Explainer videos
Short, clear films that explain a change, a product or a process, scripted around what your audience needs to understand.
- Internal communications and HR teams
- Product and marketing teams
- Founders
- Learning and enablement teams
Studio demo
Watch the method.
A short, silent film made by the studio for a fictional benefits change. A dense memo becomes one plain line, is storyboarded and animated, then adapted for three audiences.
Studio demo for a fictional benefits change: not client work. No sound.
What the demo shows
A silent, 18-second film. It opens on a memo headed “Memo · benefits platform”: “With effect from 1 March, administration of all employee benefit entitlements, including health cover, leave balances and payslip access, will be consolidated onto a single digital platform, replacing the existing separate portals.” Each line is struck through, and a plain line takes its place: “Your benefits are moving into one app. It starts in March.” Under the label “Storyboard”, the line becomes three sketched frames, captioned “Your benefits…”, “…are moving into one app.” and “It starts in March.”: three separate places today, cards moving into one phone, and a calendar page for 1 March. Under “Animation”, three cards, “Health cover”, “Leave” and “Payslips”, travel into one phone app above the line “Your benefits are moving into one app.” Under “Versions”, the same subtitled line appears in three formats, each with its own next step: for office teams, widescreen, “Sign in from your desk on 1 March.”; for shift teams, vertical on a phone, “Download it before your next shift.”; for managers, square, “Help your team make the switch.” A closing line reads “The same message. A different audience, format and next step.” The end card reads “One message, made clear for every audience. Script, storyboard, animation, versions. A Hope Studio demo.”, with the Hope Studio logo and “Studio demo · fictional sample · not client work”. There is no sound.
Example
From script to screen
You see and approve the film at each stage before it is animated, which is where changes are cheapest.
- 01 · Script"Your benefits move to one app in March."
- 02 · StoryboardFrame-by-frame sketch, timed to the voice-over
- 03 · Style frameYour brand colours, type and characters
- 04 · AnimationMotion, voice-over and music, to the signed-off plan
Example
From script to frame
Each line of the agreed script becomes a frame you can review. One frame is then styled, so the look is agreed before anything moves.
- Shot 1 · 0:00Scattered forms gather into one phone.
“Your benefits are moving into one app.”
- Shot 2 · 0:04The app opens on four tiles.
“Everything you use today, in one place.”
- Shot 3 · 0:09A calendar page turns to the first of the month.
“It starts in March.”
Colour, type and illustration style are applied to one frame first. In a real project they follow your brand guidelines.
Watch the method.
Studio demo for a fictional benefits change: not client work. No sound.
What the demo shows
A silent, 18-second film. It opens on a memo headed “Memo · benefits platform”: “With effect from 1 March, administration of all employee benefit entitlements, including health cover, leave balances and payslip access, will be consolidated onto a single digital platform, replacing the existing separate portals.” Each line is struck through, and a plain line takes its place: “Your benefits are moving into one app. It starts in March.” Under the label “Storyboard”, the line becomes three sketched frames, captioned “Your benefits…”, “…are moving into one app.” and “It starts in March.”: three separate places today, cards moving into one phone, and a calendar page for 1 March. Under “Animation”, three cards, “Health cover”, “Leave” and “Payslips”, travel into one phone app above the line “Your benefits are moving into one app.” Under “Versions”, the same subtitled line appears in three formats, each with its own next step: for office teams, widescreen, “Sign in from your desk on 1 March.”; for shift teams, vertical on a phone, “Download it before your next shift.”; for managers, square, “Help your team make the switch.” A closing line reads “The same message. A different audience, format and next step.” The end card reads “One message, made clear for every audience. Script, storyboard, animation, versions. A Hope Studio demo.”, with the Hope Studio logo and “Studio demo · fictional sample · not client work”. There is no sound.
Explainer videos, in short
An explainer video works when the thinking is done before the animation starts. We begin with the one thing your audience must understand, write the script around it, and agree the look in storyboards and style frames before anything moves. Depending on the style the project needs, animation, voice-over and music are produced by the studio or by specialist partners, as set out in the scope.
What it helps with
A change is announced, but people still do not understand what it means for them.
3 more problems we help with
- Long documents and slide decks go unread.
- Different teams explain the same thing in different ways.
- A product is hard to describe in a sentence, so prospects lose interest.
Who we work with on this
- Internal communications and HR teams explaining policies, benefits and change
- Product and marketing teams explaining what you offer
- Founders introducing a new product or idea
- Learning and enablement teams onboarding and process training
What we deliver
- Animated explainers and motion graphics
- Policy, process and change explainers for employees
- Product and service explainers for customers
- Short versions for intranet, events and social
- Subtitles and language versions
- Motion graphics for presentations and screens
- Key message and script
- Storyboard
- Style frames
- Animation and motion graphics
- Voice-over and music, licensed for the agreed useWhere the scope includes them
- Subtitles and versions for each channelAs agreed in the scope
1 more deliverables
- Final files in the agreed formats
How an engagement runs
Five stages, in order. The two big sign-offs, script and storyboard, come before animation, where changes cost the least.
Brief and key message
We agree the audience, the one message that matters, where the video will be shown and who approves it.
Script
A script written to be heard, timed to what the channel needs, reviewed and signed off before design starts.
Storyboard and style frames
A frame-by-frame plan and the visual style, so you see the film before it is animated.
Animation and sound
Animation, and any voice-over and music in scope, produced to the signed-off storyboard by the studio or specialist partners, with an agreed number of review rounds.
Delivery
The final film and its versions in the agreed formats, with subtitles and the source files listed in the scope.
What we need from you at each stage
- Brief and key message
- Source material, audience, channels and approvers.
- Script
- Consolidated feedback on the script.
- Storyboard and style frames
- Sign-off on storyboard and style.
- Animation and sound
- Feedback on each review cut within the agreed window.
- Delivery
- Final approval.
Brief and key message
We agree the audience, the one message that matters, where the video will be shown and who approves it.
From you: Source material, audience, channels and approvers.
Script
Ends in sign-off
A script written to be heard, timed to what the channel needs, reviewed and signed off before design starts.
From you: Consolidated feedback on the script.
Storyboard and style frames
Ends in sign-off
A frame-by-frame plan and the visual style, so you see the film before it is animated.
From you: Sign-off on storyboard and style.
Animation and sound
Animation, and any voice-over and music in scope, produced to the signed-off storyboard by the studio or specialist partners, with an agreed number of review rounds.
From you: Feedback on each review cut within the agreed window.
Delivery
The final film and its versions in the agreed formats, with subtitles and the source files listed in the scope.
From you: Final approval.
Not to scale. Timings and the number of review rounds are agreed in the scope.
Approvals and changes
The script and the storyboard are the two big sign-offs, because changes are cheapest there. The scope sets the number of review rounds at each stage, and changes after sign-off are estimated before they are made.
Formats and versions
Versions are planned at script stage, so each one is made for where it will be watched. Which formats, subtitles and languages are included is agreed in the scope.
- WidescreenIntranet, presentations and event screens.
- SquareSocial and internal feeds.
- VerticalPhones and story formats.
- SubtitlesFor viewing without sound, where in scope.
- Language versionsSubtitles or voice-over in other languages, where in scope.
The final files, and which source files are handed over, are set out in the contract for each project.
What affects the cost
We do not publish fixed prices or promise timelines before a brief. Every engagement is estimated in writing; these are the factors that move it.
- Length and versions
- The running time and how many cut-downs, formats or languages are needed.
- Animation style
- Simple motion graphics, illustrated scenes or character animation each take different time and skills.
- Script development
- How much of the message and research needs to be developed from scratch.
4 more cost factors
- Voice, music and licences
- Professional voice-over, languages, licensed music and the usage terms required.
- Review rounds
- How many rounds of changes are planned at each stage.
- Timeline
- Compressed schedules can need more production capacity at once.
- Supplier costs
- Specialist animators, illustrators or voice artists where the style needs them.
Related work
Case studies for this service are being prepared; client work appears only with written approval. Talk to us about your brief
No explainer case study is published yet. Client films appear here only with the client’s written approval.
Talk to us about your filmQuestions
How much does an explainer video cost?
It depends on length, animation style, how much of the script needs to be developed, voice-over and music licences, the number of versions and review rounds, and the timeline. We do not publish fixed prices; we estimate in writing once the brief is clear and explain what changes the cost.
How long should an explainer video be?
As long as the message needs and the channel allows. A video for a social feed or an event screen usually needs to be shorter than one embedded in onboarding. We recommend a length at script stage, once we know the audience and where it will be shown.
What do you need from us to start?
Source material, the audience, where the video will appear, your brand guidelines and the names of the people who approve it. A short brief is enough; we can help shape it in the first conversation.
How many rounds of changes are included?
The scope sets an agreed number of review rounds at script, storyboard and animation stages. Changes are easiest at script and storyboard, before animation begins.
Who owns the final video and the source files?
Ownership and the source files included are set out in the contract for each project. Licensed elements such as music, stock assets and voice-overs come with usage terms, which we confirm before production.
Can you make versions in other languages?
Where it is part of the scope, language versions are produced by the studio or specialist partners. Planning subtitles and voice-over versions from the start keeps them consistent and is simpler than adding them later.
Take the overview with you
On request
How to brief and commission a corporate explainer video
- The one-page brief
- Choosing a style and length
- Reviews and approvals that keep to schedule
- Rights, licences and files to ask for
Not ready to download yet. Ask by email and we will send it when it is. No mailing list.
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