About the Project
Sequel to The Fallen of World War II, The Shadow Peace is a series that combines data visualization and cinematic storytelling to explore the driving factors of war and peace.
This first episode looks at the numbers behind nuclear war and peacekeeping efforts. Composed largely of data-driven animation, the film lets viewers pause at certain moments to interact with the content.
Credits
Written, directed, coded, and narrated by Neil Halloran. Original music and sound design by Andy Dollerson.
The hourglass animation was based on a visualization by Oliver Uberti.
Recommended Reading
Inspiration and sources for much of the film came from Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature.
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Watching the Film
The film can be watched here, on YouTube, on smart-TV devices, and anywhere the YouTube video is embedded — at up to 4K resolution.
The interactive features only work when viewing on this page. When the video pauses at certain moments, the frame becomes clickable — explore the details, then resume.
Data Sources
Underlying data was sourced from Virginia Page Fortna, the United Nations, the Population Reference Bureau, Ira Helfand and Lachlan Forrow, the Federation of American Scientists, Scott Sagan and Jane Esberg, and the Future of Life Institute.
More Films
Explore Neil's other films: The Fallen of World War II, on the human cost of the war; The Plea, on the eradication of smallpox; and Degrees of Uncertainty, on climate science and public trust.
Support the Project
The most helpful way to support this work is to become a sustaining supporter on Patreon. Patrons receive behind-the-scenes updates and other special content.