The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was perhaps the most widely documented act of political violence in history. As part of a six-month investigation, the Visual Investigations team at The New York Times collected and analyzed thousands of videos — many filmed by the rioters themselves. The resulting film, Day of Rage, charts in chilling detail how the peaceful transition of power was disrupted by rioters who stormed a seemingly impenetrable seat of government.

The videos obtained by the team offered a panoramic view of Jan. 6. They were recorded on cellphones, captured by police bodycams and on Capitol building security cameras. The Times collected court records, and filed motions to release other visual evidence attached to federal indictments. Producers obtained internal police radio recordings, interviewed law enforcement officials, members of Congress and their staff. The team catalogued where and when videos were taken, synchronized key moments filmed from different angles and meticulously pieced together critical sequences of events to tell the story of Jan. 6 in its totality.

The film reveals a domino effect of political rhetoric setting the conditions for violence, of organized actors feeding off the energy of the crowd, and escalating to a mob mentality that ignited multiple points of attack. The scale and synchronicity of that violence is alarming and horrifying.

Viewers gain critical insights into the character and motivation of the rioters by experiencing the day often in their own words. The film outlines the role played by QAnon followers, Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and President Trump’s closest allies. A throughline is the incongruence of rioters who say they support police officers but assault them anyway. And the film shows how Trump's own words were parroted by rioters as they carried out the attack, fully convinced of their right to break the law.

A 3-D model of the Capitol guides viewers through the real-world consequences of failures by the police and intelligence agencies to heed warnings. It shows the key junctures where rioters seized the building, and the feet and seconds that separated the mob from lawmakers and their staff. The model also serves as a mechanism to pace the documentary, to step back and take in the magnitude of the event.

The documentary is graphic and fast-paced, but also punctuated by audiovisual moments of calm and discordance — the glee of rioters who have achieved their goal, a Jeff Buckley song set against a marauding mob, the national anthem being sung while crimes are committed. And the opening of the film, in which ordinary Trump supporters calmly recite the Pledge of Allegiance — a poignant moment conveying a patriotism that suffuses the day and sets up the dramatic irony of how the "Save America" rally would end.