“The Kimberley Crisis” (still a working title) will aim to inform the Australian public of the destruction facing one of the world’s great natural and indigenous cultural regions. This region is also recognised as the only part of mainland Australia to have retained its entire native fauna species without extinction since European settlement. Our very own last frontier is under threat, the biggest of which is our insatiable hunger for fossil fuels.
The enormity of Woodside’s proposed project is hard to comprehend. As it stands, construction of the gas hub will involve drilling a series of offshore gas mines in waters home to the largest Humpback Whale population in the world. Then, multiple reef systems will be blasted to allow the dredging of a massive sea port. Currently home to turtles, dugongs and the endangered Australian Snubfin dolphin, this underwater world will become a marine ’dead zone’ where the only things moving through the water are gas super-tankers chugging in and out of the port.
“The Kimberley Crisis” will seek to create awareness of these cultural and environmental impacts through facilitating dialogue and providing a wealth of information and research for the user, hopefully helping to put a stop to this unnecessary overindustrialisation.
I have quite a bit of experience using Adobe Flash, which would be essential for the success of this online documentary. I also have a number of actual photographs that I took from my trip, as well as first hand material from a whale research centre that I visited. I have quite a few contacts in the Broome area who would be happy to contribute any information for the online documentary.
Utilising the skills of other people within the team who are more experienced with production would be essential in order to create a successful online documentary that follows the outlined criteria.
At each point in the online documentary the user will be encouraged to utilise the social media options e.g. Facebook and Twitter. This will be important as it will raise the profile of the documentary and subsequently raise awareness of the issue. The user will also have the option to comment on every page, creating an ongoing dialogue and facilitating discussion between the diverse audiences.
The platform for the documentary will primarily be online as a website. This is the most feasible type of platform as it is an issue that requires a lot of content as it will have video footage, flash-based production and a number of photographs. However, I am not discounting the possibility of creating an application for an Ipad or Iphone, I just feel that I would need to re-work a few of my ideas if this was the case.
The content of the documentary will focus on the two main areas of debate, the environmental and cultural impacts of the proposed gas hub. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to have a rather simple interface design in order to reach a wider audience and for easier usability. Traditionally, documentaries take on a linear form where the audience are merely spectators following a predetermined route created by the director. However, online documentaries “maintain some adherence to basic storytelling principles while incorporating elements characteristic of online interaction” (Scott-Stevenson, J, 2012, p89).
When considering the interface design for “The Kimberley Crisis”, I took inspiration from “A Journey to the End of Coal”, an online documentary that puts the user in the role of an investigative journalist, (the one I analysed in assignment 1). I would like to follow this non-linear approach as it creates a sense of control for the user as well as heightens the degree of interactivity.
I would like the landing page to be really simple but engaging and intriguing. It will exhibit the beautiful coastline and what is ultimately at stake if the gas hub is to go ahead. It will be a simple picture of James Price Point with a simple “enter” button in the middle of the page, similar to “Journey to the End of Coal”. The next page will introduce the user to their task as a researcher for the National Heritage Association of Australia (a made up organisation). The user will then be asked what they want to research, choosing between:
Aboriginal heritage and culture within the James Price Point area
Local flora and fauna including Humpback whales, dolphins, turtles, bilbys etc.
Environmental impacts
The user will be guided through the documentary on the basis of discovery, ‘researching’, asking questions, viewing pictures and video footage.
Broadly, the audience could be defined as anyone who is interested in the plight of the Kimberley coast both culturally and environmentally. However, when considering the creation and production of a successful online documentary, it is important to fully understand your audience and their independent involvement with the story you are telling. “The Kimberley Crisis” will attempt to reach an audience who are environmentally conscious and culturally aware.
Ideally, the Aboriginal community would be interested in the documentary as it is essentially their land that is at stake. As part of my research I came across an independent awareness organisation called “Save The Kimberley” who disseminate information about the Kimberley’s globally unique cultural importance and the threats created by uncontrolled development.
“Today, more than 30 Aboriginal tribes remain in the Kimberley region, each with its own language and many with unique cultural practices. Nobody owns culture. It is loaned to each generation to preserve and pass on to the next generation. Our culture and traditions tie us to this country and we are obliged by our ancestors to see that it continues. We are obliged by respect of country and the hope for a proper life for our children that we honour the culture and traditions of our people. Heavy industrial development threatens all of this. It threatens to directly damage country, our sacred sites and special songlines. The infrastructure which it brings will open the land to further destructive developments and an erosion of country and culture; an erosion of us. It’s difficult to see how this use of country can be made in any way compatible with the past, present or future of the Traditional Owners of the Kimberley.” (Save the Kimberley)
Sea Shepherd, a marine conservation organisation, have been working with the local indigenous community in the Kimberley region to bring attention to the beauty of the area and the destruction that will be caused if the gas hub is to go ahead. Here is a documentary they made after a recent campaign to the Kimberley coastline. Certainly very inspirational and has given me many ideas for what I would want my online documentary to look like.
documentary synopsis:
Woodside, the largest operator of oil and gas production in Australia, refers to what they say is “the most significant humpback whale study ever undertaken in Western Australia.” This “study” claims that, “off James Price Point, the bulk of the migration occurs in waters approximately 30 km from the mainland, with less than five per cent of humpback whales travelling within eight km of the coast”.
Operation Kimberley Miinimbi has found this statement to be completely false.
As the Steve Irwin sailed from Broome to James Price Point during Operation Kimberley Miinimbi, up to 108 whales were counted each day in the Walmadan area off James Price Point, all well within eight kilometres of the coast (see whale sighting report PDF). An average of fifteen percent of those sightings were of mother and calf pairs. On a number of occasions (as seen in the Kimberley Miinimbi documentary) Sea Shepherd witnessed mothers nursing and caring for their calves less than a kilometer from the proposed gas site. Note that the Steve Irwin crew was only making observations for seven hours a day while in the Walmadan area, so there would be far more over a 24-hour period.
Sea Shepherd has seen with our own eyes that, without a doubt, this is in fact the world’s largest whale nursery and the numbers put forward by Woodside are incorrect. This is further highlighted by the Kimberley Community Whale Research Project where volunteers, coordinated by marine biologist Maddie Goddard, counted 1423 individual whales within 8km of the red cliff coastline in 132 hours of observation between July 1 and August 7. The count included 1233 individual whales and 95 calving pairs.
On countless occasions Sea Shepherd was able to achieve national and international media spotlight on the fact that the area where Woodside plans to put their gas factory port and breakwater is right in the middle of the world’s largest humpback whale nursery. This fact was not lost upon the thousands of people that toured the Steve Irwin in Sydney and watched the new campaign video of Operation Kimberley Miinimbi. We all understand what will be lost if the Woodside’s gas hub goes ahead.
This is just the beginning…
On many levels this campaign has already been a success. However; this is just the beginning of Operation Kimberley Miinimbi and Sea Shepherd is committed to ensuring that the world’s largest whale nursery remains a nursery and not some environmentally destructive gas hub. Despite the Steve Irwin leaving the Kimberley to join the Sea Shepherd fleet to prepare for its ninth Antarctic whale defence campaign to protect the whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, we are committed to continuing the fight to protect the whales’ home, their nursery. For without the protection of their nursery from Woodside’s massive gas hub, our majestic and wonderful warm blooded cousins, the humpbacks, don’t stand a chance.
I found this really interesting video that talks about the the enormous threat to the humpback whales in the Kimberley region if this gas hub is to go ahead
The main objective of this online documentary is to tell the story of the Kimberley, a relatively unscathed and strikingly beautiful part of Australia that is increasingly becoming under threat. The Kimberley coast is one of the natural wonders of the world, seemingly making it an unsuitable location for one of the world’s largest gas hubs to be built. However, the Western Australian government has given this project the green light, compromising both the environment and the local culture and traditions.
The online documentary would provide an educational experience for the user with a multiplatform approach using pictures, sound and relevant footage/videos. There will also be a level of interactivity for the user as I believe this is an important aspect of what makes an online documentary. This level of interaction will be achieved through the ability to upload comments to facilitate ongoing discussion with the users. There will also be a sense of interactivity throughout the documentary as the user will be able to choose with paths to take, but I will talk about this in further detail when I outline the interface design and user experience.
Creating a platform where the user can experience the beauty of the Kimberley online will help to break down geographical boundaries and hopefully raise awareness of the environmental and cultural crisis facing this part of Australia.
“The Kimberley Crisis” will be a multiplatform documentary that explores the various implications of the proposed gas hub at James Price Point, Western Australia.
“The Kimberley region of northern WA is one of the world’s great natural and Indigenous cultural regions. Its vast savannah landscapes, wild rivers, extensive wetlands, spectacular coast and rich marine environments provide a multitude of habitats that are home to an extraordinary diversity of species. Incredibly, the far north-west Kimberley sub-region is the only part of Western Australia, and one of very few in Australia, that appears to have retained its complete native fauna species diversity without extinction since European settlement” (The Wilderness Society).
“The Kimberley Crisis” will mainly focus on the environmental, social and cultural impacts of the gas hub, presenting the audience with an educational experience that highlights the issue of over industrialisation and both environmental and cultural degradation. James Price Point is part of a coastline that has been shown by global studies to be amongst the most pristine left on earth. (Halpern, et al, 2008). It is a perfect example of economic growth taking precedence to environmental sustainability as well as indigenous and heritage values.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown argues that “this campaign is moving past a pivotal point into a national and international campaign and its going to get stronger and accelerate” (SMH, 2012). As this is quickly becoming one of the biggest environmental and cultural debates in Australia’s history, it’s certainly timely and relevant to create a multiplatform documentary that delves into the political and environmental intricacies of the proposed gas hub.
Through my research, I have come across an online documentary which has really resonated with me and provoked a lot of thought and reflection. Welcome to Pine Point is a 2011 web documentary by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge from the National Film Board of Canada. The documentary explores the memories of residents from the former mining community of Pine Point and more generally, people’s affiliations with the landscape as well as the past. It introduced the user to the history of Pine Point, highlighting that after it lost its purpose as an industry town, it was “erased from the face of the earth”. (Welcome to Pine Point, 2011). It also allowed the user to explore the various memories and reflections of the people who used to live there, and their nostalgia for their hometown that they had loved so much.
This got me thinking of a recent trip I took to the Kimberley region in Western Australia. My mum, aunty and myself hired a car and drove from Broome to Cape Leveque, exhibiting some of the most beautiful and untouched coastline I had ever seen in my life. During the trip, I had learned that there was a proposed gas hub to be built at James Price Point, approximately 50km North from Broome in one of the most pristine and unspoiled environments in Australia. James Price Point is also a significant Aboriginal site, abundant with indigenous pathways and burial grounds, facilitating a rich connection to the landscape. This area is also ecologically significant, as it has been labelled one of the biggest Humpback whale nurseries in the Southern Hemisphere and possibly the world. It is also the site of ancient dinosaur fossils. The proposed gas hub is one of the largest industrial projects in Australia’s history and will become the largest gas hub in the world.
At the turn off for James Price Point we came across a blockade where a group of activists (The Goolarabooloo Traditional Owners along with the wider Broome community) were peacefully protesting against the proposed gas hub. As I got out of the car and approached the blockade, I was overwhelmed with a sense of sympathy as I realised that these people were just trying to save what rightfully belongs to them. Reflecting on these memories has given me a number of ideas for a possible online documentary, exploring James Price Point and the cultural/social and environmental implications of the proposed gas hub.
Meeting these wonderful people and hearing their stories was inspiring and I really think it would be an excellent concept for an online documentary.
ameliabanks 