I have officially begun production on my animated infographic! This week was all about diving deep into my subject matter and collecting all the facts that will inform the visuals down the line.
If you didn’t know, I’m working towards creating a comprehensive animated infographic centering around the topic of reproductive rights in the United States. I’m calling my project The Statistics of Autonomy: Reproductive Rights by the Numbers. This is week 3 of 7 of that journey!
What I Accomplished
This week I collected and organized my data, outlined and created the script for my animated infographic, and noted down what materials I will need to collect next week.
These tasks were important, especially at the beginning of my production phase. Now that I’ve nailed down the content, I can be confident in the structure of my story and move on to the visual aspect in the coming weeks.
Data Collection
Collecting data was the first and most important step in my process. It lays the foundation for the rest of my project. The data I’ve collected helps inform the story I want to tell and how I’ll tell it.
My process for collecting data included:
- Combing through all of my sources and pulling out important data points (Some of my key sources included Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights, KFF, and the Guttmacher Institute.)
- Organizing that information by category so it’s easier to find the information I’m looking for
- Noting any discrepancies to follow up on and eliminating duplicate information
- Highlighting data points, facts, and quotes I definitely wanted to use, maybe wanted to use, and probably would not use to make scanning quicker.
From the start, my goal is to paint a comprehensive picture of reproductive rights. That is why I categorized my information into 11 different sections, most of them tying into one another. I’m covering categories like history, maternal mortality, violence and politics, and state-by-state impact.
Scripting
Now that I’ve collected all the data, it’s time to synthesize it into one cohesive story.
First, I outlined the script, figuring out what categories fit best together and when it made the most sense to present that information. I found the best way was to split the script into parts. This made it easier for me to visualize the flow of the story.
I worked through the categories and how they’d fit into each section. Once I nailed down an order that felt right, I went through my data and noted what points I wanted to bring up in each subcategory.
View my outline below:
From there, I was able to start writing the actual copy. This was interesting; it was different from writing a typical narrative script. Instead of writing dialogue, actions, and locations as you would in, say, a screenplay, my main focus was beats and copy.
I tried to imagine the animation I would create and broke the lines up accordingly. I noted specific motion for transitions when it came to me, and wrote a copy as close to how I’d want it displayed. For charts, I just wrote down the data and, in some instances, linked to my reference charts.
Noting Needed Materials
As I wrote my script, I was also noting down what materials I would need to collect and create to be used in the final animation.
I also split this up into categories:
- Audio
- Visuals/Graphics to Gather
- Visuals/Graphics to Create
- Textures
- Video
- Photos
Noting down these materials as I went along, and then again after I finished my script, will help me save time in the future. I hope that creating this checklist will help me gather everything I need ahead of time and therefore waste less time searching for materials during my animation phase.
View my What’s Needed Checklist Below:
What Came Up This Week
This week, some of the main challenges that came up for me included my story and how I wanted to tell it. I struggled to decide what the most effective way to structure my story was to build and retain engagement.
I was unsure how much politics I should include in my script. I do not want my project to feel overly biased or to alienate any part of my audience. However, politics are unfortunately so enshrined in the issue of reproductive rights. Because of this, I decided to stick primarily to the issue of the FACE Act, its establishment, and its protections being rolled back.
Another challenge I’ve faced this week is length. My data collection document was 15 pages and my script document 10. I’m not overly concerned as I know my video will be very fast-paced and display a lot of the information simultaneously.
I have decided to cut a few points I mentioned throughout my initial outline and the contraceptives section as I felt it wasn’t fitting the way I wanted to anyway. I’ve also noted some parts in my script I can cut for time if necessary.
Looking Forward
Next week I’ll be focusing on more visual aspects including storyboarding, material collection, and visual identity. I’ll be keeping an eye on my script and what’s needed to see if anything needs to be updated, cut, or added. All of this will be in preparation for my animation phase.
We’re moving full speed ahead, so stay tuned!
Life: Designed 
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