Software Development

Watch this mesmerizing data viz documentary on understanding the certainty of climate change

Media-based Neil Halloran's animated doc "Degrees of Uncertainty," which debuted on Earth Day, was created by hand using custom software: "It's a mix of filmmaking and creative coding which [is] a very laborious process."

The visualization of Manhattan's rising sea levels. (Gif via Degree of Uncertainty)

For your weekend viewing pleasure: Media-based developer and data scientist Neil Halloran has just released a documentary about understanding scientists’ claims about climate change, three years in the making.

The animated documentary, “Degrees of Uncertainty,” debuted last week — aptly, on Earth Day — and dives into how society has come to learn about climate change and the processes scientists have taken to learn it themselves. The 24-minute documentary explores how journalists and the public learn and talk about climate change and takes a stab at the question, “How sure are climate scientists?”

Halloran previously released a series called “The Shadow Peace,” exploring nuclear war and peace, the sequel to his viral “The Fallen of World War II.”

Halloran also previously owned and worked on a film company, Higher Media, along with his brother Mark, but now works through his own company. Halloran said he receives help from remote researchers and London-based musician Andy Dollerson.

“I also make a point to get lots of feedback through the process, which was especially important for a topic as thorny as this,” Halloran told Technical.ly.

The docs are created by hand using custom software, he said — “I suppose it’s a mix of filmmaking and creative coding which [is] a very laborious process.”

This film in particular took three years to make, and Halloran said he plans to work more with outside animators for future projects so that he can produce films more frequently.

Watch the full film below:

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