza... that he first saw in TUI's store display... and learned more about from Peter... when he showed more on his iPad... and sketched out an itinerary..." etc. etc. etc.
Visually we were restricted to using TUI's stock holiday images, so decided to have some fun with the transitions.