When comparing my favourite projects based on the list provided I have decided I prefer Highrise over Malboro Marine. I’ll begin my analysis with discussion as to why I like Highrise.
Highrise is multi-award winning interactive produced by Canada’s National Film Board, or NFB. It was a landmark production and it continues to be a reference for digital storytelling in contemporary journalism. It is a multi-year, many-media, collaborative documentary experiment that explores vertical living around the world. Whilst watching the documentary audiences have the option to click below the film at any time to pause and explore the interactive features that provide more information in conjunction with what you’re viewing. I believe this allows better enhancement with the story being told as we are then allowed to grasp more information about what we are being told and shown and gives a better sense of inclusion rather than assuming the role of a passive audience member excluded from the film.
Due to the film being made with New York Times’ archives they display images of folders that collapse as we zoom deeper into the stories setting and context. As the narrator talks about things the documentary highlights them, or they pop up catching the eye of the audience member, for example as they said “the land beside new york, a building sprung” the building literally does spring up from the ground, bounce and settle. I believe this was done to attract further engagement into the story, just like in a children’s storybook the images/graphics are there to simplify things for us and allow us further understanding and a greater ability to picture what the words are saying. The narrator speaks about the story in rhymes “People of one language high into the clouds the tower they built, but God disapproved so people broke it into many languages across the earth he split” whilst we watch a cartoon reenactment giving it a storybook feel – again to create engagement.
The project is able to find or create an audience as you have the ability to share the documentary on Facebook, twitter, through email, permalink, reddit, pinterest, tumblr, google+ and linkedin. On a mobile advice it still works well, the interactivity and effects on the homepage is limited and it isn’t as visually appealing to the eye but the videos still play and work.
Over all I thought it was an outstanding and visually stunning presentation. It was both neat and well executed as the timing really allowed you to absorb what you were seeing and hearing before moving onto the next – plus you also had the opportunity to pause, get deeper facts or references, and look up things as well if you preferred.
Malboro Marine depicts the tale of the US marine, Blake Miller, and his life with the military and how it affected him then and still continues to haunt his thoughts today. His story was presented by photojournalist Luis Sinco’s images in a 16 minute video. The video consisted of pictures and voice over narration by Miller, rather than actual video footage, yet I think the images worked just as well as it still told the story effectively.
The ability to share is also on this video so it’s able to grasp an audience through social networking. Interactivity is quite limited in my opinion, which is why I prefer Highrise in comparison. The engagement was definitely there as audiences are captured through their compassion and empathy for his struggles post-war. It really showed life post-battle in a new way, rather than the glamourous, hero status it showed the painful nightmares and post traumatic stress that they had to live with on a day to day basis. A particular focus in this film was Blake’s contemplation of suicide.
I felt Malboro Marine was a lot less fancy and new age than Highrise. It didn’t have graphics or interaction, just the images taken by Luis Sinco, background music and narration where audiences were forced to just remain passive listeners and absorb the sixteen minutes of footage.
All in all I think it was an effective piece but when comparing them it is clear to see why Highrise is an award winning project.
Journalism Journey 