Case Study: Foundation Medicine

How does a Planet Nutshell video go from concept to a major biotech client’s homepage in about a month? We’ve had a relationship with Foundation Medicine for a few years now, so when they asked us to produce a video for both their homepage and their booth at the largest clinical oncology conference in the world, they knew we were up to the task.

Because we knew this video would be presented in a trade show setting, we wanted to create an experience that would draw passersby into Foundation Medicine’s booth. We assumed the environment would be noisy, so it needed to work without audio and it needed to get people to stop and take notice.

The race was on to get this project wrapped up in time for ASCO 2015.

Week 1: Script

Because we had to get this wrapped up in a week, I jotted down a few notes at an on-site meeting with the client. To streamline things even further, the final script was integrated directly into the storyboard for final approval.

Week 2: Storyboard

To save time, we created a complete design concept for the video directly in the storyboard. This allowed us to skip the design concept phase (which usually comes after the storyboard phase). It only worked because the client trusted our judgement, and because our artists are really talented!

Weeks 3-4: Animation

We burned some serious midnight oil to make the deadline for this one. When we were done, the final product really impressed the client. I’d use the term ecstatic, actually.

Deployment

Foundation Medicine’s VP of marketing texted me this photo from the ASCO show floor, adding “The video looked great!!”

Shortly after the show, the video went live on Foundation Medicine’s homepage. I love how they integrated it into the homepage slider.