The War Tapes Puts a Face on War

By Katja Wittke

Download The War Tapes Case Study  and Download The War Map

The War Tapes is an independent, participatory film project. The process involved members of a New Hampshire National Guard unit filming their experiences in Iraq. They used new media technology while filming and shipped the tapes back to the producers through military channels. The final film is the product of a collaborative production process and combined several perspectives: those of soldiers who see themselves as warriors, of National Guard officials, of liberal funders and producers, and of professional filmmakers. The film distributors also utilized new media technologies for promotion and outreach, such as blogging sites to create buzz and an online social network site which allowed people to sign up for screening locations. Blogs, especially those on The War Tapes Web site, also served as a tool to continue the storytelling that was started in the film. More…