My approach

The ACLU needed a short, accessible video that could explain a dense and painful chapter of history, covering the end of the Civil War, Black political gains, the campaign of violence, and the laws that locked in one-party rule. It had to hold a general audience without softening the facts or feeling like a lecture.

The challenge

Collage as a visual language. I used archival photos, mostly sourced from the Library of Congress, to bring this story to life. This is a very real and human story, and I wanted the imagery to reflect that. With collage you can always find movement in the elements. I feel this keeps the imagery from being  static which helps maintain visual interest throughout the story.

Storyboards first. Before any animation, I storyboarded the full script so the team could agree on pacing, imagery, and structure while changes were still easy to do.

With the story and timing settled, I built out the final collage animation in After Effects. Once a version was completed, I worked with the team at Red Squared to address any notes they had. We worked through a few versions of these "rough cuts" before sending to the client. After the clients approval the completed animation brought into Premier to fine tune the audio and make the final exports. 
The full project can be found at mississippiplan.com

Animatics to lock the timing. I turned the boards into an animatic, a rough timed version set to the voiceover and music, so we could test the pace and make adjustments before committing to full animation.