Laszlo's Blog

I will begin with a warning. I need to research and refine my project further. The ideas I have below are still tentative.

Abstract: My project, as I started to explain in my last post, will be a website dedicated to a documentary film entitled Dunanal or Magyar Stories, which is a collection of interviews that reconstruct the events of the 1956 Hungarian revolution in a small Hungarian town, Dunapataj. The interviews go beyond 1956 and recount the lives of the survivors until the time of the film in the 1980s. Because the film is only interviews in Hungarian with no narration, I will use new media to translate the film, fill out the story of what happened, and in the future add interactive elements, so that residents of Dunapataj and anyone affected by the revolution can share their experiences and connect with each other.

Need: Most basic is the need to preserve the film and make the interviews available for the public over the web. Moreover, the point of view of the film is unique. It is about the residents of a small town that rebelled against their local government. This is a different perspective from what one expects from big cities, major media outlets, the government, and even major centers of rebellion in the cities. Other websites on 1956 offer that latter perspective from high, while my site will offer the perspective from below, from the humble residents of a small town.

Main Features: The site will start as a platform to show the documentary over the web. Thus, I will make clips of the film—the size of which will depend on the technology I use and what I want to present—and transcripts in Hungarian and English available to visitors of the site. I also plan to include some basic information to fill out the story of the revolution to help visitors who do not know about Hungarian history, Dunapataj, or the interviewees.

Later, I will approach the residents of Dunapataj to show them the site and for help to find more sources. At least, I will take some photographs of places mentioned in the film and try to interview some of the residents for their memories. I will contact the head of the local museum, who is a friend of the family, for more help.

Finally, I want to incorporate interactive elements into the site. One possibility is to make it possible for the residents of Dunapataj, other Hungarians, and other groups (even Russians!) to share their stories of the revolution and life under communism and to connect with each other.

Audience: Starting most broadly, those interested in the revolution, communism, 20th century European history, and other topics relevant to the film; people who experienced the revolution and communism; and finally the residents of Dunapataj.

Technologies: At first the project will focus on web 1.0 technology. I need to develop a website, so that means using HTML and Dreamweaver. I need to find a way to host the film online. I am still not sure of file sizes, but it is possible to use third party sites, similar to YouTube, which let their users house large files. I will also need a digital camera and a scanner to digitize new sources such as old photographs, newspaper articles, and other documents.

Later, I will worry about web 2.0 elements. Though I have not researched this enough, I realize I will need an email address and some kind of forum to keep in touch with users and to collect their memories. I imagine Twitter and other social networking sites will be useful to get a larger audience and to gather more sources.