1. A WEB
DOCUMENTARY
SURVIVAL KIT:
THE ESSENTIALS IN <10 MINUTES
THE PODCAST VERSION
INSTRUCTOR: JOANNE TEOH
HOSTED ON: HTTP://ERNIE.SG

2. BROUGHT TO
YOU BY:
AMIRAH
ERNIE
LIP TENG
ZHEN WEI

3. GROUNDS COVERED
• Traditional documentary versus web documentary
• Linear versus non-linear
• One-way versus interactive
• Possibilities
• Empowering self-representations
• The audience as active participant
• Challenges
• Funding dilemmas
• Collaborating for diverse skillsets
• Difficulties with user-generated content and limitations of
bandwidth

4. HOW TO USE THIS
• First, sit back and enjoy the show.
• Next, browse over to other topics for a deeper
understanding by clicking on them in the final slide.
• YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED!

5. WHAT IS A TRADITIONAL
DOCUMENTARY?
• The Wee Kim Wee Journalism major says a documentary
is…
• based on the recreation of an actual event, era, life story,
etc. that purports to be factually accurate
• Its outcome is inevitably subjective

6. WHAT IS A WEB
DOCUMENTARY?
• An online documentary that employs multimedia tools as
a new way of telling stories on the internet
• Non-linear narratives

7. WHAT IS A WEB
DOCUMENTARY?
• Fundamentally changes the way the storyteller relates to
the perception of the viewer

8. WHAT IS A WEB
DOCUMENTARY?
• The internet is Twitter, that everything has to be short and
your video cannot exceed 5 minutes out of the window
• The web documentary supports narrative journalism by
developing journalistic narratives with images at the
centre

9. EXAMPLES OF WEB
DOCUMENTARIES
• Journey to the End of Coal

10. EXAMPLES OF WEB
DOCUMENTARIES
• The Places We Live

11. THE ADVANTAGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• For individuals and communities: better self-
representations by making it possible to beyond the
camera angle
• Example: Nowhere Safe - the narrative basically zooms
into the same photo of a man's face over a span of 4
minutes

12. THE ADVANTAGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• Deeper narratives for the audience, more autonomy to
subjects of documentaries
• For individuals and communities: speak and capture their
own stories better

13. THE ADVANTAGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• For the audience: from passive receiver into active
participant
• The audience’s participation and interaction is demanded
• The audience can explore at own pace and liking

14. THE ADVANTAGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• For the audience, one’s level of interest is greatly
enhanced
• For the activist journalist: a powerful tool for social
change

15. THE CHALLENGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• Production cost
• Prison Valley, a web documentary exploring the prison
industry cost a hefty 240 000 euros
• Funding is particularly difficult for documentarians
• Problem further compounded since web documentarians’
work often defy traditional conceptions of film
• Fortunately, web documentaries can be cheaper to
produce
• Highrise: Out My Window, a 360 degrees project which
allows you to view real-life locations around the world
would have cost $750000 if done as a film than the
$150000 it had taken for the web documentary

16. THE CHALLENGES OF
WEB DOCUMENTARIES
• Technical Challenge
• The challenge of collaboration amongst a diverse group of
individuals with different expertise
• Legal and ethical implications of crowdsourcing ideas
• Bandwidth
• More pros and cons

17. THE WEB DOCUMENTARY
AS A GAME-CHANGER
• The Macro picture:
• How is web journalism changing and how is it impacting
society?
• Issues and critical perspectives
• The Micro picture:
• How to produce a web documentary? What is required in
terms of team, skills and processes?
THE ESSENTIALS IN <10 MINUTES
A WEB DOCUMENTARY SURVIVAL KIT
THE PODCAST VERSION
HOSTED ON: HTTP://ERNIE.SG