His idea was to use the devastation of postwar Berlin as the setting for a period piece involving murder, political intrigue, moral ambiguity and romance -- a film noir in the tradition of "Casablanca" or "The Third Man" -- and then to shoot it, with contemporary actors, in the visual and dramatic style of the period.
Told through photos, video, graphics and magazine-style text, the piece was lauded in the industry as setting a new standard for multimedia journalism.