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 Casting a Wider 'Net with Electric Shadows by Cara White 
Perhaps it is true that soon after the first human beings banded together, one turned to another while sitting around a campfire and said, "Tell me a story." The compelling desire to be entertained, amused - even frightened - by a story is surely as old as our species. But today, many of us find ourselves far from that campfire, isolated from our birth families, by geography and even by modern technology. Like tales around a virtual campfire, ITVS television programs have told their stories from El Barrio to the farming communities of the Midwest, from the living rooms of sprawling suburbia to a community center on a Lakota reservation. Yet the media landscape is rapidly changing. There are audiences who are not tuning in to television, and others whose stories are not being told. As the digital divide shrinks and accessibility to the Web grows, the need for content representing diverse points of view is increasingly evident. Electric Shadows is a pilot project designed to spark the interest of those who are not being reached through mainstream media. With so much of the Web a passive experience, ITVS wanted to devise a means of turning casual "viewers" into active "users." Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) as a distinct production funding source separate from Open Call, and commissioned by ITVS, Electric Shadows seeks to change the nature of the Web by offering sites that draw users in, encouraging them to leave their own footprints and share their own stories. In developing Electric Shadows, ITVS convened think tanks, bringing together experts working in new media as well as traditional film and video makers who are beginning to explore digital platforms. "The think tanks confirmed that there is a tremendous need for compelling, socially responsive content on the Web," says Claire Aguilar, director of programming for ITVS, "particularly content that addresses the needs of ITVS's core constituency of youth and minority audiences." The first projects commissioned for Electric Shadows focus on the theme of cultural storytelling. "We felt that cultural storytelling was a good showcase for this initiative," says Aguilar. "It serves our mission of giving voice to underserved audiences." After all, it is through the stories of a people, told from generation to generation, that a culture comes to define itself. Each family has its own stories that celebrate uniqueness, yet those same stories can be shared with others to create cross-cultural understanding. "Since September 11, it is even more important that cultural understanding and tolerance are essential themes," adds Cathy Fischer, Web producer for ITVS. "Are we really that different? What do the storytellers tell us? What will resonate and inspire users to share their stories? How can a community with little or no voice be revealed and heard in a meaningful way?" After an extensive application process, FACE TO FACE and CIRCLE OF STORIES were the first two projects selected for Electric Shadows. "We chose these two projects because we were excited about their approach, using the emotional impact of video with the interactive power of the Web," says Aguilar. "While each project is unique, they both focus on stories within specific cultures that speak to all cultures." The two sites share other elements: both use real people to tell stories in a rich media environment that illuminates and entertains. Both explore the themes of cultural survival, tolerance and diversity. And both sites match up creative teams of accomplished traditional makers with new media innovators. Second Story, an award-winning Portland-based new media company, was chosen to work with the filmmakers to create the sites. Rob Mikuriya, creator of FACE TO FACE, met Second Story's Brad Johnson at the American Film Institute, and they were his first and only choice. "Second Story understands design, interactivity and technology, but their viewpoint is entirely story-driven, so every move they make serves the purpose of creating interest in and emotional connections to the story being told," says Mikuriya. "This makes my job easy. It's like having the best director, the best DP, the best art director, and the best editor all working together on your film." Coincidentally, Jilann Spitzmiller and Hank Rogerson, the creators of CIRCLE OF STORIES, also chose Second Story to realize their vision. "The first time I saw a Second Story website, I had an epiphany. The website played like a film, and a door blew open in my mind - yes, the visceral power of film can be translated to the Web. I wanted to be a part of this exploration," says Spitzmiller. Set to launch on www.itvs.org/facetoface in summer 2002, FACE TO FACE connects the experience of Japanese Americans in the early 1940s with those of Arab Americans today through a series of personal stories told through audio, photos and Flash animation. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, people of Japanese descent living in the U.S. were subjected to numerous unprovoked attacks and an outpouring of racial hatred and distrust, eventually resulting in the internment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of them U.S. citizens, in relocation camps. Today, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Arab Americans and others of Middle Eastern descent fear for their lives and worry about their own futures. Almost sixty years have passed since World War II, but have things really changed? FACE TO FACE reveals true stories of anger, fear, hatred, confusion, loyalty and trust - the emotional voices of people talking about what it means to be an American with the face of the enemy. "I am a third generation Japanese American or sansei," says filmmaker Mikuriya. "Since the Japanese American internment was such a big part of my family's history, I have always been looking for a context in which to explore what happened. As my perspective cleared following the horrifying and tragic events of September 11, I realized that a strong connection was developing between what happened to my parents and other Japanese Americans in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and what was happening to Arab and Muslim Americans now. FACE TO FACE was a way to place both of these traumatic events into a context that was meaningful, engaging and accessible to a wide audience." CIRCLE OF STORIES, by Spitzmiller and Rogerson is a website honoring and exploring Native American storytelling and the importance of the storytelling tradition, not only to tribes but to all of us. "We wanted to create a site that recognizes the value, diversity and relevance of Native American cultures in today's society," says Rogerson. Rooted in oral tradition, whether through song, prayer or narrative, storytelling is a highly developed art within Native American cultures. Stories and songs are a learning system, a curriculum on how to live a good life. Nested and preserved in the narratives are the social ways, archetypes, collective knowledge, history, jokes, foibles and relationships with the natural world. In a time when tribes are continuing to rapidly lose their languages and lands, stories hold a true urgency and importance to their future. Set to launch on PBS.org in fall 2002, CIRCLE OF STORIES is being produced in collaboration with Melissa Nelson and Philip M. Klasky of the Cultural Convervancy, a Native American organization dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of indigenous cultures. Visitors to CIRCLE OF STORIES will hear and see stories being told by Native culture bearers, or storytellers, from the four directions - North, South, East and West - and will also learn the meaning of these stories in relation to tribal identity. The culture bearers explain that the stories they tell are actually lessons and hard-earned knowledge, drawn and honed from the experience of their ancestors. This valuable knowledge is relevant and crucial to our survival today. "We were lucky enough to experience this relevance firsthand when we met Corbin Harney, a Western Shoshone elder and world-renowned healer," says Spitzmiller. "We filmed him at dawn, singing a cycle of songs in Shoshone which relate the importance of connecting yourself to the land and all that is contained within it - the water, the animals, the plants." Harney calls this philosophy the Nature Way of life. He says, "When you connect yourself onto the trees, this water, this land, that's what the story's about...If it weren't for water, we wouldn't be alive. So, water is life. Air is life. Mother earth is life. Everything is life and we should never forget that." Presenting Corbin Harney and the words and songs of three other Native storytellers, CIRCLE OF STORIES will use RealAudio and video, photos, graphics and Flash animation to enhance the compelling rhythms and tales. Selected stories can be heard in their original Native language as well as English. Users will be able to learn about the tribal history and landscape of each culture bearer, and will also be able to contact the storytellers directly through the website to learn more. Visitors will also be inspired to share their own stories through a storytelling contest and a section called "How to Record Grandma." Ultimately, what the makers of FACE TO FACE and CIRCLE OF STORIES are bringing to life is something totally new. "We're not making a television program and we're not producing a website - at least not in the ordinary sense," says Mikuriya. "We're creating something different. Something that's never been done before. "I believe that the emotional power of the personal stories can be combined with the interactive power of the Internet to create a new kind of media experience, an experience in which the user has the ability to explore those aspects of the material which are most interesting to him or her, creating their own unique narrative each and every time they visit the site." Rogerson adds, "Telling stories on film is a very satisfying experience, yet those stories may only get seen on television once a year. With this website, the access to the viewing audience is unlimited, and that is very exciting. The stories can be heard around the world, at all hours of the day. With a website, you can also offer a rich context, which isn't always possible with a narrative film." Cara White is a publicist and writer living in South Carolina. |
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