NatGeo's Killing Jesus Website Might Be the Greatest Story Ever Scrolled

Mullen has created a digital experience of Biblical proportions to support National Geographic Channel's Killing Jesus, a three-hour docudrama premiering March 29, which is Palm Sunday. The show is based on the best-selling book of the same name. An immensely detailed, immersive website tells the story from three different perspectives: Son of God (the view of Christ and his disciples); Son of Man (the view of the Jewish priests of the time); and Threat to Rome (taking in political/economic implications). Each perspective is represented by a different crown: thorns, religious headdress and Roman laurels. This technique provides users with a panoramic perspective of Jesus's life, allowing them to explore events from every conceivable angle. "We were looking to tell the story in a way that allowed people to see it from several different vantage points," says Mullen associate creative director Allison Rude. "Our war room on this project resembled the wall from 'A Beautiful Mind' as we pieced together historical fact, religious scripture and custom illustrations." French artist Bastien Lecouffe Deharme created the impressive artwork, and his hand-drawn contributions grace the site's eight self-contained chapters, which span Christ's story from his birth in a Bethlehem stable through the crucifixion at Calvary. The amount of interactive information and analysis is pretty staggering. Users could lose hours (days?) investigating the various timelines (from three perspectives, no less). That said, the navigation is intuitive, and all aspects of the presentation (based on my 30-minute spin through the site) seem compelling. The technical specs are suitable impressive. The site's scrollable panoramas contain more than 3,000 individual images, animated with 14,000 keyframes, along with 185 sound, music and voiceover tracks. All of this was made using 290,000 lines of code, which Mullen says is four times the size of its two previous NGC sites combined. Those sites supported the cable net's Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy programs. But wait, there's more. Supplemental material includes a Killing Jesus microsite with articles, video clips, photo galleries, deleted scenes and cast Q&As, as well as an NGC blog campaign called "Killing With Kindness," inspired, we're told, by Christ's teachings on love and charity, and promoted on social media with the #KillingWithKindness hashtag. Like Mullen's earlier NGC outings—and The Martin Agency's similar digital work for the JFK Library—this initiative's vast scale can seem overwhelming at times, especially for a story whose elements are so familiar. Still, the bold, multiview style—respectful, yet rigorously researched and probing—is fairly innovative, and might give users fresh insight. Given the weighty nature of the subject matter, Killing Jesus's all-in approach feels appropriate, not like overkill. CREDITS Brand: National Geographic Channel Client: Matt Zymet, Executive Director, Digital Media Client: Ashley Kalena, Digital Media Producer Agency: Mullen Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker Executive Creative Directors: Tim Vaccarino, Dave Weist Associate Creative Directors: Allison Rude, Brian Leech, Scott Slagsvol Copywriter: Eugene Torres Vice President, Executive Producer: Tiffany Stevens Senior Digital Producers: Alyssa Hartigan, Kim Bennett Group Account Director: Rebekah Pagis Account Director: Jessica Zdenek Assistant Account Executive: Stephanie Costa Director of Development Operations: Steve Laham Senior Quality Assurance Engineer: Ryan Nelsen Senior Vice President, Creative Director, Technologist: Christian Madden Senior Vice President, Director of Interactive: Mathey Ray Associate Creative Director, Technologist: Joe Palasek Senior Creative Technologist: Justin Bogan Creative Technologists: Adam Riggs, Stefan Harris Associate Quality Assurance Engineer: Amber Archambeault Senior Production Designer: Terri Navarra Senior Content Manager: Caroline Roberts Motion Designer: Jeremiah True Vice President, Digital Production Manager: Steve Haroutunian Senior Creative Technologist: Costa Boudouvas Senior Experience Designers: Charlene McBride, Krista Siniscarco Junior Production Designer: Candice Latham Senior Vice President, Director of Broadcast Production: Zeke Bowman Animator: Eric Ko Vice President, Director of Art Production: Tracy Maidment Senior Art Producer: Jessica Manning Vice President, Senior Video Editor: Jessica Phearsome Senior Copywriter: Kelly McAuley Assistant Editors: Libby Ryerson, Nick Brecken Business Manager: Vanessa Fazio Animation/Graphics Artist: Bastien Lecouffe Deharme Artist Representation: Shannon Associates Music Sound Design: Mike Secher Audio Post Sound Design, Mixer: Mike Secher

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NatGeo's Killing Jesus Website Might Be the Greatest Story Ever Scrolled

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