Research Director + UX/UI Design + Film Production

Resilience: A Tale of Two Watersheds

Creative Direction, Design & Filmmaking | Kelly Skye
Web Development | Steve Sunderland

Resilience is an interactive documentary about community resilience in the high Andes of Peru. Through comprehensive qualitative research and documentation, this project aims to tell the stories of the two communities working to overcome climate change-induced drought. This work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally. Local Peruvian non-profits also used it to enhance the impact of their advocacy work, helping to shape revised water use policies in the region.

Interaction as metaphor

The web interface was designed using the metaphor of a weaving loom. Users can weave together short video clips into 5-minute “micro-documentaries,” which tell different stories with each interaction.

A shifting story fabric

Each time the interface is loaded a different digital composition is woven keeping the experience fresh and engaging.

Weaving together story threads

The storytelling interface stitches together clips based on the viewer’s decisions about which thematic “threads” to weave together.

Photographic Haiku

I also developed photographic haiku as a part of the storytelling system. These haiku consist of 3 images and 3 interview quotes that are woven together to tell a short visual story.

A multi-layered script

This is the documentary script, a woven story fabric with similar documentary clips organized along “thematic threads” on the x and y-axis.

Increasing awareness

Resilience has been exhibited in different venues. I also made several short traditional films with the material to increase awareness about the impact of climate change in the high Andes of Peru.