For the past few weeks, the motion graphics animation lessons have included commercials about many different types of businesses. The post this week features commercials made by ad executives for insurance companies. As was the case with previous lessons, these commercials include certain elements that you have probably found by now are common in such ads. These include image and text graphics, videos, audio as music, voice-overnarration, and animated characters. At first, some of you may have thought I was only focusing on commercials tat have animated characters, and for the most part, I was. However, motion graphics do not only include animated characters as mascots and spokespersons. Motion graphics animation includes moving text and images along with other animated elements.
For this lesson, we want to focus on those common elements. As you watch each YouTube video of a commercial, notice the motion graphics animation elements that are included and how they are used to convey information about each product or service to you as the viewer. This will prepare you to complete the assignment at the end.
Aflac Insurance
This commercial includes all the common elements of the motion graphics animation ads with a bonus celebrity cameo appearance of former University of Alabama men’s football coach Nick Saban. This is just one of a number of their commercial to feature Coach Saban. Technically, he would be called a celebrity spokesperson for the company, and he is featured here with the company mascot – the Aflac duck. You will notice that the duck is a CGI animated character, which makes this ad a live-action/animation hybrid commercial. In this ad, Saban persuades a couple to purchase the product being advertised. This is evident in the dialogue between the characters in the scene. The couple briefly discusses choosing Aflac as a “winner,” and the camera then focuses on the championship rings on Coach Saban’s hand. This alludes to the fact that he is known by fans of NCAA Men’s football teams as a winning coach. Saban has won seven national championships as head men’s football coach at Louisiana State University and at the University of Alabama. Advertising executives at Aflac most likely assumed that Saban’s clout and influence as a winning coach would make it easy for him to persuade other viewers to also choose Aflac. The ad mostly utilizes videos and dialogue in the scene, along with the animated duck, and then changes to motion graphics animation. There is a voice-over narrator, text graphics, audio as music, the logo, and the signature “Aflac” sound that the duck can be heard saying at the end.
Allstate Insurance
As far as I know, there is no animated company mascot/spokesperson for Allstate Insurance. The individual who is featured in many of their commercials is named Dean Winters as Mayhem. According to what Mayhem says in the ads, he is the reason that people need good insurance. He is reckless, chaotic, and generally behaves in a way that some people would characterize as being “full of the devil.” In this ad, he lets us know about how a sports team’s school mascot can behave as mayhem and cause lots of damage, injuries, and cost a lot of money (if you do not have Allstate Insurance, of course.) Viewers can visually see evidence of the fact that he is the mascot when he shows the gloved hands from his mascot suit on the steering wheel as he is driving the car. The ad is made of videos in scenes where we see him wildly driving a car too fast through a parking lot, hitting a few cars on the way to recklessly park illegally at the stadium. We see him quickly transform into the mascot by putting on the head of his mascot suit and run in to do his job of helping to excite the crowd during a game. The ad ends with audio as music and text graphics. However, even though I have included it here in this list of motion graphics animation commercials, there is actually no motion graphics animation in this ad. One could argue that the way the text graphics fade in to show the company name/logo is motion graphics animation but that is all.
GEICO Insurance
This commercial should be rated Spooky for being spooky. The animated mascot for GEICO Insurance is the GEICO Gecko. He is a CGI-animated male gecko who speaks with a heavy Australian accent. In this commercial, he does not interact with anyone but instead delivers a “speech” so to speak about how viewers can save money on insurance. We basically hear him talking to himself while taking a walk and trying to find a place where he can get good cellphone reception. When he finally does and at the end of the ad, we find out he is in the eye of one of the granite stone-carved sculptures of Mount Rushmore in the state of South Dakotta. We can notice a few things about this commercial. First, he is a CGI-animated character and he is shown in a fictional environment in which the background is drawn and made to appear real, He steps in a puddle of water that is made to look real when he steps in it, and he walks toward the light of the opening at the end of what at first appears to be a long tunnel. When we hear him indicate that he is finally able to get some “bars,” or an indication of reception, the camera zooms out and we realize has actually been walking through the eye of the George Washington sculpture on the Memorial structure. Comically, he then wonders out loud if he is able to see Mount Rushmore from where he is – not knowing that he is INSIDE Mount Rushmore. It is ironic and actually kind of scary to notice the stark difference and the immensity of his situation (unbeknownst to him). Some would think this commercial is like a nightmare. The ad ends with a text graphic and a voice-over narrator who states the name of the company and its slogan. Viewers can also hear sound effects of birds chirping and the wind blowing in the background. Spooky.
GEICO Insurance (2)
This GEICO commercial also features the gecko as the company mascot along with well-known animated characters Rocky and Bullwinkle. All three characters appear to be communicating with one another in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. “Mr. Gecko,” as Bullwinkle calls him, is sharing with viewers about how GEICO has been in business for many years and like the mountains that surround him, have stood the test of time as a stable and profitable company. We assume he is saying this because company executives feel that these are qualities that customers should look for in an insurance company and choose to buy insurance through GEICO. The ad appears to be a video with CGI-animated characters that ends with a voice-over narration, text graphics, and the added sound effects that go along with how Rocky the Flying Squirrel dramatically flies away. Also, if the characters were real, those who created the ad made it look as if the characters are acting in front of a green screen to simulate the background of the Rocky Mountains. Very creative.
Liberty Mutual Insurance
Liberty Mutual Insurance is also an insurance company that to my knowledge does not have an animated company mascot/spokesperson. However, the actor featured in this ad can be seen in a number of their recent commercials. As an actor in this commercial, we see him practicing to act as a spokesperson in this spot and it is taking a long time for him to get it correct. We notice that the ad includes video footage and a background, which is most likely an image projected on a green screen. However, they could have shot this commercial on location across from the Statue of Liberty, which can be seen in the background. If it was done with a green screen, they also added sound effects where we hear the sound of the water and of the birds that are present nearby. The ad ends when we hear the director finally saying that they will dub the line about the insurance company because the “struggling actor” is unable to correctly say the line. However, even with the help of a voice-over narration, the actor is unable to lip sync the line along with what is dubbed! That is comical. The last two frames show text and image graphics along with a group of singers singing the company jingle while the company logo flies into place.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife)
This MetLife Insurance commercial was made in 2013 and features characters from the Peanuts comic strip and cartoon created by the late Charles Schulz. The title of the ad is “The Right Choice,” and focuses on the products and services that MetLife has offered to major employers such as Colgate-Palmolive, Chevrolet as a division of General Motors, and Crayola. This is a live-action/animated hybrid commercial and the animated characters are traditionally animated. There are videos, a voice-over narration, audio as music, and image and animated text graphics in the last frame.
Progressive Insurance
The Progressive Insurance commercials mostly feature individuals such as Flo, Jamie and others who explain the benefits of their products and services. The company also currently has another ad campaign in which an individual by the name of Dr. Rick helps potential customers to live safely and responsibly. This ad shows a scene in which Flo facilitates a focus group about a Progressive commercial. We can see the small group of individuals watch the commercial and then begin to make comments about it while she listens. This ad is meant to be humorous and show how focus groups can oftentimes be a waste of time and good money for advertising executives. It is funny because members of the group comment on the commercial they have watched and their comments don’t seem to make sense to Flo. The ad does not include any animated characters but there are videos and text graphics in the last frame.
State Farm Insurance
In this commercial, “Jake from State Farm” and Baltimore Ravens star NFL Running Back Derrick Henry tell viewers about the products and services offered by State Farm Insurance. Henry is a celebrity spokesperson who is helping Jake in the ad during a fitness workout. Although Henry is obviously doing all of the work, it is about what customers can get rom the company in different areas of their lives. The commercial begins with animated image graphics of the State Farm logo, then dramatically zooms out to a video of Henry on a practice field. We hear audio as music while Henry works out including a heightened awareness of him running in the grass. All of the sounds of the items that Henry lifts are louder and more dramatic as they seem to be “mic’d” up. It sounds to me like there are small microphones placed in the large fitness tire, on the refrigerator, on the weight machine, and on the couch so that we even hear the hound dog’s breathing. Then, we hear a voice-over narration that sounds like it is Jake stating the company slogan. We also see image and text graphics in the last frame as the commercial ends.
The General Insurance
This commercial is a live-action/animated hybrid ad in which there are real people acting in a real environment along with a CGI-animated character. The General is the animated mascot for this insurance company and this commercial also has a celebrity spokesperson to help potential customers/viewers choose to purchase the products and services offered by The General Insurance Company. His name is Shaquille O’Neal – affectionately known by his fans as Shaq (pronounced SHAK). O'Neal is a former NBA basketball player and four-time NBA champion who played for six teams during his 19-year professional career. As a center who stands 7-feet-1-inch tall, ad executives at this company know that he is an influential spokesperson for their business, and most likely assume potential customers will believe he knows a lot about making good decisions when it comes to buying insurance. The commercial begins with videos and a storyline in which we see a young couple who appear to be on their way to their high school prom. The young lady’s mother lets them know that Shaq and The General will be their chaperones for the evening to help keep them safe. We then hear audio as music while we watch Shaq grab all the attention as he dances at the prom. There are text graphics at the top and bottom of the screen during the commercial and at the end, there is a voice-over narration and a dramatic star-zoom out to the last frame where we see more image and text graphics that include the company logo.
Your Assignment
Your assignment for this lesson is to update your Vocabulary Words list with words. First, look up the following words in Wikipedia or in an online dictionary of your choice, and write down the definition of each word as it is used in this lesson.
Audio
Background
Dub
Green screen
Image graphics
Live-action/animation hybrid
Text graphics
Traditional animation
Video
Next, for the second part of your assignment for this lesson, you may either look up the following words on the Brush Ninja website online and write down the definitions, or you may take note of where you saw the words in the following list used in this lesson. If you choose to do this part of the assignment, match the vocabulary words to each commercial. You may also do both!
Dialogue
Lip syncing
Infographic Animation
Motion graphics
Pan
Props
Puppet animation
Scene
Script
Shot
Silhouette
Slow Motion
Sound effects
Special Effects
Split screen
Voice-over Narration
Wide shot
Zoom
The Brush Ninja Animation Glossary can be found online at www.brush.ninja/glossary/animation/
Have fun learning!