COMMON LAB MANUAL: CASE STUDY
MEDIA PRODUCTIONS
​AS EVALUATION TOOL

​Text: Max Spielmann

The central functions of Tale of X Cities are education in new communication media and simultaneous engagement with the social situation and common heritage. This with the aim of promoting the self-understanding and cohesion of a region. The Arc of Northern Greece is a space of transitions between sub-regions and neighbouring countries. Unifying and formative is the common history of exchange along various trade routes, the Silk Road or the ancient Via Egnatia. It can be understood as a bracket or the backbone of the arc. Tale of X Cities consciously defines this arc in a socio-cultural forward movement, this without taking linguistic, cultural, historical or even mythological justifications to the aid.

Tale of X Cities contributes to social, cultural and economic development. The success in this regard can neither be measured nor interpreted. The development of an effect must be observed over a longer period of time. However, the mere fact of thinking of the Northern Greek Arc as a common region and giving space to this idea is a success. Understanding the space as open and shapeable, with its urban-rural mix, situated between sea, mountains and inland and the long connection from the Turkish border to the Ionian Sea, this is what Tale of X Cities has contributed to.

The assessment of the usefulness of the media productions is to be understood against this background. They are documents of an important process, which came to an end with the festival in November. The idea was to use the productions in the context of the work of the partner institutions on site. The following challenges arise here:

• The use of media needs to be integrated into a basic activity of the partner institution (exhibition, theatre play, mediation activity) and requires curatorial involvement.
• This requires cooperation between authors and institutions as early as the planning stage.
• The works must be suitable for the intended use in terms of content and quality. To a certain extent, this requires an understanding of service on the part of the authors.

The short-term realisation of the project made it difficult to overcome these challenges. The effective use of the products does not correspond to the potentials of the work. For the evaluation we assessed the potentials with the following criteria:

• Basic craft qualities of media productions.
• Stringency of content and comprehensibility for a target audience.
• Quality of research in documentary works.
• Choice of subject matter.
• Quality of storytelling.
• Intermediary qualities (how the media of image, sound, text are related to each other).

MEDIA OUTPUT 1:  WORKS PRODUCED BY THE PARTICIPANTS
We consider 27% of the works to be very or well suited for use. 
For 55% of the work, we saw various weaknesses that could be prevented with little production/post-production support. Typical problems were:

• Lack of sufficient establishment of the theme and narrative, 
• Insufficiently clear address and position of the author(s),
• Unnecessary repetition of content,
• Technical improvement possibilities (color grading, sound, edits).

In 18% of the productions, we found major problems that would have required significantly more support and decisions already in the conception/production preparation phase.

• Use of inappropriate technology.
• Lack of focus on a target audience.
• Unsuitable use of media.
• Early intervention can help in each case to guarantee the quality and thus the usability of the videos.

This result is very pleasing and confirms experience with similar media projects. Due to the omnipresence of the media, there is an astonishing basic media competence as perceived by broad sections of the population. Relatively little training and support are sufficient to ensure the production of usable media on this foundation. Certain basic flaws, such as insufficient topic establishment, the clearly recognisable attitude and position of the authorship, or certain technical improvement skills, can be taught well in the production process.

An exception is the area of intermediality, the relationship of the various sub-media (image, sound, text and media references to theatre, cinema, literature, music). Often dissonances arise when using references between the media. The mood seems irritating, the attitude of the authorship unclear or, quite fundamentally, the understanding of the narrative difficult. Here, an additional teaching unit in the workshops could help to create an awareness for the question and for possible solutions of intermediary means of design. As mentioned before, the Open Call has a strong focus on cultural self-understanding and memory. The works follow this specification and often do so with a somewhat backward-looking and nostalgic attitude. The view is often not very forward-looking. In some works, a connection to social transformation could be brought in with the representation of solidary practices. These media works could thus be understood in a future-oriented way.

MEDIA OUTPUT 2: FESTIVAL
​
For the participants of Tale of X Cities, the festival was certainly very identity-forming. The festival helped the participants and the institutions involved to better understand the nature, meaning, and future potential of the project. The achievement of setting up a decentralized and hybrid festival in a situation marked by the Corona pandemic has to be seen as a great achievement that sets a sign of departure. In the conversations, the festival was often mentioned as a motivation for the completion of the works and as the actual culmination. The festival stands for the development of a self-image as a common region with its potentials.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
About Common Lab
​Background
Timeline

ACTIVITIES RATIONALE 
​Tale of X Cities & media competences for community building
State of the Arts & the digital public spheres

KEY THEORETICAL CONCEPTS
​Social innovation through art
​Art for social change
​Post-industrial design
Cultural and creative industries
Bibliography

CASE STUDY: TALE OF X CITIES
​About the case study
​Tale of X Cities key results & findings
​Lessons learned & recommendations 
Model project flow
​Media productions as evaluation tool
​Digital events and communication formats