UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI DATE: March 7th, 2003 I, April Combs Mann , hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Design in: the School of Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning It is entitled: DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-LINEAR DOCUMENTARY FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB Approved by: Karen Monzel J. A. Chewning Kevin Burke DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NON-LINEAR DOCUMENTARY FOR THE WORLD WIDE WEB A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF DESIGN In the School of Design Of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning 2003 by April Combs Mann B.A. Indiana University, 1990 Thesis Committee: Associate Professor Karen Monzel, Chair Associate Professor J. A. Chewning Associate Professor Kevin Burke ABSTRACT This thesis details the process, design and development of a non-linear documentary created for the World Wide Web about The Lotus World Music and Arts Festival 2001. This annual World Music event brings musicians from around the world to Bloomington, Indiana. The current advancements in bandwidth available to the average home Internet user allow a richness of interactivity and media to tell this non-linear narrative on the World Wide Web. The website developed for this thesis, “Lotus Documentary 2001”, takes this local Festival event back out to a global audience via the Internet. Because the Festival takes place in eight venues simultaneously, no audience member at the event is able to see all of the performances taking place at any given moment. The “Lotus Documentary 2001” website encompasses multiple experiences at the same moment, allowing the user access to events that originally happen simultaneously. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to my committee, Karen Monzel, J. A. Chewning, and Kevin Burke, for their insights, ideas, concerns and criticism. I am fortunate to have had their extraordinary scope and energy put into my thesis project. I am honored to have had them on my committee. Particularly, thank you to my Chair, Karen Monzel, for her never-ending patience, time and encouragement throughout my graduate career. Her influence has been profound. Many professors and colleagues at DAAP have enriched my graduate career. Special thanks go to Yoshiko Burke and Mike Zender for their inspiring creative “mucho gusto”. Their strong visions clarified my concept for this thesis. Thank you also to Marty Plumbo, Dave Davis, Micah Zender, Sean P. Hafer and Diane Sod for their advice, expertise and goodwill throughout. A special shout-out to Jeffrey Bennett and Paul Mealy for their help and generosity. Lee Williams and LuAnne Holiday deserve a tremendous thank you for their fabulous festival. What an inspiration! Also thanks to my generous volunteers: Steve Cotter, Karen Combs, Janet Ivas, Linda Rosier, Robert Meitus, Carrie Newcomer, Tom Stio, Kevin Atkins, Levi Thomas, and Rick Dietz for your thoughtful work for this documentary. Thank you to my spectacular family, both Combs and Mann, for their support, creativity, and encouragement. Thank you to my two little girls, Lyla and Mia Mann, who never help me get my work done, but the joy they bring is immeasurable. I feel lucky to have them in my life. Most of all, I want to thank my exceptional husband, Michael Mann, for his support, commitment, and wisdom. I could not have pursued and completed my graduate work without his generosity, patience, and personal sacrifice. - 5 - TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: THE INTERNET DOCUMENTARY 1.1 Internet Technology 3 1.2 Non-linear vs. Linear Documentary 6 1.3 The Non-linear Lotus Festival Documentary 8 1.4 Comparison with other Music Festival Websites 9 1.5 Comparison with other Narrative Websites 10 CHAPTER TWO: THE EVENT 2.1 The Festival 13 2.2 The Musicians 13 2.3 Festival Visual Arts 14 2.4 Festival Name 14 2.5 September 11th Effects 15 CHAPTER THREE: PRODUCTION 3.1 Capturing the Event 18 3.2 Project Volunteers: Preproduction 18 3.3 Project Volunteers: Postproduction 19 3.4 Audio and Video Preproduction 19 3.5 Video and Audio Production 20 3.6 Video Postproduction 21 3.7 Other Resources 23 CHAPTER FOUR: DESIGN 4.1 Technical Aspects in Design 24 4.2 Aesthetics Issues in Design 25 4.3 Opening Video Loading Page 26 4.4 Main Interface Design 27 4.5 Section Introductions 29 4.6 The Event Section 30 4.7 Musicians’ Section 33 4.8 Background Section 34 4.9 Summary and Conclusion 36 BIBLIOGRAPHY 38 Books 38 Online 39 - 1 - LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Screenshot of the main interface image…………………………………………………………....25 Figure 2. Screenshot of ripple transition………………..…………………………….……………………………..26 Figure 3. Screenshot of the introduction video page…………………………………….…………...….....27 Figure 4. Screenshot of the main interface with the four sections delineated...……......28 Figure 5. Screenshot of the site pull-down navigation bar. ……………………....…………………....29 Figure 6. Screenshot of the Event section animated introduction. ………………….…......…...30 Figure 7. Screenshot of the Event section timeline with journal rollover. …………..…….....31 Figure 8. Screenshot of an Event section journal entry. ……...………………..……………………....32 Figure 9. Screenshot of the Musician section map with rollover. …………..………………...…..33 Figure 10. Screenshot example of the Musician section with a band chosen…....……….34 Figure 11. Screenshot example of the Background section with rollover…..………….….…35 Figure 12. Screenshot example of the Background section..…………………………….……………36 - 2 - CHAPTER ONE: THE INTERNET DOCUMENTARY 1.1 Internet Technology The Internet was initially developed as a tool of science. Universities, corporate research departments, and the military shared information across a string of computers networked through low-speed modems. These groups communicated with each other remotely using command line interfaces such as telnet and FTP. The World Wide Web, “the Web”, was introduced by CERN (The European Laboratory for Particle Physics). Made public in 1991, the Web used pages programmed in HTML with hypertext links that were viewable in a browser called WorldWideWeb.1 This browser’s user-friendly display of text and images made the Internet accessible to a wider user base.2 Combined with the technology to create a smaller, less expensive home-use desktop computer, the World Wide Web moved from a its original academic and researcher community to a wider mass audience. It was snapped up by entrepreneurs looking for new venues to reach consumers. The ensuing rise and fall of many Internet companies proved that the world was ready for the Web, but perhaps this technology was more suitable as a resource for information and entertainment than for retail profits. The World Wide Web transmits information along channels such as telephone lines and television cables. The speed at which this information travels is called bandwidth. Originally these transmissions were via modems with very slow data rates, or what is known as low bandwidth. When the Web hit big in 1996, newbies used to the personal computer environment naturally expected a certain level of sound and vision from the new kid on the high-tech block. Unfortunately, thanks to bandwidth restrictions, it just wasn't possible to display full-motion video with stereo sound over the Web. Some Web surfers … raised on television … wanted more. And they didn't want to wait 1 Berner-Lee, Tim. World Wide Web Consortium. [online] <http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/WorldWideWeb.html.> Accessed Jan. 29, 2003. 2 Howe, Denis, Editor. The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. [online] <http://www.foldoc.org/> Accessed Jan. 28, 2003. - 3 - for it. …[But] moving multimedia through the Internet is like sucking a bowling ball through a garden hose.3 In the late 1990s, the Internet became popular with the average American consumer. Communication companies began to jump on the bandwidth issue. Phone companies developed ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) in response to the need for a high-bandwidth connection for home-use. ADSL service works by connecting a pair of modems to each end of a telephone line, with one modem being located in the telephone company's central office and the other at the home or office of the user. Because ADSL operates over twisted- pair copper telephone lines, …the existing wires should not have to be altered. ADSL can transmit information 10 times faster than integrated services digital network (ISDN), which operates at 128 kbps, and about 50 times faster than a 28.8 dpbs dial-up modem. One hundred pages of text can be downloaded in 1.5 seconds using ADSL service.4 Cable companies have also developed television cable connections to the Internet: Using the local cable television network instead of the local phone network to connect to the Internet's main arteries, a cable modem hauls tons of data at high speeds -- theoretically up to more than 25 megabits per second (25 million bits per second, or 25 mbps), but in practical terms, 500 kilobits per second (500,000 bits per second, or 500 kbps) to 2.5 mbps. 5 As a result, bandwidth speeds have increased dramatically. As this increase in bandwidth becomes available to the average American household, download times have decreased. In 1994, Web and Technology Magazine Hotwired first appeared online: 3Powell, Adam. Adam’s Multimedia Lesson 1 “Historically Speaking, the Bandwidth Blues.” 1998. Hotwired’s Webmonkey. [online] <http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/98/17/index0a_page2.html.> Accessed Nov.19, 2002. 4 Rockwell, Mark. “ADSL Gains Momentum with Vendors.” Aug. 15, 1996. InternetWeek.com. [online] <http://www.internetwk.com/081996/news0816.htm> Accessed Feb. 16, 2003. 5 Lewis, Peter H. “State of the Art; The Year Of Big Bandwidth.” Feb.11, 1999. The New York Times. [online]. <www.nytimes.com > Accessed Feb .16, 2003.