147
Definición y características
supuestos fundamentales que quedan sin resolver. Según Whitelaw, el
hecho de considerar el documental interactivo como una subcategoría
de la narrativa interactiva sitúa la carga en la definición sobre lo que
es la narrativa interactiva. Esto plantea la discusión sobre qué significa
interactuar con una narrativa, con la interfaz o con los ordenadores.
“Although there is a vast literature on this topic, the authors that use the
term interactive media are normally not specific about what they mean by
this term. Handler Miller describes digital technology as ‘microprocessors,
wireless signals, the Web, DVDs, and so on. Interactivity is one of its hall-
marks. Older media cannot support back-and-forth communications bet-
ween the audience and the material -interactivity- and this is a radical diffe-
rence between the older media and the new (Miller, 2004:XIII). Berenguer
just states that the interactive aspects of the first computer ‘only acquired
relevance in the cultural sphere with the appearance, in the eighties, of
graphic interfaces and the consequent possibilities’ (2007:1). It is assumed
that any choice made by the user, or any feed-back provided by the com-
puter counts as interactive. The nature, the levels and the consequences of
this interaction are normally ignored212”.
De acuerdo con Gaudenzi, creemos que una aproximación útil sería
empezar asumiendo que tanto el documental lineal como el interactivo
pretenden documentar la realidad, pero el tipo de material en referencia
a los medios y a las preferencias de sus autores y participantes acaba
creando un producto final muy diferente. Gaudenzi213 sigue la apro-
ximación expresando una premisa básica en su trabajo y análisis para
diferenciar el documental lineal del interactivo:
“If linear documentary demands a cognitive participation from its
viewers (often seen as interpretation) the interactive documentary adds
the demand of some physical participation (decisions that translate in a
physical act such as clicking, moving, speaking, tapping etc…). If linear
documentary is video, of film, based, interactive documentary can use any
existing media. And if linear documentary depends on the decisions of its
filmmaker (both while filming and editing), interactive documentary does
not necessarily have a clear demarcation between those two roles. […]214”.
212. S. Gaudenzi, 2009, op. cit., pág. 21-22.
213. S. Gaudenzi, 2009, op. cit., pág. 22.
214. Ibíd.