Earth Token · Natural asset token · 2D startup explainer video
Startup Explainer Video for Earth Token: One Forest Explains the Token
Earth Token needed people to understand a token that "represents the value of natural assets" before they were asked to invest in it. This startup explainer video names the gap first, "connecting buyers and sellers has always been difficult and inefficient", then explains the whole model through one forest that a community is paid to keep instead of cut.
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Earth Token · Natural Asset Exchange
- Client
- Earth Token
- Product
- Earth Token, an Ethereum-based token, and its natural asset exchange
- Made for
- Businesses, individuals and early investors who want to fund environmental projects
- Format
- 2D animated startup explainer video with voiceover and burned-in subtitles
- Style
- Flat 2D illustration built around pentagon icon tiles
- Length
- 1:35
- Production timeline
- 3 to 4 weeks
- Budget
- $1,200 to $2,000
The problem: a token nobody could picture
Earth Token's own description says the token "has Ethereum technology at it's core and represents the value of natural assets and sustainable products and technologies". In 2017 that sentence gave a viewer nothing to see: what a natural asset is, who sells it, who pays for it, and why a token is needed at all.
The video ends by asking people to invest, so the model had to be clear before the ask. In 95 seconds it had to show a market that wants to fund green projects, a gap between buyers and sellers, the token that closes it, and one example simple enough to retell.
How the Earth Token video builds the case, scene by scene
Every narration line is burned in as a subtitle, so the video works with the sound off. Select a time to play that scene above.
| Time | On screen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Planets circle the sun, then wind turbines and a solar roof appear under the subtitle "Growing global awareness that we have to act now is driving huge investment in new innovations focused on preserving our environment." | Opens on a market that is already moving, before any product is named. | |
| Pentagon tiles pop up one by one under "Projects such as solar, wind, waste to energy, carbon sequestration and preservation of the earth's natural assets": a solar roof, a wind turbine, water, leaves, test tubes, a waste pipe, then people. Subtitle at 0:20: "At the same time, a growing number of businesses and individuals want to do their part." | Puts the projects and the people who want to fund them in one picture. | |
| Lines link the tiles into a network, then most of it falls away under "But connecting buyers and sellers has always been difficult and inefficient." | Names the exact gap the token is built to close. | |
| "UNTIL NOW" over a green landscape under "Until now. Introducing : Earth Token", the Earth Token logo builds at 0:36, then from 0:40 an Ethereum diamond sits in the middle of the tiles under "Earth Token has Ethereum technology at it's core". | Introduces the product and its technology in one beat, right after the gap. | |
| A title card asks "HOW DOES IT WORK?", then a man takes a chainsaw to a tree under "Instead of chopping down a forest to sell the wood,". At 0:52 a rewind symbol plays the cut backward next to stacks of dollar bills, and by 0:54 the tree stands again with Earth Token coins floating around the community. | Turns an abstract asset into one scene a viewer can repeat to someone else. | |
| A city street of cyclists, walkers and a car. Subtitle: "Individuals and businesses of any size can now use natural assets to compensate for their environmental impact". | Shows who the buyers are: ordinary people and companies of any size. | |
| Tiles fill a laptop screen under "via a natural asset exchange that connects buyers to sellers.", lock into one honeycomb under "The market now grows organically and achieves its massive potential", then the planets return and a brown Earth turns green under "generating wealth while preserving the earth for future generations." | Shows the exchange as the fix for the broken network at 0:30. | |
| People with Earth Token coins under "People just like you can invest in a sustainable future", a line of people under "Get involved now and maximize your potential!", then from 1:27 the end card: the Earth Token logo, "www.earthtoken.com" and "Earth Token. Preserving the Earth for Future Generations." | Turns the viewer into an investor and closes on the promise from the title. |
Storyboard: the frames that carry the Earth Token startup explainer video
Key frames from the finished video, in order. Select a time to play that moment above.
The gap is named while the network of projects and people breaks apart. 
The turn to the product comes right after the gap. 
The logo lands with one line on what the token is. 
The technology sits at the center of the same project tiles. 
A title card marks the switch from pitch to example. 
The example starts with the old way of making money from a forest. 
A rewind symbol undoes the cut in one picture. 
The new way pays the community to keep the tree. 
The scattered tiles lock into one market. 
The close repeats the promise and gives one address.
4 decisions behind the Earth Token startup explainer video
Decision 1
Name the gap before the token
The logo does not appear until 0:36, after the subtitle at 0:30: "But connecting buyers and sellers has always been difficult and inefficient." By then the viewer already wants the fix.
Copy it: Write the market gap as one line and hold your logo until that line has landed.
Decision 2
Explain the model with one forest
At 0:47 the video asks "How does it work?" and answers with a single scene: "Instead of chopping down a forest to sell the wood, the community gets paid Earth Tokens to preserve and grow it."
Copy it: Pick one transaction your buyer can retell in a sentence and give it a full scene.
Decision 3
One tile set from start to end
The same pentagon tiles appear scattered at 0:10, linked at 0:25, broken at 0:30 and locked into a honeycomb at 1:07. The market's before and after is the same set of pictures in a new order.
Copy it: Design one visual unit for your market and change how it is arranged to show the problem and the fix.
Decision 4
Burn the voiceover in as subtitles
The YouTube upload is titled "(with subs)" and every narration line sits on screen, from 0:02 to the end card at 1:27.
Copy it: If your launch video will play muted in feeds or in an investor deck, burn the subtitles into the master.
From the Earth Token script to a 95-second 2D explainer
- Pentagon tile illustration. Each project type (solar, wind, water, plants, waste) and each kind of buyer got its own pentagon tile, so one set of pictures could scatter, link and lock together.
- Character design. Flat characters were drawn for the forest community, the city street and the closing line of investors.
- Environment illustration. Space, landscape, forest, city and laptop backgrounds were drawn in one blue, green and yellow palette.
- Motion graphics animation. Tiles, network lines, the logo build and the Ethereum diamond were animated to the voiceover.
- Voiceover, music and subtitles. A professional voiceover, a custom music score and sound design were added, with every line burned in as a subtitle.
- Edit, color and compositing. The scenes were edited, color graded and composited into the final 1:35 master.
Scope of work:
Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000. See the 2D video production service for how a project like this is scoped.
Questions about the Earth Token startup explainer video
Why does the Earth Token video wait until 0:36 to show the logo?
The first 33 seconds set up a market that wants to fund green projects and a gap: "connecting buyers and sellers has always been difficult and inefficient". The logo arrives right after "UNTIL NOW", so it reads as the answer to that gap.
How does the video explain what a natural asset token does?
With one example from 0:46. A man takes a chainsaw to a tree, a rewind symbol undoes the cut at 0:52, and the narration says the community "gets paid Earth Tokens to preserve and grow it" instead of selling the wood.
What do the pentagon tiles stand for?
Each tile is one kind of project or person: a solar roof, a wind turbine, water, plants, waste and people. They scatter at 0:10, break apart at 0:30 and lock into one honeycomb at 1:07, which is the exchange connecting them.
Who does the Earth Token video speak to?
Businesses and individuals who want to offset their impact, shown on a city street at 0:57, and people who might invest, addressed at 1:18 with "People just like you can invest in a sustainable future".
Why are the subtitles burned into the video?
The upload is the "(with subs)" version, so every voiceover line is readable on screen. A viewer scrolling with the sound off still gets the full pitch.
How long did the Earth Token explainer take and what did it cost?
Production took 3 to 4 weeks on a budget of $1,200 to $2,000, covering character design, environment illustration, motion graphics, voiceover, music and sound design.
What Advids clients say
"Transforming complex banking-as-a-service integrations was beautifully executed by Advids. They made it extremely easy for CTOs to grasp."Riju Choudhury, Brand Marketing Manager at Unit
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