Michal Luria – Looking Outwards – 07

The Fallen of World War II / Neil Halloran

The project I chose for this week is the data visualization short documentary by Neil Halloran:

The fallen of World War II / Neil Halloran – a short film presenting the casualties of the second world war in comparison to others in the history of human kind. Source.

This fascinating short film presents data of the casualties of World War II in a visual way. It moves the data around to add information to the viewer. For example, the casualties, after a simple count, are divided into areas of war, where you can see the two sections one compared to the other, and then placed on a timeline for a better perspective on the order of things.

What I liked most about this work is that these data sets are available to all of us, yet it is perceived that war culture is extending and becoming dominant in our world. By comparing the data of WWII to other wars in history, it allows a new perspective on where things are headed.

The film takes a different approach, just by visualizing data. The key to this work is perspective, and perspective is seen better than it is heard. By allowing the viewers to visualize the data the message is clear.