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“Robert Oppenheimer was the father of the atomic bomb. He was this complex ball of contradictions, birthing the most violent weapon in human history,” opens the narrator in Creative Mammals’ sizzle for its work on NBC News’ feature-length documentary, To End All War: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb.
NBC News decided to produce the special ahead of the July 21 theatrical premiere of Christopher Nolan’s new film, Oppenheimer, starring Cillian Murphy in the title role. Christopher Cassel, executive producer and director at NBC News Studios, reached out to Atlanta-based Creative Mammals to create the narrative animations, scientific explainers and title treatment. The documentary explores the lead-up and legacy of Oppenheimer’s development of the atomic bomb and includes interviews with Nolan; Bill Nye; Oppenheimer’s grandson, Charles; Hiroshima survivor Hideko Tamura and others.
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To make the narratives feel as authentic as possible, Creative Mammals dove into history to learn as much as it could about Oppenheimer and the environment and time period in which he worked. The team also had to learn a bit about physics – including atomic energy and nuclear fission – to help it create “simplified visual representations that could explain such esoteric information,” according to Creative Mammals.
“There’s a lot of information to consider when discussing the workings of atomic energy. To keep the audience engaged, we turned to the instruction manuals, scientific papers, and news headlines of the WW2 era, which would provide visual interest while also keeping the material grounded,” Creative Mammals said.
“Clean, austere typography and linework stay true to the informational tone and language being presented, while a staccato animation style provides visual interest with an air of mechanical and tactile feedback. Using simple reveals for the linework allowed us to lead the viewer through the information presented, while also giving the appearance of a printer or technical illustrator laying down ink.”
Creative Mammals determined that the themes guiding the animations’ design should be “dreamlike,” “40s-inspired” and “tactile.” To hit all those marks, Creative Mammals combined 3D environments with 2D illustrations and photography to create composite images and then created the motion graphics so that they wove seamlessly between interviews, archival footage and photography to help knit the entire piece together.
Animations
“The narrative sequences portray historical events while building emotional value; the science graphics simplify complex facts. Together, these graphics solidify the tone of the film and reinforce the time period by honing in on the grainy, tactile aesthetic of old film,” Creative Mammals said.
To End All War: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb premieres Sunday, July 9 on MSNBC and Monday, July 10 on Peacock.
CREDITS
Client: NBC News Studios
Showrunner, Director: Chris Cassel
Producer: Zeke Dunn
Production Manager: Amanda Moore
Post-production Supervisor: Alex Pilkington
Design Studio: Creative Mammals
Executive Creative Director: Robert Burroughs
Animation Director: Mike Sweeney
Art Director: Jonathan Hunt, Jeff Gess
Animators: Mike Sweeney, Jonathan Hunt, Jeff Gess, Shane Douberly
Producer: Katie Janse