ESPN CFP MUSICAL EXPLAINER
PRODUCTION TEAM
A MUSICAL TIME MACHINE
When ESPN needed to educate its viewing audience on the new rules for the 2024 College Football Playoffs, they wanted to take the viewer back in time and do it old school.
Paying tribute to the educational animated music videos of the 1960s and 1970s, we partnered with ESPN to design and animate a 90-second musical explainer.
The explainer needed to clearly articulate all of the complex rule changes for novice and experienced college football fans, while also tapping into the nostalgia for the viewers who remember those cherished old cartoons.
NOSTALGIA MAGNIFIED
Starting with extensive research into the look of our references, the team focused on everything from the grain of the film to the quality of the lines used in each frame. How do you make something new look very old?
We created a diverse cast of students who would be the representatives for the viewer. Throughout the piece, they would be educated on the new rules and interact with how the changes would impact the playoff bracket.
END RESULT
In a quick 3 months, the team designed, animated, and produced a 90s, 60s, and 30s version of the CFP Explainer, using a combination of traditional hand-drawn animation and rigged animation, delivering a first of it’s kind project for ESPN.
ON AIR
The CFP Explainer premiered in November of 2024 and continued to be broadcast throughout the college football playoffs. Being featured on Social Media as well, to help push the initiative as far as possible.