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There are two key examples of interactive documentary media that incited my desire to create my thesis project. Until I did further digging I did not realize that the two projects were put together by the same photojournalist, Zach Wise.
The first was a piece done at the Las Vegas Sun called "Thirst in the Mojave."
It is as Wise states on his blog post about the project, an "attempt at making video interactive and contextualizing its content. Video on the web is great but it lacks many web-centric features or enhancements." Wise also points out the ability for users to take advantage of time-shift in watching online video content as opposed to the trappings of traditional video outlets such as broadcast television. A user can pick ans choose what portion of the video they would like to watch first, second or whenever in this presentation. But this is only the beginning of the advantages of this multimedia project.
The Mojave project incorporates several unique web-based abilities that are not available to traditional media platforms, but yet are not being embraced by many news outlets in their web portals – for several reasons such as cutbacks and lack of vision by management. One element is the ability to geo-tag video content as it is played and drive an interactive map in the same window to help guide a user through the experience of an issue of water use. The complex water system which is constructed by geographic limitations as well as man-made intervention can be depicted with this very informative tool alongside the informative video. Other smaller elements of the project are additional informational blocks that update as the video plays to provide backstory or fill-in the user that may be pertinent but could slow down the overall narrative of the video. Meaning, if the user desires more information, it is available but the overall delivery of the piece is still concise. One minor component of the project that could potentially have great impact is the simple countdown clock at the top of the window, winding down to the possible day of reckoning with the vanishing element of water. Though there are several other elements of this complete package of information, one final piece I would like to highlight is the water usage map that was created for users to enter their address into and learn about how much of an impact on the complex issue of water usage. This portion of the piece, though it is placed as a footnote to the overall presentation, took an intense amount of research and design to create for a complete interactive experience for a user.
The second documentary project that became somewhat of an inspiration to me was the Soul of Athens annual project in Athens, Ohio, through the Ohio University's School of Visual Communication and E.W. Scripps School of Journalism program. The first year of the Soul of Athens project was 2007, which Wise was the executive producer for. There was a 2008 version of the site as well as the current 2009 version. All three hold on to the notion of deploying storytellers out into the community of Athens as well as inviting community members to submit content for the site in the quest to find the "Soul of Athens." To simplify the lens in which to examine this project, I will focus mainly on the 2009 version of the site, because I feel it is the best of the lot due to the third iteration of development and application of newer technology in developing the site.
The Soul of Athens project is a unique social examination of a community to gain a better understanding of the people that make up the community. The site is a collection of videos and audio slide shows that illustrate who makes up this blend of all kinds around the area of Athens. The portal allows the user to decide what video looks interesting to view based on the title or the thumbnail of the link to the content, allowing the user to dictate what they would like to learn about rather than being told to "sit back and watch." The ability to have a user "lean forward" and participate is the key to interactive media as Carolyn Handler Miller states in her book "Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entrainment." By engaging the user into the content by allowing them the opportunity to drive the content, they will ultimately learn more and gain more from the presentation. Then there are related links at the bottom of the window for the user to find other stories to learn about. The main aspect of the site is the diversity of the people that make up the community of Athens. Though, I feel that there are a few weaknesses in the presentation that are not utilized like the Mojave project, such as interactive maps or better joining of the various types of media and content. All of which I intend to address in my own thesis project.
To illustrate older conventions of media use and presentation I would like to share with you "Ian Fisher: American Soldier." This was a 27 month reportage by a mentor of mine at the Denver Post, Craig Walker. Walker is an amazing photojournalist, but the production of the project was done by others in the newspaper's photo department and I do not know the extent of involvement by Walker in the final production. The presentation is very simple and quite literally silos.
Just as Marshall McLuhan's theory of "the media is the message," the main entry of the Fisher project has bins of photos, videos, a story and the "extras" that didn't fit into the already bulging silos of the primary content. Navigating between these various bins limits the user's ability to get a complete picture of the story and intentions of the journalism. The disconnection of the masterful photos Walker captured of emotion and life from the written perspectives of three different reporters ruins the user's ability to garner the breadth of the story at large. Even the difficult interactive way of "turning the pages" of the story creates barriers and communication noise for a potential user of the project portal. A fellow photojournalist, Chuck Fadely of the Miami Herald, offered a scathing review of the project that reminds multimedia producers to design platforms with intelligence rather than with techno-wizardry.
For if a project is effective and engaging for users they will inevitably share their findings with others and as the infection of this quality becomes "viral" the message will spread to others. Brian Storm, creator of MediaStorm.org, has been producing multimedia videos and interactive sites for more than 15 years. In an interview Storm talks about how a 21-minute online video gets a 65 percent completion view rating, despite the notions of a YouTube attention span and social media grazing. (Another posting discussing long-form quality journalism can be read here.) His argument is that because the content is all about quality and completeness, people know what to expect and are willing to invest the time to learn about the story.
All of the examples given here are considered award winning projects in a few different judging contexts, save for the Fisher soldier story. It is understood that contests are varied and may have different values or criteria, but when the same project wins several different contests from a diverse set of judges the argument of a solid piece of work is fairly simple.
Finally, Dan Blank offers some simple guidelines for serendipity in digital media. More traction can be gained by allowing for a user to generate new connections of interest and understanding in a digital multimedia project.
Creating a quality project with multiple forms of media that are interactive while being effective is a tall order. But when that lofty goal is met with logic and strategy, the results are unmistakable.
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If you are interested in a couple other very informative yet strongly presented multimedia projects have a look at some of these:
"A Gamble in the Sand" - an in-depth interactive history of the Las Vegas Strip
"Driving Detriot" - driving around 2,700 miles of Detroit streets to get a true view of the city.
"Water Life" - a very unique and massive look at the water system of the Great Lakes and impacts on the region.
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