Kendra Minor Janet Daugherty UCF Holmes Scholars Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Program 2011-2012
Reflection through Digital Storytelling
Your Voice! Your Story!
Your Voice! Your Story! Project Schedule Friday, December 3rd – Introduction to storytelling and digital storytelling; concept of storyboarding In-class activities (Jan-Feb)–Work on writing your story and selecting media, practice telling story to others, time how long it takes to tell the story (no longer than 4 minutes) Friday, February 24th– Start working on storyboards Friday, March– Introduce concepts of Windows Movie Maker; record narrations In-class activities (March)– Revise and finalize storyboards- finish narrations Friday, April 6th –Import to Windows Movie Maker Display Final Project- Present during Holmes Scholar Gala
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
Project Overview
Select a topic
Write a draft of your story
Gather material for your story
• Begin thinking of the purpose of your story. Are you trying to inform, convince, provoke, question? • Decide on the point of view of your digital story.
• Outline your idea • Writing down exactly what you want to say
• Create a folder on the desktop where you can store the materials you find. • Search for image resources for your story, including: pictures, drawings, photographs, maps, charts, etc. Save these resources in your folder. • Try to locate audio resources such as music, speeches, interviews, and sound effects. Take photos/video, collect clipart/images from the web. - Save these resources in your folder.
Create a Storyboard
Production
Delivery
• Putting Text and Images Together (Write a script aligning your text with the pictures) • Practice adding narration (without recording)
• Record narration/voiceover • Start inputting your collection(s) of information. • Assemble the story using video editing or presentation software
• Share your final product • Publish to CD/DVD, upload to website or blog
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
Digital Story Project Checklist Step Write Story Find Images Find Music Review Writing Organize Project Folder Begin Storyboarding Record Voiceover/Story Import Media Fine tune Add transitions Complete movie
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
Completed?
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Your Voice! Your Story!
Digital Story Project Checklist Class Period: Student Name
Write Story
Collect and Store Images
Collect and Store Music
Review Writing
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
Create Project Folder
Begin Storyboards
Record Voiceover /Story
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Import Media
Add transition and effects
Fine tune
Complet e movie
Your Voice! Your Story!
Guidelines for writing & creating your digital story Your story is the most essential component of the project. 1. For a three- to four-minute video clip, the story should be one page and double spaced when completed. 2. The digital story is a personal perspective on a story, and so it is most effective when written in first person. We all love to hear personal stories, and they are always best when told from the perspective of the storyteller. 3. Start with an essential question and writing all your ideas down without editing or censoring. Capture your audience’s attention right away, and keep it. Some stories start with a dramatic question, others with a shocking statistic or image. Find a way to grab your audience’s interest right away, and then keep them expecting more. Raise more questions or suspense along the way. 4. Go come back and edit, cutting everything that is not essential. Think about how you want to tell your story – from the present to the past, or from the past to the present? 5. Once you have written your rough story, look for a narrative arc for your story— the beginning, middle, and end. a. The beginning tells the premise of your story: it sets up the dramatic tension that should hold throughout the story. Ask yourself- ““What’s the story I want to tell?” What is the hook? b. The middle outlines a moment (s) along the way? (i.e. conflicts, struggles, events) c. The end is the destination/conclusion, revealing a small discovery, revelation, or insight, lessons learned from the experience. 6. Ask yourself, Where is the “heart of the story?” This is the place or moment in any story that makes us “feel,” as opposed to words that give us facts. The “heart” sets up the story or provides background information. It is this moment or event that inspired your story that becomes the central focus of the digital story. 7. Tell your story from your unique point of view. Telling a story is not pouring facts into empty heads; it’s a way of persuading others to see something about the world as you have understood it. All parts of the story should contribute to this point of view. Also, do enough research about your subject so that you are an expert and are entitled to your unique, informed point of view.
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story! 8. Use fresh and vivid language. Don’t let the words take a back seat to the power of the images and sounds. Be clear, be specific, and use metaphors and similes to help your audience understand at deeper levels. 9. Integrate emotion – yours and the audience’s. Every story has a tone or emotional feel that affects the audience. Figure out what yours is, and make sure the words, images, and sounds you choose all enhance that tone. 10. Use your own voice, in the script and in the audio. Much of the power of stories comes from the distinctiveness of the voice that tells them. Good storytelling goes beyond an objective, distant, or impartial voice to a voice that is engaged and, therefore, engaging. 11. When you write the script, write it in your style of speaking. When you record your script or voiceovers, be yourself. 12. Choose your images and sounds carefully. Each image, each sound or piece of music, and each combination evokes a different response in your audience. When editing, make sure that each image and sound does exactly what you want it to do to further your story. Make sure that you use images in a nonliteral way; don’t just choose an image to illustrate your words, ideas, or tone, but use images that comment on them, expand them, or interact with them in some way. 13. Be as brief as you can be. Longer doesn’t mean better in digistorytelling. The challenge is to create a moving story that will affect your audience so powerfully that they will remember it. Don’t try to tell everything. 14. Select only the details or events that will sharpen the story and keep it moving. This allows the audience to actively participate by filling in the gaps. 15. Make sure your story has a good rhythm. Rhythm is the heart of all stories. If a story isn’t moving, it’s boring. If it goes too fast, it leaves the audience behind. Know how to establish the right pace for your story (a memorial might be slower, an adventure story faster) and know when to slow down and speed up the established pace to keep the audience interested. You can change the pace with music tempo, image duration, speech rate, silence, panning, zooming, and many other techniques. 16. Get feedback! Ask for help in editing the story and developing the story effectively. Sometimes others can see things that we cannot, because we are too close to our stories.
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story! 17. Look at other digital stories to get ideas about writing styles and to better understand the process. a. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRR07EFhlc&feature=PlayList&p=ADF67E48B06653F3&playnext=1&playnext_from =PL&index=26 b. http://mcli.maricopa.edu/storytelling/examples c. http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/personal_reflection.html\ d. http://www.storycenter.org/stories/ 18. Remember to respect copyright laws! 19. Have fun with it and don’t take it too seriously. The first story will be the most challenging but the rest will come naturally. Storytelling is an ancient human tradition, so it’s in your blood. Enjoy! Adopted from: National Hispanic Cultural Center- Scholastic Lesson Plans & Microsoft’s Digital Storytelling Book
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
The Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling Point of View – what is the perspective of the author? A Dramatic Question – a question that will be answered by the end of the story. Emotional Content – serious issues that speak to us in a personal and powerful way. The Gift of your Voice – a way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context. 5. The Power of the Soundtrack – music or other sounds that support the storyline. 6. Economy – simply put, using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer with too much information. 7. Pacing – related to Economy, but specifically deals with how slowly or quickly the story progresses. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Kinds of Digital Stories 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Character Stories – explore how we love, who we are inspired by, our relationships Memorial Stories – memories of people who are no longer with us. Stories about an events in or lives …adventure and accomplishment stories Stories about places in our lives Stories about what we do Other personal stories…recovery, love, discovery stories
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
Reflecting on your Story‌ Name: Class Period:
What have you accomplished thus far?
What problems you have encountered.
What area do you need additional help?
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
About Your Story Topic:
When did you choose your topic/story?
Why did you decide this topic/story?
How did you decide the topic/story?
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story! What type of story did you write about? Type of Story A story about someone important
A story about an event in your life
Description/Example Character stories: “How we love, are inspired by, want to recognize, finding meaning in our relationship to, another person or even pet, is deeply important to us.” Memorial stories: “Honoring and remembering people who have passed is an essential part of the process of grieving.” (How would you describe this person? Is there an event that best captures their character? What about them did you most enjoy? What lesson did they give you that you feel is important? If you had something to say to them, that they may have never heard you say, what would it be?” Adventure stories: “All of us who travel, or go on serious adventures, know that the experience is usually an invitation to challenge ourselves, to change our perspective about our lives, to reassess.” Accomplishment stories: “Accomplishment stories are about achieving a goal, like graduating from school…or being on a winning team in a sporting event.” (How did you feel during this event? What did you learn from this event? How did this event change your life?)
A story about a place in your life
“What general experiences do you relate to this place? Was there a defining experience at the place? What lessons about yourself do you draw from your relationship to this place? If you have returned to this place, how has it changed?”
A story about What I Do
“What experiences, interests, and/or knowledge in your previous life prepared you for this activity? Was there an initial event that most affected your decision to pursue this interest? Who influenced or assisted you in shaping your career, interest, or skill in this area? What has been the highlight of your vocation/avocation?”
A recovery story
“Sharing the experience of overcoming a great challenge in life, like a health crisis or a great personal obstacle.”
A love story
“We all want to know how someone met their partner, what it was like when the baby was born, or what our relationship is with our siblings and parents.”
A discovery story
These stories probe how we uncovered a truth or learned how to do something.
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story! Why did you to write about this type of story?
Who is your audience?
What is the main idea that you want to get across to your audience?
About the materials you plan to use Did you gather information for written text/individuals? What information did you gather and use?
What sounds did you choose to use? (i.e. Music, Narrative, Video Clip)
What pictures did you choose to use to tell your story?
What type of images/pictures did you collect?
My own digital camera Pictures I will bring from home to scan School digital camera Disposable camera, if available Photo and clipart collections My own drawings Other, please describe:
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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Your Voice! Your Story!
Creating Folders Creating special folders for your project helps organize all the files that are needed to make the movie. It also helps when it is time to copy all your files to a CD to have everything inside one folder. The Images folder should include all photos or video footage. The Voice over folder will contain the script. The Project folder contains the Movie Maker 2 file and the Media Player file of the completed movie. The Soundtrack folder holds all the music and sound files that have been collected.
1. Go to My Computer and find the drive where you will be saving your files (C:, D:, etc.) 2. Create a folder called (PROJECT NAME). Click File> New‌Folder. 3. Create sub folders under (PROJECT NAME): IMAGES VOICEOVER PROJECT SOUNDTRACK
Kendra Minor & Janet Daugherty- Holmes Scholars 2011-2012
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