N.C. Raves: The documentary
About this site : The documentary (1 of 3)

A year of work, ten raves, forty rolls of film, and eight hours of audio tape went into the current incarnation of this website, a documentary of the rave scene in North Carolina. The story is, at best, a static snapshot of a rapidly changing scene and culture.

I began the project in March 1997 as part of a photojournalism class. After recieving a grant from the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communcation, the story was expanded and audio segments were introduced. UNC-CH's SunSITE, a world-famous server and one of the first websites on the internet, agreed to host the website and lend its resources for streaming audio. I'm grateful to them for all their assistance.

After polishing the site in August 1998, I made a permanent move to Washington D.C. to work in the multimedia industry. I'm currently seeking someone to take over the website and continue to document this quickly growing scene in a journalistic way. There are all sorts of angles I didn't get to cover in much depth, like the rise of superstar deejays, the rapid burnout and high replacement rate of partygoers, the increasing commercialization of raves and techno, the tactics of greedy promoters, the decline of chillout rooms, and the support networks raves provide for troubled kids.

I would love for the site to be more interactive, allowing users to post images, party reviews, flyers, and audio, though the programming and copyright obstacles posed by such a feature would be considerable. Ideal candidates would be internet-savvy, long-time partygoers with a dedication to contributing to the rave scene. Please email if you're interested.

My thanks to Rich Beckman and Dean Richard Cole at the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication; to Paul Jones, Donald Sizemore, and Pratik Patel at SunSITE for their space, expertise, and patience (respectively); and to the energetic, thoughtful partygoers who helped push the story forward, including Karin S., Jody Barnes (and Becky), and Todd Morman.

Image from the photo story

This page is part of a sequence discussing technical issues pertaining to this site.

Click below to go to another page in the sequence, or click here to return to the North Carolina Raves home page.

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Copyright ©1998 Jim Webb. All rights reserved.