Following the Digital 2023 report, between 2022 and 2023, the number of internet users in Poland increased by 8.5%, reaching a total of 2.9 million users, constituting 88.4% of the Polish population spending an average of over 6 hours per day online.
By citing the above data, I want to emphasize the enormous potential for reaching audiences through digital storytelling. Naturally, the content must be engaging, and promotional efforts need to be invested to reach the appropriate audience with quality material. There are many factors contributing to success.
Our team's competencies are valuable in the stage of creating the substance we want to present to the target audience. When clients approach us wanting to tell their story in the online environment, our team is responsible for selecting technological solutions and proposing suitable visual means. All our digital storytelling projects differ in substantive content and presentation, but they are unified by their digital nature.
Projects of various kinds can take the form of digital storytelling. Among our achievements are digital exhibitions, interactive films, biographical narratives; all digital stories have the advantage of being universally accessible. Without visiting an art gallery, cinema, or bookstore, one can familiarize themselves with the content from any location with internet access. Digital storytelling can also revolve around a product or service, as demonstrated by one of our projects aimed at promoting a series available on a digital platform.
Meetings and conversations – getting to know each other
We get to know not only the client's expert team but also the essence of the project we'll be dealing with. Various cultural institutions and our clients from business areas approach us with the need to convey a story, often still in the conceptual phase. The goals and substance of the story are clearly defined, often arising from the materials the teams have, but the final shape of the digital narrative is the subject of joint exploration. From the very beginning of the discussions, we gladly share our experience and competencies. Understanding the emotions that the target story should evoke is important to us. We analyze materials and delve into the substantive layer that the client brings.
Analysis and schedule – planning
We present a proposal for how to go through the process. Developing a plan is a crucial stage, usually within the framework adopted by our team for such tasks in a waterfall model. However, for each project, we prepare a dedicated sequence of actions.
When developing the plan, we take into account components such as the size of the teams, and consequently, communication paths between all participants in the process. Another important variable is the time available for task execution and guidelines identifying the project and materials for work. These are factors we consider when offering workshop-style activities. The level of knowledge about the target group is also essential. If the project requires it and conditions, such as sufficient time, are conducive, we can propose multiple iterations and tests to optimize solutions. Each implementation, broken down into the smallest components, is embedded in our timeline. We indicate milestones that bring us closer to the final solution.
Documentation and assumptions – we establish
Together with the action plan, we create a detailed technical specification. This important document contains assumptions regarding functionality, the technological stack to be used for the project, and guidelines regarding the visual direction we aim for. This approach allows us to strictly adhere to the assumptions and continually return to the agreed plan, ultimately enabling us to complete the task within the set deadline.
A Map of the Decalogue by Krzysztof Kieślowski is a project we executed commissioned by the National Film Archive - Audiovisual Institute.
The core concept, developed by Natalia Koryncka-Gruz, involved guiding users through the distinctive locations in Warsaw where the Dekalog film series was produced. To illustrate these selected locations in the digital guide, the team provided contemporary photographs taken by Piotr Jaxa. Within the project, these photographs were juxtaposed with materials such as script excerpts, scenes, descriptions by film scholar Prof. Mikołaj Jazdon, and reflections on the themes explored in the series, collected by theologian Prof. Michał Klinger.
After reviewing the materials provided by the content team, our team participated in intensive workshop-style discussions about the visual direction the project should take. Crucial for us in this process was identifying the key elements important to individuals who had the opportunity to collaborate with Krzysztof Kieślowski – the content team. Therefore, a deep understanding of the themes, atmosphere, and emotions of the series itself was essential.
Photo: Piotr Jaxa, used for the project a Map of the Decalogue
Navigation
Users can explore the content in multiple ways. Directly navigating the map, selecting objects, zooming in, dragging with the mouse or finger on the screen allows users to reach additional locations. Going further into the depth, they can familiarize themselves with the content hidden under a specific point, such as illustrations, descriptive materials, or film fragments. Users can also use arrows available under objects from the map. Another way to delve into the content, available in several language versions, is to choose a specific episode from the list accessible in the menu. Users have the option to return to the full list of episodes or, from the view of a specific object, move to the next episode.
This multitude of paths to access the digitally presented content is a characteristic feature of digital stories. Unlike the linear presentation of stories in traditional forms, digital storytelling simultaneously responds to many and constantly changing user habits on the internet.
A deep understanding of who our audience is, in what context they will enter the website, encounter the content we want to present, and an insight into the subject, are important parts of the process that we take care of.
Photo: Piotr Jaxa, used for the project a Map of the Decalogue
What happened to Kacper?
A supporting website for a campaign promoting the next season of the Belfer series. The project's concept, responsible for the substantive layer, was created by the Canal+ Polska team and refers to the series plot, specifically the disappearance of one of the characters. The story engages viewers through a format simulating phone browsing, reading conversations between participants in the events on messengers, accompanied by mood-setting music. A characteristic feature of the implementation is that the website, designed and programmed by us, is only accessible on mobile devices.
Goal: promotion of the series
What happened to Kacper?
AMZN
A digital exhibition telling the story of Amazon's warehouse through information gathered by the artist Tytus Szabelski. Designed and programmed by our team, the website utilizes a distinctive sound taken from scanning devices used in Amazon's logistics centers, along with the movement of successive objects appearing, reminiscent of mechanical gestures performed in the work environment. The project was presented, among other places, at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art.
Goal: to disseminate materials gathered by the artist in order to, as the artist himself says, illustrate the overall functioning of the internet giant.
AMZN
Zygmunt Mycielski
A biographical story about an extraordinary figure and his work, which users can explore by going through chapters such as Life, Composer, Writer, Friends. The story of Zygmunt Mycielski's creativity is enriched by the presentation of his achievements in the form of multimedia materials, documentation, excerpts from literary works, and compositions by the composer. The biography is narrated through the prism of memories and archived audio statements. In the project, you can hear the voice of the protagonist himself, expressing thoughts about music and himself.
Goal: education, popularization of knowledge about the individual.
Zygmunt Mycielski
The School a World
Webdoc (interactive film), a documentary film in the form of a website with multiple entry points, tells the story of the village of Chlebiotki, created in collaboration with the narrative studio VnLab at the Łódź Film School, directed by Iga Łapińska. The film premiered at this year's IDFA, festival in Amsterdam as part of the DocLab selection in the digital storytelling category. The personal history of the place is narrated through the prism of several characters. Users decide how they want to explore the story.
Goal: the website enables broad distribution of the film.
The School a World
