{{Short description|Multimedia documentary project about life in residential highrises}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox website | name = Highrise | logo = | logocaption = | screenshot = Picture of Highrise Website homepage.png | caption = The homepage of the website | collapsible = | collapsetext = | url = {{url|highrise.nfb.ca}} | commercial = No | type = Web documentary | registration = No | language = English | content_license = | owner = National Film Board of Canada | author = | launch_date = 2009 | alexa = | revenue = | current_status = | footnotes = }} '''''Highrise''''' is a multi-year, multimedia documentary project about life in residential highrises, directed by Katerina Cizek and produced by Gerry Flahive for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The project, which began in 2009, includes five web documentaries—''The Thousandth Tower'', ''Out My Window'', ''One Millionth Tower'', ''A Short History of the Highrise'' and ''Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise''—as well as more than 20 derivative projects such as public art exhibits and live performances.<ref name=RavindranJune22>{{cite news|url=http://realscreen.com/2015/06/23/building-the-final-story-of-the-nfbs-highrise/#ixzz3dzKD5TXb|title=Building the final story of the NFB's "Highrise"|last=Ravindran|first=Manori|date=23 June 2015|work=Realscreen|publisher=Brunico Communications|access-date=24 June 2015}}</ref>
In March 2013, the NFB and ''The New York Times'' announced a partnership entitled ''A Short History of the Highrise'', which resulted in four short documentaries about life in highrise buildings, utilizing images from the newspaper's photo archives for the first three films, and user-submitted images for the final film.<ref name="Newton">{{cite news|title=NFB's Highrise series builds new foundations in New York|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/nfb-s-highrise-series-builds-new-foundations-in-new-york-1.1413998|last=Newton|first=Sarah|date=12 March 2013|work=CBC News|access-date=9 April 2013}}</ref><ref name="medicaster">{{cite news|url=http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/news/ny-times-nfb-collaborate-on-multi-platform-interactive-series/1002129581/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130616002531/http://www.mediacastermagazine.com/news/ny-times-nfb-collaborate-on-multi-platform-interactive-series/1002129581/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=16 June 2013|title=NY Times, NFB Collaborate on Multi-Platform Interactive Series|date=11 March 2013|work=Mediacaster|access-date=9 April 2013}}</ref>
Until mid-2015, Cizek collaborated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's OpenDocLab unit on developments for the ''Highrise'' project as part of MIT's Visiting Artists Program.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://realscreen.com/2013/05/17/nfb-filmmaker-named-mit-visiting-artist-2/#ixzz2WDfgT9Ra|title=NFB filmmaker named MIT visiting artist|last=Ng-See-Quan|first=Danielle|date=17 May 2013|work=Reelscreen|publisher=Brunico Communications|access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref>
In June 2015, ''Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise'' was launched as the final installment of ''Highrise''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/photo-essay-why-the-highrise-is-the-future-on-an-urbanized-planet/article24780037/|title=Photo Essay: Why the highrise is the future for an urbanized planet|last=Cizek|first=Katerina|date=3 June 2015|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>
In addition to awards won by individual webdocs in the series, the ''Highrise'' project received the Canadian Urban Institute's 2013 Global City and Innovation Urban Leadership Award.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.canadianarchitect.com/news/2013-urban-leadership-award-recipients-announced/1002194951/|title=2013 Urban Leadership Award recipients announced|date=28 March 2013|work=Canadian Architect|publisher=Business Information Group|access-date=15 April 2013}}</ref>
The total budget for ''Highrise'' was CAD$2.8 million.<ref name=RavindranJune22/>
==''The Thousandth Tower'' (2010)== The first production in ''Highrise'' is a citizen media project by six residents in a multi-cultural highrise complex in the Toronto neighbourhood of Rexdale. Project participants were found after a year of research and worked closely with facilitators: Heather Frise, Maria-Saroja Ponnambalam and Katerina Cizek. Residents were provided with digital cameras and a blog and met weekly with filmmakers over a six-month period for training in lighting techniques and writing. The residential complex was a test site in the City of Toronto's plan to renovate and beautify highrise residences.<ref name=Balkissoon>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2010/05/12/documentary_details_life_in_crumbling_apartments.html|title=Documentary details life in crumbling apartments|last=Balkissoon|first=Denise|date=12 May 2010|work=Toronto Star|access-date=16 June 2015}}</ref>
===Release=== ''The Thousandth Tower'' premiered May 12, 2010 at an event at Toronto City Hall.<ref name=Balkissoon/>
==''Out My Window'' (2010)== ''Out My Window'' is a web documentary exploring the lives of families living in high-rise buildings in 13 cities around the world. The website is produced by National Film Board of Canada as part its collaborative documentary project ''Highrise''.<ref name="Scrivener">{{cite news|last=Scrivener|first=Leslie |title=Online, a window on the world|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/876179--online-a-window-on-the-world|access-date=24 November 2010|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=15 October 2010}}</ref><ref name="Barol">{{cite news|last=Barol|first=Bill |title=The view from the window|url=https://blogs.forbes.com/billbarol/2010/11/04/the-view-from-the-window/|access-date=24 November 2010|newspaper=Forbes.com|date=4 November 2010}}</ref> ''Out My Window'' was shot in Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Havana, São Paulo, Amsterdam, Prague, Istanbul, Beirut, Bangalore, Phnom Penh, Tainan, and Johannesburg.<ref name="DocLab">{{cite web|title=HIGHRISE/Out My Window|url=http://www.doclab.org/2010/highriseout-my-window/|work=IDFA DocLab|publisher=International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam|access-date=26 November 2010|archive-date=27 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127013956/http://www.doclab.org/2010/highriseout-my-window/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Cizek spent one year researching the project prior to starting production in August 2009. To locate characters and stories, Cizek and a team of researchers (Heather Frise, Maria-Saroja Ponnambalam, Paramita Nath) worked with a network of journalists, filmmakers and photographers around the world, directing them remotely from Toronto via email and Skype. However, not all communication was so instantaneous: a story from Havana had to be hand-delivered by the photographer, months after it was commissioned, without the chance for any direction from Cizek. Overall, 22 stories had been commissioned, with 9 stories dropped for various reasons during the production process.<ref name="Realscreen">{{cite news|last=Ritchie|first=Kevin|title=Canada's National Film Board builds "Highrise"|url=http://www.realscreen.com/articles/news/20101115/highrise.html?word=tv|access-date=24 November 2010|newspaper=Realscreen|date=15 November 2010}}</ref>
Photos were digitally combined to create 360-degree scenes, in which viewers can explore the lives of apartment inhabitants, browsing interiors or navigating deeper to view embedded stories.<ref name="Kasprzak">{{cite news|last=Kasprzak|first=Michelle|title=The NFB's innovative Out my Window online documentary looks out of Toronto's windows and beyond|url=http://www.yongestreetmedia.ca/features/nfbhighrise1110.aspx|access-date=24 November 2010|newspaper=YongeStreet|date=10 November 2010}}</ref> Imaginarius, a Kitchener, Ontario-based multimedia production company, collaborated with Highrise Technical Director Branden Bratuhin and worked with over 1,000 photos to produce the 360-degree effect.<ref name="Scrivener"/>
In Toronto, Amsterdam and Havana, Cizek also used a five-lens, 360-degree camera created by Amsterdam-based tech company Yellowbird to shoot interactive music video sequences.<ref name="Realscreen"/><ref name="Parry">{{cite news|last=Parry|first=Chris|title=National Film Board releases 360 degree documentary|url=http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/geekingout/archive/2010/11/23/national-film-board-releases-360-degree-documentary.aspx|access-date=24 November 2010|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|date=23 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208233246/http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/geekingout/archive/2010/11/23/national-film-board-releases-360-degree-documentary.aspx|archive-date=2010-12-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===Release=== The site went live in October 2010.<ref name="Scrivener"/> ''Out My Window'' was also presented at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in November 2010.<ref name="Realscreen"/> It has also been licensed to the SBS Australia website.<ref name=Brzoznowski>{{cite news|last=Brzoznowski|first=Kristin|title=NFB to Showcase Interactive Content|url=http://www.worldscreen.com/articles/display/29173|access-date=30 March 2011|newspaper=WorldScreen|date=29 March 2011}}</ref>
===Awards=== ''Out My Window'' received the inaugural IDFA DocLab Award for Digital Storytelling.<ref name="Brooks">{{cite news|last=Brooks |first=Brian |title=IDFA Opener "Position Among the Stars" Takes Top Festival Prize |url=http://www.indiewire.com/article/2010/11/26/idfa_opener_position_among_the_stars_takes_top_festival_prize |access-date=29 November 2010 |newspaper=Indie Wire |date=26 November 2010 }}{{dead link|date=April 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In April 2011, it received the International Digital Emmy Award in the category of digital program: non-fiction.<ref name=cbcemmy>{{cite news|title=NFB's Highrise web project wins Digital Emmy|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/nfb-s-highrise-web-project-wins-digital-emmy-1.1019717|access-date=4 April 2011|newspaper=CBC News|date=4 April 2011}}</ref> In April 2011, the web documentary was nominated for a Webby Award for Best Use of Photography in the Websites category.<ref name=sunwebbys>{{cite news|title=Vancouver new media mavens among National Film Board nominees for Webby awards|url=https://vancouversun.com/Vancouver+media+mavens+among+National+Film+Board+nominees+Webby+awards/4609255/story.html#ixzz1JQp4cAJt|access-date=13 April 2011|newspaper=Vancouver Sun|date=13 April 2011}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On May 10, 2011, ''Out My Window'' received the New Media Award at the One World Media Awards.<ref =realscreen>{{cite news|last=Anderson|first=Kelly|title=Channel 4, BBC, NFB honored at One World Media Awards|url=http://realscreen.com/2011/05/11/channel-4-bbc-nfb-pick-up-one-world-media-awards/|access-date=17 May 2011|newspaper=Realscreen|date=11 May 2011}}</ref>
==''One Millionth Tower'' (2011)== ''One Millionth Tower'' is a 2011 NFB interactive web documentary by Katerina Cizek that gives people living in residential skyscrapers the opportunity to work with architects and animators to reimagine their homes in 3D virtual space. The project focuses on two high-rise apartment buildings in Etobicoke. The webdoc allows users to navigate through their high-rise neighborhood, displaying the current state of urban decay, then activating features to show how residents would change their world, such as an animation showing where a new playground or garden would go. ''One Millionth Tower'' also features images from Flickr, Google Street Views and real-time weather data from Yahoo.<ref name=Watercutter>{{cite news|last=Watercutter|first=Angela|title=Premiere: One Millionth Tower High-Rise Documentary Takes Format to New Heights|url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/11/one-millionth-tower/|access-date=29 November 2011|newspaper=Wired News|date=5 November 2011}}</ref><ref name=Gee>{{cite news|last=Gee|first=Marcus|title=Aging apartment towers can be humanized|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/aging-apartment-towers-can-be-humanized/article2263989/|access-date=8 December 2011|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=7 December 2011}}</ref>
According to transmedia creator Anita Ondine Smith, NFB interactive projects like ''One Millionth Tower'' are helping to position Canada as a major player in digital storytelling.<ref name=Vlessing>{{cite news|last=Vlessing|first=Etan|title=Expert: Canada Primed to Become Major Transmedia Player|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/expert-canada-primed-become-major-282926|access-date=19 January 2012|newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|date=18 January 2012}}</ref>
''One Millionth Tower'' was originally planned by Cizek as a linear animated documentary about reinvigorating urban housing complexes, showcasing residents’ ideas for improving their homes in the tower, but evolved into an interactive project in 3-D space. ''One Millionth Tower'' was influenced by the NFB's ''Challenge for Change'' program for participatory media, which put media creation into the hands of citizens in the 1960s and 70s.<ref name=Watercutter/>
===Technology=== ''One Millionth Tower'' was created using HTML5, WebGL, Three.js and other open source JavaScript libraries, and utilizes Mozilla Foundation's Popcorn.js technology to add interactivity to its online videos.<ref name=Watercutter/><ref name=Terauds>{{cite news|last=Terauds|first=John|title=How a Toronto college is unleashing a 'toolbox of wonder' online|url=https://www.thestar.com/business/article/1091987--how-a-toronto-college-is-unleashing-a-toolbox-of-wonder-online|access-date=8 December 2011|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=24 November 2011}}</ref> Utilizing Mozilla's Web-based graphics library, ''One Millionth Tower'' is the first 3D web documentary to not require an Adobe Flash plug-in.<ref name="Kristy Hutter">{{cite news|last=Hutter|first=Kristy|title=A documentary like no other documentary|url=http://www.macleans.ca/2012/01/18/a-documentary-like-no-other-documentary/|access-date=19 January 2012|newspaper=Maclean's|date=18 January 2012}}</ref>
===Release=== ''One Millionth Tower'' premiered simultaneously on Wired.com and the Mozilla Festival in London on November 5, 2011.<ref name=Watercutter/> Beginning January 2012, excerpts were being screened in Toronto subway stations.<ref name=Vlessing/><ref name=DixonTTC>{{cite news|last=Dixon|first=Guy|title=Subway clips spread ideas for transforming high-rise ugliness|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/nfb-to-push-sense-of-community-on-subway-screens/article2294725/|access-date=9 January 2012|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|date=8 January 2012}}</ref>
===Awards=== ''One Millionth Tower'' was named Best Original Program Produced for Digital Media, Non-Fiction at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/cbc-scores-big-wins-at-canadian-screen-awards-in-toronto-1.1336434|title=CBC scores big wins at Canadian Screen Awards in Toronto|date=28 February 2013|work=CBC News|access-date=1 March 2013}}</ref>
==''A Short History of the Highrise'' (2013)== ''A Short History of the Highrise'' is an interactive documentary that "explores the 2,500-year global history of vertical living and issues of social equality in an increasingly urbanized world." The centerpiece of the project is four short films: ''Mud'', ''Concrete'' and ''Glass'' have been created with images from ''The New York Times'''s visual archives, while a fourth film, ''Home'', is being made with user-submitted images. The interactive site will incorporate the films and also offer additional archival materials, text and microgames. The series is produced by Op-Docs, the Times' editorial department's forum for short, opinionated documentaries, and the NFB, as part of its HIGHRISE project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/28/opinion/highrise-trailer.html?_r=0|title=A Short History of the Highrise: An interactive documentary by Katerina Cizek launching in October|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 September 2013}}</ref>
===Release=== ''A Short History of the Highrise ''premiered as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival Convergence program on September 30, 2013 and online at NYTimes.com in October.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.canadianarchitect.com/news/immersive-multi-media-series-on-residential-highrise-buildings-to-debut-at-new-york-film-festival/1002566732/ | title=Immersive multi-media series on residential highrise buildings to debut at New York Film Festival | publisher=Canadian Architect | date=1 September 2013 | access-date=9 September 2013 }}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
===Awards=== In April 2014, it received a Peabody Award.<ref>[http://www.peabodyawards.com/award-profile/a-short-history-of-the-highrise-www.nytimes.com 73rd Annual Peabody Awards], May 2014.</ref> In June 2014, it received the Sheffield Innovation Award from the 2014 Sheffield Doc/Fest.<ref name="Ravindran2">{{cite news|url=http://realscreen.com/2014/06/12/docfest-14-attacking-the-devil-takes-special-jury-prize/#ixzz35KnIdvmC|title=Doc/Fest '14: "Attacking the Devil" takes Special Jury Prize|last=Ravindran|first=Manori|date=13 June 2014|work=Reelscreen|access-date=22 June 2014}}</ref> In the fall of 2014, it received a News and Documentary Emmy Award.<ref name="Cummins">{{cite news|url=http://playbackonline.ca/2014/10/01/cbc-nfb-win-intl-emmy-awards/|title=NFB, Herman's House win Emmy Awards|last=Cummins|first=Juliana|work=Playback|access-date=19 October 2014}}</ref> In February 2015, ''A Short History of the Highrise'' was named Best Original Program or Series produced for Digital Media - Non-Fiction at the 3rd Canadian Screen Awards.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/academy-announces-canadian-screen-awards-winners/1003494359/|title=Academy Announces Canadian Screen Awards' Winner|date=25 February 2015|work=Broadcaster Magazine|access-date=15 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227012019/http://www.broadcastermagazine.com/news/academy-announces-canadian-screen-awards-winners/1003494359/|archive-date=27 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==''Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise'' (2015)== The final installment, ''Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise'', is an interactive look at how residents in highrise buildings around the world connect online. The U.S. premiere was hosted by ''CityLab''.<ref name="Capps">{{cite news|url=http://www.citylab.com/design/2015/06/highrise-universe-within-premiere/393983/|title=Explore the Digital Lives of Global Highrises in 'Universe Within'|last=Capps|first=Kriston|date=2 June 2015|work=CityLab|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>
The project hired 14 residents in a Toronto highrise complex who went door-to-door to neighbors about their digital lives, and found that 80% of households had Internet access either at home or through their mobile device, despite their low-income status. This led Cizek to conclude that "there’s a real, invisible story here that we’re not seeing in the media or even in academic literature about how the digital maps out in the vertical, so we went to over 20 locations around the world, to speak with [people] – through local journalists and photographers – and to find stories of how the digital and the vertical intersect in really intimate, personal and political ways."<ref name=RavindranJune22/>
''Universe Within'' users are asked to choose between three avatars who discuss their own personal histories and guide viewers through the story based on their input. Cizek has called the project is what the director calls "a whole larger than the sum" of previous ''Highrise'' installments, combining the international aspects of previous projects with deeper community-based research.<ref name=RavindranJune22/>
''Universe Within'' incorporates research by Deborah Cowen, an associate professor of geography at the University of Toronto and colleague Emily Paradis, a senior research associate whose work focuses on economic disparity, to look at how residents in low-income highrises use technology to combat isolation and the digital divide. Stories include a person with ALS in Tokyo, an ex-convict in Harlem, a Saudi woman comic and a UN-sponsored refugee in Toronto, as well as residents in Worli, a Mumbai neighbourhood, who resist the expropriation of their homes in the Campa Cola Compound.<ref name="Wells">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/06/07/bridging-social-divides-in-a-highrise-world.html|title=Bridging social divides in a highrise world|last=Wells|first=Jennifer|date=7 June 2015|work=Toronto Star|access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref>
''Universe Within'' took Cizek and the NFB four years to make and cost CAD $628,000.<ref name=RavindranJune22/>
===Technology=== Cizek has stated that ''Universe Within'' is the most technologically advanced of all the ''Highrise'' projects, using point cloud data to create the avatars through a collaboration with Highrise Technical Director Branden Bratuhin and Toronto-based digital agency, Secret Location.<ref name=RavindranJune22/>
===Awards=== On March 8, 2016, ''Universe Within'' received the award for Best Original Interactive Production Produced for Digital Media at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards.<ref name="Mullen">{{cite news|url=http://povmagazine.com/blog/view/first-wave-of-documentary-non-fiction-factual-canadian-screen-award-winners|title=First Wave of Documentary/Non-Fiction/Factual Canadian Screen Award Winners|last=Mullen|first=Pat|date=9 March 2016|work=Point of View|access-date=10 March 2016|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820105930/http://povmagazine.com/blog/view/first-wave-of-documentary-non-fiction-factual-canadian-screen-award-winners|url-status=dead}}</ref>
At the 2016 Webby Awards, ''Universe Within'' received the Webby for Online Film & Video/Best Use of Interactive Video.<ref name="Wong">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/webby-wins-2016-1.3553650|title=Webby Awards 2016 winners include The Weeknd, the NFB|last=Wong|first=Jessica|date=26 April 2016|work=CBC News|access-date=10 May 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://highrise.nfb.ca/}} (requires Adobe Flash) *{{cite web|last=Galloway|first=Matt|author-link=Matt Galloway|title=Highrise Living|work=Metro Morning|url=http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning/episodes/2011/11/16/highrise-living-2/|publisher=CBC Radio One|access-date=10 January 2012|format=Audio interviews with Katerina Cizek and two residents}} *[https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/highrise_out_my_window_en/ Out My Window] on the NFB website *[https://www.nfb.ca/interactive/highrise_one_millionth_tower_en|One Millionth Tower] on the NFB website *{{NFB film|short_history_of_the_highrise_part_one_mud|A Short History of the Highrise, Part One: Mud}} *{{NFB film|short_history_of_the_highrise_part_two_concrete|A Short History of the Highrise, Part Two: Concrete}} *{{NFB film|https://www.nfb.ca/film/short_history_of_the_highrise_part_three_glas/|A Short History of the Highrise, Part Three: Glass}} *{{NFB film|short_history_of_the_highrise_part_four_home|A Short History of the Highrise, Part Four: Home}} *[https://universewithin.nfb.ca/desktop.html Universe Within: Digital Lives in the Global Highrise] on the NFB website
{{NFBwebdocs}}
Category:Architecture websites Category:Documentary web series Category:Residential skyscrapers Category:National Film Board of Canada web documentaries Category:Peabody Award winners Category:Peabody Award–winning websites Category:Canadian Screen Award winning digital content