“Welcome to Pine Point” an is an excellent example of an interactive documentary, released in 2011 by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge. It chronicles the story of a mining town called Pine Point and the memories of the people who used to live there. It combines photographs and video footage, as well as interviews from the people who used to live there.

Pine Point was a prolific mining town, which produced high quantities of zinc and lead. A town was created around the mine in 1963, and the town was closed in 1988. The town, which had a population of 1225 in 1971, had all the basic amenities of the town – houses, shops and schools, as well as an airport.

The documentary, which has a simple click through interface, is an interesting way to demonstrate and represent the memories of the people who used to live in this town. Because of the interface there is only one way to navigate the story, which gives the whole documentary a novelistic or photo album feel.

One of my favourite parts of “Welcome to Pine Point” was the stories of the people who went to the high school, and the follow-through of their present day stories. The most touching was that of Richard Cloutier, who was a self confessed high school bully, who in the time since Pine Point has developed MS and now spends his time documenting the stories and organising reunions of the people who used to live in Pine Point.

The most interesting visual aspect of “Welcome to Pine Point” was the archive footage of the town of Pine Point when it was an actual town and the streets of Pine Point today. The buildings and infrastructure of Pine Point were all burnt down on the closure of the town, leaving the streets paving the way to nothing.

In conclusion, “Welcome to Pine Point” was a really interesting interactive web documentary which provides an excellent example of online story telling.