Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches to
Transcripción
Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches to
Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 [63-84] Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches to interactive communication design by The New York Times Pere FreixaCarles Sora Universitat Pompeu Fabra Universitat Pompeu Fabra [[email protected]] [[email protected]] Joan Soler-Adillon Universitat Pompeu Fabra [[email protected]] J. Ignasi Ribas Universitat Pompeu Fabra [[email protected]] Received: September 28, 2014 Accepted: December 17, 2014 Abstract This paper analyses the discursive characteristics of New York Times’ awarded interactive features Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise. These projects allow us to state the maturity of two models of interactive discourse which, despite representing two different approaches, share a series of common features such as the immersive effect. Snow Fall is a paradigmatic example of the use of parallax scrolling in webdoc design. The video-based work A Short History of the Highrise represents a remarkable example of an interactive documentary developed by the NYT and the National Film Board of Canada. The analysis uses the ‘interactive decoupage,’ a framework developed by the authors for the study of interactive audiovisual work. This tool was recently presented at the IV Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación AE-IC 2014 and at the 2014 issue of Hipertext.net. Keywords: Interactive feature, interactive design, interactive design, Snow Fall, Highrise, parallax scrolling, interactive documentary, New York Times, webdoc Contents: 1. Introduction. 2. Analytical Methodology. 3. Decoupage of Snow Fall and Highrise. 3.1 Module 0: authorship of analysis and relevant aspects for reception. 3.2 Module a: identification data. 3.3.- Module b: description and global assessment by the analyst . 3.3.1. Synopsis . 3.3.2 Use of the net and transmedia elements. 3.3.3 Dominantes aspects. 3.4. Module c: content. 3.5. Modules d and e: structure and functionality. 3.6. Module f: interface. 3.7. Module g: interaction. 4. Discussion. 4.1 Open programming vs. applications. 4.2 Narrative content. Sequential structure and automatism. 4.3 Structure navigation. Dissolve and transparency . 4.4 Resource hierarchy and multimedia treatment. 4.5 Passive vs active user. 5. References. [64] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas 1. Introduction Like all journalism, multimedia needs a strong lead. Put yourself in the shoes of the user. You have seconds to grab their attention and resist the temptation to hit the close button. The best work is tightly edited, well paced and engaging throughout Jassim Ahmad, Reuters Jury Chair of 2014 Multimedia Constest Jury, World Press Photo Award At the end of 2013, two events reassure the growing importance of the interactive audiovisual features in online journalism. Both events are related to one label: The New York Times (NYT), which is arguably one of the most relevant actors on the research of the discursive possibilities of interactive media within journalism. The first of these events is the Feature Writing Pulitzer Award 2013 for John Branch’s NYT interactive feature Snow Fall. This is the first time ever that one of the Pulitzer awards (the Feature Writing) has been awarded to an interactive piece. The second event is the appearance (and success) of A Short History of the Highrise (from now on: Highrise). This interactive documentary, created by Katerina Cizek, is a multi-awarded coproduction by the NYT and the National Film Board of Canada. Most recently, it added the 2014 Multimedia Contest World Press Photo Award to its merits. Jassim Ahmad, global head of multimedia innovation at the Reuters media division, was the president of the committee that awarded the Multimedia Contest prize in the World Press Photo. He reflects on the process of selecting nine awarded works out of the 373 interactive pieces that were presented. He confirms the different perceptions that result from the convergence of previously independent professional profiles in interactive media creation, and he proposes a double typology of journalistic interactive features: «In the Feature categories, we looked for compelling linear narratives, well told, informative, memorable, with strong characters at their heart. In the Interactive Documentary category, we sought projects that use the medium to explain more and bring you closer» (Ahmad, 2014). These categorizations are not only necessary in order to classify the growing number of interactive projects: they also inform us about the relation of these projects to the preceding journalistic formats from which they inherit some of the discursive approaches and forms, and to the journalists that have conceptualized them. Jacobson studied the first forty-seven multimedia productions from the NYT, created between 2000 and 2007. One of the most remarkable aspects on these initial productions is the absence of the narrative qualities that are typical of hypertext: «The reasons for this may include McLuhan’s notion that the first content for a new medium is an older medium, meaning that because we are still in the earliest stages of journalism on the Web the news creators are producing the kinds of stories they are most familiar with» (Jacobson, 2010: 74). Currently, the NYT uses the generic label interactive storytelling in order to group the sub-categories of multimedia stories, data visualization, explanatory graphics, breaking news Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [65] and visual and interactive features (The New York Times: 2013). Each of the names of these categories offers a much more clear linkage to the particular department within the newspaper structure that is in charge of creating it —graphics, newsroom, video and featured content respectively— than the newness or singularity of each of the proposals in terms of multimedia and interactive dimensions. The different terminology used in classifying interactive audiovisual works is a proof of both the convergence of different traditional media practices and the newness of the approach. Terms such as interactive documentary, interactive feature, webdoc, i-doc, interactive storytelling, etc. coexist, sometimes interchangeably, in the description of these types of work. According to Domínguez (2013: 84): «The webdoc is regarded both as a genre within the traditional audiovisual documentary and as a common ground for practitioners and approaches taken from different backgrounds (…) Time will tell is this neologism remains in use or if it is substituted by a new label that stresses the differences between what has been done until now and what is yet to come.» In the Online Journalism Awards [http://journalists.org/awards] the terminological issue is resolved by bypassing the differentiation between interactive and non interactive. There are interactive pieces in almost all the award categories, which follow the traditional categorization of journalistic work: Breaking News, Feature, Explanatory Reporting, Topical Reporting, etc. The innovation in terms of multimedia and interactivity are taken for granted as a common feature of online journalism: «Over the past decade, the OJAs have recognized major media, international and independent sites and individuals producing innovative work in multimedia storytelling» (Online Journalism Awards, 2014). This is perhaps the first proof that the interactive works in online journalism are finding its place in online media. The spectacular success of Highrise and Snow Fall, both in awards and in visitors (Sullivan, 2012) suggests that the interactive audiovisual work is already a normalized type of online journalistic media. To the debate of the forms, frameworks, costs and meaning of what these two proposals bring about (Aston y Gaudenzi, 2012; Greenfield, 2012; Lacy, 2012; Thompson, 2012; McAdams, 2013; Nash, 2014; Rodríguez y Molpeceres, 2014), this paper adds the results obtained through the analysis that was performed with the analytical tool ‘interactive decoupage’ developed by the Interactive Communication section of the DigiDoc Reseach group in Universitat Pompeu Fabra [http://www.gci.upf.edu] (Freixa, 2009; Freixa, Soler-Adillon, Sora and Ribas, 2014). The detailed analysis of these two interactive features allows us to point out the similarities and singularities in the solutions that both projects propose in terms of content, information structure, user engagement and interface design. The prevailing textuality of Snow Fall and the importance of videography in Highrise distinguish these two projects that, because of their relevance, are arguably becoming models of interactive audiovisual pieces in online journalism. The fact that both of them are produced by the NYT, which holds an undeniable leadership in this type of projects, offers an a-priori proof of quality and the possibility of a desirable degree of homogeneity. At the same time, the fact that the NYT, as discussed below, classifies them into two distinct categories, counterbalances this with a degree of variability that is interesting in terms of the comparative analysis. [66] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas 2. Analytical Methodology The ‘decoupage’ places the focus of interest on the creative process and the definition of the messages; on the rhetorical aspects of interactive communication. The use of this tool in the analysis of the studied works allows for a detailed observation of the parts that constitute them, in a path that goes from the global and generic to the particular; to the significant fragment. The description of these constitutive elements (content, structure, interfaces and interaction) allow for a sort of restitution of the very same interactive piece, and is similar to what could have been the script and guidelines used for its creation. Thus, the result of the analysis provides the investigator with documentation on the creative and design process of the interactive work’s authors. It does not recreate the work phases, but it allows the observer to formulate questions about the decisions made in generating a particular formalization and concretion of the piece. Confronting the resulting document of the ‘decoupage’ and the analyzed piece stimulates the discussion on the distinct discursive possibilities that the medium offers on creating and reading messages in interactive online works; on the creative process. The ‘interactive decoupage’ tool is divided in a series of modules: 1. Module 0: authorship of analysis and relevant aspects for reception 2. Module a: identification data 3. Module b: description and global assessment by the analyst 4. Module c: content 5. Module d y e: structure and functions 6. Module f: interface 7. Module g: interactivity Each of the modules contains a series of indicators to what is the analyst intends to observe on each phase of the process. It is assumed that, according to the particular interests of an analyst, some indicators may be ignored or modified for a particular iteration of the process. The ‘decoupage’ tool is used as a guideline for the reading of the interactive pieces that are here studied; as a structure to organize the observation and to confront both works in an integrated discourse. 3. Decoupage of Snow Fall and Highrise The actual raw document that the decoupage of a piece like Snow Fall or Highrise produces can be very large (30 pages approximately). Consequently this section summarizes the most relevant aspects of both analysis, maintaining the framework’s module structure. 3.1. Module 0: authorship of analysis and relevant aspects for reception The analysis of Highrise was made with a Mac book air on OS 10.9.1 (Mavericks). For Snow Fall, a PC with Windows XP was used. In both cases this was done with Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [67] the Chrome browser, with versions 33.0.1750.152 y 34.0.1847.137m, respectively. The analysis was performed in the months of April and May, 2014. 3.2. Module a: identification data Both projects have been programmed with HTML5 and JavaScript. They are both adapted to browsers that do not support the latest versions of these languages (Internet Explorer 7, 8 y 9) and for users that don’t have the latest JavaScript libraries installed in their systems. In the <head> tag of the main html file of Highrise, the following tags are contained: first, the <description> reads as follows: «Watch a four-part interactive documentary about the fascinating past, present and future of high-rise living in cities around the world»; the <keywords> tag contains «Op-Docs, documentary, high-rise, architecture, public housing»; in the <1p> tag it is stated «‘A Short History of the Highrise’ is an interactive documentary that explores the 2,500-year global history of vertical living and issues of social equality in an increasingly urbanized world»; finally, the internal NYT tags that classify the category, type of content, media and public of Highrise are «opinion», «multimedia», «interactive» and «normal». In the case of Snow Fall, the <head> tag contains the following: the <description> reads «‘Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,’ by New York Times reporter John Branch, tells the harrowing story of skiers caught in an avalanche»; in <og:description> there appears the text «Fresh powder beckoned 16 expert skiers and snowboarders into the backcountry. Then the snow gave way»; there is no information in the <keywords> tag; finally, «Multimedia», «Multimedia Feature», »Interactive Feature», «Interactive» and «Sports» are the NYT internal tags that classify the work in terms of category, type of content and media. Outside of the HTML code, Snow Fall offers information on the production credits and a short description of the last chapter of the work, which offers a closure to it. Highrise incorporates two options in the menu [menu/about] and [menú/credits] that offer further information. However, there is no complementary or contextual information on these two pieces in the NYT main website. They are only accessible through the search form. Both projects are presented only in the English language. 3.3. Module b: description and global assessment by the analyst 3.3.1. Synopsis Highrise is an interactive documentary about vertical construction of housing throughout history. It is structured around a lineal video that is divided in three episodes. These episodes constitute the actual documentary, which has the addition of a fourth chapter with contributions by the readers of the NYT. Each of the four videos is subdivided in a series of sections. In turn, each of the sections is constituted by between one and five images that the user can navigate. By doing so, the narration of the video and the video itself are stopped, only to be resumed [68] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas once the navigation trough the still images ends. Most of these images are photographic images, while a few contain some internal animation or some interactive elements. All of them serve the purpose of offering additional information to the main documentary video, either by expanding the discourse of by allowing a better visualization of some of the elements that appear in it. These parallel materials are interesting and are in fact a fundamental part of the documentary. However, they do force the user to stop the main discourse (either in the first or a latter view) since there is no alternative way to access these materials (i.e. they can only be accessed through the chapter/section structure of the main documentary). The fourth chapter (the additional materials from the NYT readers) does seem to be less indispensable in constructing the overall discourse; one can have a good experience with the documentary while completely ignoring this last part. Snow fall is a long interactive feature about the experience of 16 skiers that were trapped by a snow avalanche at the US Cascade Mountains. The piece is formed by six chapters, each of which structured around a long text that occupies several times the width of a regular computer or tablet screen space. Throughout the text, a series of animated photographs, interview videos and 3D animations are presented. It is surprising how these multimedia elements merge with the background images, and how the videos and animations automatically activate as they reach the center of the screen. The overall effect is the perception that, as one reads on, the piece offers the audiovisual elements to the reader as a complement of the textual content, and this adds a degree of dramatism to the experience. The text situates the reader in regards to the experience and its main characters. In some passages, it reads like a transcription of their feelings and mental states during the experience. The audio of the video pieces helps the user in experiencing a direct dialog with the protagonists. The navigation of Snow Fall is based on the movements of the browser’s scrollbar. This tool vertebrates the navigation and the progression of the different media that constitute the piece: pictures, animated infographics, text and video. In order to do so, the effect known as parallax scrolling is used. The parallax scrolling, widely used in the organization of extensive websites (Frederick, 2013), allows the authors to organize the content of a particular node in different elements (see figure 4) that activate, move and win or lose importance (and opacity) as the user interacts with them or bypasses them with the scrollbar. In parallel, a menu situated on the upper part of the screen offers direct access to the six chapters that constitute the interactive feature, and to the rest of the menu option. It is surprising that the menu does not offer access to a credits page, nor to any other complementary information such as image galleries, archive or alternative access to the piece. 3.3.2. Use of the net and transmedia elements Both projects take into account the bidirectional nature of the net and incorporate sections that require the collaboration of users and offer the possibility to share content in social networks. However, in the case of Highrise the participation of users goes beyond the mere commentary or external opinion to the journalistic Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [69] information presented. In it, the contributions are incorporated in the discourse: the fourth chapter of the documentary is created entirely with the photographic contributions of the readers. In addition, a complementary gallery of further user contributions is presented, with 186 contributions added at the date of this paper’s writing [http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/high-rise/your-stories]. On the other hand, Snow Fall is conceived as a closed product, entirely elaborated and finalized at the moment of its public release. It is, from this point of view, a unidirectional journalistic exercise. In order to make use of the potential of the net, the NYT created two parallel activities: the first is a section that contains reader opinions, some of them commented by the main documentary writer John Branch [http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/sports/q-a-the-avalanche-at-tunnel-creek. html]; the second consisted in incorporating the feature in The Learning Network, the pedagogy-oriented section of the NYT’s website [http://learning.blogs.nytimes. com/2013/01/02/reading-club-snow-fall-the-avalanche-at-tunnel-creek/]. 3.3.3. Dominantes aspects In the case of Snow Fall, the feeling of adaptation of the piece to the reading rhythm of the user is quite a remarkable trait. Despite being based on a long linear text that is structured in six chapters and has only a few interactive items, the distribution of the multimedia content along the narrative line affords new complementary layers in the reading of the piece. The automatisms in the activation and bringing forward of particular multimedia resources produces a sense of immersion that facilitates the forgetfulness of the discontinuities among the different media. One of the most interesting features in Hihgrise is the combination of the short video segments in which each of the chapters of the documentary is subdivided with the additional materials that the user can access as the video plays on. The appearance of continuity among the different materials is achieved through the use of animation and infographics, both in the videos and in the multimedia additional material. While in Snow Fall text is the dominant material, in Hihgrise animation and audio are the main driving forces of the experience. 3.4. Module c: content As said, the central media element in Snow Fall is text. The piece is written in short paragraphs with which the author becomes the narrator of a story. The language is precise and clear, with short descriptions and a preference for dialog. It is in fact the inclusion of a substantial quantity of dialogues what generates to the reader the feeling of listening to the story directly from those implied. All of this offers elements of suspense and narrative tension. On the other hand, the text included in the animations offers a much more neutral (technical) tone. The whole text is about 18 thousand words; roughly, the equivalent to 40 pages of a regularly sized book. The video is the driving force of Highrise. The whole project is built around the main video, which is presented at full-screen. This video is the container of the [70] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas rest of the multimedia material: photographs, infographics, animation, text and audio are presented in video format. In fact, there is no sequence or fragment in Highrise that actually comes from a videographic or cinematographic source. Therefore, even though the descriptor ‘video’ is used to describe the guiding line of the documentary, we shall understand this descriptor as inclusive of these still image source materials. Many of these materials are formed by the work of some well-know photographers (Jackob Riss, Lewis Hine, etc.) and the animated graphic materials that provide the social importance of the piece: the documentation on the inhabitants of the city and the vertical urban space. The videographic container allows for the incorporation of a temporal rhythm, audio and narration to this material, which in turn affords user control. —Highrise offers some interactive activities within its complementary materials. These activities can be classified as follows: —Discovery This typology appears only once, in the first section of the first chapter. It consists of an element that moves slightly as to indicate to the user that it can be clicked. When he or she does that, an additional text appears on the screen. —Drag This is the most used interactive pattern. The interaction is articulated around the dragging action with a graphic hand appearing as pointing to the direction of the possible dragging action. This follows the metaphor of the children’s books that have hidden elements in cardboard pages that the child can drag off to discover. One the user clicks and drags on the hand, the hidden element becomes visible. —Drag & Drop It is used only once in the sub-section ‘small’ of the third chapter. It is a minigame in which the user is invited to arrange the furniture of a 10 square-feed apartment. —Clicking Game It appears in the subsection ‘ideology,’ in chapter 2. It is another min-game in which the user follows a crane that moves from left to right in a urban space fill with constructed buildings. As it moves sideways, the user can click on the empty (yet-to-be-build-on) spaces and new buildings will appear on them. At the end, the overall result is presented to the user. —Slider It appears in the subsection ‘vilified,’ in chapter 2. There, a bar can be used to alternate among 5 pictures that start with a group of neighbors in a common space and end with the demolition of a building. 3.5. Modules d and e: structure and functionality Both of the analyzed projects consist of a clearly lineal structure. No alternative navigating options (such as galleries categorized by genre, media type, etc.) are offered. Both features have a preliminary node that precedes the activation of the navigation options, although they do so in different ways. In Highrise the cin- Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [71] Figure 1. Main structure of Snow Fall. [72] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas Figure 2. Main structure of Highrise and subsection structure for chapter 2. Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [73] Figure 3. Interfaces of the initial node and chapter 1 in Snow Fall. ematographic metaphor is used to activate automatically the jump from the preliminary stage to part 1, Mud, in a fade in/out transition that affords a great feeling of continuity (see figure 2, link of «initial credits» and «part 1: Mud»). On the initially black screen, an image of Central Park appears along with the title of the piece. The transition to the next node is used to present on the screen the navigational elements and the text-based help and to get the audio and the video started. If the user remains passive, the piece will move on linking automatically and sequentially segment after segment, chapter after chapter. This means that with only one single (and simple) interaction, the initial click to load Highrise on the browser, one can view the whole main line of material that is formed by the four chapters. The approach of Snow Fall is different. Here the preliminary node situates the spectator in a static screen in which he or she has to act upon in order for the feature to move on. This first node presents the background, the title and the text that continues to the lower part of the screen. In the menu area only the option of going back to the main NYT page and of social sharing are activated. When the sliding bar moves in order to read on, the transition to chapter one occurs. With the movement of the scrollbar a fade in/out effect of the elements of the node is activated, and this moment is also used to situate the whole menu on the screen. In this case, the bar will allow the user to move along all the nodes of one chapter, although the transition from chapter to chapter, or to the multimedia additional materials, will have to be activated with a click. 3.6. Module f: interface In Snow Fall, the interface design and the transitions between nodes and node components stress the visual continuity of the piece. The content fills the screen, with only a subtle menu on the upper part. There is no direct access to the complementary content such as the picture gallery or interviews. Along the experience, two simultaneous ways to access the documentary’s complementary content are presented: first, a thumbnail of an image can be used as a link to a photographic gallery; second, a text is used as a link to some additional material (see figure 4). [74] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas Figure 4. Chapter 1 fragment in Snow Fall. Detail of navigation interface. As seen in figure 5, in each of the chapters of the piece the distribution of the content is done by fairly standard procedures, such as the use of a big image and text on the header. The distribution of the content does vary from chapter to chapter: in the first three, the text is juxtaposed to image galleries of the main characters of the story. In the last three audio files are used. In the third chapter, as the story tells us about the avalanche, the scrollbar controls the activation of the interactive infography and the access to the image galleries. During the viewing of each chapter in Highrise, three parts of the interface stand out: the main menu, to navigate among chapters or through the contributed materials or credits; the navigation bar, which situates the user on the corresponding subdivision of the piece within each chapter and shows the availability of additional materials; and finally the audio and video controls (see figure 6). If a user action is required during the complementary viewing, the indication of this is presented as integrated in the interface. No galleries or external complements are activated. Mostly, this content is formed by photographic materials with an audio. On the screen, the image is shown with a button labeled ‘See back’ that affords the access to the reverse of the virtual post- Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [75] Figura 5. Interfaces of the six chapters of Snow Fall. [76] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas Figure 6. Two screenshots show Highrise’s navigation interface during the viewing of chapter 3, Glass. Figure 7. two screenshots show Highrise’s navigation interface during the viewing of complementary material. Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [77] Figure 8: Different versions of the main menu depending on the section: ‘introduction’, ‘chapter 1’, ‘final video’ and ‘comments’. Figura 10: menú principal de Highrise en opciones normal, rollover y desplegado. card. This reverse shows the complementary information for the particular image: authorship, title, story, etc. In all cases the main menu and the audio control are visible at the left of the image. Only the video control and the main navigation bar fade out and are substituted by a previous/next option and a ‘return to video’ button. 3.7. Module g: interaction The main interactive mode in Snow Fall is the scrollbar. It activates the transitions, triggers the rollover in the videos and allows the long texts to be read. It also contains a main menu with links. Besides the scrollbar control, the interactivity is reduced to video and infographics control (play, pause, reload) and mouse click to access the different sections. (Figure 8 and 9). Highrise uses text areas as contextual help for menu rollovers and to indicate any new option that has not yet been used. The control and navigation bar (figure 10) is used to visualize the advance of the video within a chapter and of each subchapter. Ath the same time, it can be clicked to move from one subchapter to another. When a subchapter is active, the corresponding number of additional content is visualized. As a complement to the bar, audio and video controls are shown. Figure 9. Main menu in Highrise in normal, rollover and deployed options. [78] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas 4. Discussion This concluding section points out the most relevant aspects that emerged during the analysis of the two proposed interactive works with the decoupage tool, and puts them in discussions with what the authors of the works and their critics have highlighted in commenting on them. 4.1. Open programming vs. applications Both works can be seen by visiting web pages that are hosted in the NYT servers. They are programmed exclusively with public domain programming languages, such as HTML5 and JavaScript. They use different libraries to generate the access to the interactive and multimedia resources. Despite the fact that both projects are well adapted to different browsers and operating systems, both projects are part of a strategy of creating general-purpose projects instead of specific applications (apps) for each type of device and operating system. According to Snow Fall designer Jacky Myint, «from the beginning we made the decision to not offer the exact same experience across all browsers/devices. This allowed me to focus on the main experience in the more modern web browsers while my colleagues focused on different experiences on other devices or older browsers» (Duenes et al., 2013). When the piece detects what device the user is viewing it with, it may activate or not certain aspects of it in order to facilitate its view. Myint adds: «Josh Williams worked on the iPad/iPhone/touch experience while Jon Huang worked on IE8. We each had to figure out the best experience for the respective browsers/devices we were focusing on and work within their limitations» (Duenes et al., 2013). This decision is not new. In the last several years, the NYT has made a strong and consistent effort towards the use of state-of-the-art HTML-based programming. Many of the resources used in Snow Fall and Highrise have been developed during the last two years. As graphic designer Steve Duenes states, «the front end coding is not much of a leap beyond other interactive features that we have done in the last two years. It’s similar in some ways to some of the devices that have been used on a smaller scale: fixing elements on the page, for example. But the way that it was coded —to try to create this so it wasn’t a heavy experience for a reader— that was ambitious for sure» (Greenfield, 2012). The adaptability of the different devices and operating systems has also been a preoccupation in the design of Highrise. According to the piece’s author Katerina Cizek, «The interactive experience incorporates the films and, like a visual accordion, allows viewers to dig deeper into the project’s themes with additional archival materials, text and microgames. On tablets, viewers can navigate the story extras and special features within the films using touch commands like swipe, pinch, pull and tap. On desktop and laptop computers, users can mouse over features and click to navigate. Smartphone users can view the four films via the New York Times Mobile Web site» (Highrise NFB, 2013) Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... T & VM 7, 2014 [79] 4.2. Narrative content. Sequential structure and automatism As it has been said in section 3.5, the underlying structure of both the Snow Fall and Hihgrise correspond to a model of sequential linearity. The nodes are linked in an orderly manner; one after the other in a continuous path. Both products present a simple structure with only two levels; main structure and brief digressions in the form of complementary content. No alternative access points to the pieces’ materials are offered, such as galleries or parallel structures or links (i.e. the only way to see the material is in the form presented as the main access). Neither are there links among sections, subsections and content. In fact, these structures depart from the traditional recommendations of text-book interactive design, such as facilitating direct access to content, offering the possibility to reiterate in the interactive forms, etc. (Garet, 2010) or avoid long sections of content: «users are likely to traverse your site in a free-form web like manner, jumping across regions in the information architecture, just as they would skip through chapters in a reference book» (Lynch, Horton, 2009: 84). The NYT team, instead, has chosen to simplify and reduce the presence of navigation structure along the interface. In Highrise¸ added to the linearity and simplification of the structure are the automatism of the system’s answers: the initial click allows for a full view of the four video pieces that constitute the documentary. In Snow Fall the structure is reminiscent of the continuity of the writing text. As noted by Steve Duenes (2013), «Snow Fall began life not as a demonstration of technology and design capabilities, but with a traditional, in-depth piece by Times reporter John Branch». 4.3. Structure navigation. Dissolve and transparency As mentioned above, the content is structured through a simple scheme: sequential linearity. This is reinforced and complemented with decision of modifying the usual dimension of the nodes and presenting both the main interface elements and those that are complementary in the same interface. With this, the interface and navigation design complement each other and afford a sense of narrative continuity to the user. This is an often sought effect in the design of interactive audiovisual pieces. Nodes, chapters, sections, etc. are not clearly separated. One moves from one to the next in an uninterrupted fashion, by sliding down the scrollbar or though the transitions and the automatic dissolves, in a seamless manner, as the user is focused on some other element on the screen. With this, the discourse appears without interruptions, even though the user might momentarily abandon the main narrative trail to wander about the complementary materials. According to editor Margaret Sullivan (2012) Snow Fall is capable of maintaining the attention of the users significantly, since, as she states, «they spent a lot of time with the project, about 12 minutes, which amounts to eons for a single digital story.» Many details go along this decision: the main menu in Snow Fall appears on the screen when the users activates the scrollbar and is observing another part of the screen. In Highrise there is a continuous transition from ‘initial credits’ to ‘part 1’, using the background sound and the visual ani- [80] Textual & Visual Media 7, 2014 Freixa; Soler-Adillon; Sora; Ribas mation as a focus of attention. John Brach, writer of Snow Fall, describes the goal of the piece as follows: «You have to hope the story carries the reader, (…) We’re setting breadcrumbs along the way in terms of graphic and photos. You just have to hope that people follow.» (Jula, 2014). 4.4. Resource hierarchy and multimedia treatment As noted by John Branch in referring to Snow Fall, the text is higher in importance than any graphic resource or photograph. In Highrise video is the prominent media, although as discussed above it is more a media container than an actual videographic document. The audio is the media upon which the continuity of the piece is built, while photography and graphics provide visual richness. The NYT classifies its interactive works in five categories: multimedia stories, data visualization, explanatory graphics, breaking news and visual and interactive features. Despite the fact that they can share the same programming techniques, narrative structures or graphic resources for interface design, each category refers to the traditional journalistic practice it is related to. Multimedia stories contains piece that, like Snow Fall, are built around a story, a textual argument. In visual and interactive features the pieces with a strong visual and audiovisual component, mostly video and photography (such as Highrise) are found. The Jassim Ahmad quote at the beginning of the paper points to the existence of two models of interactive pieces; a more traditional, text-based one, and second that privileges the audiovisual and multimedia experience. 4.5. Passive vs active user What kind of user is interested in these type of projects? Margaret Sullivan states that, out of the almost three million visitors to Snow Fall on its first week of existence, a third had never before accessed the NYT website (Sullivan, 2012). These are, therefore, new users, possibly attracted by social media posted links. Users can interact with Snow Fall like they would with an electronic book, or can watch Highrise as they would watch a Youtube video. However, both projects afford other navigation and participation possibilities. From less to more user implication, each project offers different degrees of engagement to the users. From a passive reception reminiscent of traditional media to active creation and posting of content, in the case of Highrise, or engaging in a dialog with the writer of the piece in Snow Fall. This diversity in the possibilities of use is probably one of the best achievements of the NYT proposals. Jess Linington (2013) comments on the duality of users in Highrise: «Reading through the user comments (a goldmine for those interested in user experience) so far on the NYTimes site, it’s clear to see an imbalance between those who embraced the interactivity and those who didn’t, which is to be expected with any mainstream interactive project. However the biggest talking point so far is the use of rhyme within the piece. Intended to ‘evoke a storybook’ many thought it didn’t fit, or ‘dumbed down’ the overall tone». Snow Fall and A Short History of the Highrise: two approaches... 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