Creating a Rich Picture animation for The King's Fund

22 Aug

If you’re familiar with CC Animation Studio, you’re almost certainly familiar with The King’s Fund Alternative Guide to the new NHS in England. In fact, it might even be how you found us!

This animation is still one of our most popular, and it’s the same for The King’s Fund. It’s one of their most-viewed digital communications to date, receiving around 2500 views per month during its peak.

So, when The King’s Fund approached us to make an updated version, we were understandably excited (and maybe a little nervous!).

The original was a tough one to follow, but working collaboratively with The King’s Fund team again, we’ve managed to explain the NHS in six and a half minutes, including all the new acronyms, Simon Steven’s ever-changing beard and the NHS Five Year Forward View.

The Result

This animation was one of our first, and although we’re still proud of it and we still get asked to replicate the style, we wanted to try something new. After all, a lot has changed since 2013 – not only in the NHS but also in CC Animation Studio.

After a workshop with The King’s Fund team and a lot of discussion on how to simplify this complex topic, we decided to go down the route of a pinboard. Not only are these commonly used across the NHS (you’ll see the blue versions covered with NHS leaflets and notices everywhere, from GP surgeries to hospitals), but they are a tool that is often used to process a lot of information at once (think Carrie's evidence wall in Homeland!).

We’re always up for a challenge and trying new things, so we gave it a go!

The rich picture is available to download or buy from The King's Fund website.

The Team

This animation was a truly collaborative effort, not only with The King’s Fund but also with the CC Animation Studio team. The King’s Fund team – Katie, Helen and Ian – wrote the script, and Katie did a fantastic job of voicing it, bringing the energy that was so great about the first one.

Alex Becker took the lead on the storyboard process, with the help of Caroline Rudge and Tom Barter for some of the artwork. The animation was actually filmed in sections and would have covered an entire wall when put together!

Badj Whipple was the editing genius who put it all together with the help of Dann Casswell.