Orange cinema series launched "UniverSeries," an exhaustive resource which allows users to cross reference over 140 profiles of producers, directors, and writers of US television series dating back to the 1950s. Presented in both English and French, the groundbreaking site is designed & developped Hellohikimori.
From the initial concept, Hellohikimori was tasked with bringing the idea to fruition and developing the website. The result is a matrix of TV shows, providing a visual reference to the relationships between different TV-show creators, producers, and writers. The website gives TV-buffs a tangible grasp on who worked with whom, on what, at which stage in their career, giving insight into the impact they have made in the industry. The name of each individual is housed in a sphere, colour-coded to reflect the "family" to which they belong.
"UniverSeries gives a fresh perspective to the flash vs html5 debate by taking the best from both worlds," said Sebastien Juzac, technical producer at HKI. "The html side enabled us to use technologies such as Ajax, Javascript and css3 animations to make the navigation and the content reading more enjoyable and interactive. The flash element gave us the ability to present the content in an interactive visualisation, with smooth animations, sounds, music, 3D movements and a touch of flair. Different user's needs can be answered simultaneously, whether they prefer a visual or written experience. The Drupal CMS has been chosen in order to make the html and flash parts work alongside each other, and to seamlessly feed the content."
The website contains more than 140 profiles covering more than 1000 TV shows which will be continually updates as the industry evolves and new shows launch. The content is not only extensive but also unique with original texts for each featured show creator, presenting their backgrounds, styles, their vision and even their state of mind.
In addition, the UniversSeries website offers two different levels of content access. Users can choose to navigate either via the data visualisation or via the creators' index.