Differences Between a Film and an Interactive Documentary - Wes

As evidenced by my editing experience last week, the path that I am taking with a web documentary is a little different than a linear film -- a lot different actually.

At Irene's suggestion, I was working on the form of the doc. That seemed simple enough. In practice it wasn't. This is so so far outside of my experience and expertise, I am deeply intimidated.

I spent the week exploring as many interactive web documentaries as I could, and took notes about what I thought might work for Secret History. I took a look at

• transitions between scenes
• use of video, stills, and text
  
• use of typography
• use of the browser window or page
• how sound is used 
• how user choices are offered during story
  
• how do you navigate the site, find your way around, and not get lost
  
• how the interface makes you feel or relate to the story
• interface design/how it works
• things that don't work so well

I took pages and pages of notes. Here's a partial list if you want to go through the same exercise:

• http://hollowdocumentary.com/
• http://pinepoint.nfb.ca/#/pinepoint
• http://circa1948.nfb.ca/ (for iPad or iPhone)
• http://www.americarecycled.org/
• http://www.honkytonk.fr/index.php/webdoc/
• http://www.soul-patron.com/
• http://bear71.nfb.ca/
• http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/may/26/firestorm-bushfire-dunalley-holmes-family
  
• http://prisonvalley.arte.tv/?lang=en
• http://www.17000islandsinteractive.com
• http://highrise.nfb.ca/ (This has many of the same components as my project)
  
• http://iloveyourwork.net/preview.php
  
• http://geld.gr/en/
• http://www.fortmcmoney.com
• https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/
• http://docubase.mit.edu/
• http://www.doclab.org/

Some of these are really really amazing. Some are amazing in their interactivity. Some are amazing because of their cinematographic beauty. These are all good, but Bear71, Highrise, Hollow, and Welcome to Pine Point stood out. As a collection the MIT Docubase is so full of goodness it is overwhelming.

Realizing I am out of my depth, but not knowing what to do, I knew I had to do something, to start somewhere. I jotted down on notecards things from the reviewed docs that I thought might apply to Secret History. Index styles, features, and ways that the interface felt.

I will be trying some exercises where I draw cards at random and see what kind of interface results from the different combos.

SocDoc 293 continues to be useful for me to learn to edit the small atomic scenes that will make up the parts of the web doc. And I'm realizing that I need to learn a lot lot lot about making web docs from somewhere and fast.