WHAT IS DIGITAL STORYTELLING?

"Digital stories derive their power by weaving images, music, narrative and voice together, thereby giving deep dimension and vivid color to characters, situations, experiences, and insights." - Leslie Rule, Digital Storytelling Association2.

2http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Instructional_Technology/Digital_Storytelling

At its most basic core, digital storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories. There are many other terms used to describe this practice1; but in general, they all revolve around the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia, including graphics, audio, video…

1 such as digital documentaries, computer-based narratives, digital essays, electronic memoirs, interactive storytelling, etc.

Joe Lambert at the Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley, California decribes the 7 elements of DST which contribute to making a good digital story

1.Point of view – Bring the value of your own personal experience and a unique point of view to the story. Try answering these questions: What is the point of my story? Who am I telling the story to? 2.A Dramatic Question – Your story should imply a question that needs to be answered: for example “Will boy meet girl?”, “Will the hero save the day?”, “Will she overcome her difficulies?” The question may or may not be obvious, it may or may not be resolved by the end.3.Emotional Content – include emotions: desire, revelation, humour, crisis, lessons learned, sadness, fear, loneliness, redemption, reunion. Emotions are something that we can all connect to.4.The Power of your Voice – this gives emotional power to your digital story - more than than the written word could. 5.The Power of Soundtrack (optional) –music can add meaning to your story. Instrumental pieces are best: It should complement and not distract.6.Pacing or Rhythm– the viewer needs time to absorb and process the information presented. You can change pace by varying how long images stay on the screen, or by leaving blanks for dramaatic emphasis. It is not always necessary to give a non-stop commentary – your story can be more effective if you include pauses.7.Economy –you don’t have to be literal with every image. Use just a few images , maybe give them zooms, pans, fades or other efects. Digital stories are usually short - just 2-4 minutes. This keeps it easier to make and holds your viewers’ attention.

The 7 Elements of Digital Storytelling

YOUR TASKFor your task (3°A/B L Liceo Primo Levi) , also consider these elements:

1.The Choice of Content For this task you are going to use a first-person narrator to tell a story based on a personal experience. It is better if the story is true, but if you can’t find anything suitable, dreams or invented stories are fine too. However, it is essential that the story is of your own making and inspiration. Remember, it doesn’t have to be about any major event or wildly exceptional. Make it personal!

Suggestions: There are moments, decisive moments, which point our lives in a new direction, and because of the events of this moment or because of new understanding that derives from it, we take that new road. A major personal achievement, the time there was a particularly bad setback, meeting a special person, the end of a relationship, a new beginning, the death of a loved one are all examples of these “fork-in-the-road” experiences. Other ideas: Tell the story of a why a person is/was important in your life.; Tell the story of a time when things in your life were not going so well and you felt really scared; Tell the story of a time in your life when things worked out very differently to how you expected; Tell the story of a "first": first love, first day in a new place, first time trying something really difficult, the first time you read a favorite book, heard a favorite song, saw a favorite movie, etc.; Describe a moment in time when you knew you would never be the same again.

1.Good English Grammar and Language Usage. Do your best!

GETTING STARTED“A good digital story must first be a good story and … no matter how much expertise you have with technology, a poorly written story will not be improved by fancy transitions and other digital effects.”

Look at some of the following examples of digital stories. Observe the video and audio choices, and think about the impact the stories had on you.

Youtube: -My Digital Story by Nadine Baylon-Personal Narrative Example by WeVideo-Personal Narrative Anjerumon-Guardati alle spalle dai falsi amici by paolo gussetti (not a personal narrative , but good fun!)-I always wanted a cat – a digital story by Catherine “Cat” Wood-Progression – A Digital Story by Nick Damato

1. Write the story, and practise telling it out loud to see how long it takes (approximately 15 lines - 2-3 minutes)

2. Check it with your teacher to make sure there are no mistakes3. Plan what kind of visual digital content you are going to use (video, photos, images

from internet, drawings….)4. Create a storyboard where you can sequence the images you have chosen to match

the different parts of your narration5. Make the audio recording (try to avoid background noise)6. Edit the audio together with the images (and soundtrack if you decide to use one).

See the DS software box for ideas on what to use.

CREATE YOUR DIGITAL STORY STEP-BY-STEP

The best solution for you will depend on the computer you use to create the digital story

Windows Live Moviemaker: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-live/movie-maker-get-startedMicrosoft Photostory 3: http://download.cnet.com/Photo-Story-3-for-Windows/3000-12511_4-10339154.htmlApple iMovie: http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/Audactiy: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/Photoshop Elements: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.htmlPhotostage Slideshow Software: http://www.nchsoftware.com/slideshow/index.htmlPremiere Elements: http://www.adobe.com/products/premiere-elements.html

Much of the information contained in these slides was inspired by material taken from The University of Houston, Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling: http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/page.cfm?id=27&cid=27TheCenter for Digital Storytelling: http://storycenter.orgWikibooks : http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Instructional_Technology/Digital_StorytellingJason Ohler’s web page: http://www.jasonohler.com/storytelling/storymaking.cfm

DS Software