TikTok followers know them by their nicknames: WonderWomath, Mr Rêveur, TimThc, Athéna Sol, Monsieurlechat94, Misteraenglish and YannToutCourt. Between them, they have several million subscribers and their videos are widely followed and commented on. On a social network, where it is customary to swipe from one “reel” to another, they manage to capture the attention of young and old by talking to them about history, French, maths, drawings or physics chemistry.
Rather difficult themes that they manage to popularize without tiring. Creators of educational content in their spare time, in civilian life they are all teachers. And are all buddies in life. It was far from their classrooms that they responded to the call of the agency String Theoryspecializing in the creation and distribution of scientific and educational videos when she asked them to participate in a fiction called In the Manor. By leaving them the keys to the scenario, where everyone can talk about the subject of their choice, while including it in a mysterious story, in a haunted property where the doors slam, conducted like an escape game.
“We were offered a web series that would mix fiction and popularization. The sharing of knowledge had to be not a parenthesis but in the narrative story. Over the course of the episodes, several disciplines are called upon. The interest for us was to live a new experience, to imagine and experiment with a new, longer format, ”says Yann Bouvier, teacher in life in a high school in the Toulouse area.
Distill their knowledge throughout history
They took advantage of the school holidays this summer to shoot. And put their acting skills to the test. In each episode, they all have to give a little of their knowledge, just to break the curse of the place. And they have it to spare. Yann himself has chosen to play the “Terror” card. No question of being afraid. But, rather the ambition to explain the functioning of the Revolutionary Tribunal which condemned to death no less than 2,639 people between 1793 and 1795. By listening to his explanation, model of Playmobil in support, we quickly understand that we have a lot of ‘a priori. “I wanted to popularize, to awaken critical thinking by deconstructing a certain number of received ideas without being boring. Explain that if we go through this court, we do not necessarily end up on the scaffold, ”explains the one who had innovated on Twitter by telling for four years the tragic fate of a soldier of the Great War.
And because knowledge cannot be condensed in a few minutes, the YouTube channel also provides information or sources for those who would like to go further on this period in the history of France. In episode 3, Tim plays him at sorcerer’s apprentices. Or rather uses sympathetic ink to reveal the secrets of the visible and the invisible, ultraviolet and electromagnetic waves. And in the latest, we refine our knowledge of English in Ireland, thanks to Misteraenglish. Undoubtedly, in the episodes (nine in total) yet to be unveiled, humor will mingle with science and knowledge.