If you’ve been on Twitter in the last month, there’s a good chance you’ve already heard of ‘Hollow’, an interactive documentary project by Elaine McMillion and backed by the documentary king himself, Morgan Spurlock.
Hollow is a hybrid community participatory project and interactive documentary where content is created “for the community, by the community.” Using a combination of documentary video, UGC, photography, interactive data and grassroots mapping, the documentary culminates on a beautifully designed html5 website.
In an attempt to combat the many stereotypes associated with the area of Southern West Virginia, Hollow is encouraging members of the community to take part in the film making process by creating 20 of the 50 short documentaries in “efforts to build engagement and social trust and empower the community to work together for a better future.”
On top of all of this, they have a brilliantly detailed Kickstarter page (where they have already raised the funds required for the project!) including some great FAQ’s about the genre of interactive documentary:
What is an interactive documentary? An interactive documentary is a transmedia project that exists across multiple platforms and allows a non-linear experience to users. Unlike linear/traditional documentaries–an experience viewed by a captive audience that encourages little particpation–interactive documentaries encourage viewers to explore the stories and geography in their own unique way. In the case of HOLLOW, the documentaries, maps and data visualizations will be incorporated on a layered experience that encourages active participation and allows for users to upload and share content. Check out some of our favorite transmedia documentaries: Highrise: Out My Window, Welcome to Pine Point, Powering a Nation, La Zone, Farewell Comrades, Mapping Main Street, and Bear 71.
What is participatory mapping? Participatory mapping is a collaborative process between the community and facilitators that seeks to discuss and map place-based affairs by using place-based knowledge. Eric Lovell and the community youth will use the grassroots technique of balloon mappingto map the downtown areas of McDowell County. Lovell will then hold participatory mapping workshops to engage with the broader community in mapping their own lived-experiences of their hometowns.
>> Read more…
Something else that’s caught my eye recently is a transmedia project called ‘Haunted’.
Unfortunately “transmedia” is becoming one of those pesky buzz words, so here’s a light hearted definition:
The current and straightest-forwardest (not a word) definition of transmedia is when you take a single story or storyworld and break it apart like hard toffee so that each of its pieces can live across multiple formats. This definition features little nuance, but hey, fuck it. That’s why this list exists — to gather up the foamy bubbles of nuance and slurp them into our greedy info-hungry mouths. (See the rest of the list here)
So ‘Haunted’ fits right into this, as viewers manipulate how they view the story and create their own narrative through the online multimedia platform bxxweb.com/haunted.
Media Shift have conducted this great interview with “Haunted” creator Daniel Knauf to find out why “inventing a new narrative” is so important to him, what potential he sees in transmedia storytelling, and to ask him, “Why the rebel stance?” .. >> Read more here.
Here’s another transmedia ghost story experience that came out last halloween – www.homeaghoststory.com – comment if you know of any more, I feel like the genre really lends itself to these sorts of projects.