10 Tips from Kim Jong-Il About Interactive Docs: SxSW 2013

I was attending everything I could on video this year because the Library had recently launched our video initiative. I had never heard of an interactive documentary, but this one blew me away when I learn about it. 

"The Defector" documents the struggle of those fleeing North Korea. The film is accompanied by an online video game (for lack of a better term) where you are the defector, and you have to make choices to get you and your family across the border. It's a very scary build your own adventure.

For educators who like to bring documentaries into the classroom, this adds a whole new component to to engage audiences (i.e. students) with the content. 

Hashtags: @thedefectormov

Take Aways:

• Interactive Documentaries add an online interactive component to reinforce the message of the documentary. 
• Tip #1-Great ideology creates great times: Docs are niche market. Interactive docs broaden that market. 
• Tip #2 Look at things: What have other people done? 
• Tip #3-Make Movies by Any Means Possible 
• Tip #4-A man who dreads trials and difficulties cannot become a revolutionary 
• Tip #5-Before you launch, test it: Have your project viewed by fresh eyes. Use feedback to adjust what you are doing. Build in the beta time. 
• Tip #6-Use propaganda: Talk about it early and often. 

Library Applications:

• With our new video offerings, are there short doc opportunities? Can we think about any of our content in this way? 
• Are there any interactive documentaries that would be good resources for instruction? What can we do to make those available? 

Suggested Readings:

• http://blog.thedefectormovie.com/ 
• thefwa.com 
• fastcocreate.com 
• doclab.org 

Suggested Tools: interactive.thedefectormovie.com