Atlantic Archive: Albert Einstein

The Atlantic Archive: Albert Einstein film was the fourth in a series by The Atlantic. Each animator took an article from the publisher’s extensive 160 year old archive, articles that resonate today, and adapted it to an animation. I chose the article “Atomic War or Peace” by Albert Einstein from 1947. It struck me as eerily relevant due to the current aggressive stances on nuclear weapons. The animation grapples with this tension, just as Einstein grapples with the advent of the Cold War in his essay. It’s continually moving downward like a falling bomb, but never shows one exploding into a mushroom cloud.

The project was an amazing experience for me because, in addition to my usual roles of pitching, scripting, animation and sound design, I also produced this video. This new role involved casting a narrator that worked remotely from, incidentally, across the Atlantic ocean. Pun intended! Although, is that technically a pun? I’m not sure.

The film was picked up by Digg on the day of release, liked by a Vimeo staff member and accrued over 40,000 views across Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo. It was also “liked” by a Vimeo Staff Member.