Witness to History: Documenting the Path of Liberation
An animated 3-D map with narration provides context to the Signal Corps photographs that document the Allies’ path from Normandy to Austria, from D-Day to VE-Day—the end of WWII combat in Europe.
Signal Corps photographers accompanied American troops throughout the offensive across Europe against Nazi Germany, “documenting the path of liberation.” In concert with the opening of the National World War II Memorial on the national mall, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum unveiled Witness to History, an exhibition of original Signal Corps photographs with seven interactive kiosks. Each of the kiosks features an in-depth interactive program where visitors can follow the allies through seventeen segments that defined their path. Each step along the way a 3-D map animates from location to location as narrators set up each milestone in the offensive. As the historical stills and footage from the Signal Corps photographers animates, visitors hear the words of the photographers, soldiers, and witnesses whose stories illuminate the imagery. In addition to this narrative presentation, a photo gallery provides unmediated access to all the photographs on view with commentary by J. M. Heslop, former Signal Corps photographer.
Press & Awards
- HOW, Interactive Design Annual, Merit, 2005
- Omni Intermedia Award, Bronze, Educational, 2005
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Communication Arts, Interactive Design Annual, Winner, Information, 2005
“This is a great example of a sprawling documentary brought to interactive media. The amount of content is Ken Burns-like in breadth, yet its presented so intuitively that I’m left remembering the stories, not the navigation. How often does that happen, really?”
Credits
- Producer
- Jeremy Clark
- Designer
- Kirsten O’Loughlin
- Developers
- Thomas Wester, Phillip Kerman
- 3-D Visualization
- Matt Arnold
- Motion Designer
- Martin Linde
- A/V Editing & Production
- David Waingarten
- Quality Assurance
- David Brewer