- Digital Storytelling
Creative Conceptualizing- Be Resourceful with your Available Resources
- How: Do an inventory of equipment, raw materials & other expenses such as transportation. Estimate prices & use Excel to make a budget.
- Who: do you have access to actors/photo subjects/voices? How could you use your network to get people?
- What: do you have props that are ready-made? Can you build props or computer-generate them? Do you have access to libraries/databases of sounds/images/footage?
- Where: What sorts of landscapes and buildings do you have access to?
- When: How long do you have to make your story?
- Getting an Idea
- Observe your community
- EXERCISE: Take a walk through your neighborhood taking photos, sketching, taking field notes. Use flickr.com to layout your concept.
- Poll friends on issues that concern the group
- EXERCISE: Use online customizable polls.
- Research historical figures
- EXERCISE: Use Wikipedia to find an interesting historical figure whose story you feel should be told.
- Pop Stories
- EXERCISE: Do you have a favorite story that you'd like to re-tell in a new way? Think of stories that you've seen in different media with different emphasis.
- EXEMPLARS: Disney retelling fairytales from bedtime stories, superhero comicbooks & The Incredibles.
- ETHICS: remixing work by another author, appropriation and transformation, intellectual property..
- Imagine
- Many people get their ideas from playing around with silly ideas & free-associating, keeping dream-logs.
- Story Mode
- Documentary
- Will you use narration &/or interviews?
- Will you use found footage, archival materials? How will you discern which are reliable sources in your research?
- Fiction
- CHARACTER EXERCISE: Think about character. Do a character sketch w/attitutes, conflicts, personal history & distinctive gestures. Or do a quick improvisational performance of a character for your group.
- What's the point of view of your story--first-person, narration, omnicient?
- Hybrid: You may want to try a synthesis of different approaches. This will be challenging because you can't rely as much on standards & prescedents. Docu-dramas, parody, historical interpretation, mockumentary
- HYBRID EXEMPLARS: Blair Witch Project, Best in Show, Jon Stewart's Daily Show.
- HYBRID EXERCISE: How do such hybrids often play with stereotypes & cliches? Re-write a popular story from the point of view of a secondary character (for instance Little Red Riding Hood as told from the Big Bad Wolf's point of view). Or write a mockumentary, poking fun at a common practice.
- CONTEST EXERCISE: Sometimes contests can be a fun way to work on a project...And sometimes you win prizes! Contests usually have rules, so check those out now in the beginning stages.
- Aesthetics
- Mood
- MOOD FOCUS GROUP EXERCISE: In Dreamweaver choose a background color & make a simple webpage. Using flickr.com, find a few photos & using iTunes find a song that expresses the mood you're hoping to create for your audience. Email the link to your Focus Group. Tell them to email you back with the one word that they free-associate with your webpage.
- Style
- STYLE EXERCISE: List movies whose style you think count as your influences. What are the important aspects of style for your project: colors, pacing, music, humor, genre...
- Format: think about the affordances of different media. Many formats today are flexible and Multimodal. MULTIMODAL FORMAT EXEMPLAR: Computer Games with extended animated movie sequences in between gameplay.
- Digital Video
- shooting handheld or on tripod
- black & white or color
- available light or setting up lights
- Digital Photo
- black & white or color
- available light or setting up lights
- staged studio setting or documentary
- captions & titling
- sequencing a series
- Computer Game
- interactivity and participation
- winning/losing
- customizability of character
- different possible outcomes
- Audio project
- Animation
- colors
- fantastical rather than realistic
- Website
- Navigation
- linking out to other virtual communities
- updatable
- interactivity and participation
- Preliminary “Sequencing”
- Write a screenplay using Scriptwriter.
- Storyboarding
- ELEMENT OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING: PLOT
•exposition--how you establish place, time, character
•goals and causality
•narrative arch
- ELEMENT OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING: STRUCTURE
• linear and nonlinear
•narrative vs. argumentative structures
•flashbacks
•dream sequences
- ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING: FRAMING
•close-up, wide-shot
•worm's eye view, aerial shot
•cropping in, zooming in/out
•off-screen audio
- ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING: TRANSITIONS
•cross-fade
•jump cut
•iris-in/out
•fade-up/down from black
- Draw by hand or use Illustrator to make a storyboard. This process will help you visualize how you want to tell your story & it will also serve as a reference guide while you shoot. Use free storyboard template: http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/intro_video/preproduction.html
- for more help see: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/lessons/storyboarding/
- Make an outline or list
- Audience
- Although you don't want your movie to pander to an audience (you're the artist here!), it's important to be able to communicate your ideas deliberately and skillfully. This means you have to know your audience.
- CULTURAL DIFFERENCE EXEMPLARS: Bollywood, Anime, American romantic comedies
- Other aspects of audience to keep in mind: What are the generational differences? What languages/print literacies do they have? If you want to reach a certain segment of people, what technology do they have access to? How will they be able to access your media?
- NEGOTIATIONS: Are you making a story that will be a touchy subject for your audience? Think about how to deal with them in a respectful way, even if you will be challenging them with new ideas.
- Immersion
- Pitching your idea
- Once you've conceptualized your idea, present to your group for feedback & clarifications.
- PITCHING EXERCISE: If kids are nervous about sharing their ideas, have them pitch a popular film or other favorite media object.
- PITCHING ETHICS: Have kids pitch each other's ideas. "Being in someone else's shoes" will result in mutual respect. Internal Link
- WORKING TITLE EXERCISE: Use a Wiki or online poll to collect "working title" suggestions from friends/crew members.
- PITCHING EXEMPLAR: If kids don't know what pitching is, you can show them the scene from Tim Robbins' The Player.
- Once you've gotten feedback, go back to the beginning of "Creative Conceptualizing" & make any necessary changes.
Pre-production- Production Roles
- EXERCISE IN TEAMWORK & NEGOTIATION: Research the proper terminology of production roles within the field of media you will be producing. Discuss the responsibilities of each role. Democratically decide roles within your team. Use a Wiki to draw up a "contract." These negotiations can be tricky but it's better to be clear up-front & let everyone know that there's a way to respectfully talk about issues pertaining to responsibilty & teamwork.
- ROLES EXEMPLARS: Gaffer, Bestboy, PA, Sound engineer, etc.
- EXERCISE IN COLLABORATION: Open up the production process to a network that can provide suggestions & generate a record of best practices & mistakes. This will serve as a record of your work--a behind-the-scenes document--but also a way for you & others to learn from your experiences & apply that knowledge to future projects. You can keep a collaborative journal online in blog-form. You could do some videoblogging or podcasting.
- EXERCISE IN NETWORKING: Find some Affinity Groups who would be helpful in giving you advice & who would be interested in learning from your experiments. Use FreeMind to map how people are interconnected & which skills people--on your team & in your network--bring to the project.
- COLLABORATION ETHICS: How do we decide who plays which roles in a fair way? What should young people do when they feel they're being taken advantage of inappropriately (especially by adults). For example, young people often volunteer to work for free because they're "just kids." When do you draw the line? How do you deal with an adult who you don't think is treating you with respect or is invading your privacy?
- Scout locations.
- ELEMENT OF DIGITAL STORYTELLING: SETTING Depending on which media you're choosing to work in, setting can mean many different things. For instance:
A virtual space which follows its own "laws of nature" as in a computer game set on another planet.
A real space such as a playground where you shoot a documentary about a breakdancing group.
A hybrid space which may seem "real" at first, but through effects or your emphasis takes on other qualities to the point where the place becomes like a character.
- SETTING EXERCISE: Take digital photos and label locations on Flickr.com. Use GoogleMaps to map your location scout.
- SETTING ETHICS & NEGOTIATION: Ask permission to shoot on other people's property.
- Schedule
- SCEDULE EXERCISE: Using your timeframe & iCal, plan out your schedule with other on your team.
- Reserve & Prepare equipment (charging batteries, etc.)
- Training
- TECHNICAL/NETWORKING EXERCISE: Look for mentors in your community who can provide lessons/tips on your specific equipment. Look into online networks with web-forums and product websites as well as manuals.
- Casting
- CASTING ETHICS: You should be up-front about your project & not exploit people.
- If you're doing fiction, you'll need to reserve a space with a waiting room & set aside time to have people read lines. If you're asking actors to memorize lines, make sure you give them enough time.
- If you're doing documentary, you should ask permission of people who will appear in your piece.
Production- Shoot according to your plan. You may need to make crucial decisions if unexpected problems occur.
- Teamwork: Concentrate on your designated tasks but be open to suggestions. Be respectful if people are tired & need to take a break. Be safe! Keep an eye out each other.
- Label your media, be organized. Losing your media is heartbreaking!
- PRODUCTION ETHICS: Report any damage done to equipment when returning it. Think of others who will use equipment.
Post-production- Gather your raw elements
- Video: log/capture into iMovie or FinalCutPro
- Organize your capture bins, capture both sound & video, log all footage but only capture what you need.
- Digital photo: import photos into iPhoto
- Label your folders so they don't get mixed with other's projects, rotate photos.
- Piece together your story elements as you’d planned, shifting/compensating when necessary
- Layer other elements
- Video: such as music soundtrack, titles & graphics, special effects.
- Photo: use Photoshop to balance color. If you're not doing naturalistic/documentary style, save a copy before playing with filters.
- Audience: will your audience have special needs such as subtitling? Would title cards that state location or date help the audience follow your story?
- POST-PRODUCTION ETHICS: Part of being a good artist is appreciating the people who helped you & building community.
- POST-PRODUCTION EXERCISE: File releases, send thank you notes. Plan final screening & send invites using your contacts list.
- Credits
- CREDITS EXERCISE: Figure out an innovative way to do your credits. How can you animate text to express the essence of your project? AfterEffects is a good application for doing credits & titles.
- CREDITS EXEMPLARS: collect credits that spoof film genres (classic Hollywood, Film Noir, Looney Tunes, etc)
- Put the final touches on your rough cut!
Review- Invite audience for a rough-cut screening
- CRIT ETHICS: Kids should practice giving constructive criticism. At this point they'll be pretty invested in their projects. Mutual respect is key. Look back to crit exercise & ethics from Pitching Your Idea.
- RE-EDITING EXERCISE: You will have to use your judgement to decide which criticisms you should implement. This is often one of the most difficult stages because some feedback may be contradictory. At this point, you may find that it's hard for you to look at your piece with any sort of distance. Keep in mind that one of the best things about digital media, is that you will be able to save/archive versions along the way & return to them if need be.
- RE-EDITING EXEMPLARS: watch the "director's cut" of a famous film with a director's commentary. Discuss what decisions were made & why.
- RE-EDITING ETHICS: Discuss who should have the right to "final-cut." Discuss the roles of editors, movie studios, auteurs, newpaper editors. What are the draw-backs of having people in such positions? What are the benefits? How are some people using technology to get around obstacles? What are the complications that result?
- Make a backup of project (burn on DVDs) & clear hard-drive space for the next project
Distribution- Decide which distribution outlet(s) is most appropriate
- DISTRIBUTION ETHICS: Afterschool Showcase Night builds local community & gives everyone a chance to acknowledge the help they received. Are there particular people who you would like to be audience members (is there someone from the city government for example)?
- DISTRIBUTION EXERCISE: Make a website to distribute your work on the internet. Can you find specific websites to host or highlight your work that would expand your network? OurMedia.org is a free grassroots media site. Flickr is a good showcase for photos. GenerationPRX.org is a good website for finding Youth Radio outlets.
- DISTRIBUTION ETHICS: If you sell your work, who will get a cut of the money?
- DISTRIBUTION EXERCISE: Student film festivals & gallery shows are another option. If you can't find one, you can organize your own, perhaps making a call-for-submissions outside of your afterschool program.
- [VIDEO & ANIMATION] DISTRIBUTION EXERCISE: CCTV/Cable Access is another option. Your piece might be screened on TV as a one-off, or you could propose hosting a TV series.
- DISTRIBUTION ETHICS: Talk about global markets & the impact on local communities' identities.
- DISTRIBUTION EXEMPLARS: France trying to limit Hollywood films and subsidize French ones. MTV hiphop marketing fancy cars & gold fronts to poor kids.
- DISTRIBUTION EXEMPLARS: Discuss the affordences of different mechanisms & viewing contexts. How would you like users to consume your media? Mobile devices or TVs in livingrooms or in theaters or at schools, etc?
- Create a Press Release
- SUMMERY EXERCISE: Write a short text blurb or summery about your piece (300 words). How do you describe what your piece is about in a tempting & exciting way, while still leaving room for audience interpretation (don't give away the ending of your movie!)?
- SUMMERY EXERCISE: Write a blurb for your favorite childhood movie you haven't seen in a while. Watch it again after you've written the blurb to see how well you remembered it!
- SUMMERY EXEMPLARS: Check out IMDB.com for the largest internet movie database on the web.
- CREDITS EXERCISE: Make a credits list using the proper industry terminology. Refer back to the research you'd done when decideing production roles.
- CREDITS ETHICS: It's always important to be gratious to those who helped you. Now might be a good time to discuss the roles each played & what you'd like to try next time around.
- BIO EXERCISE: How will you describe yourself as the artist? What was your motivation for making your piece? How did you first get interested in making media? How old are you & where are you from? Take a self portrait & inset it in the text.
- LOGO DESIGN EXERCISE: How will you represent your piece in a single graphic? Or if you have a production company name? Or hold a contest to design the Afterschool program logo. Use Illustrator or Photoshop to do the graphic design.
- POSTER DESIGN EXERCISE: Using FinalCut or a ScreenGrab application, pull stills from your piece, or draw images that represent your project & scan them in. Using Illustrator or Photoshop, put the images on a background. For consistent branding, stick with the same font that you chose for your credits, while accentuating the font treatments for dramatic effects. Many movie posters use the art of collage to highlight two or more aspects of a piece: how do design elements intertwine within the frame of a poster? How can you best use negative space and dramatic color? What textual information do you have to include on your poster?
- POSTER EXEMPLARS: Check out IMDB.com for examples of movie posters. Here you may want to go back to the initial MOOD EXERCISE you did at the beginning.
- T-SHIRT DESIGN EXERCISE: Using Illustrator or Photoshop create an iron-on decal. Keep in mind both the front & back of the t-shirt. How will you catch people's eye? What colors will you use in contrast to the base t-shirt color? Will you re-use images from your poster, your logo, your font treatments from your credits? You can buy a bunch of cheap secondhand t-shirts at a used clothing store. Use Threadless.com or cafepress.com to do viral marketing.
- TRAILER EXERCISE: edit a quick 30 second video/animated spot for your piece. Use Flash animation or FinalCut video editing. Concentrate on using montage to highlight the strongest imagery of your piece. How will you create a hook to get the audience interested? How will you use music & sound effects to emphasize mood & actions? Will you use a narrator to link the montage pieces together?
- TRAILER EXEMPLARS: You can watch tailers for free via apple.com. Watch the Seinfeld trailer spoof.
- COMMODIFICATION & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ETHICS: How would you feel if the distribution of your media escapes your control? Will you take precautions to prevent your media being passed on without your permission? Will you use Creative Commons license? If you like the idea of your consumers also sharing in appropriating/re-circulating/annotating your media, how will you encourage that sort of involvement? How will you structure the distribution of your media to make it more accessible for this sort of engagement with your audience?
- EXERCISE IN CONVERGENT MEDIA: Make a plan for extending your story across different types of media. Which major media outlets would you like to carry your story? Why do you think they would or wouldn't? Which grassroots media would suit your story? Can you get the attention of local news outlets?
- BEHIND-THE-SCENES EXERCISE: Edit & refine the behind-the-scenes material you generated throughout this process. How will you bundle this content with your finished piece?