Week 6
November 9, 2017
Often times when I watch the news, or consider powerful historical events that shifted history, I find myself asking, "what would it have felt like to be there?" I ponder upon the what-ifs and speculate upon how certain historical events have shifted the many ways in which my grandmother has been affected. I wonder how these events have shaped her as a person.In response to The Whale Hunt, I find this kind of photographic documentation wonderful. It allows the viewer to scroll through a unique timeline (in fact you can choose the mode in which to view) allowing the player to see how many photos were taken on a particular day. To explore it all means to find significance in every photo, no particular day holds any specified sense of importance or impact, but the viewer gets to decided which photos they consider significant. Depending upon how the "player" decides to view the timeline (you can choose to start from anywhere) they experience can change. What I found to be the most powerful effort made in this project is the many questions that are left unanswered as one throws themselves into this immersive experience. Each photo has so much context, and although they are dated and time-coded, it still seems as though there is so much more that the player seeks to experience.
In response to Project Syria, I find that my perspective of wanting to be "present" can nearly be replicated here. Project Syria as an immersive journalism experience really allows one to "take it to the streets". It's calling upon the player to observe their surroundings in this reconstructed scene. It prompts the viewer to reflect upon the event and can allow them to shape their worldview by putting this comparison to today.
With a filmmaker's perspective in mind I always considered documentary to show me a reality. I always knew that documentary has a strong sense of immediacy and showing something. Yet, it always has a sense of passive observation. You're asking many questions but you may not be experiencing something that a game is trying to allow a player to experience. That's what I appreciate most about the difference between documentary and documentary game, there is an experience trying to be held.
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