Map styles for video: pick the look that fits the story

True crime

Red String: a map style for true crime

A map look for true crime and unsolved cases: a city printed in coarse newspaper dots with one red string pulled tight across it.

The picture

A coarse newspaper city with a straight red string pulled tight across it.

The camera

An uneasy slow creep, then a sudden push until the print dots are huge, as if leaning into the page.

Use it for

Unsolved cases, a historical crime, a lost flight, a hoax, a conspiracy being debunked.

Not for

A happy or promotional story, or a fresh case where people are still grieving.

Variants

Newsprint · Case file · Night desk · Cold case

Under the sea

Abyss: a map style for under the sea

A map look for stories under the sea: black continents against a glowing ocean floor, with a fall into the Mariana Trench.

The picture

A black continent against a glowing trench, so the sea is the land.

The camera

A long slow glide along the floor, then one fall straight down into it.

Use it for

Trenches, submarine cables, shipwrecks, whales, tectonic plates, what lies under a strait.

Not for

The story happens on land, or in a city.

Variants

Signal · Bioluminescent · Volcanic

Guide: Globe animation

Heat and fire

Thermal: a map style for heat and fire

A map look for heatwaves, wildfires and drought: terrain in a thermal-camera palette, with the Sahara burning yellow on a black sea.

The picture

A continent where the yellow pours out of the desert toward the place the story is about.

The camera

A slow drone circling a burning ridge, then one jump out to the whole burning region.

Use it for

Heatwaves, wildfires, drought, the Sahara spreading, energy, climate.

Not for

Travel, love of a place, a cold region, or a story about people.

Variants

Fever · Night vision · Ice melt

Real estate

Clay City: a map style for real estate

A map look for real estate and city plans: the city as a white architect’s model, with one lot marked in colour.

The picture

A whole white city with one coloured spot.

The camera

A slow orbit around that spot, as if someone were walking around the model table.

Use it for

A listing, a new development, “12 minutes from everything”, a stadium or tower plan, a walking route.

Not for

Outside dense cities, or for countries and continents.

Variants

Vermilion · Brand · Dusk model

Guide: Google Earth Studio alternative

News

Front Page: a map style for news

A map look for geopolitics and news: a quiet newspaper map on warm paper, with one place in solid red.

The picture

One solid red shape on a quiet paper map, with a serif sentence that makes a claim.

The camera

Almost no movement, then a clean push onto the exact thing the sentence is about.

Use it for

Geopolitics, elections, borders, “why X matters”, trade routes explained, breaking news.

Not for

The goal is awe or romance, or the place is the star rather than the argument.

Variants

Broadsheet · Two sides · Evening edition

Guide: War map animation

War rooms

Phosphor: a map style for war rooms

A map look for military history: Europe on a green phosphor screen, then the Normandy coast with radar rings and one amber arrow.

The picture

One amber arrow crossing black water toward a green coast, inside a ring.

The camera

Dead still, then a hard jump to the next map, like someone changing the screen.

Use it for

D-Day, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cold War spies, submarine hunts, how a plan worked.

Not for

Grief or civilians are the subject, or the war is still going on and the map could mislead.

Variants

Green screen · Amber screen · Sonar

Guide: War map animation

Deserts

Red Sand: a map style for deserts

A map look for deserts and long journeys: a low flight over a burning rust basin while one thin white line crosses it.

The picture

One hair-thin white line crossing an enormous burning basin.

The camera

Slow enough to feel the heat, for longer than feels comfortable, then one lift until the line looks impossibly small.

Use it for

The Silk Road, the Sahara, Petra, Timbuktu, Route 66, how far people once walked.

Not for

Green land, cities, or anything cheerful.

Variants

Rust · Midnight dune · Mars-like

How places connect

Gold Wire: a map style for how places connect

A map look for networks and megacities: the real road network as glowing gold wire on black, tightening into a knot where the story is.

The picture

Empty black at the edges, tightening into a blazing knot of wire where the story is.

The camera

Rushing along one artery toward the knot, then pulling up until the whole web is visible.

Use it for

Megalopolises, supply routes, why a port or a junction matters, urban sprawl.

Not for

Empty regions, whole continents, or nature.

Variants

Gold · Copper · Platinum