A couple of days ago a young man, Lalon Sander, came for a visit, to do an interview with me. He is studying journalism at the University of Leipzig, and currently doing research for his diploma. His paper is about “nonlinear storytelling in online media”, and he asked excellent questions. The questions of a young brain, a brain that was wired in the time of digital. The world is so fundamentally different today from what it was, in the time before computers (the time, for example, when my brain was wired).
Lalon gave me a present. Maps of his trips trough Planet Galata. Each SNU* indicated with a dot. He handed me the first map:
A trip to Planet Galata (lower right button clicked).
“Oh, you must have gone through it in a hurry!” I said immediately, without much thinking. I have to say: I have never seen a mapped out journey through a Korsakow-film before. So I was a bit surprised to be able to read this kind of information out of it so quickly. I saw it immediately, because of the clear structure of the clouds, and because a few more lines that I would have expected were missing. These missing lines would have indicate the next overlaying structure that I had built in – with awareness – and that one did not show up in the graphic. I saw, that whenever a new link, that led out of the current cloud had come up, Lalon had immediately clicked it.
“No. I was not in a hurry”, Lalon replied, “it is just, I always clicked the lower right button.” It took me a moment to think that through and then I realized that this strategy was exactly the equivalent of going through Planet Galata in a hurry.
I have to say, Planet Galata, as it is now, has a very strict and relatively simple structure. Basically because I used a lot more brain – or maybe better: explainable thoughts** – than in previous projects. The structure of the online-version of Planet Galata*** was done in a hurry. We were running late and our focus was clearly the linear film at that time****. The structure was done in more or less a day.
Then Lalon showed me an other map: “This is when I always clicked the upper left button. The result of the map did not surprise me, and I laughed.
A trip to Planet Galata (upper left button clicked).
Then he showed me a third map and said that this is basically a combination of both previous maps.
A trip to Planet Galata (combined map).
“Interesting that there is such a clear centre”, I said, pointing to a dot in the middle of the map marked E1. Lalon looked into a list: “This clip is called ART-SCHOOL”, he said.
That hit me. I shivered. What he could not know but what I knew: ART-SCHOOL was a very special story. I had massive discussions over this SNU when I discussed work versions of Planet Galata with the commissioning editors. I had a very, very strong feeling about this clip, and it was the only SNU my commissioning editors would not allow me to put in. In fact the ART-SCHOOL-clip, that in the end made it into Planet Galata*****, was the second version, with a different text. This clip was the compromise we agreed on in the end or maybe my commissioning editors had just given up. I never really understood why this SNU was so controversial. Also, I could never really express in words why it was so important to me. “I have a very strong feeling about this story” – that was my argument.
Lalon’s map now showed this SNU right in the very center of Planet Galata. I had not planned this. But it made so much sense to me. It felt, it feels like, Korsakow had read my thoughts.
Lalon Sander explaining his trips.
(*) SNU: Smallest Narrative Unit – the equivalent of a scene in a linear film is a SNU in a Korsakow-film.
(**) Because I had to explain what I was doing to my commissioning editors for this project.
(***) There is a linear film as well, that was broadcast on ARTE television.
(****) The reason for that in itself is very interesting and it would be worth reflecting on, in an article on its own. In short: there is a market for linear films, the linear film was sold already and there was hope to sell it to other broadcasters as well, so the project should be polished and be finished in time.
(*****) …of the Korsakow-version of Planet Galata. No version of the ART-SCHOOL story became part of the linear film.
This is the French version of the ART-SCHOOL-SNU:
For the German Version (with English subtitles) please click here.
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