Week 10: Digital Storytelling

Today we'll spend some time looking at examples of digital storytelling and talking about some of the elements that make videos particularly enjoyable (visual variety and originality, pacing, the relationship between sound and picture, etc.), as well as narrative and storytelling techniques.

We'll watch some things posted on Food for Thought, and depending on time, some of these:

Momnotmom by Thenmozhi Soundarajan

Gunslingin' Mom by Ryanne Hodson

Looking at Things by Jay Dedman

The Phone Call by Charles Patterson

Open Letter by Adriana Aguilar

If you'd like to see more, Tech Head Stories features the mother of all lists of Digital Storytelling collections/projects; also, Tasha found two more great resources: University of Houston and Digistory both have lots of examples and FAQ/articles about the many uses and forms of digital stories.

Also, we'll take a little tour of something I think you're going to like: the Odeo Studio on-line audio recording tool! It's not fancy, but it works really well for simple projects like this. You just talk into the speaker on your computer, save the recording, and Odeo creates an mp3 for you. If your computer mic isn't good enough, you can check one out at the Cage.

And finally, if you're curious about digital storytelling and videoblogging, there is a SuperHappyVlogHouse gathering this Saturday (March 31, 4:00 till late-late) hosted by Ryanne Hodson and Jay Dedman — you can show up, meet lots of vloggers and people who can help with all your computer/technical, production and creative questions, even do some hands-on stop animation. It's a great chance to talk with some of the pioneers of the vlogging and new-media world, find out what's going on out there that you might like to get involved in, or hash out ideas for new projects of your own. And Center for Digital Storytelling has a 3-day workshop in Berkeley during spring break (April 12-14).

HOMEWORK: DUE NEXT WEEK BY CLASS TIME
1) Write a script for a digital story. This could be something that relates to your main project, or something you just feel inspired to do. You can e-mail me the script for feedback if you want to; I'm always happy to read things in the rough. Put the text in the body of an e-mail, not as an attachment. Aim for a length between 1 and 4 minutes.
2) Record your script. You can use Odeo Studio or, if you want to do something more fancy, use school recording equipment or your own if you have it.
3) Put video on the story. Use any source and any method you like (Eyespot, iMovie, Final Cut Pro, etc.).
4) Embed the video or put a link to the video file on your blog (you can host the file on your SFSU webspace or use another hosting service). As long as I can look at your class blog and find the link, we're good!