Impossible Bureau

REGENERATION:
BLACK CINEMA

Highlight the rich history of back cinema.

Cultural Blog/Website / Webby Winner

Impossible Bureau

Cultural Blog/Website

Webby Winner

Inspiring, educational, empowering, historical, celebratory Jeff Yamada, Managing Director

Q: Can you briefly describe your project and the concept behind it?

A: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' exhibition, “Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971”, explores the rich history of Black participation in US cinema from its beginnings to just beyond the civil rights movement. Our brief was to create a responsive website and in-gallery Augmented Reality (AR) experiences to amplify the visitor experience, and document the rich history of Black participation in American cinema.

Q: Once you settled on your idea, what influenced your decision on the chosen technical approach? How did it differ or go beyond approaches you’ve taken in the past?

A: We sought to complement and enrich the physical exhibition, while reflecting the same exciting history found in black cinema. Honoring the pioneers that brought so much talent and passion to the industry in times of challenge was especially critical.

Q: What were some of your biggest learning and takeaways from this project?

A: We learned as much as we hope people visiting the exhibit and the site will learn, that the history of black cinema is rich and storied, and that movies would not be what they are today without it.

Q: What web technologies, approaches, tools, or resources did you use to develop this experience (WordPress, headless, AI, Sublime Text, HTML5, Adobe XD, etc)?

A: React, Three.js, WebGL, Contentful, Figma, Next.js, Vercel

Q: How did the final product meet or exceed your expectations? What results did you see?

A: We love the site! We were able to incorporate a range of stakeholder interest in the project, weaving several styles and directions from different sources (the curators, print designers, brand agencies, and more).

Q: Why is this an exciting time to create new digital experiences? How does your team fit into this?

A: The tools available for building great experiences are maturing at an exciting pace. With each project we find new tools and services that make it possible to spend more time thinking creatively and less time trying to make things possible. The impossible is becoming more and more possible every year and it's always exciting to use new technologies!

Q: How did you reach a good balance of your own creative ideas and technical capabilities with a fair representation of the client’s brand?

A: This was the whole project really - with a range of agencies and the museum participating in the shaping of Regeneration, we spent the majority of our time finding ways to bring it all together and to make sure the site complimented the range of experiences being created.

Q: What did your initial moodboard, wireframe, or prototype look like? How did those ideas change throughout the design process?

A: The typography used is varied - bold and bright colors at times, yet darker and cleaner in others - our mood boards and initial concepts were essential in finding the right range of styles to display on the site while keeping everything usable and familiar feeling.

REGENERATION: BLACK CINEMA