I made a presentation to Cardiff Geek Speak this month about ‘swooping in storytelling‘ and they asked me to put my presentation online. I haven’t put the whole thing here but I have highlighted out one section, which looks at some of the elements that make up… A great story E.g. Walking with Maurice by Hanne Jones on the BBC Capture Wales website. · Starts with one incident and work out from that. · Has a clear point of view (Hanne’s was a personal take). · Makes you give a damn – I can’t define how to do this, but I did care for Hanne and her Granddad. · Has the stepping-stone-effect: when you reach the other bank you…
-
-
Running a personal storytelling workshop with a large group
This article is about running a storytelling workshop with a large group. Canadian digital storyteller Kent Manning contacted Barrie Stephenson and I recently with a question: “I’m conducting a digital storytelling session next month for a group of 26 educators. I value the story circle part of the process as this is the way I was taught by the folks at CDS. Would you have any suggestions for conducting story circle time with such a large group? Would you have individuals share their stories with the large group? Small group sharing perhaps?” Here’s what I suggest: 26 is a big group. You could either split it into three and hold…
-
9 things digital storytellers can learn from Steven Moffat, Doctor Who & Sherlock writer
Here are some lessons digital storytellers can learn from Steven Moffat, based on advice he gave in an interview: 1. Imagine someone with their hat on, their coat half on, stepping out of the door. Make them say: “I’ll just keep watching until I find out what this is about” 2. Have a big whallop at the start. 3. Start with a promise of something you’re going to deliver 4. Surprise them 5. Try to think of a brand new idea. 6. Keep giving them reasons not to turn off 7. Try to make what you do appeal to _everybody_, then you’ve a chance of making it somebody’s favourite. 8.…
- capturing assets, digital storytelling, education, instruction, museums, people, story, timeless, tips
Digital storytelling admin
I’ve just been speaking on Facebook with south Wales digital storytelling and community video practitioner Sandra Anstiss. She’s venturing into the private sector making stories with owners, marketing staff, customers, etc. and she was asking members of the Facebook DS Working Group for advice about consents and copyright. I’d say there are three or more issues here… 1. The stated consent of the storyteller and featured subjects; 2. Some form of evidence that any third-party assets are OK to use (other people’s pics, music, etc.); and 3. Something that says who owns the finished digital story entity. Once these are established, it becomes possible to license the story’s re-publication elsewhere,…
-
Developing the one-hour digital storytelling form, with a video example
I’ve been piloting the one-hour digital storytelling form I want to present at the #storycamp get-together in Ludlow on Saturday (1 Oct 2011). (If the embedded video won’t play, here’s a link to it on blip.tv) Here are the ingredients: – one object you can hold in your hand which is related to a place that’s special to you. Two photos are taken: the first is a close-up of the object or photo itself; the second photo is of you holding it. – a personal story of fewer than 100 words or 45 seconds which you’ll record (tell or read) onto an mp3 file (via phone or voice recorder) –…
-
How your own hand can help you find your story
Here’s an idea you can try at the story-origination phase of your next digital storytelling workshop. Ask everyone to place their hand on a blank piece of paper and draw round it, kindergarten style. Ask people to write a line on each digit, in response to this: Little finger: what’s the best thing that’s happened to you so far this year? Ring finger: Looking further back in time, name one highlight of your life. Middle finger: thinking of your family, what makes you most proud of being you? Did your grandfather have a fascinating job? Has your family made its mark in your town? Index finger: pointing to the future,…
-
The secret of COW’s success – six lessons.
No punches were pulled in portraying the crash, so people who saw the film talked about it afterward. Lesson 3: be memorable
-
Seven articles about helping participants capture their story in digital storytelling
The person who’s taught me more than anyone about helping people find their story is Gilly Adams. She was the main story facilitator of BBC Capture Wales and she shaped the Story Circle day so it was a close a fit as possible for the digital storyteller in Wales. At DS3 in 2008, Gilly spoke in her keynote of the gift culture of digital storytelling “…where no money changes hands but the currency is the generosity of grace in sharing stories”. The person who hears the story gains two benefits: 1. they get a unique glimpse into the heart of the teller 2. they can often say: “hey, that’s about…
-
Six steps to a sustainable digital storytelling project
If you’re planning a digital storytelling project, and you want it to be a sustainable one, here are six steps to consider: 1. write an outline of the ethos your project will employ, encompassing: * fair dealing with contributors and participants, * contracting, * intellectual property and third-party rights, * licensing-on the products your participants make, * capturing and storing consents by parents/guardians/carers of minors and vulnerable people, * diversity policy * disclosure policy * how to keep participants’ personal data safe, * etc. 2. write a summary of all your storyteller recruitment methods. The difficulty of this isn’t to be underestimated, as this was an element that turned out…
-
Seven things to avoid when making a digital story
1. Telling your story in a straight line 2. Fancy video effects 3. A less than perfect voice recording 4. Corny visual cliches 5. Nothing but show and tell 6. Twee rhyming poetry 7. Using other people’s stuff As you can see as you follow the links, I’m doing a little recycling here because the individual articles are reprised. But this is the first time I’ve laid these out as a Top 7 of digital storytelling tips. If you find this Top 7 useful, tell other people by linking to it, re-tweeting or pasting the address into your Facebook update. And happy digital storytelling. Thanks. Written and first published by…