As the 2006 competition draws to a close, I
look back on the outstanding entry field in
awe. Simply put, I am blown away at the level
of work that is out there and how designers
and developers continue to reinvent new ways
to use technology to achieve their marketing
and communication goals. As a tribute, we conducted
interviews to share more information about the
winning individual or firm responsible for creating
the best of category entries in the 2006 competition.
NOT
SEEN NOT HEARD WINNERS INTERVIEW - Zachary
N Shields
Give us the background of your company?
Not Seen Not Heard was produced by Zachary
N Shields and Christopher Podell, two graduates
of the IUPUI School of Informatics, New Media
program. We produced the interactive documentary
during the summer and fall semesters of our
senior year.
What was the creative inspiration for your
winning project?
The inspiration behind NSNH comes from the
stories of those widely forgotten survivors
of the Southeast Asia Earthquakes and Tsunami
of 2004 and 2005. I (Zachary Shields) had six
friends volunteer in Indonesia after the tsunami
and when they returned I was amazed by the stories
of the forgotten mountain villages they had
visited and the people they encountered. Christopher
Podell and I decided that by combining our skill
sets we could tell the stories of these people
that would otherwise be not seen and not heard.
What technologies were involved with making
the project?
Flash 8 and Final Cut Pro were the main components
behind creating NSNH. I used a canon GL2 to
capture the video and both Chris and I used
Mac Powerbooks to complete our respective pieces
of the project.
What were the biggest challenges to making
the project and how did you overcome them?
One of the biggest challenges in creating NSNH
was weaving the story into an interactive format
and having the interactivity actually contribute
to the story in a big way. The way the documentary
is laid out makes the documentary structured
in a way that can not be duplicated in other
other format. Another challenge was too translate
the Indonesian dialogue into English. To do
this I sent .mp3’s back to Indonesia and
had two or three people translate with time
code so I could match it up with the video markers
in Final Cut Pro when I received the translation.
Then, a video data sheet was created so the
programming could be completed to call the translation
text in the interface. HEADACHES!
Did the project achieve its goals?
The project has only achieved one part of its
goal. The story has been told and has raised
some awareness for this area of the world but
so far it has had no direct impact on the lives
of those living in the areas we covered. However,
we have just begun to receive recognition and
will continue to spread the word while working
with the aid group Island Aid (www.island-aid.org)
in order to continue programs in this area.
We hope NSNH will inspire people to become involved.
We are trying to raise funds for two young burn
victims living in one the most remote mountain
villages of Indonesia. (www.gomogirlsfund.com)
We are still working on it and this is our primary
goal for now.
What trends do you see in interactive media
production today?
Video on the web and in other interactive mediums
is one of the fastest growing revolutions in
interactive media production today. Stories
can be told such as NSNH that bring the viewer
closer than ever before and can be easily accessible
around the world as bandwidth increases. Storytelling
and communication in this way has a profoundly
different impact than text and still photos.
To tell this story with only text and photos
would have limited us in showing the true emotion
that was so prominent while we searched for
their story.
What are some of your favorite websites?
Cnn.com
Bbc.co.uk
Currenttv.com
What projects are you working on now?
I am currently working with Indy Jazz Fest
to add video to their website in order to give
compelling, behind the scenes stories that will
raise awareness for the festival. We will be
sending the link to the videos to email databases
in order offensively attract an audience that
has the option to receive future videos on the
same topic. Cantaloupe is the company I work
for and we will be producing these videos over
the next month. (www.cantaloupeshows.com)
