This document discusses different approaches to storytelling and interactive journalism. It begins by defining what constitutes a story from both a journalist's perspective of who, what, when, where, why and how, and from a general perspective of having a beginning, middle and end. It then examines the history of storytelling from ancient epics to modern story structures. The document also analyzes different types of interactive formats and non-linear story structures that can be used in interactive documentaries.

1. 1
WHAT IS A STORY ? A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO REPORTING

2. 2
Founder of
Chewbahat Storytelling Lab
Co-founder of
Storycode Paris
Photojournalist (France, U.S.A)
(Abaca, Polaris, Gamma, Corbis)
Author of
The Moneyocracy Project
Co-author of
Grozny: Nine City (interactive part)
Winner of the 2014 Bayeux-Calvados Prize
for Web Reportage
BIO

3. 3
WHAT IS A STORY?

4. 4
FOR A JOURNALIST,
A STORY IS:
WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE,
WHY AND HOW

5. 5
FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD,
A STORY IS:
BEGINNING, MIDDLE, END

6. 6
TELLING A STORY IMPLIES
THAT WE USE A COMMON
LANGUAGE WITH OUR
AUDIENCE

7. 7
WE HAVE TO ENGAGE WITH

8. 8
THE EFFECT OF A STORY

9. 9
“Storytelling reveals
meaning without
committing the error
of defining it.”
Hannah
Arendt,
Poli0cal
theorist
&
philosopher

10. 10
“Narrative is related to
the idea of context. No
matter how complete or
comprehensive a
narrative appears.”
David
Campbell,
Professor
at
the
Colgate
University,
New
York

11. 11
THE STORY OF STORY
From Gilgamesh to Vogler

12. 12
THE EPIC OF
GILGAMESH

13. 13
THE POETICS
by
ARISTOTLE

14. 14

15. 15
THE HERO’S
JOURNEY by
JOSEPH
CAMPBELL

16. 16

17. 17
THE WRITER’S
JOURNEY by
CHRIS VOGLER

18. 18

19. 19
INTERACTIVE JOURNALISM
Type of New Formats

20. 20
INTERACTIVE FORMATS
INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY
LONG-FORM
SERIOUS GAME
PARTICIPATIVE EXPERIENCE
And more…

21. 21

22. 22

23. 23

24. 24
INTERACTIVE FORMATS
INTERACTIVE DOCUMENTARY
LONG-FORM
SERIOUS GAME
PARTICIPATIVE EXPERIENCE
And more…

25. 25

26. 26

27. 27

28. 28

29. 29
NON LINEAR STORY
STRUCTURE
A panorama of the different structures used in
interactive documentaries.

30. 30
LINEAR STRUCTURE
The most classical way to tell a story.
Examples: Bucarest Below Ground – Le Corps Incarcéré – 127 Rue de la Garenne
+ : Easy to create, easy to use, that’s the traditional way to structure a story (chapters, pages
etc) . You can easily control the narrative arc. Info overload (difference between nb of stories
available and stories actually seen) is null.
- : No interaction, little engagement, every users haas the same XP (experience)

31. 31
DYNAMIC OBJECT
STRUCTURE
Very common structure for interactive documentaries. The user enter the story by a hub
of “objects” (map, list, mosaïc). Not for fiction
Examples: The iron curtains – Behind the Veil
+ : Apparent simplicity, Liberty, possibility to aggregate non-homogenous pieces of content .
- : Risk to loose the intention of the author, Info Overload very high, the user can feel lost in
front of these multiple choices.

32. 32
FISHBONE
STRUCTURE
A very well known structure in interactive documentaries, that the used by ”Prison
Valley”. A mix between linear and non-linear structure that allows to visit additional
content.
Examples: Pine Point – Prison Valley – The Defector
+ : Strong narrative structure, good interactivity, the user can see all the content, the author is
“safe”.
- : Can be deceptive because if the story stands alone, why should see other contents? Info
Overload moderate, be carefull not to create more than 2 levels of content.

33. 33
BRANCHING
STRUCTURE
The story gives different choices to the user (2 or more), at certain points of the story,
the user has to decide whether he takes left or right and that decision will shape the rest
of his/her XP
Examples: Journey to the end of coal
+ : Interactivity very high, lots of choices, true sensation of liberty, Info Overload low, the user is
engaged with the choices he/she makes.
- : High cost of production (lots of choices), a part of the story won’t be seen by the user,
necessity to think about different type of scenario

34. 34
PARALLEL PATHS
STRUCTURE
Branching story organized around gathering points, the user has to go through these
points.
Examples: Jour de Vote – 6 million dead
+ : Interactivity very high, lots of choices, liberty a bit more limited but the feeling is still here,
cost of production moderate, engagement is pretty high due to good interactivity
- : Can be deceptive for those who expect a true freedom

35. 35
THREADED
STRUCTURE
The story is narrated from different perspectives. It is a parallel story structure but with
different characters in which different stories are crossing each others.
Examples: Inside Disaster Haïti - Amour
+ : Good User experience, different stories can be experienced. The user can jump from node
to node as he/she wishes.
- : Info Overload can be high, very risky to loose the user. The links between stories can be
complicated. Complexity at the production level.

36. 36
TOOLS

37. 37
xmind www.xmind.net
FREE

38. freemind http://freemind.sourceforge.net
38
FREE

39. 39

40. 40

41. 41