Visualized Radio That Inspires

Rekha posted on Monday, October 22nd, 2012 | Blog, PRX

Hillary Frank and I recently announced the launch of “The Emperor’s New Onesie,” a gorgeous animation set to an episode of Hillary’s The Longest Shortest Time podcast.

Let’s watch it again, shall we?

The idea to visualize radio didn’t come out of thin air. It’s been done before with great success. So make a hot beverage and put your feet up for some great watching and listening below.

“Creature Comforts” by Aardman Productions is based on interviews with nursing home residents.

“Dock Ellis & The LSD No No” is based on a 2008 interview with the baseball great on Weekend America.

Several beautiful videos have been produced by or inspired by Radiolab. The approach was to create something entirely new, rather than track literally against a specific interview or episode. Moments is a favorite, and I also love this:

Snap Judgment has animated some of their episodes, like this one about hypnosis. (Watching it shouldn’t make you a mind slave, but would I know if it did?)

I first encountered the radio-video concept in a series of powerful animations from StoryCorps. This is one of my favorites, based on an interview with Studs Terkel.

Other ideas came from:

Mike Birbiglia and his encounter with a bear,
the story of when Werner Herzog rescued Joaquin Phoenix,
“Man and Beast,” based on this story from The Moth,
Blank on Blank’s YouTube channel,
and the less beautiful but just as intriguing automated animation using the Xtranormal movie maker tool.