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the Dutch setting where public broadcasters are limited in their online activities, these have to
be linked to productions for television at all times.
In countries like Canada and France there is more freedom to explore the possibilities
of online only content by way of experiment, regardless of how these link with more traditional
media expressions. This approach can be classified as convergence, where multiple media
forms come together in a single device such as a computer, smartphone or tabblet computer.
When these devices are used in real time, ‘live’, with television broadcast they are called ‘second
screens’. It appeals to the upcoming cultural practice of people dividing their attention between
multiple screens, they must thus be addressed via those screens. Apart from the online
presence in real time, there is a continuous presence through websites and forums. These
all in part contribute to the experience of the viewer. The possibilities of text messaging and
augmented reality have also been found in documentary-like productions. Tabblet computers
are a burgeoning industry that might very well establish the interactive documentary as a
cultural practice because they support both an individual lean-back media experience and the
active, bodily engagement with the things shown.
Interactivity takes multiple forms (immersive, hypertextual and participatory) but in each
case it shows that the author becomes more a facilitator and monitor of interactive processes
than the creator of a final product. It also shows that the essence of what a production is shifts
from a static, isolated artefact to complex social and technological processes. This is further
illustrated by the way in which online documentaries make use of all sorts of links with online,
dynamic databases. These links can be activated in numerous ways, for example by scanning a
bar code or QR-code, or by logging in to a social network and making your profile data available
to the documentary.
A final characteristic is the multi-disciplinary nature of new forms of documentary.
Where formerly documentaries would take other art forms as there object, now they are
integrated into the very form of the documentary. Examples of other disciplines integrated in
documentaries are dance, poetry, animation and photography. It is these mixed forms that are
particularly appreciated at festivals and by critics.
Documentary makers today, more than ever, have a great variety of forms at their disposal. The
consequence for the long term preservation is that flexible systems are needed that can cope
with this diversity. We also have to conclude that these type of documentaries are essentially
relational objects that do not function in isolation of their network-surroundings. In conserving
these forms this must be taken into account.
CHAPTER 4: OPTIONS FOR ACQUISITION
There are three moments in the process of production that can function as an entry point for
Sound and Image to gain access to new productions: financing, production and distribution.
There is an enormous variety of financing options. The situation in The Netherlands at the
moment when it comes to the public funding of new, online forms of documentaries is quite
complex. The two main public funds for film production have budgets available for e-culture
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