Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling...just what the heck is it? Before taking Dr. Lucas's class I have to say I honestly had no idea what it was. Not only did I not know what digital storytelling was I had no experience working with the Macintosh computers that made digital storytelling possible. I had always heard that Macs were far superior to PCs and definitely better suited to those with a creative temperament. However, since I have always considered my creativity limited to the writing world I never saw any reason to make the switch.

Enter my class, "Technology and the Creative Artist", a class designed to introduce creatives to new and varied ways of creating using technology that not that long ago would have cost thousands of dollars to get our hands on. This class has introduced me not only to new technology, but new ways that even people like me--people who are first and foremost storytellers--can find original ways of telling their stories.

Digital storytelling is one such way. For those of you who don't understand digital storytelling, it is basically a story, with a narrative, told in digital photographs or digital video. Macintosh's iLife software suite contains everything you need to produce a story you can be proud on your first try. GarageBand has hundreds of musical loops that you can mix to create an original score for your story, with little to no musical training required. iMovie allows you to create your digital story by arranging your photos, adding effects such as panning in and out of the image, and creating smooth transitions with fade ins and fade outs. You are in essence, creating a little movie--one in which you are writer, director, and producer. Once you have created your film you can save it, burn it to a DVD, or you can share it publicly on YouTube.

For my part, the experience was so much fun I actually bought a Mac. Let me say it here: what you've heard is true. These machines are unbelievably superior to PCs, even for people like me who are predominantly writers. In fact, it has been my experience that writing a good script is the foundation for creating a good digital story. I don't know why I'm surprised; the movies I enjoy are always ones, which are well written. As previously stated, a digital story is much like a mini-movie, so it's narrative is of primary importance.

The form the narrative takes however can be quite varied. This is something else I learned from my digital storytelling experience. One person in particular had a story that had an unconventional narrative--no words, only images along with a particularly apt song accompanying those images. Watching stories told in such a manner opened my eyes to ways in which I too, can tell stories in different, creative ways.

But is telling a story in a different, creative way really a requirement? Does it help the story? Is it necessary to supply images along with a narrative?

These questions are questions that are covered, in a way, in Andrew Glassner's book, Interactive Storytelling. While Glassner's book looks at the art of telling stories in a gaming venue, he does ask pertinent questions about the incorporation of new media into the art of storytelling. Basically, Glassner states that just adding in media for the sake of adding in media is not really a reason for doing it. What is important, in Glassner's view, is that the media add something to the story. For example, in chapter eight Glassner discusses the arguments that "adding computers doesn't help a thing" (pg. 220) and "interaction doesn't improve stories"(pg. 221). The gist of these arguments is that the addition of computers makes a world less real, and/or the addition of interaction can actually detract from the story itself.

Glassner seems to imply that media should have a purpose, it should serve some necessary function, it should add something to the story rather than be placed in a story simply because it can be added. My experience with digital storytelling is that the media does serve a necessary function. The images, if well chosen, add depth to the story being told. Not only that, but if the story being told is one of a personal nature, the addition of personal images with a well-written, personal narrative adds a dimension that a simple script cannot match. The images open a door to your life, or the life of the story and actually give the author a little more control over the story by allowing the author to show the audience what s/he had in mind during the creation of the story rather than relying upon the imagination of the audience to figure it out.

Posting the story to YouTube also gives the story and the writer a wider audience. YouTube is a something I honestly never thought I would use as I have never seen myself as much of a photographer or filmmaker. However, as Jensen discusses in his book, Convergence Culture, the walls between different forms of media are collapsing, the boundaries becoming more permeable. YouTube is a perfect example of this convergence of media. Now, even people like me with little to no experience or training in the digital arts can produce a film, upload it, and tell her story. It truly is a brave, new world.

Digital storytelling, like all other stories, has its place. There are, of course, stories, which won't translate well to this format; however, there are stories that are perfect for it. It is up to the author to decide how best to tell her story and then use all the media at her disposal to do just that.