Thanksgiving Gratitude + 4 Secrets To Animating Like Iman Gadzhi

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I wanna give thanks to each and every one of you inside this community who welcome each other, help each other, ask questions, share your work, and contribute to everyone’s growth inside here.

Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not I hope all of you have an amazing day, and thank you all for being here 🙏❤️

On top of this I wanted to share a crazy valuable post I saw from someone who spoke with Iman Gadzhi’s lead editor.

He posted a thread on Twitter of the 4 animation secrets he learned from him and you can read the original post here:

https://x.com/benvfxs/status/1850502238118277355?s=46

If you don’t have Twitter though, here is the entire post below 👇

“I paid $200 to be in the same room as Iman Gadhi's lead editor

In the 2 hours I had with him, I wrote down EVERYTHING he said.

Here are the 4 things I learned from him.

////////////////////////////////////////

1/ Infinite creativity

Nikola (Iman's ex lead editor) uses a method called the "zoom out technique" to generate unique animations ideas.

The process behind this method is simple.

➸ You simplify and then find the main point of the script

Here's an example of a script

"You can have the most beautifully designed store, but if your customers can't find the checkout, then they'll simply leave."

➸ What most editors will do

Create a full page animation of a website and have the cursor move around, not being able to find the checkout button.

How Nikola thinks...

"What is the main point?"

➸ The main point...

"Beautiful store ≠ conversion"

"How can I show the main point without creating the typical webpage animation?"

"How can I simplify the main point as much as possible?"

Let's zoom out and think...

... we can see the customer is lost

... he cannot find the checkout

... what comes with the customer being lost?

Let's simplify "lost."

💡Aha! Where can somebody can lost?

Lost

➸ Dark forest

➸ Gps

➸ Maze

➸ Supermarket

➸ etc

Out of all these ideas, he chose 'Maze' and created this stunning animation from this exact process of thinking

Keep in mind that overlays can be ANYTHING. As long as it gives context to the main point.

////////////////////////////////////////

2/ How to actually edit videos

Most editors go into a project with a certain mindset.

Usually one of these two

1) Okay, I'm going to create a lot of overlays (full screen animations), but reduce the quality of every overlay so I wouldn't spend too much time on the project

2) Okay, I'm going to create few overlays but make them as high quality as possible

Nikola thinks differently.

He never goes into a project with an approach of what he feels like doing

He adapts to every single project.

How does he do this?

Well, he asks himself a question

➸ Is the speaker boring?

While cutting the video, he examines how good of a speaker his client is.

This is important because if the client isn't a natural on camera, then he has to do his work as an editor and CONNECT the viewer with the speaker.

He does this by crafting beautiful animations you're already probably familiar with.

This will adds a second layer of engagement to the viewer.

If the speaker in the video is engaging and knows how to present a story well, then he doesn't force himself to create overlays because it would distract the viewer from the experience.

////////////////////////////////////////

3/ How to connect with your viewer

Resuming from the last point.

This is perhaps the most important point. Nikola kept emphasizing to us how vital this point is.

Your job as an editor is to connect the viewer to the message of the video.

How Nikola does this is ask himself one question.

➸ Who are my viewers?

Once you understand who your viewers are, you will understand what they are familiar with... and thus how to connect with them.

For example, in Nikola's VSL, his target audience are Video Editors.

So he made it a point to create stunning visuals of a tool video editors are familiar with.

After Effects.

Look at the visuals he created with that in mind.

See how he connects with his targeted audience?

////////////////////////////////////////

4/ How to never get Editor's Block

Nikola never runs out of ideas.

How does he come up with this superpower?

The secret lies within his morning routine.

➸ He wakes up

➸ He makes his coffee and grabs his laptop

➸ While sipping his caffeine, he scrolls through 2 websites

1) Dribbble

2) Pinterest

Everyday, he exposes himself to top quality animations and graphic design.

When was the last time you went through a graphic design website to get inspiration?

He does this everyday.

He has been training his eye and his mind for years.

Do this too.

Start exposing yourself to animation and design.

Every.

Day.“

So that was the entire post, if you read the whole thing, you’re on you way to becoming great so comment the most valuable insight you got from this post to help solidify this lesson 🙏

Also, on the original tweet, he shows the animations and videos he refers to throughout the posts so if you want to see the actual examples click the link here:

https://x.com/benvfxs/status/1850502238118277355?s=46

P.S. Comment “I read it” and I’ll send you a FREE email outreach masterclass that’ll help you land high paying editing clients through email using my proven outreach scripts 🔥

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