Introducing Animated Explainer Videos from Again Studios

I have to admit that I'm one of those people who doesn't watch a lot of videos online, but I've always had a weakness for animated explainer videos. These videos are generally pretty short, and they have a fun feeling to them. When I see a company or nonprofit or other individual or group using an animated video to explain about their work, it makes me appreciate that someone has taken the time to share information with me in a lighthearted way.

If you're interested in utilizing this type of video to promote a project for your business, check out the work of Again Studios, a friendly group of artists and designers who specialize in animated video production and who have made countless explainer videos for businesses.

The best way to get an idea of the work of Again Studios is to watch this animated explainer video that they made about their own business.

With a short, entertaining video, you can explain important concepts to viewers and describe your products and services in a quick and easy way. These videos are a unique way to catch the attention of potential customers--and a clever video can be the key to naturally getting a bunch of shares on social media.

A lot of well-known businesses use explainer videos, and the designers at Again Studios have made videos for such companies as Google, TomTom, and TD Bank. The videos are also great for causes and especially crowdfunding projects.

Let's be honest: people who visit a website often don't read all the content on the page, but they might well click and watch a short video. Plus, people often learn best in a visual way and are likely to retain more of what they see in a video rather than content that they've read.

Again Studios is a company based in India with an international scope, and they can provide voiceover narration for their videos from native speakers of American English, British English, French, German, Hindi, and Spanish. It takes about four weeks to create a video, and clients retain full ownership/copyright of the video and can use it in all sorts of ways, from YouTube to your own website to embedding it in a slideshow.

Visit Again Studios online to ask them about your own ideas and to learn more about how they can create an explainer video for business to meet your needs.

Meet Madisen Thero of Mouse Reels, a Disney Podcast

Madisen Thero is a junior Zoology major at Colorado State University. She is a member of the CSU Marching Band and is currently serving as Flute Section Leader. In her spare time, she podcasts with Jesse Barrett of WDW Through Jesse's Eyes on Mouse Reels and has a video blog channel on YouTube.

1. How did you decide to start a podcast about Disney movies?

Jesse and I talk many times during the week, and one day he said we should do a Disney podcast, so I said "Why not?".

2. What is it about Disney movies that keeps you coming back to them as a viewer?

The nostalgia kick is always there, growing up on all things Disney/Pixar as my family members are also fans. I also put the movies on to remind myself of the beautiful storytelling there; one of the closest things we have to magic is good storytelling, and Disney certainly paved the way for that. Also, as a college student, I need a pick-me-up once in a while.

3. Do you find that you have different feelings toward movies that you first saw as a child (like The Lion King) and movies you saw for the first time as an adult (like Frozen)?

Of course! With my childhood favorites, it's hard to say anything bad about them since they are dear to my heart. I go into the new movies I see with an open mind, and the analysis happens usually happens around the second time I see it. I have both enjoyed and not enjoyed some of the newer films.

4. What are some examples of topics you've covered--and plan to cover soon!--on Mouse Reels?

We've done a lot of the classics--Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc--and we also do a lot of lists, such as Top 5 Villains or Top 10 Songs. I really want to dive into the Pixar movies soon, much to Jesse's dismay!

5. Do you have plans to expand the podcast into other projects related to Disney movies?

We try to analyze and keep up with the new material as it presents itself, so if the opportunity arises, Jesse and I will most likely talk about it!

Thanks, Madisen!

Introducing Gangly Sister

Who is Gangly Sister, and why did they declare 2014 the Year of the Girl? The company put out a video called 2014: The Year of the Girl, where they interview girls about their new year's wishes.

"It's just obvious to us. Everyone is so fed up with the media's bombardment of girls with pink unicorns and high-heels for toddlers," says Miriam Lottner, co-founder of Gangly Sister. "It was just a matter of time before we ladies took things into our own hands."

Taking things into their own hands is precisely what Gangly Sister is doing. The founders are parents, and they realized that they could simply produce their own content rather than wait for Hollywood to come around.

"It’s just like any startup," said Lottner. "We saw a problem and set out to solve it."

Gangly Sister will be coming out with the pilot for their animated series, Purple and Nine, later in January.

The Gangly Sister team is setting out to provide clean and funny entertainment for girls, and at the same time expose them to different types of technology. Co-founder Rebecca Rachmany says that there is nothing scary about technology, and that it's not just about coding.

"My favorite example of technology is the coating on chocolate-covered ice cream pops. When I was a kid, that coating used to crack into pieces, but thanks to technological developments, now you can enjoy that chocolate on the more expensive ice cream pops," explains Rachmany.

While that seems like a trivial example, it illustrates how conservative we are in our ideas of "technology." In fact, technology has made it possible to grow food in arid climates, treat diseases, recycle plastic, and even run faster. When you think about it, technology influences everything.

Gangly Sister emerged from the founders' frustration at having so few women in startups. While programs abound to encourage women at later stages in their live to learn to code or to get into technology companies, that's a fairly late stage in life.

The idea behind Gangly Sister is to catch kids at ages 8-12, when they are imagining what they would like to be when they grow up. In the Purple and Nine series, there are no bad guys or mean girls. It's all about two kids who just want to help out their friends, get along with their families, and have a great time. They just happen to use technological inventions to fix those problems.

To learn more, check out http://www.ganglysister.com.