The 3D3 Centre for Doctoral Training has been awarded 12 fully-funded PhD studentships from the National Productivity Investment Fund to in October 2017. Each studentship is a collaboration between one of the three universities’ research centres and an industrial partner that guarantees training and access to facilities, a variety of internships/placements and in some instances co-supervision. All students will be part …
Living documentary provides ‘digital megaphone’ for families affected by Mexico’s drug war
150,000 people have already lost their lives in the Mexican drug war. Anyone’s Child Mexico is a recently released ‘living documentary’ that seeks to draw attention to previously unheard stories from the front line. The project is part of Anyone’s Child: Families for Safer Drug Control – an international network of families of have been affected by current drug laws and …
I-docs as Research Method – Recap from the Bremen interactive documentary workshop
A full day packed with insightful presentations and a highly inspiring round table discussion – that’s probably the shortest way to describe a long one-day workshop organised by Stefano Odorico and hosted at the University of Bremen on May 3. The workshop is one of the outputs of Stefano’s 3 year’s DFG project (fully funded by the German Research Council) …
Light into VR darkness – an in-depth interview with Arnaud Colinart
When directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney were working on their documentary Notes on Blindness, their attention was on finding a filming style that could convey the deepest emotions sensed in John Hull’s voice – a professor of religious education at Birmingham University that went blind in 1983 and spent much of a decade recording his journal on tape as …
The ups and down of interactive factuals
I have just returned from the Doc Tank Laboratory in Prague, where I was invited to mentor 5 interactive projects and lead them from concept to pitch in 4 days. Luckily enough, organizer Miriam Ryndová had lined up a great team of experts: William Uricchio (MIT Open Doc Lab), Arnau Gifreu (Transmedia Expert), Suzanna Lotz (Transmedia Expert), Bruno Choiniere (Akufen Studio), John MacFarlane (POV Digital). Christian Popp (Zuzu Productions) and Arjanne Laan (William de Kooning …
Drone hacking and the next generation of storytellers
As we are launching a brand new MA/lab in digital and interactive storytelling (disLAB) at Westminster University, we have been internally debating which are the essential skills that the next generation of storytellers will need in order to succeed in our digital media landscape. The disLAB team, Dr David Dunkley Gyimah, Dr Massimiliano Fusari and myself, are having weekly brainstorms to map out the core values …
#HACKED: Syria’s Electronic Armies – through the eyes of its makers
Launched on the 4th of October by Al Jazeera, #Hacked is a web app that invites users to investigative a deadly cyber war in Syria, while the clock is ticking. Through mobile interviews, internet searches, and investigations, users need to un-tangle a network of cyber criminals without having their own phones hacked. Designed for mobile and tablets, but also playable …
Play #Hacked and don’t get hacked
Al Jazeera English launches a mobile game about the Syrian cyberwar: #HACKED – Syria’s Electronic Armies. Learning from her experience while producing Pirate Fishing in 2012, Juliana Ruhfus, senior reporter for Al Jazeera’s People & Power investigative and current affairs strand, has decided to go mobile for her second interactive investigation. Pushing the boundaries of traditional journalism, #HACKED is Al Jazeera’s latest experiment …
Cyber Chile
It is amazing how much one can learn in 5 days. I am just back from Santiago del Chile, where I spent 5 days far from “other things to do” and free to listen, observe, absorb and let connections happen. Mike Robbins and myself were invited by Maria Court (remember The Quipu Project?), Enrique Rivera (Director of the Media Art …
Data as a Narrative Device – ‘A Means to an End and not the End itself’
An interview with Janine Steele and Loc Dao on data-driven story-telling and emotional engagement During his stay as a Fulbright Scholar in the Digital Studios of the NFB in Vancouver, Lomax Boyd, a scientist and documentary producer at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, had the opportunity to work with Janine Steele and Loc Dao of NFB/Interactive. As Chief Digital Officer …
Obliterated Families: Bringing the audience closer to the reality of life in Gaza
Recently released, Obliterated Families is an interactive documentary that draws attention to the families from Gaza whose lives were shattered during the Israeli offensive in 2014. Blending together striking images, in-depth text, infographics, animations and short videos, the project is designed to bring the audience closer to the reality of life for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. I spoke with the authors of …
Interactive Digital Stories Track – Madeira Film Festival
The Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute and The University of Texas at Austin (Department of Radio-Television-Film) in collaboration with the Madeira Film Festival (MFF) are organizing the Madeira Film Festival – Interactive Digital Stories Track. In its first edition, the MFF-Interactive Digital Stories Track aims to foster an international discussion about nature and sustainability, accepting interactive documentaries submissions themed in connection …
The R/O Institute: a new accelerator for transmedia projects
Just when you thought that European countries are not investing enough in interactive content, Domenico La Porta, Head of Transmedia at Wallimage and Director of the R/O Institute, announces that the R/O Institute will open the doors in October in Charleroi (Belgium), and offer a free 6 to 9 months immersive training to selected transmedia projects. An accelerator for interactive stories at our …
Interdocs Barcelona 2016 – A Closer Look Into User-Centered Development of Interactive Documentaries
by Joanna Camargo InterDocsBarcelona 2016 was filled with news from the interactive storytelling world. All different kinds of makers and audiences came together at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona to hear about the newest and the prize-winning projects of the industry. Data usage and its many implications, together with the refugee crisis, were recurrent subjects in the presentations made …
Explore ‘Alternate Realities’ at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2016
Sheffield Doc/Fest kicks off this weekend and there’s loads on offer for those interested in the field of interactive documentary. Under the umbrella of ‘Alternate Realities’, the programme includes 14 immersive experiences in the Millennium Gallery and beyond, and 12 Virtual Reality documentaries in Site Gallery and The Space – plus talks, panels and more. To navigate through this huge offering, i’ve compiled a …