A web documentary, interactive documentary, or multimedia documentary is a
documentary production that differs from the more traditional forms—
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
,
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
*Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
*Digital audio, representation of sound ...
,
photographic
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed i ...
—by applying a full complement of
multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...
tools. The interactive multimedia capability of the Internet provides documentarians with a unique medium to create non-linear productions that combine photography, text, audio, video, animation, and
infographics
Infographics (a clipped compound of "information" and "graphics") are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes (2004). ''Public Relations Wri ...
based on real time content. This way the publications progresses over several weeks.
Since it is an interactive work, the narrative advances through the actions taken by the users through public interface. The user is able to modify their journey through the documentary based on their responses. This way the participation by the users are the key element that give meaning to this new audiovisual genre. For the first time in the history of documentary, the viewer acquires control of navigation, in a way becoming the author or creator of its own personalized documentary.
It is possible to say that the sender and the receiver of the media are at the same level. It is difficult to classify web documentary within a determined space, as this new format documentary is the result of the union between the combination of languages and communication systems, along with new interactive experiences where users acquire a key role due to its interactivity.
How web documentaries differ from film documentaries
The web documentary differs from
film documentaries through the integration of a combination of multimedia assets (photos, text, audio, animation, graphic design, etc.) with web technologies. In a web documentary, the user has to interact with, or navigate through, the story.
Compared to a linear narrative where the destination of the story is pre-determined by the filmmaker, a web documentary provides a user with the experience of moving through the story via clusters of information.
The integration of
information architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
,
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
, imagery, titles, and sub-titles all play a role in providing visual clues to the user as to the sequence through which they should move through the web documentary. But from that point, the users have to explore the components of the story that interest them the most.
Examples of web documentaries
*
Green Unplugged' — a Culture Unplugged Studios short form documentary showing worldview on environment and showcased by United Nations Council For Environment.
* ''
Welcome to Pine Point
''Welcome to Pine Point'' is a 2011 interactive web documentary by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge, collectively known as The Goggles, formerly creative directors of ''Adbusters'' magazine. The website explores the memories of residents from ...
'' — a National Film Board of Canada web documentary exploring the memories of residents from the former community of
Pine Point, Northwest Territories
Pine Point is an abandoned locality that formerly held town status near the south shore of Great Slave Lake between the towns of Hay River and Fort Resolution in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It was built to serve the work force at the Pin ...
.
*
Becoming Human' — "Paleoanthropology, Evolution, and Human Origins"
*
Gift of a Lifetime— Audio slideshow storytelling complemented by interactive historical timeline and an interactive human body
*
Interactive Narratives' — A collection of web documentary content from various sources
*
Water's Journey: Everglades' — This web documentary includes six audio slideshows, and interactive map, an interactive historical timeline and film/animation clips
See also
*
Photojournalism
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
*
Communication design
Communication design is a mixed discipline between design and information-development which is concerned with how media communicate with people. A communication design approach is not only concerned with developing the message in addition to the ...
*
Copywriting
Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...
*
Information design
Information design is the practice of presenting information in a way that fosters an efficient and effective understanding of the information. The term has come to be used for a specific area of graphic design related to displaying information ...
*
Typography
Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), and ...
*
Desktop publishing
Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online c ...
*
Motion design
Motion design may refer to:
*Motion graphic design, designing the motion of graphics
*Interactive design
Interactive design is a user-oriented field of study that focuses on meaningful communication using media to create products through cyclica ...
*
Interface design
User interface (UI) design or user interface engineering is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the ...
*
Web graphic design
Web design encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites. The different areas of web design include web graphic design; user interface design (UI design); authoring, including standardised code an ...
References
External links
"Webdocs - Survival Guide for Online Filmmakers" (2011)(Preface by Peter Wintonick + 30 international experts (Cizek, Storm, Brachet, Wolking, Bernstein, Strocchi, Saint-Cyr,...), Not So Crazy! Productions
— MFA in Integrated Media Arts Program, Hunter College, New York
"Genre Guide" by WiredMovie™— A reference of genres, terminology and characteristics associated with interactive-web documentaries. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Documental web... ¿Qué es eso?escrito por Philipp Barth y traducido por Luna Bolívar para la cadena alemana
Deutsche Welle
Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave" in English), abbreviated to DW, is a German public, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the German federal tax budget. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service con ...
.
Tesis Doctoral de Arnau Grifeu* ADAMS, J. ''Manual de Comunicación.''
* LANG, P. (2008).''Novels and Social Realism''. Oxford.
* BARDZELL, S.; WU, V.; BARDZELL, J.; QUAGLIARA, N. (2007). ''Transmedial interactions and digital games'' en Proceedings of the International Conference on Advances Computer Entertainment Technology.
* ''El documental web o Web Doc'' en blo
Ingenio Virtual
* ''Documental web... ¿qué es eso?'' e
On Media
* Liuzzi, A. El documental interactivo en la Era Transmedia. De Géneros Híbridos y nuevos Códigos Narrativos.
* Documental web. Una nueva página para el viejo sueño interactivo Revista TELOS.
* Rodríguez Ferrándiz, R. Narraciones sin fronteras. ''Transmedia storytelling'' en la ficción, información, el documental y el activismo social y político.
* Gifreu Castells, A. El documental interactivo: Estado de desarrollo actual. Barcelona: Universidad de Pompeu Fabra.
*
*
Volver arriba↑ Grifeu, Arnau (2013)
''El documental interactivo como nuevo género audiovisual'' Barcelona: Universidad Pompeu Fabra.
* Braida, Nicole (2013). ''Web Documentary. Documenting Reality in the Post-media Age''. Master Thesis
Udine. Universitá degli Studi di Udine
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Documentaries
Web documentaries