Category: digital storytelling

Chapter Review: Storyboarding

DS image

 

 

 

 

 

In chapter 8 of Digital Storytelling: Capturing Lives, Creating Community, author and Center for Digital Storytelling co-founder Joe Lambert discusses the importance of storyboarding as a visual tool to organize a digital story. Having worked in television production myself, I’ve found that storyboarding is useful when trying to present a new client with a unique proposal. As Lambert says, “The art of film storyboarding has taught anyone working on a story (from mega-movies to digital stories) one important lesson: planning on paper will save the enormous expense of time, energy, and money when it comes time to produce your work” (p.97).

Lambert illustrates this point by giving a scenario of a man name Rick, who wanted to create a photo montage for his parents’ 40th anniversary. Rick had a lot of ambition, a ton of content, but very little production planning. In the end, the final project was a disappointment. I found this scenario interesting because I completed a similar project last August for my parents who celebrated their 50th anniversary. It took months to gather all the photographs, weeks to choose the best visual sequence and background music, and hours to ultimately decide on the final cut. Plus, I decided to show the 15-minute presentation to my parents to make sure no particular family member had been omitted. In the end, my family was very impressed by my work.

The 50th anniversary photo montage would not have been possible without a significant amount of planning. In creating digital stories, storyboarding can help a digital author in planning available content, such as photos, video, narration, music and text. Lambert gives an example, which is part of a tutorial called MomnotMom, that allow a digital storyteller to visualize the various elements that will be incorporated into a project. In many ways, it looks similar to a timeline one would find in a video editing application such as WeVideo, iMovie, or Adobe Premiere. In many ways, creating a storyboard is like creating a rough “off-line” edit of a multimedia project without actually using an edit software. One just needs to get a piece of posterboard, Post-it notes and a Sharpie marker. Personally, I would recommend a larger canvas to visualize the story, like a whiteboard in a conference room or classroom (if available).

Lambert concludes the chapter with a digital storytelling example entitled “Ray’s Story.” Unfortunately, there was no mention to where this digital story could be found online. I attempted to do a Google search using the keywords “StoryCenter” and “Ray’s Story”, but there were no clear results. Still, I was intrigued by Lambert’s comments of how the StoryCenter facilitators collaborated with Ray to help create his story about growing up in West Baltimore. Lambert mentions the term “story circle” as a way of the facilitators helping Ray shape the details of his story. He comments how “It’s a matter of listening hard to what the photos are saying, to what’s in between what the storyteller is telling you, in order to find the questions that will help someone discover their insight and their voice” (p.104).

Overall, I’ve been intrigued by what Joe Lambert and his StoryCenter colleagues had implemented to facilitate digital storytelling. Looking forward to the next chapter.

 

 

 

Digital Story Critique: StoryCorps – Willie Harris and Alex Brown

HarrisWNPR13-636x424I just can’t get enough of NPR’s StoryCorps. This week, I wanted to take a listen to one of their audio-only digital stories. One that stood out was a recording of Willie Harris and Alex Brown, the founding members of the Black Stuntmen’s Association. These movie daredevils talk about the adversity of getting into the film business in the 1960s and the recognition they have received for their tireless efforts. As in previous critiques, I judged this digital story on the following assessment traits (as established by Jason Ohler in his book Digital Storytelling in the Classroom):

Story – Harris and Brown share vivid details of how practicing stunts in a public park in the late 1960s drew the attention of the Los Angeles Police Department, who assumed they were Black Panther members.  There’s a nice interplay between them, even when discussing the racism they endured on Hollywood movie sets. Their story flows in a simple chronological order, which gives the listener a solid historical context.

Originality, Voice and Creativity – At times, the listener can hear the subtext of emotion from Harris and Brown. It’s a revealing first-person account from two individuals who have been at the forefront of changing hiring standards in a company town such as Hollywood.  Harris’s mention of the emotion he felt going back to post-Jim Crow Mississippi to be recognized for his accomplishments is especially poignant.

Media Grammar – StoryCorps productions are always know for their impressive recordings and this is a perfect example.  Every word and subtle emotion from Harris and Brown comes through clearly.

I think I’m addicted to the adversity stories on StoryCorps.  That’s a good thing.

 

 

 

Digital Story Critique: Kindertransport

index

 

 

 

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-S69279 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons

During most of my semester in the Learning With Digital Stories (INTE5430) class, I have been focusing on the theme of adversity.  The World Wide Web offers a wide variety of digital stories from people who have either experienced adversity first-hand or knew of someone close to them who experienced it.  On the University of Houston’s Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling site, there are several digital stories that relate to this theme of adapting and surviving from sudden change.  One such story is Kindertransport: The Unknown Children of the Holocaust by Eliz Markowitz.  Markowitz talks about how her grandmother and grandmother’s twin sister were rescued from the Nazi regime before the start of World War II.  As in previous critiques, I judged this digital story on the following assessment traits (as established by Jason Ohler in his book Digital Storytelling in the Classroom):

Research – Markowitz gives the viewer lots of historical and personal background information.  She includes details such as her relatives’ upbringing in Austria, the fallout of Kristallnacht and how both her grandmother and twin sister were able to leave for England.  Also, she incorporates an abundance of historical photographs, family pictures and Nazi propaganda posters.  Some of the images are disturbing, but she includes them to make the viewer understand the impact of the Holocaust.

Originality, Voice, Creativity – Markowitz gives a unique perspective of a person who has been impacted by the Kindertransport rescue.  Her images range from happy family portraits to horrific photos of concentration camp execution chambers.  At times, the juxtaposition of images feels sporadic and puzzling, but maybe that’s because it characterizes the insanity of war.  Markowitz’s narration is clear and calm, but at times, I wish she would slow down and give the viewer a moment to absorb the emotional subtext of the story.  I like how she used the song “Sunrise, Sunset” from Fiddler on the Roof as a music bed.  I just wish she used a second piece of music instead of repeating one song over again.

Citations – This is an assessment trait that is the weakest.  There are no citations to the archived photos in the video.  I would like to have known where she found them.  Plus, Markowitz does not cite the copyrighted music from Fiddler on the Roof.  In previous videos from this website, I’ve noticed other digital storytellers that have omitted citations as well.  I think the digital storytelling facilitators at the University of Houston should make citations a requirement.

Overall, Markowitz did an impressive job of telling how this major event of compassion saved many lives and preserved future generations of Jewish families, including her own.

Scholarly Response: Digital Storytelling and the Flint Water Crisis

um-water-research-540x360This week, I found an interesting article from the University of Michigan-Flint regarding the topic of digital storytelling. The community of Flint, Michigan received over $100,000 in seed money to fund various projects in the clean-up of Flint’s contaminated water supply. In addition to long-term projects aimed at solving the city’s infrastructure, there will be funding set aside to teaching journalism and digital storytelling skills to Flint-area students during a summer class on environmental issues. Instructors from UM-Flint, UM-Dearborn, UM-Ann Arbor, and Genesse Early College will collaborate on the project.  According to Jeremy Allen at UM Public Affairs, “teachers will assist the students in producing digital stories describing their own and others’ experiences in Flint during the past months.”

With much of the mainstream media covering the presidential race, it’s hard to find any coverage lately on the impact of civic disasters like the one going on in Flint. Lead poisoning by a careless corporation is one thing, but lead poisoning as a result of lazy government oversight is another. Getting the perspectives of Flint citizens who have been impacted by this health crisis could give digital storytelling some greater visibility and credibility.