Walking Cinema: Murder on Beacon Hill

THE STORY
On a warm afternoon a week before Thanksgiving, 1849, Dr. George Parkman, one of the richest men in Boston, went missing. A massive manhunt uncovered pieces of a body in and under the Harvard Medical College. Professor John Webster was arrested for the murder. What followed was the most famous trial and conviction of the 19th Century.

THE EXPERIENCE
Evidence of the story still remains in Boston’s old Beacon Hill neighborhood. Use your iPhone to follow geocoded videos that reveal the evidence, characters, and feeling of a time when mystery stories, detective work, and a century of progress were just starting. Developed in partnership with the producers of the PBS film “Murder at Harvard” and Simon Schama’s book, “Dead Certainties,” this original production is a first-of-its-kind location-based adaptation of a major documentary film. The work is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Center for Independent Documentary.

FEATURES
• Mixed-reality storytelling guided by a live map and location-based experiences

• Probably the only iPhone application that lets you:
- Play morality board games
- Find creepy old stamps
- Browse a pop-up book of evil architecture
- Breathe deeply in an ether dome

• Cinematic shorts reveal key places and plot twists to a crime that still lurks in the landscape of present-day Boston

• Access to hidden clubs, historic buildings, and hidden gems in America’s loveliest urban enclave

FURTHER INFO
See www.parkmanmurder.com for more ways you can participate with the production and dig deeper into the story and its artifacts.

BUZZ
“Untravel’s dramatic combination of photography, music, and narration taught me about a side of the city that even most Bostonians know nothing about.”
-Xconomy

“Walking Cinema: Murder on Beacon Hill is an audio and video tour detailing the notorious 19th-century slaying of a wealthy Bostonian, George Parkman. Real-life relics, a skull here, a weapon there, will be placed in stores and other buildings on Beacon Hill, serving as waypoints for the tour.”
-Boston Globe

"Because it knows where you are, it can encourage you to see things and meet people you wouldnt normally see or meet….It can lead to more fulfilling travel and more ongoing relationships with the cities that you travel to."
-Reuters