Blue Whale Warns Against Floods

With water peaking in November last year, Thailand was affected by floods in a severe way. The floods were accompanied by an overwhelming stream of information that was impossible to narrow down. ‘Roo Su! FLOOD’, a collaboration of friends, juniors and seniors at the Faculty of Communications at Chulalonkorn University, decided to do something about it. In order to help people understand and better handle the situation, they started to make an informative animation. The animation’s aim is to show people how to react to the crisis as well as how to properly plan long-term recovery after the crisis.

“We wanted to present information making it into something that is interesting, fun, easy to understand and it has to be neutral and correct information. We don’t base our research on just one organization, but we look at information from all kinds of sources and offer the audience reliable facts, no prejudice, no drama, no opinions.”

‘Roo Su! FLOOD’ uses information graphics and animations to help digest stories, information and statistics. The blue whale symbolizes the huge mass of water and emphasizes that the water is not necessarily a treat. The first short animation film was a big success and was spread on different social networks. Due to the project’s success more animation videos followed with each containing different stories and information that people should know when facing the floods.

The idea of breaking down complex data by using animation is not new with The Story of Stuff as a good example. However, using it in times of crisis doesn’t happen that often and worked very well during the floods in Thailand. With social networks becoming more and more important as alternative resources for information, it might be interesting for other countries to follow this example. Which brave animators will pick up the gloves and translate the EU financial crisis into a nice little animation?