Highrise (documentary)

Highrise
Web address http://highrise.nfb.ca/
Slogan The Towers in the World
World in the Towers
Commercial? No
Type of site
 Web documentary
Registration No
Available in English
Owner National Film Board of Canada
Launched 2009

Highrise is a multi-year, multimedia documentary project about life in residential highrises, directed by Katerina Cizek and produced by Gerry Flahive for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The project, which began in 2009, includes the web documentaries Out My Window and One Millionth Tower.

In March 2013, the NFB and The New York Times announced a partnership entitled A Short History of the Highrise, which resulted in four short documentaries about life in highrise buildings, utilizing images from the newspaper's photo archives for the first three films, and user-submitted images for the final film.[1][2]

Until mid-2014, Cizek will collaborate with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenDocLab unit to develop the next production in the Highrise project. As part of MIT’s Visiting Artists Program, she will work with scholars and apartment residents to ask how new technological forms are reshaping personal lives in suburban high-rise communities.[3]

In addition to awards won by individual webdocs in the series, the Highrise project received the Canadian Urban Institute's 2013 Global City and Innovation Urban Leadership Award.[4]

Out My Window (2010)

Out My Window is a 2010 web documentary exploring the lives of families living in high-rise buildings in 13 cities around the world. The website is produced by National Film Board of Canada as part its collaborative documentary project Highrise.[5][6] Out My Window was shot in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Havana, São Paulo, Amsterdam, Prague, Istanbul, Beirut, Bangalore, Phnom Penh, Tainan, and Johannesburg.[7]

Cizek spent one year researching the project prior to starting production in August 2009. To locate characters and stories, Cizek and a researcher worked with a network of journalists, filmmakers and photographers around the world, directing them remotely from Toronto via email and Skype. However, not all communication was so instantaneous: a story from Havana had to be hand-delivered by the photographer, months after it was commissioned, without the chance for any direction from Cizek. Overall, 22 stories had been commissioned, with 9 stories dropped for various reasons during the production process.[8]

Photos were digitally combined to create 360-degree scenes, in which viewers can explore the lives of apartment inhabitants, browsing interiors or navigating deeper to view embedded stories.[9] Imaginarius, a Kitchener, Ontario-based multimedia production company, worked with over 1,000 photos to produce the 360-degree effect.[5]

In Toronto, Amsterdam and Havana, Cizek also used a five-lens, 360-degree camera created by Amsterdam-based tech company Yellowbird to shoot interactive music video sequences.[8][10]

Release

The site went live in October 2010.[5] Out My Window was also presented at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November 2010.[8] It has also been licensed to the SBS Australia website.[11]

Awards

Out My Window received the inaugural IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling.[12] In April 2011, it received the International Digital Emmy Award in the category of digital program: non-fiction.[13] In April 2011, the web documentary was nominated for a Webby Award for Best Use of Photography in the Websites category.[14] On May 10, 2011, Out My Window received the New Media Award at the One World Media Awards.<ref =realscreen>Anderson, Kelly (11 May 2011). "Channel 4, BBC, NFB honored at One World Media Awards". Realscreen. Retrieved 17 May 2011.</ref>

One Millionth Tower (2011)

One Millionth Tower is a 2011 NFB interactive web documentary by Katerina Cizek that gives people living in residential skyscrapers the opportunity to work with architects and animators to reimagine their homes in 3D virtual space. The project focuses on two high-rise apartment buildings in Etobicoke. The webdoc allows users to navigate though their high-rise neighborhood, displaying the current state of urban decay, then activating features to show how residents would change their world, such as an animation showing where a new playground or garden would go. One Millionth Tower also features images from Flickr, Google Street Views and real-time weather data from Yahoo. It was produced by the Gerry Flahive for the NFB as part of its Highrise documentary project. Cizek's previous work in the Highrise series was the webdoc Out My Window.[15][16]

According to transmedia creator Anita Ondine Smith, NFB interactive projects like One Millionth Tower are helping to position Canada as a major player in digital storytelling.[17]

One Millionth Tower was originally planned by Cizek as a linear animated documentary about reinvigorating urban housing complexes, showcasing residents’ ideas for improving their homes in the tower, but evolved into an interactive project in 3-D space. One Millionth Tower was influenced by the NFB's Challenge for Change program for participatory media, which put media creation into the hands of citizens in the 1960s and 70s.[15]

Technology

One Millionth Tower was created using HTML5, WebGL, Three.js and other open source JavaScript libraries, and utilizes Mozilla Foundation's Popcorn.js technology to add interactivity to its online videos.[15][18] Utilizing Mozilla’s Web-based graphics library, One Millionth Tower is the first 3D web documentary to not require an Adobe Flash plug-in.[19]

Release

One Millionth Tower premiered simultaneously on Wired.com and the Mozilla Festival in London on November 5, 2011.[15] Beginning January 2012, excerpts were being screened in Toronto subway stations.[17][20]

Awards

One Millionth Tower was named Best Original Program Produced for Digital Media, Non-Fiction at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards.[21]

A Short History of the Highrise (2013)

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." The centerpiece of the project is four short films: Mud, Concrete and Glass have been created with images from The New York Times's visual archives, while a fourth film, Home, is being made with user-submitted images. The interactive site will incorporate the films and also offer additional archival materials, text and microgames. The series is produced by Op-Docs, the Times' editorial department’s forum for short, opinionated documentaries, and the NFB, as part of its HIGHRISE project.[22]

Release

A Short History of the Highrise premiered as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival Convergence program on September 30, 2013 and online at NYTimes.com in October.[23]

Awards

In April 2014, it received a Peabody Award.[24] In June 2014, it received the Sheffield Innovation Award from the 2014 Sheffield Doc/Fest.[25] In the fall of 2014, it received a News and Documentary Emmy Award.[26] In February 2015, A Short History of the Highrise was named Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media - Non-Fiction at the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Newton, Sarah (12 March 2013). "NFB's Highrise series builds new foundations in New York". CBC News. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "NY Times, NFB Collaborate on Multi-Platform Interactive Series". Mediacaster. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  3. ↑ Ng-See-Quan, Danielle (17 May 2013). "NFB filmmaker named MIT visiting artist". Reelscreen (Brunico Communications). Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "2013 Urban Leadership Award recipients announced". Canadian Architect (Business Information Group). 28 March 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Scrivener, Leslie (15 October 2010). "Online, a window on the world". Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  6. ↑ Barol, Bill (4 November 2010). "The view from the window". Forbes.com. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  7. ↑ "HIGHRISE/Out My Window". IDFA DocLab. International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ritchie, Kevin (15 November 2010). "Canada's National Film Board builds "Highrise"". Realscreen. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  9. ↑ Kasprzak, Michelle (10 November 2010). "The NFB's innovative Out my Window online documentary looks out of Toronto's windows and beyond". YongeStreet. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  10. ↑ Parry, Chris (23 November 2010). "National Film Board releases 360 degree documentary". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 November 2010.
  11. ↑ Brzoznowski, Kristin (29 March 2011). "NFB to Showcase Interactive Content". WorldScreen. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  12. ↑ Brooks, Brian (26 November 2010). "IDFA Opener "Position Among the Stars" Takes Top Festival Prize". Indie Wire. Retrieved 29 November 2010.
  13. ↑ "NFB's Highrise web project wins Digital Emmy". CBC News. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "Vancouver new media mavens among National Film Board nominees for Webby awards". Vancouver Sun. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Watercutter, Angela (5 November 2011). "Premiere: One Millionth Tower High-Rise Documentary Takes Format to New Heights". Wired News. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
  16. ↑ Gee, Marcus (7 December 2011). "Aging apartment towers can be humanized". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Vlessing, Etan (18 January 2012). "Expert: Canada Primed to Become Major Transmedia Player". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  18. ↑ Terauds, John (24 November 2011). "How a Toronto college is unleashing a ‘toolbox of wonder’ online". Toronto Star. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  19. ↑ Hutter, Kristy (18 January 2012). "A documentary like no other documentary". Maclean's. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  20. ↑ Dixon, Guy (8 January 2012). "Subway clips spread ideas for transforming high-rise ugliness". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  21. ↑ "CBC scores big wins at Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto". CBC News. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  22. ↑ "A Short History of the Highrise: An interactive documentary by Katerina Cizek launching in October". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  23. ↑ "Immersive multi-media series on residential highrise buildings to debut at New York Film Festival" (Press release). Canadian Architect. 1 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  24. ↑ 73rd Annual Peabody Awards, May 2014.
  25. ↑ Ravindran, Manori (13 June 2014). "Doc/Fest ’14: "Attacking the Devil" takes Special Jury Prize". Reelscreen. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  26. ↑ Cummins, Juliana. "NFB, Herman’s House win Emmy Awards". Playback. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  27. ↑ "Academy Announces Canadian Screen Awards' Winner". Broadcaster Magazine. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.

External links