for thousands of miles

As of my writing this, there are 11 12 different Chrome Experiments under the webGL video collection - I am writing for two reasons, 1) because I would like to help add to that collection, and 2) I need your help in doing so. 

An Open Proposal to Google Creative Labs

The short of it: I have a feature documentary - titled For Thousands of Miles, or FToM for short - about bicycling across the United States, I would like to release this film online for free using a special player that takes full-advantage of webGL to expand and share additional stories within the film that otherwise could not be shared in a linear manner.

Why approach Google Creative Labs? To be blunt, I can’t accomplish this alone. To build a collection of in-depth experiences tied around an hour and forty minute long film will require a tremendous amount of teamwork and technical skill that I alone do not possess. 

I can see three roads to take here, 1) find a way to fund and organize this team independently, as I am not independently wealthy, this option raises more questions than it answers; 2) reach out to the same Creative Lab that built projects like ROME or Wilderness Downtown, the same Lab that best understands what challenges exist in building an experience like this; or 3) admit that I’m over my head and lost, and abandoned this idea. 

My hope is that the people at Google Creative Labs have been waiting, waiting for a chance to show that webGL can be used outside of just animated shorts and music videos, waiting to show that the technology can expand traditional films in a truly unique way, a unique way that TV or movie theaters cannot even come close to matching; my hope is they’ve just been waiting for the right kind of film. 

I will do my best to list out aspects of this special player that I know exists in other examples, but some of these elements, such as streaming an HTML5-friendly movie file, vs pre-loading an entire movie file, are things I have yet to see done with more prominent webGL video projects. 

Also, all of the non-linear story-lines exist only in pause-mode of the feature film, that’s an important note, in play-mode the film is full-screen and has no scrub-bar, volume control, or pause / play button; clicking anywhere on the film while it is playing will enter pause-mode and from there all kinds of things open up for the viewer that are specific to scenes. 

Having said that, here we go: 

• Maps view: Selected scenes of FToM that take place on the open road, which many do, will be matched up within a mix of Google streetview, Google maps and even Google earth view. UI Notes: 1) streetview would take advantage of webGL to render color-filters that more-closely match the currently paused-scene in the film, also, the current scene will snap as closely as possible to the streetview-world around it, 2) Earth View would especially apply in scenes near heavy mountain ranges, such Glacier National Park, 3) Maps view tied to scenes in the film will help reveal the overall path taken between Washington state and Maine. 

• Areas of the film that reveal specific locations in maps will allow users to submit photos from those locations - most of the routes in the film are from popular bicycle paths across the country, it is likely a huge collection of other traveller’s photos and videos could be used to connect strangers through the film that have taken similar journeys. 

• Selected scenes that contain narration will let viewers use pause-mode to dive into different versions of the script. Much of which was handwritten or typed out on a typewriter, the pages often have early notes and ideas sketched out in the margins, some lines in the film were scribbled down on napkins, and all of this would be explorable to viewers. 

• Moments of FToM that feature music will let viewers download music, share that piece of music to their blog or twitter account… other pieces, pieces that feature original music created for the film, will show behind-the-scenes footage of the music creation process. 

• Certain footage in the film has been used in supporting videos, for example: a scene of the two main characters saying goodbye for the next 4,000 miles plays out both in the feature film as well as in an earlier making-of series, this connection will appear in pause-mode allowing the viewer to shift from continuing that scene in the film, or branching off into the making-of regarding that scene.

• Several moments in the film touch on early influence, relying on archival footage from as far back as the 1920s - pausing the film during these scenes would let the viewer watch original newsreels mentioning the people in that scene, or read through autobiography excerpts, scanned letters that are now in the public record.

• Using either browser-cookies or connecting accounts (facebook, google +, etc) viewers can visit the film from other computers and pick up where they left off, most importantly with unlocking moments or features in the film’s player, such as: commentary tracks that could be switched on and off, or downloaded from within the player to iTunes, etc. This might be represented as a Daisydisk-like sunburst diagram of how much of the project you’ve explored, the middle diagram might represent the film itself, and the outer rings might represent different experiences. Whatever visual approach is used, the viewer will be aware that they have explored, say, only 40% of the film - and give ideas to where additional stories are linked. 

• Certain moments of the film would unlock different views, views that wouldn’t be available on first loading the site. Say, for an example, you stop the film 16 minutes in, these scene happens to reveal a map location of where it was recorded, it also links to a special view that shows a US map with highlighted areas of where scenes happen, and you can jump to a scene by location vs jumping to a scene by timecode. 

• Weather elements in pause-mode: During a 4,200 mile bicycle trip across the country you experience a fair amount of weather: snow, rain, fields of floating pollen. During the scenes in the film where these kinds are visible, the viewer would see an extension of this in pause-mode. WebGL rain or snow would fill the browser window that borders the paused / contracted video-window. Other features would come about in these paused scenes, say script exploration or a making-of for a piece of music in the film, but around them there would be light or heavy rain, or a snow storm spinning around the script pages related to those scenes. 

• Sound Design will be an important part of the viewer experience in pause-mode, just because the viewer has paused the feature film doesn’t mean the mood and experience is broken; supporting SFX will be important in pause-mode to help keep the viewer in the world of the film, even when they are, say, venturing off into script archives. 

I’ll end the list here for now. I believe the above serves as a good starting point for what could be built around For Thousands of Miles using webGL. Here’s to hoping this open proposal finds its way into the right hands. If anyone reading this wants to contact me, you can do so at info @ FToMfilm. Thanks for reading.