Barrie Stevenson of Digistories sums up his experiences of using iPad v2 to help people make digital stories. This interview was recorded in Aberystwyth, Wales, June 2011 when the version 2 of the iPad had not long been introduced in the UK.
Is there a form of digital storytelling that can give people a taste of what’s possible in just one hour? That’s the question Nicky Getgood and I wrestled with when we met earlier today.
Nicky and I began by looking back at the Capture Wales project, then we wondered about what kinds of video outputs might be produced at the Ludlow #Storycamp. The model we’re considering piloting consists of:
- four images, including titles;
- half a minute of audio, recorded on mobile phone in a quiet room;
- a personal anecdote based on one image or object related to ‘my special place’
We’re confident the technical building of the digital story can be done within the time, as long as not much training is required. But we’re both concerned that there’s not enough time to give the anecdote (mini personal story about a place) time to ‘breathe’.
We’ll continue the discussion and I’ll keep you updated here.
Many readers of this blog will be familiar with the work of Daniel Meadows. He was founder and creative director of BBC Capture Wales and teaches digital storytelling module at Cardiff University. Before this, he was a well-known documentary photographer.
There are retrospective views of his work coming soon:
Daniel has just published a video setting the scene, where he explains how he became a kind of “mediator for other people’s stories”. He also explains how he was drawn to digital storytelling because it’s “a kind of access-level but nevertheless elegant form that people can learn quickly”.
If you’d like to know more about Daniel and the retrospectives, and you live in the UK, buy the Financial Times on Saturday 3rd September 2011 for an eight-page preview in the FT Magazine.
As someone who’s admired Daniel’s work and ethos for many years, it’s great to see his work getting a wider airing this year.
I’ve been working at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham all this week and there have been some nice digital inclusion stories here that I’ve come across…
Age Cymru have been doing some great work in encouraging older people who aren’t currently using computers or the internet to get an idea of how digital tools might be able to enhance their lives.
Merched y Wawr – a Welsh women’s organisation – had the fantastic idea of raising money by auctioning famous women’s shoes. They called the campaign Sodlau’n Siarad / Stories from the Sole. The lovely touch was the story the auctioneers told about each pair. At the auction last night I heard Heledd Cynwal telling stories about the shoes as the bidding warmed up. The fact that the donors attached a story to their stilletos, slingbacks or daps made the shoes more desirable and the total raised higher.
If you’re looking for ways of displaying your project’s digital stories, here are two examples to consider. I’m working for the BBC at Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Cymru in Wrexham this week and in the BBC Cymru Wales ‘cube’ tent on the maes (Eisteddfod field) there are two video displays that may be of interest to digital storytellers. .
1. Casgliad y Werin – The People’s Collection – a kiosk showing videos and artefacts.
2. Clip Cymru touchscreen for viewing video clips. This uses touch technology developed for explaining ongoing Election results.
“We will establish a new brand, Calon Cenedl (heart of the nation), a series of short programmes approximately three-minutes long to be broadcast at 20.25. The content will offer us the opportunity to exhibit the full range of Welsh life in a series of portrayals about areas, communities and people. This new brand can be extended to include half-hour programmes at other times during peak hours when the editorial strength of the idea merits it.”
Rami Malkawi is a Jordanian University of Glamorgan PhD researcher and he needs our help to try out his new wizard-based digital storytelling prototype for learning.
The tool works on most computers that can have Adobe Air and Flash installed and is a step-by-step digital storytelling ‘machine’.
The tool’s wizard guides users through the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling in a user-friendly way. Camtasia screen-capture software has been used to publish additional video tutorials on the blog. These guide users through the steps needed to make a digital story with this tool.
Rami’s now at the test/refine stage and I know he’d really appreciate hearing back from people who download and make a story with the tool. You can use the Comments form on Rami’s blog to do this. These comments and the stories made with the tool may form part of the evidence for his PhD Thesis.
In Wales, Communities 2.0 GEECs are among the testers; I’m looking forward to making a story with the tool; in Jordan, Rami’s conducting face-to-face trials right now.
All Rami needs now is for people around the world to download, make a story with the tool and give feedback. If you make a story, please send me a link too so I can highlight some here.
It’s always a treat to hear about a brand new digital storytelling conference. And here’s some news of a new one one this autumn in the north-east of England.
Culture Shock! is one of the biggest digital storytelling projects in the world. At the time of writing they’ve published 560 stories on their website and they’re holding a major conference at Live Theatre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on Thursday 29 September 2011 – Culture Shock! 2011.
The conference programme looks really interesting: Alex Henry, project co-ordinator at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, talks about the Culture Shock! project itself; Barrie Stephenson of Digistories answers the question ‘What is digital storytelling?’; and there are sessions called ‘Digital Storytelling – why bother?’ and ‘Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy’.
Breakout sessions include ones about exploring hidden histories through digital storytelling; using the story circle to engage participants in the process; using the form to support lifelong learning; and the ethics of digital storytelling.
I was impressed by Cheryl’s commitment to and love of digital stories. Here’s an audio clip of Cheryl describing a digital storytelling trip to Australia and New Zealand:
I recorded more audio with Cheryl. In the future, I’ll share a clip of Cheryl’s philosophy regarding seeking storytellers’ consents. I like her approach because it’s a beautifully nuanced one.
Cheryl often travels with her mother Donna. I thought they were more like two best friends than daughter and mother:
Donna Warner and Cheryl Colan
Here’s a field notebook Cheryl made to give her students. It’s bound together with a rubber bracelet imprinted with Cheryl’s personal motto: “Trust Your Story”. Now that’s a sentiment we can all agree with:
Trust Your Story - Cheryl Colan's Digital Storytelling Field Notebook is packed full of goodies
I shared my journey to the DS6 festival of digital storytelling, with Simona Bonini Baldini and Rami Malkawi. I’ll never forget the excitement in the car as we rounded the corner of Aberystwyth’s side streets and caught our first full-on view of the sea crashing onto the West Wales shore. A magic moment. As I promised in my last post in which I reviewed DS6, here’s some more information about their respective work in the digital storytelling field.
Simona Bonini Baldini
Simona’s work in Umbria, Italy, links personal reminiscence of various locations with that Region’s extensive home movie archive. Simona was delighted to meet two other women from Italy who had made the trip to Wales at the invitation of experienced Welsh digital storyteller Steve Bellis of Yale College Wrexham. This all goes to show that we sometimes have to travel away from home to meet others who share our passions. Simona says she was delighted to meet people at DS6 whom she’d first met a year ago at DS5. She’s now looking forward to visiting the Cardiff Story museum – a concept that was being developed when she last came to Wales. She says she was really impressed by StoryWorks’s approach to developing bespoke approaches when working with diverse groups of people as this is something Simona is keen to do back home in Italy too.
Rami Malkawi
Rami Malkawi is a PhD research student at University of Glamorgan. Since I last wrote about Rami, his work on a step-by-step digital storytelling wizzard has matured from concept to working prototype. It’s a DS Machine aimed at educators who want to use digital stories as a way to help their students learn. Rami has built the application in Flash on the Adobe Air platform.
This means it will work on both PC and Mac. I was delighted at DS6 to see Rami discussing a trial with Mog and Angharad Dalton of Communities 2.0. Eventually, after initial testing, Rami will release his digital storytelling wizzard to a wider audience, so watch this space for news.
Aberth Digital Storytelling blog was started in 2006 by Gareth Morlais - @digitalst on Twitter - who's been digital storytelling in Wales since 2001. Views are Gareth's own. More backround....
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Thank you Gareth, this would be a great idea when taking part in a one day event when time and resources are limited. I used a similar technique in one of my workshops by asking people to bring a small item which hels some meaning to them. They were then given just 2 minutes to talk about it. The stories were later developed into longer pieces. […]
dspod-ep01.mp3
