Eurocontrol: In-flight fire

Fire is one of the worst emergencies that can happen during a flight. That's why there are strict guidelines to follow in the event of a fire alarm. But how do you communicate those guidelines effectively? With a clear animation video!

The customer

Eurocontrol is an international organisation responsible for coordinating air traffic control in the various member states of Europe. An important part of their mission is to share their expertise when it comes to safe air traffic control.

The challenge

Who notifies the air traffic controller? Where should you land, and how do you do it as soon as possible? What other steps should you follow? We have a lot of information to share, and in a short amount of time.

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Not only do we have to convey the correct information, we also have to make sure the message sticks around for a long time.

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Our solution

Emergency! Fiiiiiiiire! Fortunately, our two main characters know exactly what to do: they perform all the steps in the procedure correctly. And all's well that ends well: the situation is completely under control.

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Before we end the video, the narrator repeats the main takeaways. We reinforce this message with the necessary text-on-screen (TOS), and some supporting visuals. So that every viewer knows exactly what to do.

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Behind the scenes

Script and storyboard

Not a typical process for this video, because for Eurocontrol we modified our normal approach slightly. Instead of a kickoff meeting, we start from a briefing document. And once the script is approved, we immediately jump forward: for the storyboard we don't make sketches but fully developed illustrations.

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That's a lot more labour intensive, but for a regular customer like Eurocontrol we make it happen. And this way all stakeholders can quickly give detailed feedback, and we can move faster. An extra effort for a loyal customer.

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Style Proposal

For a message like this, we wanted to create a mature, realistic style. One that allows us to correctly represent all aviation-specific details, from software to runway markings. It's a fixed visual style that we use for every video we make for Eurocontrol.

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