Presented at the Learn. Do. Share. event in Los Angeles, October 2014 as part of the Civic Innovation Lab weekend at Hub LA. Los Angeles faces rapid and dramatic gentrification with a future that effaces local history. In this workshop we want to offer the genre of the 360° Docu-Narratives as a form of intervention to prevent the erasure of neighborhoods. 360° Docu-Narratives are immersive stories that incorporate various media in a public installation (including video, audio, social media, and performance) to engage an audience in community issues, encouraging a critical and empathetic response and directed action. The workshop will offer possibilities on designing a space that facilitates a response from the communities affected by development, while also documenting and preserving history and micro-cultures. In addition to mapping out effective media tools our session will cover the importance of contextual research, the development of community stakeholders, and strategies for on and off-line integration. Through 360° Docu-Narratives our hope is to create a future that honors and remembers the past.

1. Speaking Back to Neighborhood Development:
Using “360° Docu-Narratives” to Empower and Preserve Community
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

2. What is a 360° Docu-Narrative?
● Immersive
● Multiplatform - video, audio,
social media, live performance,
and more!
● Intervene and engage an
audience in community issues
● Encourage critical and
empathetic responses and
directed action
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

3. Why Employ 360° Docu-Narrative?
● Audience engages and interacts with story
● Performance elements allow for guided
connection to material
● Site specificity allows for contextualization and
potential for accidental discovery
● Community as audience and/or actors can
imagine new actions through performance and
dialogue
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

4. Designing an Effective Immersive Space
● Conceptualizing Problem
○ Narrative throughline
○ Spatial design (choosing space, aesthetic, flow)
● User Experience
○ Direct engagement with installation
○ Creating a dialogic space
○ What knowledge or future action (e.g., organizing) does the
audience leave with?
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

5. Developing Community Stakeholders
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

6. Case Study: University Village
“We are growing to the north in a big way. USC Village will no
longer be adjacent to the campus. It will be the campus."
- USC President C. L. Max Nikias, 09/14
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

7. Case Study: University Village
$650 mil Redevelopment of Local Mall
● Serviced community needs
w/grocery, cinema, etc.
Concessions were made to community:
● $20 mil to low-income housing
● Mall would continue to cater to
community
● Would produce 12,000 local jobs
(4,000 temp./8,000 perm.)
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

8. Case Study: University Village
Final Plans:
● Housing for 2,700
● Closed to public from 9pm-6am
(w/caveats)
● Collegiate Gothic design changes
echo campus design
● No cinema
● Replacing El Superior supermarket
w/Trader Joe’s
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

9. Obstructions and Resources
● Identify the narrative you’re most
interested in exploring.
● What is the installation and where will it
be housed/performed?
● Space must include or directly
represent UV
● Live component/performance
● Must include at least 3 media platforms
● Must include at least 1 neighborhood
organization in the topics/design
● Identify which members of the
community to involve
● Low to no budget
● Clarify the action you hope to inspire
within the participants/audience
South Park L.A. Community Groups
● Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE)
○ United Neighbors in Defense Against
Displacement
○ Right to the City (RTTC)
● Community Coalition of Los Angeles
● T.R.U.S.T. South L.A.
● Building Healthy Communities
● L.A. Food Policy Council
● Esperanza Community Housing
● USC Representatives (administrators and
students)
● City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014

10. Considerations
● How is the 360° doc-narrative different from traditional documentary?
● How does an immersive experience help or distract from story?
● How does this type of experience initiate or diffuse action?
● What design challenges were presented through the process?
● How do you maintain the energy of the live event into the future social
engagement?
● How do you keep the transformation of the spectator into a
protagonist?
● How do you maintain the integrity of the story when a block of it is
ephemeral?
Michael Bodie & Vicki Callahan
Oct. 2014