Viewing Sea Change Through The Matrix
http://apps.seattletimes.com/reports/sea-change/2013/sep/11/pacific-ocean-perilous-turn-overview/?prmid=4749
"Sea Change: The Pacific Perilous Turn", is a digitally produced journalistic article on the negative effects that climate change has on the ocean's of the world. It is published on the Seattle Times website and was funded by both the Seattle times and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The funding by a journalistic organization draws attention to pieces such as Sea Change, which are built from the ground up to be a narrative that uses digital tools.
Aesthetics:
When the reader opens this story the first thing that is presented is an animated title page with an accompanying video. The animation is visually appealing and the video offers an introduction into the main points that the story touches upon. As Marie-Laure Ryan said, "Exploration of others worlds is made easier through the visual." The use of visual brings the world below the ocean to life for the reader. With an introduction containing very little text, the reader is also being introduced to the type of story that they will be reading. With smooth transitions, the story then begins to move into the text which takes on the form of a traditional journalistic piece. The images that are included with the text are slightly disruptive to the narrative in that they break apart the text without any real connection to the story. The overall color scheme and animations mirror the topic of the story, the sea, which creates an immersive reading experience.
Content:
The content of this journalistic piece is formed through multiple types of media. The opening of the story contains both animation and video clips which transition into text as the reader scrolls down. The video acts as an introduction to the stories thesis and main points and brings the reader into the digitally told narrative. It also demonstrate how much effort and man hours was put into the piece which, as a reader, would be necessary to continue viewing a long form narrative. Once more, the journalist uses an individual in the narrative as their main point of view as well as a tool to relate the issues being addressed to human needs. The imagery includes graphical data and visual cues for what the text explains. While the aesthetic appeal of these images may not be as conducive as it could possibly be, the information that is offered adds depth to the narrative. Together, the excellent investigative journalism and multimodal elements create a well-thought out, exemplary story.
Technological Capabilities:
With the financial support of the Seattle Times and other foundations, the website that the story is published on is polished and fully utilizes digital capabilities. With a dedicated team to produce the story, the reader has a wide range of control when viewing the piece. The order that it is read is completely up to the reader, as is which elements are viewed. With a story that is so rich in scientific information and statistical data, the addition of several media types acts as a buffer for information which may turn off a large percentage of readers. The use of media elements in Sea Change, holds the reader's attention. The platform offers the story free of charge and contains no barriers that would prevent people from reading the piece. The developers also took advantage of the fact that the story would be evolving over time and included a updates and discussion forum.
Senses and Stimuli:
From the beginning of the story, with the animation and video, there is a clear overall atmosphere. Immediately the reader's senses are engaged in ways that a print story could never accomplish. The developers chose to organize the subsections of the story around which elements were being used. For example there are tabs for videos, maps, and photos. While this is a different approach to organizing a story on a digital platform, it does not utilize the ways in which the elements and text can function in cohesion. The amount of control that the reader is offered by the developers help make each video, image, and graph easier to digest as the information is not forced upon the viewer.
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