{"id":26,"date":"2008-11-24T12:22:31","date_gmt":"2008-11-24T20:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/waternoose.com\/vfa\/?page_id=31"},"modified":"2009-01-27T16:13:16","modified_gmt":"2009-01-28T00:13:16","slug":"idocs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/videofreeamerica.com\/site\/idocs\/","title":{"rendered":"iDocs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interactive Documentary Online Content<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In traditional broadcast and theatrical documentaries there are inherent limitations. The medium\u2019s linear nature precludes active participation and dialogue around the subject matter. And once the filmmaker sets the stylistic format and contextual point-of-view, that perspective becomes the eyepiece through which all content decisions are made.<\/p>\n

The premise of iDocs is very different. Here the media maker\u2019s role is one of facilitator. Using all new media tools available – graphic animation, video, telecommunications, social networking, as well as text – the goal is to create a dynamic online environment where on-going complex issues, such as the Israeli\/Palestinian conflict can be explored and examined. The end result is a rich participatory documentary site, where the audience members can contribute to the story and subsequently communicate among themselves.<\/p>\n

In early 2009 it is becoming increasing clear that we are entering a transformational period where media is evolving from a purely passive medium to one where active participation is possible. One could argue this interactivity is inevitable. This is especially true in the coverage of complex issues that call for interpretation from multiple perspectives.<\/p>\n

All written language has grammatical syntax. Graphic design has its own visual literacy. As such it is incumbent on producers of new-media content to consciously envision, document and disseminate models, designs and templates that can help establish universal acceptance of convergent new-media formats for news and information.<\/p>\n

Video Free America and the iDocs team proposes a sequential process for formulating such designs, templates, and methodologies .<\/p>\n

\u2022 Creation of proof-of-concept prototypes: This stage has been completed in
\nassociation with AFI Digital Content Lab, Los Angeles with the development of Jerusalem: A Living History<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Completion and launch of Jerusalem: A Living History. Please see prototype here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0Extensive formal academic evaluation and informal \u201cgroup sourcing\u201d feedback of
\nJerusalem: A Living History.<\/p>\n

Publishing online of a production style book with source code templates
\nfor iDocs. These models would then be available for use by documentary producers,
\nnews organizations and the public at large.<\/p>\n

The concept of iDocs is universal. It can be applied to geographic areas as small as an apartment complex, to as large as the entire world. It transcends barriers between geographic communities and communities of like-minded people as the design of iDocs incorporates five universal elements:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0SEARCH<\/strong>: a user-interface design based on visual reference points that
\nfacilitate navigation through the story.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0EXPERIENCE<\/strong>: multimedia elements that viewers\/users can choose, giving
\nthem options for exploring the story based on their individual interests.<\/p>\n

\u2022 ENGAGE<\/strong>: hands-on, action-oriented environments that directly involve viewers\/users
\nin the story.<\/p>\n

\u2022 RESPOND<\/strong>: tools and resources facilitating direct interaction between viewers\/users and participants in the documentary story.<\/p>\n

\u2022 RENEW<\/strong>: tools and resources that promote continuous development of the site through the addition of original, aggregated, and user-generated content.<\/p>\n

One can find anywhere on the Internet excellent examples of text, video and\/or social interaction. What one cannot find are integrated sites that use all the tools of new media to communicate a single journalistic on-going story from multiple perspectives.<\/p>\n

Again the mantra for the project\u2026When the Story is Too Important Just to Watch. The team believes that by engaging the viewer\/user in a visceral environment where they are encouraged to participate they will be more likely to comprehend and understand complex critical issues that confront them.<\/p>\n

JERUSALEM: A LIVING HISTORY<\/h2>\n

Background and History<\/h3>\n

Jerusalem is a multimedia online project, incorporating video, text, virtual reality interface screens, extensive user involvement and cross-cultural dialogue. Its goal is to journalistically explore the critical issues of the region from a political, cultural and religious perspective.<\/p>\n

The Israeli\/Palestinian conflict is a living three-dimensional mosaic in which none of the pieces seem to fit together. Yet each piece is valid and passionately held. To understand this critical story it is essential to know and understand each of these disparate elements.<\/p>\n

The project has been designed to be a cross-cultural media experience. It uses the best of what television offers, the ability to tell compelling narrative stories, with the best of what the Internet offers, unlimited access to informational resources coupled with the ability to create instant channels for two-way communications and dialogue.<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, 80 hours of broadcast-quality footage has been shot by an American\/Israeli\/Palestinian crew in Jerusalem and the surrounding West Bank communities. An interactive prototype web site has been completed that contains over two hours of edited video, 12 virtual reality interface screens and hundreds of informational hyper-links. Most importantly, it contains applications for facilitating online question and answer sessions and
\none-to-one dialogue.<\/p>\n

The web site is ready to launch upon completion funding that will allow for final editing and field production in Jerusalem and the West Bank Territories.<\/p>\n

INTERACTIVE WEB SITE<\/h3>\n

Jerusalem: A Living History, home interface
\n\"\"<\/a>When the story is too important just to watch. This is the philosophy that ties the entire project together. You enter the web site through its own online portal and are greeted by a cacophony of voices, faces and images all welcoming you to the city of Jerusalem and the West Bank communities. The montage ends as you enter Jaffa Gate into the old city.<\/p>\n

You then have the opportunity to use your cursor to move in a 360-degree arc around the image and to zoom into any area, in multiple levels of magnification. Contained throughout the 360-degree image are doorways, merchant stands, posters, notices, and maps\u2026all \u201cactive links\u201d which can be activated. Each will lead you on a path of exploration and to the homes of the main characters in the documentary.<\/p>\n


\n Jerusalem: A living History<\/strong> in a new window.<\/span>
\n<\/FORM> Jerusalem: A Living History<\/a> in a new window.
\nRequires Adobe Shockwave Plugin.<\/a><\/p>\n

Living Histories<\/h3>\n

As you explore the site, you will have the opportunity to meet the central characters and others who will invite you into their homes, shops and places of worship. You will have the opportunity to learn who they are, their family histories and their current situation in relation to the conflict. These individuals and families from the communities that make up the region will subsequently file text, photo and video journal entries to the site, creating an on-going narrative from ground level as history unfolds.<\/p>\n

Journalistic Sources<\/h3>\n

When you zoom into the newsstand in Jerusalem\u2019s old city you will find a series of links. If you click on the rack of newspapers you will find links to the web sites of Israeli and Arabic English-language newspapers. In the corner will be a television set playing the news. If you click on the screen you can select news reports from syndicated international news sources and\/or other Middle East broadcasters. The magazine rack will also hold political journals and regional magazines. You will have the option to choose from a cross section of background articles, books and magazines.<\/p>\n

Dialogue and Two-way Communication<\/h3>\n

A virtual Internet caf\u00e9 is a focal point of the site. At Mike\u2019s Caf\u00e9 in the old city you will be able to enter and begin discussions with others online. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions through live video links to online resource people. These men and women; academics, politicians, community activists, as well as the documentary\u2019s main characters, will come from all sides of the conflict and will be available (during fixed periods of time) to respond to individual inquiries.<\/p>\n

Here you will also be able to post notices, add video or photos and add your written opinions. You will be able to directly contact the site\u2019s producers with comments and suggestions for developing and refining the site.<\/p>\n

User involvement and interactivity<\/h3>\n

A critical element of the site will be a \u201creality engagement\u201d. Here online participants will be able to actively engage in a process of finding an equitable solution to the current political and cultural stalemate. Users of the site will have the option to become active members. If they choose they will receive regular emails with news, analysis, and site updates. They will receive personalized invitations to real-time Q and A sessions with key decision makers from the many communities that make up Jerusalem proper. They will receive background and briefing papers outlining options for resolution of the conflict, they will have the opportunity to redraw the map of the region in an online environment and will have the opportunity to enter into a moderated online dialogue in order to help forge consensus on the contentious issues at hand.<\/p>\n

THE NARRATIVE STORIES<\/h3>\n

To give the site continuity, five ongoing stories will be highlighted. These personal stories will facilitate links to other areas of the site that will address the larger political and cultural issues under consideration. For example\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"Each year residents of the Jewish West Bank settlement Gush Etzion cut back the shrubs in their yards and drop the waste at a community agriculture center for disposal. This cyclical activity, completely benign and completely detached from any political ramification is, nonetheless, the beginning of a tragic story.<\/p>\n

A few kilometers from the settlement, Abu Mossa, the leader of a small Bedouin tribe finds a dying lamb, one of hundreds who are suddenly and mysteriously dying. The sheep have eaten from a pile of leaves and grass left near their encampment the night before. The tribe believes members of Gush Etzion have poisoned the sheep and that they have done so on purpose.<\/p>\n

The search for an explanation of how these sheep died, how the deaths affected both communities, and the on-going consequences are one of the intertwined stories running throughout, Jerusalem: A Living History<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"In Jerusalem\u2019s central market Issac Gershon is the owner of a fruit and spice stand he inherited from his father, an \u00e9migr\u00e9 from Iraq. Over the years the Mahane Yehuda market has been the target of multiple bombing attacks, yet work continues for Isaac, fourteen hours a day. He is concerned about making a living for his family of six and being a good \u201cfather and husband.\u201d He is also conflicted by the economic advantages of living in a settlement, while being aware of the political and social tensions this poses. He knows soon he, his wife, his teenage daughters and young sons will probably have to leave their home. All are concerned with what the future holds.<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Majed Nassar, is an author, cardiologist and director of a community medical clinic near Bethlehem. He has been educated in Germany. His wife is American. He is highly articulate and dedicated to helping his community. But he feels trapped by the social and political situation that surrounds him and he struggles to find the best strategies for affecting change.<\/p>\n

The central characters tell their stories in the first person. They speak directly to the camera. They speak plainly and from the heart. Verite footage and broadcast quality visuals from Jerusalem and the West Bank support their stories.<\/p>\n

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY<\/h3>\n

This project has been created for international distribution via the web.<\/p>\n

This internet-centric rationale is rooted in three corresponding trends: an innate, intrinsic desire on the part of viewer\/user to participate in the communication process; a growing interest in the documentary format, and an expanding exploration, online, for alternatives to traditional news\/information media sources.<\/p>\n

When the story is too important just to watch. Again this is the mantra for the Jerusalem project\u2019s producing group. The strategy for building audience is straightforward. First begin with strong content: a compelling story that is complex, that calls for interpretation from multiple perspectives, that is ongoing and that is told in the first person by strong characters that audiences can identify with. Then build on that interest by continually evolving the web site based on user interactivity and engagement.<\/p>\n


\n Jerusalem: A living History<\/strong> in a new window.<\/span>
\n<\/FORM>
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