7 Steps to Creating a Digital Story

Tom Banaszewskitechszewski@gmail.comtechszewski.blogs.comteachstory.org7 Steps to Creating a Digital Story

7 Steps of a Digital Story1. Writing the Script2. Planning the Project3. Creating Folders4. Recording Voice Over5. Gather, Create, and Edit Media6. Rough Cut First then Final Cut7. Export and Share Your Digital StoryIs it a Digital Story?A little history lessonNext ExitYou be the judge7 Elements (see hand-out)

Show Matt McArthurShow Billy Collins animationShow Chelsea My BackyardShow Dr. KingShow Zimbabwe storyShow My Name Is Not Mr. B4Defining Digital Storytelling the practice of combining personal narrative with multimedia to produce a short autobiographical movieShow Renaissance video.Poll the audience on their definition of storyUse scraps of paper or notecards5Defining Storya narrative account constructed around four central themes: character, conflict, struggle, goal

- Kendal Haven Write Right Step 1: Whats Your Story?Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say,

Barbara Ueland If You Want to WriteThis is what sparked the digital storytelling movement. Brief history of digital storytellingDigital storytelling is all about empowering voices

7Challenges of Writing the ScriptLoss of storytelling culture Weak story literacy skillsAvoiding the narrated slideshow pitfallTraditional composition approachesBalancing telling vs. showing

Dancing together text, images and audio on the screen, Bernajean Porter DigiTalesMany Paths Lead to a Good StoryAnswer an open ended questionConcise moment of changeNote card approachWriting into a photoStory SpineStory Sparks (Jay OCallahan)

Story CoreWhat is the central struggle?The dramatic question?Story CircleSynthesizing experience and emotionsGet the Picture of Your Story FirstVirtual Portrait of a Story (VPS)

Show VPS version of Dont Call Me Mr. BBring up VPS hand-out12VPS for Dont Call Me Mr. B

Dont know anything about my last name. What are you?Nobody in family talked about our background.Parents died early. No chance to ask questions.

People shorten my last name to Mr. BMake sure people know my full last name. Dont answer to Mr. BFeel good about getting message across to my students. Find peace in maintaining link to my past thru my last name.Storyboarding

Written ScriptNot an essayNo paragraphs1-3 sentence chunksTry to keep to one pageStep 2: Planning the ProjectPractice what you preachFail to plan, plan to failSetting realistic expectationsiMovie, Adobe, Microsoft?Test your software, equipment, working environment5 Steps to Creating a Digital Story1. Write a two to three minute first person story 2. Collect images to accompany the story 3. Import images into the computer 4. Record the voice over. 5. Align images with script.

Step 3: Organizing Your FoldersOriginal ImagesResized ImagesVOMusicExportsGo thru process of creating folders on the desk-top for 18Step 4: Recording the Voice OverRecording within iMovieMicrophones, headphonesUsing AudacityMP3 recorder

Show how to record VO inside iMovie and with AudacityCompare quality with and w/o mic and between iMovie and AudacityDiscuss microphones and digital MP3 recorders19Step 5: Gather, Create, Edit MediaStart with images, hold off on video til laterBIG, engaging imagesGoogle, Picassa, FlickrVisual literacy

Show where to find images: Google, Picassa, Creative Commons, Library of Congress, museumsShow how to resize imagesScanning settings

20Editing ImagesMagic numbers 640 x 480ScanningHand drawn imagesResize images

Step 6: Rough Cut then Final EditsImport your imagesDrag and DropAdd VOSync images with VOAdjust timing of imagesAdd transitions, effectsRefer to iMovie tutorialImport VOSync imagesAdjust timing of imagesAdd transitionsAdjust audio levels, create fadesAdd Ken Burns effect22Step 7: Sharing Your Digital StoryExport = compressing = making file size smallerCD qualityFull DV Web versionUpload to YouTubeExporting in three different versions: CD, web, Full dv23