Animation meets great ideas in Ada, a new series of ted-ed narrative

Ted-ed YouTube channel is not alien for animation-used for all educational shorts, but soon something different will achieve the form of a new animated show based on stories called Ada.

The series is written and led by Elizabeth Cox, founder of the independent production company, should we studio, which, as its name suggests, was created to address weighty topics.

The protagonist of the show is a young woman who wants to make a sign in the world making her better and explores the many issues and problems in the world in her head starting from post-apocalyptic energy sources, and artificial belly up In the consequences of creating super-intelligent he

You know, the little things.

Unlike the traditional TED-ED pants, the series will aim to educate and stimulate the debate on the issues it raises through a narrative, and based on the two episodes I have seen so far, it must succeed.

The power of animation

As it was recently brought home to me by the short film Survivor, who describes the story of the real life of a child who endures the Holocaust horrors, animation is probably the most effective medium for representing challenging subjects on screen.

Ada It has already attracted positive attention and by the end of last year, the best animated series at the Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology was voted, won the best professional animation of the series at the Science Raw Film Festival, and appeared in Dance with the Film Festival.

While subjects can be heavy, colorful animation, music jumping and vibrant sound acting bring a slight touch to the procedures, so everyone can have fun while engaging with topics.

Substantive

Speaking with Cox, it is easy to see how invested it is on the topic, chosen because they “provided a rich ethical space to explore and do not have a clear yes or no answer to the question that it should Do we do this if we should be this? “

They also had to offer something new. Climate change has not been treated as it felt this is already widely covered. Of course, personal experiences also informed the process. An episode that discusses the donation of organs is based on the experience of looking at her grandfather that requires a kidney transplant, and ultimately, not taking one.

Animation

With Ada almost living a double life – one in the real real world and one in her head Cox explained why the animation worked so well for this.

“Animation is a medium that allows you to create an influence and requires you to create a whole world completely from scratch, so I think it’s ideal to talk about worlds that don’t exist yet,” she observed.

The animation style passes between 2D and 3D, representing the “real world” and that of Ada’s imagination. Cox describes the style as “retro-futuristic” and on the influences of the art of concept by Samurai Jack and the rapid colors in Spider-Man: in Spider-Verse and its continuation.

A team of four animators worked on the project with each episode taking about eight to nine weeks, with several working at the same time. The process involved the creation of stories tables, the ending of the script, the recording of sound and animatics, and then combining both in the final product.

Despite cheering the big screen, Cox says he is happy to live on the Ted-ed Youtube channel so preferable to be buried in a broadcast platform where no one will see it. Cox says he hopes that what is encountered Ada It is an “extraordinary spirit of the investigation and a willingness to engage with potentially outdoors and be open to surprise by the answers.”

Some may believe that in today’s political environment, this can be challenging. However, animations such as Ada are only those needed to bring ideas to conversations that otherwise cannot be heard or easily discarded.

However, most importantly, Ada is a fun clock and demonstrates that animation as a medium is okay as a medium that proves that you do not have to be a big studio to bring great screen stories.