Three case studies
The longlist showed us that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to storytelling with digital culture in terms of format, content and approach. However, we see that our examples lead the viewer to feel that they are informed and want to know more. To find out more, we then looked in detail at three examples of very different digital storytelling experiences covering a range of formats, target audiences and resources. We used the Europeana Impact Playbook’s Empathy Map to identify the emotional engagement members felt, and to discuss how the experience led them to feel that way.
A Picture of Change for a World in Constant Motion is a long-form text/image blog ('close read') from Jason Farago of the New York Times, focusing on Katsushika Hokusai's woodblock print ‘Ejiri in Suruga Province.’ The storytelling is perceived by the audience as very engaging and inspiring. Its style of narration and language is informal, personal and evocative (multisensory). Image are presented with a close-up technique that produces compassion for the characters and makes the audience feel like they are travelling through the time and the space with the author. Hear speakers Alicia Desantis and Gabriel Gianordoli from the New York Times talk about the Close Reads series in our webinar.
#MetKids is a digital resource from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City composed of an interactive map and a digital storytelling discovery strategy made for, with and by kids 7-12 years-old. The emotional engagement #MetKids produces is based on creating connections with the past, involving the audience actively, fostering a sense of wonder and the thrill of getting close to an object in order to discover the hidden stories behind it. We hear from Sofie Andersen and Benjamin Korman from The Met in our webinar.
‘You are Flora Seville’ from the Egham Museum is a choose-your-own-adventure Twitter experience following the fictional Flora Seville, illustrated with the museum's collections. The story of Flora Seville is well-structured; readers feel immersed in the historical context in which Flora lived through the museum’s showcased collections, and drawn into her personal (fictional) life through the informal, personal style and the agency to choose what Flora does next. There is an element of surprise along with the possibility to choose how to continue the story. Steven Franklin tells us more about Flora in our webinar.