interactive journalism - what is a story? - science po

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WHAT IS A STORY ? A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO REPORTING

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Founder of Chewbahat Storytelling Lab Co-founder of Storycode Paris Photojournalist (France, U.S.A) (Abaca, Polaris, Gamma, Corbis) Author of The Moneyocracy Project Co-author of Grozny: Nine City (interactive part) Winner of the 2014 Bayeux-Calvados Prize for Web Reportage

BIO

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WHAT IS A STORY?

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FOR A JOURNALIST, A STORY IS:

WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE,

WHY AND HOW

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FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD, A STORY IS:

BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END

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TELLING A STORY IMPLIES THAT WE USE A COMMON

LANGUAGE WITH OUR AUDIENCE

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WE HAVE TO ENGAGE WITH

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THE EFFECT OF A STORY

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“Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.”

Hannah  Arendt,  Poli0cal  theorist  &  philosopher  

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“Narrative is related to the idea of context. No matter how complete or comprehensive a narrative appears.”

David  Campbell,  Professor  at  the  Colgate  University,  New  York    

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THE STORY OF STORY From Gilgamesh to Vogler

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THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

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THE POETICS by

ARISTOTLE

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THE HERO’S JOURNEY by

JOSEPH CAMPBELL

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THE WRITER’S JOURNEY by

CHRIS VOGLER

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INTERACTIVE JOURNALISM Type of New Formats

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INTERACTIVE FORMATS

INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY LONG-FORM

SERIOUS GAME PARTICIPATIVE EXPERIENCE

And more…

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INTERACTIVE FORMATS

INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY LONG-FORM

SERIOUS GAME PARTICIPATIVE EXPERIENCE

And more…

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NON LINEAR STORY STRUCTURE

A panorama of the different structures used in interactive documentaries.

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LINEAR STRUCTURE

The most classical way to tell a story. Examples: Bucarest Below Ground – Le Corps Incarcéré – 127 Rue de la Garenne + : Easy to create, easy to use, that’s the traditional way to structure a story (chapters, pages etc) . You can easily control the narrative arc. Info overload (difference between nb of stories available and stories actually seen) is null. - : No interaction, little engagement, every users haas the same XP (experience)

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DYNAMIC OBJECT STRUCTURE

Very common structure for interactive documentaries. The user enter the story by a hub of “objects” (map, list, mosaïc). Not for fiction Examples: The iron curtains – Behind the Veil + : Apparent simplicity, Liberty, possibility to aggregate non-homogenous pieces of content . - : Risk to loose the intention of the author, Info Overload very high, the user can feel lost in front of these multiple choices.

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FISHBONE STRUCTURE

A very well known structure in interactive documentaries, that the used by ”Prison Valley”. A mix between linear and non-linear structure that allows to visit additional content. Examples: Pine Point – Prison Valley – The Defector + : Strong narrative structure, good interactivity, the user can see all the content, the author is “safe”. - : Can be deceptive because if the story stands alone, why should see other contents? Info Overload moderate, be carefull not to create more than 2 levels of content.

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BRANCHING STRUCTURE

The story gives different choices to the user (2 or more), at certain points of the story, the user has to decide whether he takes left or right and that decision will shape the rest of his/her XP Examples: Journey to the end of coal + : Interactivity very high, lots of choices, true sensation of liberty, Info Overload low, the user is engaged with the choices he/she makes. - : High cost of production (lots of choices), a part of the story won’t be seen by the user, necessity to think about different type of scenario

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PARALLEL PATHS STRUCTURE

Branching story organized around gathering points, the user has to go through these points. Examples: Jour de Vote – 6 million dead + : Interactivity very high, lots of choices, liberty a bit more limited but the feeling is still here, cost of production moderate, engagement is pretty high due to good interactivity - : Can be deceptive for those who expect a true freedom

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THREADED STRUCTURE

The story is narrated from different perspectives. It is a parallel story structure but with different characters in which different stories are crossing each others. Examples: Inside Disaster Haïti - Amour + : Good User experience, different stories can be experienced. The user can jump from node to node as he/she wishes. - : Info Overload can be high, very risky to loose the user. The links between stories can be complicated. Complexity at the production level.

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TOOLS

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xmind www.xmind.net

FREE

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FREE

freemind http://freemind.sourceforge.net

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