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Interactive Filmmaking for Peace in Boston

In the Interactive Filmmaking Studio students apply collaborative creation methods to interactive filmmaking. Interactive films are non-linear, screen-based experiences that build upon audience interaction. They may exist in two or three dimensions, and be created for small, large, or immersive screens. Students will produce an interactive film in partnership with a teen organization in Boston to empower youth to promote peace, equity, and justice in their communities.

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Course Information

DEPARTMENT(S):
Visual & Media Arts

PROFESSOR:
David Kelleher

PARTNER ORGANIZATION: The Center for Teen Empowerment

LEARNING PARTNERS:
Tamenech Meneghini, Nate McLean-Nichols, Tomo Singh, Marley Christopher

The studio participants front of a white backdrop

A Look Inside the Co-Creation Process

"We want to make sure we’re working with young people, because a lot of times, young people are not given a seat at the table when it comes to creating solutions to the issues they’re dealing with.”

— Nate McLean-Nichols, Program Manager, TE Boston

The Interactive Filmmaking studio maintained a public blog documenting their collaborative work with the Center for Teen Empowerment. We've included a few excerpts below, but you can read the full blog here.

YOUTH CALLING FOR CHANGE, from a blog post by Tamenech Meneghini

In April, the Studio took a trip to Teen Empowerment's Roxbury site, where youth and adults work together to lead social change, discuss the community's prioritized issues, and empower one another through self organized initiatives. Our class joined TE to play “Piece or Peace,” an interactive gave created by a previous Social Impact Studio to challenge people to discuss and chose between multiple story outcomes. After playing the game, we discussed the severity of the story's outcome, and how there was not much room for a positive resolution. Similarly, in real life, youth are often put in positions that don’t allow them to see a positive outcome. Major issues like violence, substance abuse, housing, mental health, and school systems affect young people daily.

We asked the youth of Teen Empowerment, “What is one belief that people have that you believe needs to change?” We heard responses like:

  • adults need to show respect in order to receive it, regardless of their age
  • resources need to be handed to people of color the same way they are handed to white people
  • the definition of perfection needs to change
  • school systems need to care more about their students

After hearing these responses, sharing our own ideas, and collaborating with the youth, we seem to have a better understanding of what major issues are most visible for youth in these neighborhoods.

LOGISTICS FOR AN INTERACTIVE VIDEO, from a blog post by Max Eberle

Logistically planning for an interactive media piece requires in-depth preparation. There were many moving elements involved within the pre-production process of Crossovers & Connections.

The types of coordination that went into the process include:

  • Coordinating the different storylines and ensuring we didn’t miss any key shots or plot points while filming.
  • Understanding that we were creating essentially two music videos and that any work or planning we would do would have to be doubled.
  • Coordinating what equipment we would need for each scene and who would store it when.
  • Creating call sheets for cast and crew so we knew when to show up and who had to leave when.
  • Finding cast and locations to use when filming and filing the proper paperwork and permits for both.
  • Securing the proper music licenses for the songs so the Engagement Lab liable for copyright infringement.
  • Managing the post-production schedule so we would not fall behind and were able to finish the project in time.

Coordination is collaborative in nature so communication in this process was essential. Our collective had face-times and text chats almost daily regarding the project to ensure that all the proper steps were taken to create the outcome we desired.

In the end, lots of work behind the scenes went into this project. Much of this work might not be initially evident when first viewing Crossovers & Connections. Hopefully, this blog post gives a little more insight into our production planning process.

DEVELOPING A STORY COLLABORATIVELY, from a blog post by Taryn Noonan

Our story took a long time to develop. We began in our storyboarding prototype workshop, where we got an idea of how our script would eventually pan out on screen. Then, we had to get to work on writing the script. I began the first page and a half or two in Final Draft and pasted them into a Google Doc, as not everyone had access to the software and we needed to make sure they did. Linnea, Saskia, and I co-brainstormed the script together after Murk had laid out some visual beats for us to write out. We all discussed and I typed. I periodically asked other peers to check on the script and see if it felt natural/true to the nature of youth at Teen Empowerment. Tomo and Murk offered revisions in terms of dialogue and actions, and overall the class worked together to sort out the nature of how the script would go.

After that class session, Saskia and Linnea took over the script writing aspects and finished up the script. There were a few gaps Linnea asked me to check and fill, and I did. After we had our first two production days, we had to adapt the script in order to accommodate an actor who could no longer take part. Luckily, Deandre filled in for him, and we were able to adapt the script. We all agreed that we could film the back of Deandre and cheat camera angles, to make it appear as if he was really Ty. I think we did a good job and the added challenge really emphasized our problem-solving capabilities. I’m glad it all worked out in the end.

CODING AN INTERACTIVE MUSIC VIDEO, from a blog post by Linnea Downs

For the interactivity portion of our final film, we wanted the audience to have the option to select between the main two narratives of our music video. In order to do this, we used a program created in JSON to process the parallel tracks of the music videos and allow a viewer to switch between perspectives. Learning JSON was a little bit of a challenge because we only had enough time to learn what was relevant to the program. This meant that any bugs that came from parsing errors or definition errors would be a little more difficult to work around.

We experienced this when the videos were initially uploaded to the wrong folder and the code was running as programmed, but no video was showing. Because I didn’t know how to resolve errors in the code, only how to input what we needed into the modified version of the program, it took a long time to figure out what was causing the issue. Through this however, I learned how to troubleshoot issues by comparing strings and files of the working code to the ones that were having issues, and finally was able to input a product that we were proud of at the exhibition.

Though time posed a barrier for the coding portion of the project (without the clips needed, we couldn’t test a working version of the program), the intense collaboration that we’ve seen throughout the production culminated during the final moments before the presentation when our group members finished clip editing and they were put into the program with a short turnaround. I think this organization effort to make sure that each person worked on a node for the program, and each node was properly named and functioning in the program represented how quickly and efficiently we were able to work as a team in a concentrated effort.

Going forward, while the code presented at the exhibition is representative of the work we’ve put into the project, I think some timing tweaks and further adjustments to the style to make the options more visually appealing would make a strong addition to the piece in terms of putting out a polished product.

Spring 2024 - Interactive Filmmaking for Peace in Boston Studio Participants

Studio Contact

Are you an Emerson student interested in enrolling in this course in the future? Please contact  [email protected] to learn more!

Spring 2024 - Interactive Filmmaking for Peace in Boston Partner