I’ve been thinking a lot about this notion of keeping things grounded in the “real”, and how it relates to the manipulation of documentary film that some of us have been discussing in our MMJ Foundations class. A good degree of the controversies brought up in some doc films is how they manipulate chronological order so as to make a solid story line. Some critics argue that this is an abuse of the perceived presentation of reality and that in some ways it takes away from the truth of a film. The Localore project seems like a direct way to eliminate this “controversy.”
The non-linear format used on many of these projects’ pages takes the sense of time completely out of the equation all together. For instance, would I have lasted longer than 90 seconds watching a straight documentary presentation about Chinese take-out? Despite my love for the food, most likely not. But the ingrained sense of discovery that is part of the site’s makeup allows me to be drawn in by different story lines presented – all with complete disregard of how they sequentially align. I’m drawn in specifically by the lack of temporal necessity. The format also allows room for the project to continually expand since overlapping storylines need not worry about conflict of placement.
I also completely adore and admire the Austin Music Map and think it’s a completely brilliant way to present a local music scene. I would love to be a part of something like that here inPortland. In PDX there’s such a huge, diverse, and pulsing music scene that for folks other than complete music nerds like myself, it’s quite difficult for regular folks to keep track of what’s happening around them. The constant multimedia motions of the Austin Map give you the sense that you’re already “there.” You’re not digging through lines of a venue’s calendar listing – you’re stepping right into the heart of a community and seeing what’s happening from the inside out. You’re fully engaged with the real.
I think this is a great point you address. The question of “chronological” ordering of stories and events as they unfold seems to be a moot point when it comes to these community-based journalism websites. I also love the idea of creating an ‘Austin Music Map’ like idea for Portland. Lets create it! There is an overwhelming amount of good music here and we would be doing a great tribute to the community! haha
I agree with your point that offering up multiple, non-chronological story lines to draw people into a sites like Localore is part of its genius. There’s a limit, however, to this working, and I think that in other occasions, letting people choose their own content experiences can simply result in consuming media that reinforces their own viewpoints, and doesn’t get us further to understanding our community or the world beyond ourselves. I think Localore is particularly successful, however, because of the very clear overarching purpose of the site, which helps the pieces hang together and gives the viewer context –there’s an overarching direction that curates what we’re seeing, and we have agency within that context. I think that balance is key –choose-your-own-adventure can get random and pointless if we aren’t clued in to what the larger story is about that we’re navigating.
You should start that website! Since I’m pretty young and haven’t ever really lived without the Internet, I often wonder how much effort it used to take to root out local and independent music, if you weren’t connected personally to the community. Always for online tools to make these sorts of explorations easier.
I think Black Gold Boom does a good job of balancing the choose your own adventure with a linear model. In that project there is the familiar non-linear documentary, but embedded within it are moments were it pauses to let you explore other aspects of the issue without be directed away from the larger documentary.