In this Silicon Age, multimedia is an essential tool that can drastically expand your business’ audience and clientele, and, therefore, it’s paramount that, when utilising it, you choose the best video and animation production company for you.

There are so many video and animation production companies around nowadays that all offer a range of different videos, with differing styles and prices. So, how do you choose the right one for your project?

This guide will aim to assist you through this challenging process, by offering some key areas through which to assess a potential company, and highlighting some common potholes and myopic moments, in order to prevent you from making the same mistakes and to help streamline the process.

Do they have the relevant experience for your project?

To begin with, one must consider the obvious, and, in this circumstance, it’s the expertise of the company in question, for there’s little point in entrusting your goal to raw hands, with no provable or practical evidence as to their capabilities. In addition to this, the evidence must be relevant, as whilst a company might have years of experience in creating animated shorts to go online, this experience isn’t completely transferable to something like a primarily drone-shot advertisement for an adventure training camp. Therefore, you need to preselect companies that have the relevant skill sets for your video or animation, otherwise, you’ll waste valuable time researching companies that, ultimately, are of no use to you.

Setting a budget up front

One of the first things that you should do to help ensure that the financial part of the process goes smoothly, is to tell the video and animation production company your budget, for without this they won’t be able to put forward any relevant and tailored options to suit your monetary options – not all projects and ideas are possible within any price range. For example, a video with 10 locations will likely cost more than a video in a studio, or an animation with a multitude of characters is likely to cost more than an animation solely focused around one character. If we know the budget, we can make suggestive ideas, or suggestions to your own creative visions, that will ensure we can create the most ambitious video within your budget.

In addition to this, when comparing companies, be wary of ones that offer fixed price ranges for certain products (especially in animation – there are many companies who will say they can create a video for $5) due to the fact that your business video should be bespoke and unique like your business not a formulaic piece of multimedia that has been churned out for multiple businesses. Therefore, you should expect to pay more for artists and animators, who will create a video or animation that meets your bespoke expectations and brand guidelines and helps you stand out from the crowd.

Can they create and follow a schedule to meet both of your needs?

Complexity, efficiency, reliability – these nouns are crucial when discussing this element of producing a video or animation, as they excellently encapsulate the parameters through which you should assess the use of time during the production of your video. One area which requires detailed attention is the complexity of the project, due to the fact that there is a fine line between over-complicating something, or detracting from the end result by not going far enough with it – some styles require more post-production work than others, and other plans may rely more upon multiple locations and actors.

Thus, when deciding upon what company and, subsequently, the desired style of the video, it’s imperative that you ensure that they’re able to efficiently handle the requisite work, so that they keep to the schedule and deliver the final product to you on time. For example, Joss Stone’s label came to us in regards to her single, ‘The Love We Had’, wanting us to complete the music video so that it coincided with the single’s worldwide release, highlighting our ability to work to a tight schedule (within days).

Additionally, your chosen company should be reliable and trustworthy, so that you know that what they said will happen, will happen and they should help you understand the schedule and full production process and plan. Your chosen video and animation production company should assign you a dedicated account manager, who will ensure that you get all the necessary information as well as the milestones for both you and those creating your video or animation.

Are they willing to understand your vision?

When it comes down to it, you will be paying this company to help you achieve your vision, so they have to be willing to put the effort in by understanding what it is that you want, and your brand messaging. However, especially in this instance, it’s a symbiotic relationship, as they should have the experience to tell you options and what may or may not work.

Here at LoveLove Films, we have plenty of experience ensuring that our clients receive exactly what they wish for, with the Series Producer for the hit Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins, stating that we were ‘fast, efficient and worked closely with us to get the right look we were after’. In addition to this, Morgan Matthews, the director of the 2017 BBC Film, Williams – based on the formation of the Williams Racing team – expressed his gratitude:

‘The LoveLove team really understood the fact that we had spent over three years working on our documentary … and that every detail had to be just right’

Would you like working with them?

Just like the previous point, this element heavily focuses upon the team members of the company and, in particular, whether or not they are open, conscientious, and good to work with.

In addition to this, the general customer service of a company is vital, as that’ll be what epitomises your experience of working with them, therefore, a good relationship is indispensable, and you can partially gauge this beforehand through your experience in contacting them whilst you’re looking for a company.

The LoveLove Films team picking up an RTS Award for animation and graphic work

Overall

Ultimately, the true identifier as to whether or not you should hire a certain video and animation production company, and indeed any company in general, is would people who’ve hired them before, hire them again – something that we’re proud to say we’ve experienced, with, for example, Minnow Films repeatedly returning to us for work on projects such as the Channel 4 shows Lagos to London and SAS: Who Dares Wins, as well as the BBC Films feature, Williams. Other businesses and organisations have also expressed their gratitude, and their testimonials highlight what you should be looking for in prospective companies:

George Andain, Project Manager, Sunstone, states:

“LoveLove Films were incredibly supportive and professional throughout the animation process … and the communication with different members of the team really helped to progress the project efficiently. Their professional input on the design was great, their customer service was faultless, and we are exceptionally happy with the finished product. We cannot recommend LoveLove Films more highly.”

Caroline Hawksworth, Marketing Manager, Avius, states:

“Georgie and her team at LoveLove Films are a pleasure to work with … They stood out from other companies right from my research phase. They provided advice on the different type of videos and animation available, what would work best for us and most importantly showed us many different examples … The entire LoveLove team are lovely, fun to work with and extremely talented. I look forward to working with them again and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.”

This simple principle is really all you need to check, as the prior points will only help to tailor the company choice to your specific needs. It’s your project, and you just need to trust your instincts and go with whatever company you feel is best for you.

Hopefully this guide has been helpful. The LoveLove Films team would love to be considered for your next brand video, TV advert or explainer video. We work with a wide range of sectors, from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. We’d love to talk to you today!

Get in touch with LoveLove Films to find out more about how online video and animation can work for your business or brand.

Tel: 0044 (0)1202 537 858

Email: info@lovelovefilms.com

Website: www.lovelovefilms.com

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