It is becoming increasingly evident that in order for conglomerates and non-profits alike to reach their audience, they must envision creative and unique ways to target them. Interdisciplinary sites aim to revamp the users experience by allowing them to experience the lesson through a virtual world. Games for Change’s mission to “catalyze social impact through digital games” is a very interesting concept to approach this issue. The founders distinct choice to target a young audience through their own attachment to digital games and social sites like Facebook (where they have had over a million players). Their choice to re-engage the youth through interactivity is a creative and innovative way to provide education and awareness. Although it did seem interesting to me that one of the ideas promoted in the Climate Defense Game, stopping global warming, heavy irony due to the fact that computer usage works against the end of fossil fuel use (strictly speaking about energy consumption). Are these creators simply adding more fuel to the fire? Pun intended.
Media Storm, with their ever-impressive catalogue of beautiful footage, seems to have a type of production strategy that both works and raises questions for me. To me, authenticity comes in to question when the production of these interdisciplinary pieces is without flaw. The videos and photo slideshows that I viewed, although covering grim topics, has almost become commercialized and cinematically “spruced up”. Yes it is impressive that they have won a stunning number of emmys for their journalistic works, but I wonder if this approach, compared to a consumer-created approach of human-rights projects such as WITNESS. Is it better to give the camera to the people that are impacted the heaviest and allow them to tell the story? Or should we leave the storytelling to the professionals, who are sure to get the lighting and audio right? Which is more truthful/effective form for the audience? I would argue that there are distinct venues and reasons for choosing either approach.
I was most taken with the Still Water site. The site acts as a collection of diverse research projects that have an emphasis on preservation, education, and research to address social issues that mesh both indigenous and digital cultures. One of the ongoing projects, The Belfast Cohousing & Ecovillage takes a historic approach to what we call community. They have created a cohousing development that is similar to the way people used to live, with added sustainability and innovation. The mission of creating cohousing for Maine residents is just one example of how Still Water projects are incorporating the old with the new to maximize efforts and efficiency.
Overall, I think that all of these sites represent just a few different forms that interdisciplinary media takes. In the future, it will be interesting to see how people continue to push boundaries and blur the lines between generator and user.
I really appreciate the connection you made between WITNESS and Media Storm. It hadn’t crossed my mind! While I love the Media Storm videos and find the topics compelling and the storytelling engaging, you are right that these videos work on a different level than the WITNESS or ENGAGE MEDIA videos. Media Storm seems to produce their work with an outsider audience in mind, whereas the other two are producing work for audiences within their culture or social circle. So the storytelling is truthful, but the truths are for people who want to see social issues pieces done in an “artful” way, meaning having shots composed in a manner that reveals some quirky quality or even highlights the otherness of the subjects. I am thinking specifically of the Driftless in Iowa pieces and how the filmmaker shot the people just standing there holding the tools of their particular trade. Would someone within the culture have thought of those compositions? They definitely seems like compositions that people in the art world, fascinated by otherness, have come to appreciate.
I think that the art approach is an interesting concept to answer my concern with the WITNESS vs. Media Storm approach. I wonder which approach is more effective? An artfully done piece or a citizen-driven piece?
Media Storm’s production choices make more sense when you look at their clients. Their interactive Crisis Timeline was produced for the international news agency Reuters, and H Town stories (which I ended up watching in its entirety) was created for Neighborhood Centers Inc., a “massive, broad reaching organization” that operates in “dozens of different social sectors.” Given their size and reputation, both organizations would be dismayed (to say the least) if the end product didn’t have some degree of professional polish.
I do agree that who gets to hold the camera (and when) depends on the circumstances and their audience. I would add, however, that regardless of who is telling the story, anyone looking to engage in producerly action should approach it responsibly. As Jenkins, Ford, and Green observe in their conclusion, media making is a powerful tool, and as such should be handled diligently and carefully. Used carelessly or manipulatively, it can not only damage lives (as it did in the Shirly Sherrod video), but also endanger them (as it did in the Reddit’s Boston Marathon miscue).
CLIENTS! I think you’re absolutely right. Since Media Storm has supporters that expect a high production quality, the producers must come through with powerful, and as Jarratt pointed out, artfully skilled storytelling. And your issue of responsibility is also another important aspect to address when asking ourselves about our duties as media makers.
In regards to the WITNESS vs Media Storm approach, I wonder if we can’t have both? The two projects have different goals and different methods (and I appreciate both), so perhaps this is the beauty of the Internet: that there’s no right or wrong way to do something, as long as you are using appropriate methods to reach your goals.
I think we have seen that there are definitely avenues for both of these approaches. I wonder if in the future we will see a dismembering of these two different approaches for a combined approach. After all, sites like WITNESS are actively engaging audiences in “How-to’s” to allow for a higher production quality for citizen journalists.
Hopefully you won’t stop the flow of such magical material! ταχυδακτυλουργός για παιδικά πάρτυ
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