How do you define storytelling in the digital age? Must it involve social media, technological integration and 4K? Surely not — however, it doesn't hurt. Storytelling at its finest, whether through visual imagery, music or the written word, should evoke a visceral reaction in its audience. There's something to be said about inviting that audience to participate in a story, and, with technology on our side, the options for how to do so are infinite. Due to the incredible amount of data and creative opportunities that the Internet presents, storytellers can really push boundaries with their art; we've seen this particularly with the concept of crowd-sourcing. Data visualists, musicians, authors and directors have used crowd-sourcing as a way to broaden a project's scope, create a more meaningful outcome and build something that's a living, breathing interactive thing. Here, we explore some great examples of interactive and crowd-sourced storytelling at its finest.
If anyone could speak to the power of crowd-sourced, collaborative storytelling, it would be Aaron Koblin. A digital media artist and entrepreneur, Koblin has utilized his passion for data, computer science, technology and storytelling to create numerous mind-blowing, interactive online projects. From music videos for Radiohead and Arcade Fire to data visualizations and crowd-sourced experiments, each of Koblin's projects emphasizes the significance of creative storytelling. We spoke to Koblin about some of his work, as well as his thoughts on the future of storytelling.
The whole could be greater than the sum of its parts.
Johnny Cash ProjectThis global collective art project was a joint effort between Aaron Koblin and director Chris Milk. In celebration of Johnny Cash, fans across the world were asked to create a unique and personal portrait of Johnny using a single image as a template. These crowd-sourced images were strung together and integrated into a collective whole: A music video for "Ain't No Grave."
The Exquisite ForestThis online collaborative animation project, another collaboration between Koblin and Milk, allowed participants to create short animations, building off of previous submissions, resulting in an ever-evolving, tree-like narrative.
"What It’ll Take"
For singer Graham Coxon's music video, director Ninian Doff helped to create a collaborative, crowd-sourced creation using 100 different videos of people dancing, submitted from over 22 different countries. We talked to Doff about the inspiration behind the video and the power of crowd-sourced storytelling.
It really felt like the Internet at its best in that I put a message out to the world saying, 'Hey. Here's a fun creative idea I want to try' and literally every continent in the world took part.
To raise money for their album, indie-pop duo Good Old War called on their fans to contribute to the music-making process. Through a PledgeMusic campaign, they raised $52,685 — 13% of their goal. Of course, they offered some pretty sweet items for fans who donated, like swag, guitar lessons, backstage passes and personalized voicemails recorded by band members Keith Goodwin and Dan Schwartz.
Now, we're embarking on a crowd-sourcing experiment of our own, teaming up with Good Old War and utilizing the creative power of the Mashable audience. Recently, we asked you to tweet us technology love stories — interpretation of what that means is entirely up to you. These stories will later become the inspiration for an original song. Our aim? To create something that you feel connected to. Stay tuned as we continue on this journey — it's going to be a heck of a ride.