week 2 reading

Interactive documentary: setting the field

– i-docs are defined as any project which attempts to document the ‘real’
– definition provided in reading deliberately does not mention mode or ‘delivery mechanism’
– ‘interactivity’ relates to how the user must involve themselves in some way or participate in the digital artefact and experience the artefacts ‘reality’
– interactive bond between reality, the user and the artefact
– four interactive modes: the conversational, the hypertext, experiential and participative
– conversational: it positions the user to be ‘in conversation’ with the computer, experience or simulate a world where the user has the illusion of navigating freely (used in video games)
– hypertext: allows the user to follow links within a closed video archive in an exploratory role, ‘click here, go there’
– participational: the user can participate directly in the production of the documentary (being allowed to edit or shoot for example), the director ‘stages a conversation’ with a user, ever open and evolving database
– experiential: allow user to experience “hybrid space”, very reliant on the users environment, directly related to what the users is experiencing and allows them to experience another version or challenge their senses of or ideas about an environment or space
– authorship has become an issue due to the high level of interactivity and user involvement
–  multi-platform projects with an interactive counterpart arise from a need to keep younger generations involved and engaged, defines a changing habit in audience engagement and consumption
– authorship should be seen as something which exists on several levels
– finds meaning in a ‘what would i do’ logic as opposed to ‘this is what happened’ > places user in the role of the protagonist
– i-docs offer a new way of constructing reality rather than just representing it
– ethical questions have been raised: who is held responsible for the content of collaboration ? what is the limit of participation in the documentary genre ?
– i-docs can be used as a great mode of activism as it calls for the viewer to not only engage with, but participate in an issue or version of reality

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