LIVING SPRINGS is an interactive documentary. What does that mean? Just like a traditional documentary, there is video and a lot of it. In fact, if you viewed every video, it would be almost twice the length of a feature-length film. But, instead of being presented as one long film, with one single story, there will be several dozen videos that tell the story of the Springs from many different perspectives.
Using the power of this multi-linear approach you navigate a virtual underwater environment, meeting artists and scientists, historic figures, poets, and preachers who share their stories and their thoughts about Austin’s most beloved natural resource.
Because it lives on the web, LIVING SPRINGS will be available 24-7, around the globe, to any person with an internet connection. Locally, we are already working with teachers to build the project into the science and humanities curriculum throughout central Texas. Finally, a high-resolution version of the project will be installed as part of a permanent exhibit at the Barton Springs Education Center where over 100,000 visitors come each year.
About the Filmmaker
Karen Kocher is an Austin-based media producer who works in film and video and multimedia. For the past 10 years, she has been creating media work for digital platforms and studying the ways that the digital technology is expanding the documentary genre.
Ms. Kocher’s other work includes, Austin Past and Present, a multimedia documentary about the history of Austin, Texas that is installed in kiosks in public buildings, on computers in local libraries, and integrated into the social studies curriculum throughout the Austin Independent School District. The video portions of the project aired on PBS in a feature-length documentary format that was nominated for a Lonestar Emmy in the historical documentary category. This feature-length documentary was also screened at part of the Austin Film Society, Texas Documentary tour. Austin Past and Present contains over 1600 screens of image and text and over two hours of edited documentary content. The project drew on 160 archival sources and involved more than 150 community members in its production.
