The murder of ancient
Alexandria's greatest scholar
TED ED
Educational piece about the life and teaching of the famous philosopher Hypatia.
It was a thrill to collaborate with TED Ed director Biljana Labovic and educator Soraya Field Fiorio to bring together this very interesting piece from scratch.
Following some guide lines from experts in order to be coherent with Hypatia's history, I was given complete freedom to work in the character design and style of the animation. I created a style based in a reduced colour palette based in reds and oranges palette that highlighted the main character with a contrast of blue, to resemble ancient books.
Direction: Soraya Field/ Bijlana Labovic
Art Direction: Elsa Esteban
Storyboard: Biljana Labovic
Animation: Elsa Esteban
THE BRIEF
CHARACTER DESIGN
The character design was created looking for strong silhouettes and simple shapes and colors that would make the characters recognisable at a glimpse and show their personality. The colors were purposefuly used to enhance the roles on the story. Hypatia being the light in a contrasting blue, and the christian archibishop Cyril representing the looming darkness of the christian invasion over Alexandria. The rest of the character were created in spectrum of earthy warm colors to represent their ambiguity and give contrast to the main characters.
