A Guide to Digital Storytelling
A word from Daniel Meadows about digital storytelling and an introduction to these how-to guides by Gareth Morlais.
Introduction to Digital Storytelling
by Daniel Meadows
Digital Stories are short, personal, multimedia scraps of TV that people can make for themselves.
They're 'mini-movies'. Desktop computers enabled with video editing software are used to synchronise recorded spoken narratives with scans of personal photographs.
This project requires commitment for, as well as all the technical stuff that must be learnt, script writing, picture editing and performance skills are also needed and these have to be worked on, which is why most Digital Stories are made by people attending workshops where participants can benefit from the help and advice of facilitators.
People of all ages and abilities make Digital Stories and many have testified how rewarding the experience is for, when their story is shared with friends and family or posted on the web, they find they have discovered a new voice.
There's a strictness to the construction of a Digital Story: 250 words, a dozen or so pictures, and two minutes is the right length. As with poetry these constraints define the form (e.g. a haiku is a poem written using 17 syllables, and the 14 lines of a sonnet are written in iambic pentameter) and it's the observation of that form which gives the thing its elegance.
Introduction to these guides
by Gareth Morlais
The Digital Storytelling team at 大象传媒 Cymru Wales ran monthly workshops all around Wales between 2001-07. Our plan has always been to encourage others to adopt and adapt the skills of facilitating production and this has succeeded because, as we had hoped, these activities are growing around Wales. Now more than ever 大象传媒 Wales welcomes those making stories and videos like this to send them to us so that we can consider them for publication.
Whether you're an individual making your own or a facilitator helping others to make theirs, here's a set of how-to guides that we hope you'll find useful. We cover the technical, the editorial, the storytelling, and more. We hope you find these guides useful. Happy storytelling!
