COME/IN/DOC – Documentary series launch on Open Doclab’s website!

 

COME/IN/DOC – Collaborative Meta Interactive Documentary – is a transmedia meta-documentary that reflects on the interactive documentary. It consists of 3 interconnected parts: a documentary series, a multimedia platform and exhibitions. This is the result of 4 years of intensive research (2012-2016) conducting interviews with 60 experts in the field of interactive documentary with the aim of answering a basic question: what is an interactive documentary?

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From this starting point, the idea is to reflect about this emerging field using different platforms. The project could be described as a “meta-interactive-doc”, an interactive documentary that reflects himself on the new genre trying to answer the questions and hypotheses raised during a period of nearly 10 years of research. There has been more and more production in the area of interactive nonfiction and the documentary is one of the main formats that have been developed considerably in recent years, but more theoretical and practical exploration is needed. This initiative is based on the hypothesis that the interactive documentary is a new audiovisual format with specific characteristics. This project aims to achieve a greater understanding of this new documentary format assuming that our period in history lends itself to a deeper reflection.

 

A – Documentary Series

More than 10 hours (4 seasons with different episodes) of interviews regarding the key issues on interactive documentary such as definition, features, evolution, interactivity, collaboration, technological future, gamification, new models of production, author’s role and business model. Each season is divided in 2-4 episodes and each episode has severeal parts. The premiere of each episode will be launched first place through the Open Documentary Lab (MIT) website.


B – Educational platform

A web platform containing educational content that complements and enriches the documenrary series. The platform has five sections:

  1. Start off (in the interactive documentary)
  2. Learn (the evolution and history)
  3. Listen (to the voice of the experts)
  4. Produce (your own project)
  5. Resources
  1. Start off – The first part is a series of short videos explaining the interactive documentary ABC. It is the first step to immersing oneself in this subject, using the format itself to explain what it is.
  1. Learn – The second part consists of a set of original materials that show the comparative evolution of cinema and interactive media up until their convergence and the appearance of the interactive documentary. Learn Part 1 – The first part of this section provides all the parallel evolution experienced by the basic sources of the interactive  documentary – the documentary genre and the digital media – through storyboards connected to the web and ten videos showing the most representative inventions, characters and contributions;  Learn Part 2 – The second part of this section divides the brief history of interactive documentary into four stages, offering a justified   selection of examples and videos with images as a summary of the technology and the representative works to date.
  1. Listen – The third part provides a databasewhich contains over 40 extended interviews with most world experts in this particular format. The experts were presented with a basic questionnaire of 20 key questions that match the hypotheses formulated during the doctoral research. The database is dynamic and the user can search through a search engine or filters by area. There are three different key areas: production (works), academia (theoretical research) and organization (events). In addition, a playlist allows the user to generate a list of questions and display in the order desired. Users can contribute at this stage with their comments.
  1. Produce – The fourth part of the platform is focused on the result of the sum of the other three, the final synthesis: how to generate one’s own interactive documentary project according to key ideas provided from the 50 experts interviewed for the project. This area is divided into two parts: a video animation summarizing the main steps and a series of slides which explain more in detail the 7 steps presented in the introductory video.
  1. Resources – A section of resources to find funding calls, information, companies, etc. Each area previously described has a section of resources, conceived as a logical conclusion of the web platform and an educational tool.

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C- Exhibitions

The third extension of the project includes exhibitions in different forms, which can be used in events along with computers or with touch screens to follow a path consisting of ten major questions and the responses of ten chosen experts in this specific area. This installation has been used partially in events and exhibitions such as InterDocsBarcelona 2013, part of the DocsBarcelona Festival in its 16th edition (2013), Visible Evidence XXII (Toronto, 2015) and CNA Luxemburg (2015).

As COME/IN/DOC is configured as a hybrid project, halfway between an interactive audiovisual and an educational tool, the project materials have been used for academic training in grades and master’s degree subjects, workshops, seminars, courses for businesses aiming to produce, research laboratories, etc.

 

Dr. Arnau Gifreu
COME/IN/DOC Director
Research affiliate
agifreu@mit.edu