National Geographic Releases Educational Stop Motion Film

Ever since 1888, The National Geographic Society has provided a window to stories that most of us will never get to experience firsthand. Through TV specials, amazing photography, short films, and, of course, its famous flagship magazine, the Society takes us into space, to the bottom of the ocean, into the darkest jungles in the world, to the tops of the highest mountains on earth, to exotic countries in every corner of the earth, and even back in time to every era in world history.

Now, National Geographic has turned to a new medium: stop-motion animation. On March 26th, the National Geographic Society released a new video detailing the construction of Trajan’s Column in Rome. The video takes us back to the days of ancient Rome through the magic of clay figures and the painstaking work of stop motion animators.

Here’s the video:

National Geographic also released a companion video about the making of the film. The video describes the attention to detail that went into crafting the figures and sets, the historical research that filmmakers conducted, and the unique merits of stop motion animation.

The new video is National Geographic‘s second foray into stop motion animation, the first being a brief promo in 2012. The National Geographic Society hasn’t announced plans for any future stop motion videos. No matter what happens, it’s exciting to see the Society branching into the animation world.