Have a look to Arte’s website if you are fluent in German… the smooth panoramic interface effect looks great!

Ah… and the linear documentary version goes on air on Arte TV this September 27th at 23.30… tune in!

Those of you that know Florian Thalhofer’s work will be glad to know that other people have used his software and that there is now a page linking to all the projects that have been done using the Korsakow software. Here it is.

Those who do not know about Florian can have a look to his website: you will find his online films but also information about him and his current projects.

So… what is a Korsakow film? I’ll take Florian’s words on this: “Korsakow-Films are films with a twist: They are interactive – the viewer has influence on the K-Film. They are rule-based – the author decides on the rules by which the scenes relate to each other, but s/he does not create fixed paths. K-Films are generative – the order of the scenes is calculated while viewing. Korsakow is not a religion.” (from http://korsakow.org/tiki-index.php).

Description:

The [LoveStoryProject] is a growing collection of stories and thoughts about love. It started in Cairo in 2003 when Florian Thalhofer and Mahmoud Hamdy asked friends to explain their definition of love.

People from very different cultural backgrounds talk about one common phenomenon: love. Without claiming universal validity, the answers provide a new perspective on your own and the other culture.

The [LoveStoryProject] is a database-driven video-archive that can be viewed in a computer-installation or over the internet. The [LoveStoryProject] is an evolving and dynamic documentary-film. A film that never is the same twice.

Find out more:

The project was edited with the Korsakow system (a software that Florian developed himself to be able to interact with video online – or on a DVD support). For more on Korsakow check: http://www.korsakow.com/ksy/

For other Korsakow movies check wiki page http://korsakow.ca/index.php?title=Korsakow_Films_Online

To see the [LoveStoryProject] go to http://www.lovestoryproject.com/

My comments:

The [LoveStoryProject] does really work for me. Although one jumps from one interview to another with a visual hyperlink logic (click on an image rather than on a text) the curiosity about the topic really makes this exploration rather natural and intuitive. One does not think “do I want to go to the right or to the left” (the type of decision that is difficult to make as a user because one does not actually care about it), on the contrary, one sees a face and wants to know more about him/her.

Probably because it is such an intimate subject – love- curiosity and interest is enough to browse through this project. I really like it.

Description:

7sons is a project by Florian Thalhofer. Yet again Florian has used his Korsakow software (that he has himself created and that is downloadable from the web) to create a hypertext video around the topic of a journey in the desert.

The interface of the project is the one of a main screen -that plays the video- and of three hyperlinks that branch to other video pieces. Following the words on the screen (that can be the name of the next protagonist or an indication of the next topic) one can browse through interviews and nicely edited pieces about nomadic life.

The logic of Korsakow is that the narrative (text order) can be different each time, since it depends on the selections of the viewer.

Find out more:

The project was edited with the Korsakow system (a software that Florian developed himself to be able to interact with video online – or on a DVD support). For more on Korsakow check: http://www.korsakow.com/ksy/

For other Korsakow movies check wiki page http://korsakow.ca/index.php?title=Korsakow_Films_Online

To watch and play with 7sons go to http://www.7sons.com/

My comments:

Althought 7sons is visually quite appealing (nice shots of the desert and very nice music) I am not convinced that the logic of interactivity that the Korsakow software offers is enhancing the topic of the documentary.

The database narrative that Korsakow affords is based on jumping from one interview to the other, of from one edited segment to another,…it therefore pushes the user to “browse” through a topic following curiosity.

While I think that the curiosity holds in topic such as love (see Florian’s “the LoveStoryProject”) I am not so sure that it is sufficient for a journey through a geographical space such as the desert. I found myself stopping the exploration quite quickly as I had the feeling of “not going anywhere” or not “discovering enough”.

It is also to be said thought, that this is one the Florian’s earliest projects (2003) and that his use of the Korsakow system has now really evolved.