Bear 71, said judges of the Favourite Website Award (FWA), is the gold-standard example of interactive digital filmmaking that “got it right.”
The National Film Board (NFB) of Canada interactive documentary created by Canmore filmmaker Leanne Allison and Vancouver art director Jeremy Mendes, in collaboration with Toronto-based digital design firm, Jam 3, was awarded the top FWA prize for its “masterful blending of documentary-style video and information graphics,” that combine to “tell a story in an innovative, engaging and emotional way.”
For Allison, a traditional narrative filmmaker and outdoor adventurer much more familiar with the star of Bear 71 – a female Bow Valley grizzly bear killed by a train on the Canadian Pacific railroad tracks east of Canmore – than the technology that created the interactive NFB film, the award was a welcome surprise.
“Interactive film is still such a new medium, not many people know about it,” Allison said. “But this award is huge recognition.”
The FWAs are an industry recognised internet award program and inspirational portal that was established in 2000. Historically, FWA winners have been big-budget commercially driven projects showcasing products such as Nissan, Toyota and Nike.
For Mendes, long familiar with the FWAs, it’s especially exciting to know Bear 71 earned the accolades not just for innovative use of technology, but also for engaging storytelling in a medium that’s still very new.
“This is the benchmark for rich interactive media; it’s the one to win, for sure. We were pretty excited to bring it home,” he said. “And it’s gratifying to know Bear 71 is being recognized for its excellence in both qualities. It touches the audience not just on a visual, but a deeper emotional level. We’re being recognized for design and technology, but the reason we won is great storytelling.”
Unlike a traditional film, Bear 71 can only be viewed on a computer screen with Internet access. The 20-minute film incorporates a digital landscape map with still and video images captured by sensor-triggered cameras installed on backcountry trails throughout the Rockies’ mountain parks.
Navigating by keyboard or mouse, the viewer passes over lakes, forest, rivers, the railroad and highway encountering wolves, bears, cougars, deer, lynx, ravens, wolverines and humans. Pullout segments share individual animals’ stories – the name researchers gave it, the distances it travelled, how it crossed over or under the highway, how many young it raised. One option allows the viewer to become part of the picture, literally, via their own desktop camera.
While the technology that was used to create Bear 71 is decidedly modern, it’s the film’s raw storytelling – written by award-winning journalist J.B. MacKinnon and hauntingly narrated by actor Mia Kirshner – that elicits an emotional reaction from the viewer.
While newer technology was released during the making of Bear 71 – and more is sure to come – the impressively intricate film succeeds because of compelling storytelling.
“They’re recognizing technology with an emotional story, and that’s where the power of it comes from. People aren’t used to having an emotional response to a website,” Mendes said.
On the heels of winning a Digi Award in the Best Web Series: non-fiction category in December, and a Gold Cyber Lion Award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June, more recently Bear 71 was named a finalist in the technical achievement category at the South By Southwest Interactive Awards. It is also among the 14 nominations the NFB has earned from the Canadian Screen Awards to be announced in March, with its nomination in the Best Original Program or Series Produced for Digital Media – Non-Fiction category.
For Allison’s part, she’s thrilled the story of bear 71 is continually spreading to new audiences.
“With Bear 71, one of the really nice things about the internet, it’s so easy to share,” Allison said. “It’s exciting to be reaching a very different audience. When you read these (judges’) comments, it shows how much bear 71 moves people when they learn about her story. She’s not forgotten.”
To meet bear 71, visit www.nfb.ca/interactive or check out www.thefwa.com
