Hopper in a Nutshell

As Hopper began to scale, we needed a way to communicate what we were all about.

Crafted in 2019 as Video Editor at Hopper.

The full-length flagship video intended to communicate what Hopper is and the value it provides. Illustrations by Thomas Fitzpatrick, animation by Wonderlust, music by Ambrose Yu.

I. Background

Hopper is the most downloaded travel booking app in the United States — helping over 70M travelers save money on flights, hotels, and rental cars.

II. The Challenge

How can we distill Hopper's value propositions into a short, engaging video? Can we structure this video in a way that allows us to easily repurpose it? After years of visual brand development, we know what Hopper looks like... but what does Hopper sound like?

III. My Role

I acted as a producer on this project. I worked with our internal team to craft the script and story. I also lead the production and direction of the audio—finding and partnering with a composer and sound effects artist, as well as a voiceover artist.

IV. Our Solution

We didn't want to approach this like a single, standalone "explainer" video. Instead, we decided to structure it in a way that allowed us create cutdowns that highlighted different value props that we could use strategically for different use cases. While the full-length 105-second video covered all the value props, we scripted it in a way that allowed us to create short 15, 20, and 30-second versions that highlighted separate topics like price, ease of use, and reliability. And, in order to use this on a variety of platforms, we made 16:9, 9:16, and 1:1 versions.

We also worked with our talented composer to create stem tracks of the music and sound design, allowing us to reuse and repurpose elements across everything from ads to in-app sounds, using the stems to craft different moods and feelings as needed, while still having everything sound like it came from the Hopper universe.