Video/Film
The judges said:
This is clearly a high-budget project but that was not what was
so impressive. What was impressive is how they have married the
technology and the story — the story, in this case, is not
about JFK but how the nation really turned to television for the
first time as the primary source of information about the breaking
story. It is dramatic and gripping and designed for a broad audience,
including those with little prior knowledge of the event. The
DVD, as one of my jurors noted, is the perfect technology for
the topic, an event with exceptional amounts of original video,
and even though much of the video in the production is familiar,
the package offers even more archival footage allowing viewers
to piece together this important story from multiple sources.
A tip from the producers:
JFK Breaking The News was a national co-production of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza and KERA. The 90-minute documentary, narrated by Jane Pauley revealed how
local journalists covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the emergence of television news as the primary source for breaking news. The program
featured seldom seen broadcast footage, audio and eyewitness accounts from leading journalists.
The goal of Breaking The News was to reach the widest audience with a compelling and dramatic program and educate them about how media reporting was impacted by
the assassination.
The judges said:
Remarkably thorough presentation that is truly interactive. Extremely dense in information presented in a variety of engaging ways, including pop ups that launch
from hot spots; interactive timeline, etc. Making-of feature a real plus. User comments were one of the most interesting portions. Noteworthy success in placing
specific topic (Julia Child & her cooking show) into broader context of history of food and material culture of cooking in America. Great look. Interesting and fun.
A tip from the producers:
The National Museum of American History's "Bon Appétit!" Web site features the actual kitchen of renowned chef and television personality
Julia Child, which the Museum collected from her home along with most of its contents in 2001. We wanted to share some of the original research we had done on
Julia Child and on the design and history of the kitchen, and to show more of our extensive photo and video documentation of the kitchen than we could in the Museum.
The advanced capabilities of Flash allowed us, and our developer New Tilt, to weave together stories about Julia's life, her groundbreaking career, and her
custom-built kitchen with its hundreds of cherished utensils and cooking implements—all in the context of 20th century American culinary habits. And of course,
it gave us the opportunity to let Julia express some of her memories, philosophy, and humor in her own famous voice, still strong at age 90.
The judges said:
Compelling, very thorough treatment of topic with balance of visuals & written material. I could have spent hours on this site; utterly captivating in the way its
copious material was presented in well-organized, clear fashion so that it can be examined layer after layer. Fascinating documentary material so well presented in
form of pages from diary, photos, interviews. "Share Your Thoughts" section very effective. Refreshingly objective and unsentimental; real object-based
learning: the artifacts speaks for themselves. Unusual design for links page, which is excellent.
A tip from the producers:
Between the ages of 13 and 15, Anne Frank wrote short stories, fairy tales, essays, and the beginnings of a novel. Five notebooks and more than 300 loose pages,
meticulously handwritten during her two years in hiding, survived the war. The purpose of this online exhibition—a complement to a physical exhibition in one of the
Museum's galleries—was to reveal the original writings of a young woman who was exploring her craft.
The Web site offers five areas of exploration: Anne's original writings, Web links, Interviews, a discussion board, and an "exhibition."
The exhibition 'An Unfinished Story' reveals Anne's original
writings through sound and images and allows the Web visitor to
have a emotional connection with the writings. This area of the
site is meant to be movie-like and to take advantage of the inherent
qualities of the Web. The other sections of the site are intended
to round out the experience by providing context for the exhibition.
The discussion board has produced many responses of high quality
and reveals the deep connection many people have with this story.
There were two lessons learned from this online exhibition: that
visitors will post quality reflections to a Web site if the question
is framed properly, and that the two "modes" of Web
viewing with which we experimented here—passive and active—hold
our visitors' attention. The result has been longer viewing times.
The judges said:
Thoroughly researched, clear and easy-to-understand writing. Clean and attractively designed, the style didn't dominate the content. Some navigational and
accessibility issues but what a lot of work and thought went into this one.
A tip from the producers:
Since the site was aimed at such a broad audience, we designed
the content and navigation to appeal to different learning styles.
If visitors wants to know the story of Lewis and Clark, they
can follow the journey geographically. They can follow the same
path as the explorers, up the Missouri, across the Rocky Mountains,
and to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way, visitors encounter artifacts,
audio quotes, and an ever-changing soundscape that blends sounds
of the environment with traditional American Indian music from
the tribes encountered by Lewis and Clark.
If visitors are more interested in provocative explorations
of Indian cultures, they can choose the thematic topics. Over
a hundred interpretive exhibits combine text, photos, audio, and
video, to examine the cultural geography of American Indians and
the Euro-American world of Lewis and Clark.
If visitors prefer to look at artifacts, they can do so randomly
or in an order of their own choice. They can search by keyword
and limit their searches to specific criteria, such as material
or maker. Each of over 300 records contains a high-resolution
image of the artifact that visitors can examine in extremely close
detail.
Video/Film
The judges said:
Engaging & informative. Means of displaying videos is imaginative
(on TV set in a child's room, etc.); some photos of the actual
installation would have been useful. Tape covered wide range of
topics in many varied & fascinating settings in Japan. A revealing
multicultural experience for young (and older!) people. Fun, interesting,
& insightful.
A tip from the producers:
In the Five Friends from Japan exhibit, our goal was to portray childhood in contemporary Japan. We were interested in showing a culture that draws both on deep
Japanese tradition and current international pop culture. Since much of our audience is too young to read, we combined video with several hands-on experiences to
bring the culture to life. The editing style is designed to appeal to our young audience. Our lessons from this project include:
- collaborations between two museums are difficult but very rewarding;
- managing a low budget project with producer in Boston, film crew in Japan, and editor in Washington D.C. is not for the faint of heart;
- this is not the easiest way to make a movie.
Having said that, we also relearned the power of video as a vehicle for different places and cultures. Without this tool, the exhibit would be far less successful
in portraying the different personalities of our five subjects and creating a connection between them and our visitors.
Live theater/Video
The judges said:
Installation that is part immersive theater, part dramatic production all aimed at taking a dry document and making it come alive for audiences who visit the center.
They seem to have used just about every technology available to them including a live narrator who interacts with projected images. Appears to be very powerful when
viewed on-site.
A tip from the producers:
At the heart of the National Constitution Center is "Freedom
Rising," a state-of-the-art introductory media/theater experience
dedicated to connecting visitors-in a direct, engaging, and unforgettable
way-with the story of the U.S. Constitution. This 350 seat theater-in-the-round
production incorporates 360š video projection, live talent,
theatrical lighting, and surprise scenic elements to create a
magical environment in which visitors come to see themselves as
a force in the life of the Constitution and the Constitution as
an on-going force in all our lives. The show entertains, engages,
and moves audiences as diverse as school children and Supreme
Court justices and has been cited in the New York Times
and many other publications as offering a powerfully and memorable
experience for its visitors.
Creating the production was enormously challenging while offering
the opportunity to develop a process for merging live theater
with highly produced time-locked media...all of which has to run
flawlessly 15 times a day and most evenings 364 days a year!
Touch-screen kiosk
The judges said:
Very illuminating treatment of subject (traditional instruments of Puoro people of New Zealand). Easy to use, with good use of audio coordinated with fine views of
instruments; balance of technique, history and music itself. Interview footage very effective. This captured what may be a lost art and presents the music &
culture in an engaging, simple and direct way. I felt that I was watching something that was at risk of disappearing or slowly vanishing; this program made me
understand the importance of preserving the knowledge of such music, and the tradition of performing it. Informative on all aspects of instruments; nice design.
A tip from the producers:
This is a touchscreen interactive that is on display in the Taonga Maori Gallery (a gallery showing some treasures of the local indigenous people) in Puke Ariki (a
combined library, museum and visitor information centre in New Plymouth) in the North Island of New Zealand.
The instruments featured in the interactive are on display in glass cases beside this installation in the gallery. Many are traditional instruments that are not in
common, every day, use. Our aim was to capture and reflect some aspects of the significance of each instrument: the material they are made of; their history; how they
are used; how they are played and; most importantly for the gallery visitor to hear what the instruments sound like.
While we needed to convey all that information, we also needed to be aware of the fact that the Touchscreen is in an otherwise comparatively quiet space, and that
the museum wanted to keep visitors flowing through the gallery. The visitor interaction, therefore, had to be limited to a very short period of time.
Our own observations show this work is adored by all visitors alike: young and old; Maori and non-Maori. If anything we hold their attention for too long, as they
become intrigued by hearing these instruments, many for the first time, and of understanding their traditional roles in times such as birth and death and even their
healing powers.
Immersive documentary ride
The judges said:
A skillful repurposing of architecture, a large freight elevator, historical equipment, and a variety of multi-media audio and visual elements to tell the story of the
importance of the flour mills in Minneapolis.
A tip from the producers:
We were very fortunate to have experienced staff working on the project, and many of us have been creating multimedia object theaters — our term for immersive
media-driven exhibits — at MHS for over a decade. But this was our first ride! The complexity of this show challenged our team, but may have overwhelmed a less
seasoned group. Our prototyping warehouse was very valuable to developing this show; we built mock-ups of all the immersive environments. We tested elevator cab
seating for 40 visitors and demonstrated working factory equipment at each of the eight floors on the ride. Everything was prototyped — in cardboard and foam
core in full scale, if needed — helping us refine our show's story and test the technology. At the same time, the new Mill City Museum and its elevator shafts
were built within the flourmill's ruin.
MHS staff on the team included Multimedia Producers, Lighting Designer, Exhibit Designers, Technicians, Researchers and Senior Historian, Head of Exhibits, and
Production Manager. Consultants assisted with architecture, show control, moving machinery, surround sound and music, high-definition video, and the elevator. We are
thankful to the women and men — former workers at Minneapolis flourmills — who agreed to be interviewed for our show.
Immersive projects always take a tremendous amount of teamwork — the Flour Tower is the finest example I have witnessed.
Video
The judges said:
Remarkable use of technology to literally bring alive an archeologic site with costume, drama, & historical narrative. Of note: visitors can touch images of
artifacts on the computer screen and see filmed recreations projected onto the ruins themselves showing circumstances through which the objects ended up at site.
In all, an exciting and extremely informative presentation, with excellent script which interweaves the everyday lives of 18th figures of different social classes,
ages, ethnicities and races.
A tip from the producers:
Market Day, 1750 is an interactive, bilingual production lasting 4 minutes, 30 seconds-part of the new permanent exhibition Where Montréal Was Born. It evokes
all the significance and liveliness of Montréal's first public square. Set directly in the archaeological remains of the main gate leading to the marketplace in about
1750, this interactive virtual fresco brings to life various figures, who emerge from the stones and play out scenes from their lives. It also features some of the
artifacts found on the Pointe-à-Callière site.
By projecting the images directly onto the remains of Montréal's first public square, we wanted to integrate the human dimension in the message conveyed to
visitors and to show how these jumbled stones were once an actual site where people moved about and lived out their lives.
The major challenge in producing Market Day, 1750 was to create a "film-like" product to be projected simultaneously onto five "screens"
(actually, the stones in the archaeological site) by five DVD projectors. In addition to the traditional museology teams of historians and archaeologists, we owe our
success to the extremely hard work of a multidisciplinary team of multimedia specialists and theatre and film designers.
Gold: Bon Appétit! Julia Child's Kitchen at the Smithsonian
Silver: Anne Frank: The Writer: An Unfinished Story
Bronze: Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition
Honorable
Mention: Puoro — Instruments