User blog:Idekmandy/DC Database Interactive Video Reveal

Hey everyone!

It’s been quite a while since I posted a blog, but today I am happy to return with a really awesome update! As Brandon mentioned in his last blog post, we’ve been working directly with community members on the creation of several wiki-specific interactive videos for some of our top wikis. We already unveiled the interactive video pilot for Diablo II, but these are the first videos specifically made for the community, in collaboration with the community. They have been months in the making, and today I am so excited to finally share the completed DC interactive video with you all, before it officially goes live on DC Database!

The video will take you through the different variants versions of Batman within the DC Omniverse. If you are a diehard DC fan, you will probably see some characters you know and love in this video, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll be introduced to a slew of cool Batmen you never knew existed (but wish you knew sooner). A hybrid of both Batman AND Joker? I need to know more! Don’t just take my word for it though, check the video out for yourself:



How the video got made
We ultimately wanted to create something that would not only appeal to hardcore DC fans, but would also be helpful and informative for newer or more casual readers. As anyone with experience reading and contributing to enormous wikis knows, the overload of information can be so daunting that you just don’t know where to begin. With that in mind, our original idea was to put together a guide of the most significant events in the comics, along with highlighting which issues are crucial to read, so it would serve as a "start here" or "greatest hits” to those just getting into the extensive lore of DC. When we pitched this idea to the DC Database administrators, however, they made us realize that our idea may not necessarily clear things up for newcomers. Due to the ever expanding nature of the DC Omniverse, which is only getting bigger with each event, canon and continuity don’t mean anything anymore, and the biggest events often shape continuity but not character.


 * "The video team was very open to input, and after explaining a thing or two about how the multiverse works, changed their focus on one character, rather than a storyline."
 * – Tupka217, DC Database admin

Thanks to this invaluable feedback and direct collaboration with the DC admins, we pivoted our approach and decided to narrow the scope to focus on one specific character. With the release of The Batman right around the corner (who’s ready for March 4?), this felt like the perfect opportunity to highlight some awesome versions of Batman you might be interested in learning more about. In fact, it may surprise you just how many Batmen there actually are. It was of course impossible to showcase them all in one video, but luckily for us, some of the most knowledgeable people on all things Batman reside on our platform. So with additional help from the DC Database admins, we decided which selection of Batmen would be best to cover in the video.


 * “There are more Batmen, and more prominent ones, but this is a nice mix of odd and unexpected Batmen we agreed on.”
 * – Tupka217

As for the overall look of the video, we wanted the user to feel like they were actually accessing the mainframe of the Justice League's computer system in the Watchtower base. For the graphical user interface design, we also drew inspiration from the look of the computer operating system in the Justice League: Battle for Metropolis attraction at Six Flags.

The creative talent behind the video
Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without the talented folks who created this video. From the moment DC Database first expressed their interest in Interactive Videos, it was like a Batsignal went off. Billy Patterson, who is our Senior Video Producer at Fandom, lives and breathes all things DC, so naturally he jumped at the opportunity to make an interactive video like this. He wasn’t alone, as our graphic designer for the video, Adam Hlavac, has also been a lifelong DC fan and showcases his love for DC as a member of the "Heroes Reforged" YouTube channel. Helping them out with some of the research and doing the voice-over for the Justice League computer was Ed Greer, a self-declared comic book nerd and frequent guest on our Screen Junkies programming. Bringing it all together was Emin Bassavand, our Post-Production Supervisor who actually assembled all the elements of the video and made sure the sound design was on par for a superhero-centric video. Massive shoutout to this awesome team for putting this together and achieving such an incredible result!

We hope you enjoy the video as much as our video team had fun making it! Hopefully your favorite Batman made the cut, but if not, let us know in the comments below who is missing and why you love them. Remember this is just the first of more to come, so stay tuned for our next interactive video release for none other than - Memory Alpha!

Thanks for watching, and feel free to share in the comments section who your favorite version of Batman is! (The Batman Who Laughs takes the cake for me)