Valentina Ciarapica: Berlin-based Italian, editor and visual artist

We are happy to announce, that Valentina is the first to start with our short interviews to introduce herself to our community. Please welcome her to Transmedia Storytelling Berlin and help her find some great new connections and maybe projects. Here are her answers to our questions:

Describe yourself in less than 140 characters:

I’m an Italian, Berlin-based editor and visual artist focused on video production in the framework of new media storytelling.

Who are you and why are you a transmedia storyteller?

I’m almost 30 and I come from a small town in Italy but I live and work in Berlin since March 2011.

Almost 3 years ago I got the chance to start my “Transmedia journey” working as vfx supervisor and editor on an interactive school game called “Professor S.”. That experience was very important because it let me understand what a powerful tool is Transmedia is in the framework of children’s education. After taking part as researcher on a short term program in cinema and new medias at the UCLA University of Los Angeles, I turned my professional career in that direction.

I’m now a video editor and visual artist focused on interactive and new media projects. My strong passion for travels and cultures strongly defines the nature of my works.

Since summer 2013 I’m collaborating with an american-italian new media agency, taking part to its summer cinema and new media workshops as postproduction instructor. I give students the right tools to approach italian small towns, knowing its people, their traditions and culture, and to tell back what they learn in a deep and complex way through the use of contemporary new medias.

Thanks to the HKW I’m also working with a friend screenwriter on my first Transmedia project as author and media designer. It’s title is: Things that Matter.

What are the main features that depict a transmedia storytelling project from your point of view?

With its variety of media components, its fragmented and fluid structure, Transmedia storytelling represents a powerful tool for entertainment and education today. Its organic structure and open narrative line lets all kinds of audience having the chance to be active in the content fruition, as well as developing a strong consciousness related to uses and potentialities of digital medias; despite that Transmedia storytelling audience never looses his contact with reality, which is often a narrative element related to the fictional ones.

Did your work change within the last years?

A lot! In these last 2 years I had to revaluate the role of video entertainment and its contemplative fruition method. People can comfortably stand on a sofa and watch a movie, but can also somehow be part of that!!

Are/Were there any obstacles yet that you’d wish to find some others to help you with?

Introducing a traditional video in a more organic structure like Transmedia ones could be exciting but at the same time difficult. Work technically with video on an HTML background is like including a foreigner in a group of people who don’t speak the same language… would really at this point filmmakers start to code?

What kind of contacts would be helpful for you to find? Why?

I don’t consider myself a one man band. I wish I would find other editors with my same interests, storytellers, developers, and be part of a professional network.