The Strasbourg cathedral is an awe-inspiring building, a masterpiece of gothic architecture and at the same time an expression of it’s creators’ wildest dreams. Until the 19th century, its 142 meter tower made it the tallest building in the world. Who are the creators of this cathedral? What is their story? A narrative about the inner workings of one of the most prestigious construction sites of the Middle Ages.
The project is divided into four different, yet interconnected, media platforms: a 3D-film, a documentary-game, two mobile apps (for Strasbourg and Freiburg) and a media library.
A 3D-documentary on the skill and craftsmanship of the gothic architects: the Strasbourg cathedral is an aw-inspiring building, a masterpiece of gothic architecture and at the same time the expression of it’s creators’ wildest dreams. Until the 19th century, its 142 meter tower made it the tallest building in the world. Who are the creators of this cathedral? What is their story? A narrative about the inner workings of one of the most prestigious construction sites of the Middle Ages.
An innovative web-documentary with a videogame-like concept: You can become the architect in a game in which YOU are the hero! Uncover the secrets of the creators and construct a virtual second tower for the Strasbourg cathedral, aided by the “Tower Builder”- design tools. The user plays the role of a young architect who must contact several experts for information, in order to become chief architect himself.
In making contact with the experts he will gain access to interactive documents, such as 3D-models of the cathedral and original plans from different architects that were created successively while the building was being designed, or to the archives of the Musée de l’Œuvre Notre-Dame and to various other pictures and videos, created for the web-documentary. Over the course of the game, the player acquires knowledge for which he is awarded components. He will need these for the concept of his virtual second tower, which he constructs using the integrated modelling-tool “Tower Builder”.
Mobile Apps for the Strasbourg cathedral and the Freiburg cathedral: Use modern technology to bring the middle ages from the past to the present! Visit the cathedrals of Strasbourg and Freiburg on a playful and innovative discovery tour!
Reconstruction, anecdotes, photographs, original construction plans… You can even see the different designs for the virtual towers from the game at the cathedral.
THE CATHEDRAL
Crossmedia-project (Film, Web, Mobile):
Documentary by Marc Jampolsky, 90 min, 3D HD
Web-documentary by Julien Aubert
Strasbourg-app by Julien Aubert
Freiburg-app by Benjamin Cölle, Anne Drees and Teresa Renn
PRODUCTION COMPANIES:
SEPPIA, INDI FILM, ZDF/ARTE, ARTE France
FINANCIAL SUPPORT:
MEDIA; MFG regional fund Baden-Württemberg, Centre national de la cinématographie et de l’image animée, SCAN – Strasbourg Creative, Région Alsace, Fondation de l’œuvre Notre Dame, French Ministry for Culture and Communication
FESTIVALS:
Prix Europa 2013
IDFA Doclab Online Catalog 2013
beyond 3D-Festival Karslruhe 2013
LINK TO THE PROJECT :
cathedrale.arte.tv