PUBLIC MARKS with tags lang:en & embed

Lets look at “Alma” the medium is simple. There is a documentary, and an iBook and it is available on the web. There is the story of Alma, former member of a violent crime gang. The documentary has relatively simple structure. Simple is good in this format. It is based on 2 screens. main screen which is always available presents medium close frame of Alma reliving the brutalities of her past life. She is simply lit with dark background. The alternative second screen shows up above Alma’s head. The framing and lighting of Alma allows the screen to be split in half, pulling in the frame from above to present us with underlying imagery and breaking the monotony of looking at a “talking head’. It is possible to see both at a single screen or shift focus from one to another. Being online, you can replay or fast forward through the story. You are not locked into single medium. But it is impeccably shot and the sound is well designed.

For 5 years Alma has been a member of one of Guatemala's most brutal gangs, a country today ravaged by an unnamed war. She tells her confession face to face. Alma’s testimony is unique. The young woman’s words open onto images of her memories, of daily life in Guatemala, and of gang subculture.

Powerful web documentary about gang violence in Guatemala by Miquel Dewever-Plana & Isabelle Fougère.

Working with a team of designers at the French creative studio Upian, Plana and Fougere, say they intended to create a final product—with a sensitive and innovative approach to a narrative— that would be interactive and accessible. The final product, which took two years to develop, is incredibly in-depth—allowing its audience to explore the story through the innovative web piece, two books and a film, all available in four languages.