Interactive Intimacy

On KobreGuide.com we previously spotlighted an innovative use of interactive video: A Conversation with Sir Ian McKellen, in which the acting legend discusses Shakespeare and "Richard III," line by line. You click on any of a series of questions about Shakespeare or the play, and the actor addresses the camera and answers it, as though talking directly to you. He'll even chit-chat while you're figuring out which question to click next, humorously cajoling you to select one already! It's the closest thing to having him in the room with you.

Now the Los Angeles Times has cleverly adopted this technique for its online mega-package about how south-of-the-border drug wars are impacting us in the U.S. : Mexico Under Seige.

In an interactive video Q&A session, staff writers Sam Quinones and Richard Marosi each fill your monitor as they look directly at you and answer such questions as: Is it safe to travel to Tijuana? How are drugs getting across the border? Why can't Mexican police handle the problem? You can even type in your own questions for them to answer another day.

As with Sir Ian, while they patiently wait for you to click on another question, the reporters just sit there, against a black backdrop -- not as a still image, but on a video loop, to give the impression that they're a living, breathing presence. It's the kind of intimacy that is designed for the one-to-one interaction that you're more likely to find on a computer monitor than on a TV screen.

We look forward to seeing what other uses videojournalists can find for this non-linear storytelling technique.

The Naked Cowboy's Girlfriend

We've seen video stories before about The Naked Cowboy, the brash country singer who found fame by serenading otherwise unshockable New Yorkers in the heart of Times Square, adorning his buff physique with nothing more than his Texan hat, boots, and briefs that are obscured by his strategically positioned customized guitar. This story's different. It's told by his girlfriend.

The musical Wicked cleverly spins The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch's perspective. Playwright Tom Stoppard won early fame from his crafty retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet from the perspective of two minor players, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. And now the same "alternate perspective" principle is applied to this gleeful Reuters piece, One Man Brand. Never mind what it's like to be famous for singing in your underwear. What's it like to be the gal who's romantically involved with him? Surprises, and humor, abound.

Reuters senior staff photographer Lucy Nicholson, Reuters head of visual projects Jassim Ahmad, and MediaStorm producer Bob Sacha are to be applauded for their "alternate perspective" approach. The project emanated from the first multimedia workshop conducted by MediaStorm, Brian Storm's fabled multimedia production company. Naturally you can watch a behind-the-scenes video about the making of their Naked Cowboy video, right here.

It should inspire multimedia journalists to ask, "What other voices and perspectives can help tell my story in a fresh light?"