# Obama's Legacy

**Year:** 2017
**Role:** Storyboarder, art director, designer
**Client:** VICE News (VICE News Tonight on HBO)
**Tags:** stories-and-dataviz
**Case study:** /work/obamas-legacy
**Award:** Society for News Design — Award of Excellence (2017)
**Related:** /work/vice-news

Three explainer videos distilling Obama's long-term impact on energy, military
strategy, and criminal justice. I storyboarded and art directed the series, which
aired on HBO over three nights during Obama's final week in office.

**Team** — Visuals: Andrew Macfarlane, Brian McGee, Grace Shin, Kenton Powell,
Kris Cave, Michael Deal. Writing: Allison McCann, Isabella McKinley-Corbo, Reid
Cherlin, Taylor Dolven.

The series was made in stop motion — wooden objects moved frame by frame on a
tabletop, shot in camera, with light motion-graphics overlays where the data needed
labels or precise alignment. The same physical world carries all three episodes.

## Energy

[Watch *Obama's Energy Legacy* →](https://youtu.be/Y8MctZkpwd0)

![Excerpts from Obama's Energy Legacy — animated chart of US energy mix shifting toward renewables](/work/obamas-legacy/energy-main.gif)
![Obama Energy Legacy excerpt: emissions trajectory animation](/work/obamas-legacy/energy-2.gif)
![Obama Energy Legacy excerpt: renewable capacity buildout](/work/obamas-legacy/energy-3.gif)

## Military

[Watch *Obama's Military Legacy* →](https://youtu.be/uv9UVmJa9DM)

![Excerpts from Obama's Military Legacy — animated map of US drone strike footprint and troop deployments](/work/obamas-legacy/military-main.gif)
![Obama Military Legacy excerpt: drone strike tallies](/work/obamas-legacy/military-2.gif)
![Obama Military Legacy excerpt: troop count trend](/work/obamas-legacy/military-3.gif)

## Criminal justice

[Watch *Obama's Criminal Justice Legacy* →](https://youtu.be/b2JgpADOokY)

![Excerpts from Obama's Criminal Justice Legacy — federal sentencing reform timeline](/work/obamas-legacy/cj-main.gif)
![Obama Criminal Justice Legacy excerpt: clemency grant counts](/work/obamas-legacy/cj-2.gif)
![Obama Criminal Justice Legacy excerpt: federal prison population trend](/work/obamas-legacy/cj-3.gif)

## On set

![Brian McGee adjusting blocks on set](/work/obamas-legacy/process-2.jpg)
![Grace Shin at the ready behind the camera](/work/obamas-legacy/process-1.jpg)
![Grace Shin and Brian McGee reviewing shots between takes](/work/obamas-legacy/process-3.jpg)
![HBO Now landing page featuring the Obama Legacy series during its premiere week](/work/obamas-legacy/hbo-screengrab.jpg)

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