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Microsave, an international financial inclusion consulting firm that works with the Indian Finance Ministry, approached Girgit Studios with the intent to create an animated video to reach out to the rural and sub-urban Indian audience about the "Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojna" (PMSBY), an accidental insurance policy offered by the Government of India. Through the video we had to find a pan-India connect and communicate information and benefits of the scheme.

Microsave- PMSBY

Microsave, Indian Finance Ministry

2019





Making of PMSBY video

Appealling to the Rural Indian audience

In the present competitive animation industry where everyone is in the race to save time and money, the dependency on templates, stock images, music, and animation has gone up. As a result, a lot of animated videos have started to look and sound very similar, losing their uniqueness and identity. In the bargain are we defeating the purpose of creating a video in the first place? 

Communicating the information is important, but a video must also

  • find a connect with its intended audience and grab their attention

  • be traceable back to its brand

  • must leave a lasting impression in minds of the audience

The craft of designing content offers various opportunities to customize the content to the brand as well as for the audience. Starting from the choice of language, voice accent, story, words in the script, typeface, color palettes, character designs, architecture, music everything contributes very strongly at a subconscious level of the audience to help them relate with the content, perceive the information and retain it. 


One could have multiple apprehensions while choosing Animation for such communications like: 

  • Rural/sub-urban Indian audience may not relate as for them animation equals cartoons that are meant for kids

  • Accidental/Life insurance is too serious a theme to be dealt with using humor and animation

We were excited by the fact that the Microsave team was creatively open to looking beyond these apprehensions and trusted our expertise in the domain. They had absolute clarity about the communication they wanted to drive home. These are qualities of the best client a creative team can expect to be working with.



 

Story Development

Well begun is half done! So we suggested approaching the video such that it has a witty start with a catchphrase to first buy-in our audience attention, and then make them realize the seriousness of the issue. This would help condition them to view the information to be followed through a snappy motion-graphics. 

We brainstormed on multiple creative approaches with varied themes, metaphors, genres and catchphrases each out-doing the other to finally boil down to the "Galti Kiski?" (Who's responsible?) idea. It had that undeniable connect as we all tend to blame others for our own situations.



 


Concept and Art Development

For the Art Direction, we made sure:

  • The visuals to have a vibrant rural feel - in the landscape, in the motifs and spaces we show that could work pan-India. We added a unique water-color feel to make the visuals stand out. Elements like Gullak was chosen over a stereotypical Piggy Bank keeping in mind the Indian Connect we desired to achieve.




  • The characters to have relatable contemporary rural look and attire - Keeping away from the stereotypical representation of farmers with Dhoti and Pagdi.




  • The use of typography that is legible and appropriately sized to be viewed in mobile devices




 

Animation Production

The visual storytelling was planned in the storyboarding phase. Pacy storytelling was chosen with interesting POV shots, funny reaction shots and match cuts to jump scenarios seamlessly in the beginning part. The storytelling pace was slowed down to match the seriousness of the subject along with the voiceover tone. This enhanced the gravity of the subject.



The Voice Over script and the visual storytelling were choreographed to compliment each other. The informative motion graphics segments were interrupted with story visuals to break the monotony. 3D and 2D animation techniques were amalgamated in the production design to economize on production time and resources and enrich the output within the limited budget. 

The Music and Sound Design had a crucial role to play too. The music transitions were planned to seamlessly switch mood based on the various situations and segments of the video. Use of Dholaks ensured the Indian touch.





The true mark of a successful video design is not in its effectiveness in saving money or cutting time, but in its effectiveness to convey the message effectively to its intended audience.

Client : Microsave
Sound and Music by Roto Shah
Voice Over by Rj Sumiet

Credits

Impressed?

Microsave- PMSBY

Microsave, Indian Finance Ministry

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