THEATRES IN TOWNS

This was an AHRC research project called 'Civic Theatres: A Place for Towns'. It was an excitingly open brief where the client wanted to boost the impact of their report. The report itself was qualitative so the challenge was distilling a positive message from the report into a short 90-sec animated video that would drive eyes and interest to the report.

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Follow https://creativetownsresearch.wordpress.com/ and @creativetowns 

Directed/Animated by Billy Mpetha

Written by Dan England

Art Direction by Beatrix Hatcher

SFX by Tom Kavanagh

STORYBOARD

Billy Mpetha created a rough storyboard from the script which gave the client a clear indication of what the final video would look like.

'From the first conversation through to delivery of the final animation, Toastie were fantastic partners - open and generous, imaginative, positive and incredibly efficient. We came to Toastie with some vague ideas about content for the animation, and the company, rather magically, worked to find a really effective shape, story and feel. Each part of the process was extremely well managed and every milestone on the schedule was met to agreed deadlines (often early, in fact). As a research team, we felt able to ask questions and provide feedback, and this created a really strong sense of confidence as the animation took shape. This was the first time we had turned to animation to help communicate research, and Toastie was unfailingly patient as the research team navigated the process. We couldn't be happier with the final result. The final animation provides an engaging, powerful and beautiful representation of the key research findings. It will drive other researchers and the wider public to our public report and book, giving the research far more impact than it would have had otherwise.' 

- Prof. Jenny Hughes Manchester University