The information graphic on David Rohde’s escape deserves additional explanation. Although it seems like a traditional formula for those of us who are used to the Spanish flair, it is significantly different from what the NYTimes has done in the past: silhouettes moving across the stage, performing a precise and truthful choreography. We wouldn’t have done it this way, if the protagonist weren’t a co-worker who sat with us for hours to explain every detail. We had the primary source.

One of the goals of telling his story was to clarify what had been left unexplained and had been speculated after his escape. ‘The David Rohde Puzzle’, the New York Magazine called it. And according to Mr. Rohde, the graphic helps to fill the gaps.

Here’s an early sketch. Step by step, with spatial references and details, outlined by Archie Tse.

Obviously people seemed hesitant to go “full elmundo.es” with this graphic. But the elegance and finesse of Graham’s solution convinced the most reluctant.

The silhouettes may seem a dramatization, something that shouldn’t belong in a visual reconstruction — unfortunately we are getting too used to dramatizations. But in this case they’re far from that: the primary source worked with us in the visual explanation – Do I repeat myself much? and we left the drama to be carried by the story itself.

“The visuals themselves don’t generate the drama, they clarify spatial concerns and atmospheric conditions, and nothing more.” Steve Duenes says.

But there’s an extra thought on that: I’m a romantic who believes heroes deserve glory, victims respect and villains disdain. Such a precise reenactment of Rohde’s story was appropriate – and only because we had all the details first hand.

An in depth account of how the victim of an attack died is hideous and reenacting how an assassin pulled the trigger is inconceivable, even if we had enough witness accounts.

From Archie’s sketches, I made a quick model of the house in 3D Studio Max …

… which Graham modified, corrected and refined for the final graphic.

The print piece on the newspaper is not-to-be-missed. On A1:

And on the International pages:

By the way, did I say we would never have done the graphic if we didn’t have Rohde guiding us through the reenactment?

Not-to-be-missed either — for obvious different reasons — what this Hong Kong paper did.

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