In our media rich world, the central skills of the oral storyteller are more relevant and needed than ever. With such expansive information so readily available, there is greater need to develop the qualities of ?voice? and strong purpose in our communication. We are not meant to be mere consumers of media, but to compose using the tools now available on most computers.
Digital Storytelling is all about developing the capacity and skills to anchor ideas in well developed message and viewpoint, and how to avoid losing central ideas in multi- media gimmicks.
One of the things that will need to be developed in students as they take on this work is an explicit awareness of their own ?audience expertise?. In our modern world, we have been so media inundated ? through movies, music, commercials, advertisements, etc, that we have already developed a truly sophisticated multi-media sense of the world by the time we have learned to speak.
This needs to be brought to the forefront immediately in undertaking this work. Students need to explicitly look at the power of image, narrative, soundtrack and pacing in the media world around them, and name what is effective and what is not. Otherwise, the schooled approach to composing text (making everything explicit) will undermine their effectiveness in translating their ideas and conclusions to this realm.
This is a media wherein the teller has absolute control over viewer attention, and the timing at which the viewer will have access to further development of information. As a result, the composer goes through extensive revision of the central ideas and content before heading into extensive work with image and with audio. Images are created and composed through use of digital software that allows students to draw, collage, zoom in, and modify visuals to create the focus and effect that the piece of work asks for. Because it is a media rich space, there will also be the requirement of looking at ethics and copyright around image and music available on the internet.
As in the ancient art of oral storytelling, the target work space is to have the viewer working as hard as the teller is. This is not a passive space. The author must work to ensure that just enough is given to the viewer/audience that he or she can fill in the gaps at the same time as following the narrative that has been composed. This relies heavily on a process called closure.
Core Concepts
Storytelling, digital storytelling, audience
Fundamental Understandings
Economy _ Economy is generally the largest problem with telling a story. Most people do not realize that the story they have to tell can be effectively illustrated with a very limited amount of context and description.
Pacing - Often the most transparent feature of a story is how it is paced. Pacing is considered by many to be the true secret of successful storytelling. The rhythm of a story determines much of what sustains an audience?s interest.
Impact - Well-crafted stories, from Shakespeare to Seinfeld, set up a tension from the beginning that holds you until the story is over.
Purpose - By point of view, we primarily are addressing this issue of defining the specific realization you, as an author, are trying to communicate within your story.
Power of image - As digital tellers, it is important to remember that the process of creating a digital story is more than creating a slideshow photo album. Images that achieve that sought-for balance between text and image give the audience just enough to do the rest of the work.
Power of soundtrack - From earlier and earlier ages we are aware of the trick that music can play on our perception of visual information.
Power of voice _ Storytelling relies on us hearing a singular voice, rough edges and all.
Digital Storytelling is all about developing the capacity and skills to anchor ideas in well developed message and viewpoint, and how to avoid losing central ideas in multi- media gimmicks.
One of the things that will need to be developed in students as they take on this work is an explicit awareness of their own ?audience expertise?. In our modern world, we have been so media inundated ? through movies, music, commercials, advertisements, etc, that we have already developed a truly sophisticated multi-media sense of the world by the time we have learned to speak.
This needs to be brought to the forefront immediately in undertaking this work. Students need to explicitly look at the power of image, narrative, soundtrack and pacing in the media world around them, and name what is effective and what is not. Otherwise, the schooled approach to composing text (making everything explicit) will undermine their effectiveness in translating their ideas and conclusions to this realm.
This is a media wherein the teller has absolute control over viewer attention, and the timing at which the viewer will have access to further development of information. As a result, the composer goes through extensive revision of the central ideas and content before heading into extensive work with image and with audio. Images are created and composed through use of digital software that allows students to draw, collage, zoom in, and modify visuals to create the focus and effect that the piece of work asks for. Because it is a media rich space, there will also be the requirement of looking at ethics and copyright around image and music available on the internet.
As in the ancient art of oral storytelling, the target work space is to have the viewer working as hard as the teller is. This is not a passive space. The author must work to ensure that just enough is given to the viewer/audience that he or she can fill in the gaps at the same time as following the narrative that has been composed. This relies heavily on a process called closure.
Core Concepts
Storytelling, digital storytelling, audience
Fundamental Understandings
Economy _ Economy is generally the largest problem with telling a story. Most people do not realize that the story they have to tell can be effectively illustrated with a very limited amount of context and description.
Pacing - Often the most transparent feature of a story is how it is paced. Pacing is considered by many to be the true secret of successful storytelling. The rhythm of a story determines much of what sustains an audience?s interest.
Impact - Well-crafted stories, from Shakespeare to Seinfeld, set up a tension from the beginning that holds you until the story is over.
Purpose - By point of view, we primarily are addressing this issue of defining the specific realization you, as an author, are trying to communicate within your story.
Power of image - As digital tellers, it is important to remember that the process of creating a digital story is more than creating a slideshow photo album. Images that achieve that sought-for balance between text and image give the audience just enough to do the rest of the work.
Power of soundtrack - From earlier and earlier ages we are aware of the trick that music can play on our perception of visual information.
Power of voice _ Storytelling relies on us hearing a singular voice, rough edges and all.
