Saint Margaret Mercy is dedicated to providing healthcare that transforms the lives of its patients. Taking its cue from the hospital’s mission, CRASH+SUES used a transformational line of animation to delivers its message with simplicity and style in a series of five spots, created by Ten Adams a healthcare marketing and advertising agency based out of Evansville, Indiana.
Press Release from CRASH+SUES
Minneapolis – Saint Margaret Mercy is dedicated to providing healthcare that transforms the lives of its patients. Taking its cue from the hospital’s mission, CRASH+SUES used a transformational line of animation to delivers its message with simplicity and style in a series of five spots, created by Ten Adams a healthcare marketing and advertising agency based out of Evansville, Indiana.
The agency’s creatives approached CRASH+SUES animation director Sean Hall with the concept of a continually flowing line that forms various objects that tell the story of Saint Margaret Mercy’s dedication to high-quality healthcare.
“They knew which objects they wanted to represent, and it was up to us to create the most compelling iconography,” says Hall. “The challenge was to craft a succession of objects that were instantly recognizable while still being formed from one continuous line.”
Hall began by developing the look of the objects and creating a simple animatic for timing. He animated the transitions between the objects by hand and then scanned them into the computer. He and fellow animator Cari Merryman inked the drawings in Adobe Flash. They then combined the elements with the animated fluid line generated from After Effects. The elements were married to the fixed background in After Effects. Online editor Mark Anderson used Autodesk Smoke to perform the finish for the campaign.
“The challenge was making the line flow match up with the animation of the objects to create something that looked seamless,” Hall explains. “We did a test early on that had the line and objects both animated by hand at the same time. This worked well for the test, but we needed to come up with something that was a little more time efficient as well as more flexible for the five-spot package. Flash seemed to be the perfect solution since it produced a nice crisp vector line, while being easy to edit quickly.”
“Our concept was based on simplicity––a single line transforming into objects that symbolize key points of the message. Because our :15 spots would be paired to fill a :30 buy, it was important that each spot maintained a rhythm consistent with the others in the series. We feel that Sean really understood what magic touches were needed in order to take our concept to the next level.”
Hall notes, “The team from Ten Adams was very open and great to work with. They knew what they wanted but still gave us room to create.” In “Lifeline” for example, the voiceover details what makes a hospital great: knowing how “to communicate, not dictate, to listen, to care enough to provide the best technology around, the best doctors around, to care enough to actually, well, care and that’s just the kind of award-winning healthcare Saint Margaret Mercy is here to give.” At the same time, the message is reinforced visually with a sinuous line that takes the shape of a cross, a question mark, a dialogue balloon, a heart line on a monitor, an ear, a light bulb, a stethoscope, a heart and a blue ribbon.
About CRASH+SUES:CRASH+SUES specializes in the seamless integration of visual FX, animation, motion design, color correction, creative editing, finishing and multimedia services. For additional information, contact executive producer Donna Drewick at 612.338.7947 or visit our website at: www.crashandsues.com.
CREDITS:CLIENT/PRODUCT: Saint Margaret MercyCATEGORY: 1x :30 and 4x :15 broadcast spots TITLES: “Lifeline” :30; “Heart” :15; “Bariatrics” :15; “Oncology” :15; “Ortho” :15
AD AGENCY: Ten Adams/Evansville, Indiana: Executive Creative Director: Kris Laufer, Senior Art Director: Sarah Hasenour ANIMATION + POST COMPANY: CRASH+SUES/Minneapolis: Executive Producer: Donna Drewick, Online Editor: Mark Anderson, Online Assistant: Matthew Kroese, Animation Director: Sean Hall, Assistant Animator: Cari Merryman. AUDIO POST COMPANY: Echo Boys/Minneapolis: Mixer: Ross Nelson, Producer: Kathy Yanko
Rick DeMott
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