• reality shows
  • reality TV reviews
  • about
  • contact
  • reality TV schedule
  • best reality TV
  • send tips or feedback
  • support
  • subscribe
TV documentary

The first Snapchat documentary is about to disappear

Snapchat POV documentaries "We'll Still Be Here" and "The Way it Should Be"

by Andy Dehnart 23 Oct. 2016 | 5:07 pm

What do you get when you merge a documentary produced by POV, the PBS series that describes itself as “television’s longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films,” with Snapchat, the app designed for making things vanish, including older users like me who cannot figure out its user interface?

The result is exactly what you’d expect: something that’s in-between narrative and ephemera, that’s not quite a story but also more than just a clip—and that’s confusing to actually interact with.

The first of POV’s two Snapchat documentaries, which are the first documentaries produced for the app, is live today via the NowThis channel in Snapchat Discover, but only for 24 hours. (Next Sunday, POV will debut “The Way It Should Be,” directed by Terence Nance and Chanelle Aponte Pearson that’s described as “a story of love and friendship as lived and told by queer women of color.”)

“We’ll Still Be Here,” directed by Lizzie Jacobs, is up today, and focuses on men playing dominoes in Brooklyn. The PBS press release description, “dominoes players keeping their beloved game alive while a neighborhood changes around them,” pretty much sums it up.

The documentary isn’t a complete film, but a series of short videos that you have to swipe between. There’s a map and clips of people talking, but there isn’t much depth. It’s a flash of life, which is maybe a generous way to describe what’s shared on Snapchat, too.

Snapchat and the extinction of the dinosaurs

In the press release, POV’s Digital Executive Producer Adnaan Wasey says this:

“Robust social media platforms like Snapchat offer an exciting means to tell new kinds of stories and engage a new audience. We’re excited to not only be able to show the filmmaking community what’s possible, but also to do it alongside teams of ambitious independent filmmakers with a history of breaking new ground.”

I wish the first film was ambitious or a new type of story. It feels like neither. And it does not feel vital or necessary, either.

The odd part is that the videos start repeating, which is the signal to swipe. But the repetition of the video means that watching the same thing a again before realizing it’s the same clip repeating.

Meanwhile, swiping up on some of the clips reveals another clip with more footage, maybe 20 or 40 seconds long, while swiping right moves to the next scene. It’s an experience that could possibly be used in interesting ways, because it’s not exactly linear. However, the experience isn’t clear—the clip below a clip doesn’t always seem connected. So it it necessary to watch? Or optional?

While the film is a good overview of a thing that’s happening, there isn’t time to get to know characters, though there are people talking. There’s not a lot to grab on to, nor is there anything I’d want to watch again (and I watched it twice).

At the beginning of “We’ll Still Be Here,” one of the men says, “It’s a dying game. It’s like dinosaurs. And if we don’t keep it alive, it’s gonna go out the window.”

The same could be said for traditional linear methods of distributing content—like documentary films. I’m sure there will be an audience viewing this on Snapchat who does not regularly watch POV films on PBS or on POV’s excellent web site. So that’s a win.

But this also doesn’t yet feel like something created for Snapchat, it just feels like footage that’s on Snapchat. And if the dinosaurs are going to avoid extinction, they’re going to need to get off their planet and try a different one entirely.

discuss this story

more great reality blurred stories

  • The 20 Survivor winners who will compete on Survivor season 40
  • How Antiques Roadshow works
  • Scare Tactics: The surprising way the show was cast
  • Behind the scenes of the Guy’s Grocery Games grocery store
  • The Survivor rule book and Survivor cast contract
  • How Big Brother’s house is designed

Reality TV in your inbox

Hand-crafted reality TV news and recommendations sent most Fridays. Unsubscribe any time!

most-popular stories on reality blurred

The central cast of MTV's Ex On the Beach: Peak of Love

Ex on the Beach: Peak of Love cast includes Adore Delano and Temptation Island singles

MTV announced the cast and air date for Ex On the Beach season 4, which has relocated to the mountains of New Zealand and now has the nonsensical name of Ex On the Beach: Peak of Love.

Whale Wars

Whale Wars: Watson's Last Stand is not new. It's from 2012.

Animal Planet has bizarrely repackaged old episodes as a new "season" of Whale Wars. But there is a new Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd-focused documentary coming soon.

Boston Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine on Survivor: Island of the Idols

Survivor 40's cast of 20 Survivor winners

Survivor season 40's all-winner cast has been revealed. Original winner Richard Hatch is not competing, but nearly every winner from seasons 22 to 37 is returning.

The best reality TV shows 2019

The best reality TV of 2019

Andy Dehnart’s selection of outstanding reality TV and documentary reality shows from 2019.

Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd, Whale Wars

Whale Wars almost came back. Why it's not returning.

Cameras filmed during Sea Shepherd's mission to the Southern Ocean this past year. But there won't be a season of Whale Wars.

Jeff Probst on the premiere of Survivor Island of the Idols, standing next to a sign that reminds everyone what Survivor used to focus on.

Survivor season 40 will start earlier than usual

Survivor: Winners at War will premiere in February, and have a two-hour premiere.

Spy Games host Mia Kang and assessors Douglas Laux, Evy Poumpuras, and Erool Southers

Spy Games: the cast, premiere date, and trailer for the new Bravo competition

Bravo has announced details about Spy Games, its reality competition whose producers include Survivor's former showrunner and a former ABC exec who developed The Mole.

Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio during the Top Chef: Kentucky finale

Top Chef season 17: all stars are filming now

Former Top Chef contestants have been spotted at filming locations in the Los Angeles area, and the Restaurant Wars episode will be filmed next week.

Gabrielle Union during the America's Got Talent season 14 semifinals 2 episode

Gabrielle Union was fired from America's Got Talent. What we've learned since then about AGT's "toxic culture"

Reports have detailed a "toxic culture" at AGT that Gabrielle Union tried to address but was labeled as "difficult."

On Kings of Pain, Rob “Caveman” Alleva puts a tarantula hawk, a massive wasp, on Adam Thorn so it can sting him

Is Kings of Pain science or stupidity? An interview with a History Channel executive

An interview with a History Channel executive about Kings of Pain, on which two men are bitten and stung to see how much it hurts.

behind the scenes of reality TV

Ultimate Survival Alaska's Dallas Seavey in a frozen lake

Ultimate Survival Alaska fake? “No” “Everything … is real”

Is National Geographic’s Ultimate Survival Alaska fake or does it stage moments? No, says its producer, who tells reality blurred about how it’s produced.

Todrick Hall, Ross Matthews, RuPaul, Michelle Visage, and Carson Kressley during RuPaul's Drag Race season 10

RuPaul’s Drag Race and Guy’s Grocery Games: how their sets were designed

Reality TV production designer Scott Storey shares behind-the-scenes details about his designs of two of cable TV’s most well-known reality competitions.

Scott Storey in the Big Brother 15 house

How Big Brother’s set is designed: an interview with production designer Scott Storey

Emmy-winning production designer Scott Storey talks about his work on the Big Brother house, which he’s been designing since season six.

older

The 10 documentaries HBO will air the rest of this year

newer >

How and why nature documentaries lie to us

more stories about TV documentary

discuss this story

about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart’s writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Vulture, Pacific Standard, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He has covered reality television for more than 18 years, and created reality blurred in 2000.

A member of the Television Critics Association who serves on its board of directors, Andy, 41, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. Learn more about reality blurred and Andy.

stay connected with reality TV

Get advice about what to watch and keep up with the latest in reality television with reality blurred's e-mail newsletter. Just enter your e-mail address:

about reality blurred

reality blurred is your guide to the world of reality TV and unscripted entertainment, with reality show reviews, news, and analysis. It was created in 2000 by Andy Dehnart. He's still writing and publishing it today.

reality blurred is regularly updated with highlights from the world of reality TV: news and analysis; behind-the-scenes reports; interviews with reality TV show cast members and producers; and recaps and reviews of these reality TV shows, including Survivor, Big Brother, The Great British Baking Show, Shark Tank, The Amazing Race, The Bachelor, Project Runway, Dancing with the Stars, Top Chef, and many more.

explore

  • recent news
  • reviews of reality TV shows
  • behind the scenes reports
  • interviews with producers and reality stars
  • archives
  • send tips
  • search
  • advertise on reality blurred
  • about reality blurred
  • newsletter
  • RSS and social media
  • contact reality blurred
  • send tips & contribute
  • privacy policy
  • terms of service
Copyright © 2000 to 2019 Andy Dehnart and individual contributors.