This is a story created by Garfield Williams. There isn’t any specific detail on why and where the story was created. But from the narration and the pictures that accompany it, we can assume it was made after the creator took a trip back to his home country.
National Portraits 1973-4 by Daniel Meadows
Once published, photographs take on lives of their own. Mostly we don't get to share in those lives but here's one picture that -- just like its subject -- couldn't help but "attract us into the play".
Scissors by Daniel Meadows
"My training story. I use it in the classroom to demonstrate the range of effects possible when editing a story. It starts simple with cuts and dissolves, and progresses to clever with superimpositions, subtitles, alpha channels."
Personally while watching these videos you cannot help but really help but be moved by these small snippets into some one’s life.
The first story I chose to analyze is titled Dear Jody. It is a narrative told through the eyes of big sister Sasha Charles, who tells the story of the bond that she and her younger brother share through good times and bad.
Although experiencing many hardships, while living at home, (Sasha recalls domestic violence, not having lights on at home) Sasha makes it clear that being there for each other made life a lot easier. After she and her brother are placed foster care, Sasha’s life begins to unravel after only being able to see her brother though supervised visitations. This results in Sasha acting out in school.
Constant guidance from her case worker, Ieisha helped to ignite a turning point in Sasha’s life, as Ieisha became more than just her case worker, but a true friend.
Sasha closes her story by declaring her undying love for her brother and also an interesting, yet important parallel: her relationship with Ieisha and her relationship with her brother Jody.
Sasha created her digital story in a Center for Digital Storytelling workshop in May 2007. Listening to her accent, it sounds like she might be from New York.
The music is the first element of the video that the viewer is introduced to. A slow groove with a piano playing and a steady finger snap—a fitting instrumental to the story. The first shot is paramount to the story because it shows Sasha actually writing the letter (that she is reciting to the viewer) to her brother. The next shot then fades in to a medium shot of her brother. It’s important to note that as Sasha talks about having no lights, her experience with domestic violence and having to share a bed with her brother—the screen is completely dark, which I think symbolizes the darkness in their life at the time. The live shots of Sasha expressing her various emotions throughout the story add a lot of character and depth to the narrative. These particular shots are usually bust or medium shots, sometimes close ups, there are also shots at a variety of angles. Several shots throughout the story display the rule of thirds. All of the pictures in the story are brighter than the rest of the shots –especially the shots with her brother in them.
What I like most about this piece is that it leaves the reader with some closure—the circle is complete. The circle starts off with Sasha having to take a motherly role for her brother in some instances, while perhaps nobody was really there to guide her. After she and her brother were separated by the system, her world began to crumble and she began to give up on herself. Finally someone stepped in was there for her and cared for her the same way Sasha was for her brother.
Because I Could by Phyllis Clark
Phyllis’s digital story tells about her ability to use will power to accomplish her goals. She, at the age of sixty, started to run track races and short marathons, which is incredible by itself, but she continued to do it for another thirty years.
A story about an artist...powerful, introspective, and clairvoyant.
A story about a young man and his cat. Clear, youthful, and energetic.
Full analysis of both in extended entry...
http://www.silencespeaks.org/testmovie/tamika_st.html
The stories I chose are based on the impact a family can have on someone. It can be good or bad, as you can see from the stories below.
University of Houston’s College of Education has a program on The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling. I viewed one of their examples that dealt with music. Bill Steber’s photographs of the Mississippi Blues were the basis for that story, and looking at the photos… the quality and power of each picture leaves me in amazement.
I found a website that centered on stories with emphasis to bring about change. Stories for Change, as it is called, has quite a few digital stories on their website that try to achieve change. One of the stories I looked at was “The Middle of The Story,� a story about a young woman’s struggle to understand the media’s representation of African Americans and how that portrayal is stamped on society and the generation’s view of other cultures.
Pick #1
LYFE-N-RHYME featured at DUSTY (DUSTY version, while small is better than YouTube version)
Pick #2
Not Other Men featured at LGBT Digital Quilt
Sophies Story
http://www.silencespeaks.org/stories.html
I choose Sophie Story from silence speaks. Sophie story is one of a Cambodian family torn apart by abuse. Sophie was abused and her family abandoned her when she confronted her stepfather for abusing her and had him arrested
Because I Could
http://www.storycircles.org/play.php?vid=279
I loved this video. The title caught my eye because one of my favorite stories is The Little Engine That Could.
The second short story I chose is from Center for Digital Storytelling website. It doesn’t say who the creator is or where it was made. It’s a story about a boy who grew up with an abusive father. His childhood was full of fear and terror as he witnessed his dad beat up and abuse his mother. The beating didn’t stop with his mother, often he finds himself at the receiving end of his fathers torturing hands. This is a story about family, survival, healing and place(home).
I did most of my dig stories from the Third World Majority web link. The first digital story is about growing up in a life of abuse, from both real parents and foster parents. It is mainly a healing story that focuses on a young girl's life at the young age of five, who is sexually molested by her father, then it shifts from foster home to foster home as she copes with the abuse that she suffers from later. The other one is more about environmental issues at hand and how one community deals with the problems that arise. It shows how the Laotian community comes together to voice out their opinions about the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA.
The two stories I chose are: "The Talking Tree" and "Those People":
In The Talking Tree, by Surya Govender, she tells the story of her father and his former home of Cato Manor in South Africa. The story was made in 2006 at the Center for Digital Storytelling.
Those People is the story of Emma Kigoni, who was considered one of “those people� on public assistance, and how she overcame those obstacles to become a college graduate and a community leader
Here is the link to the first film as well as the analysis
1.) I believe that this story was created in somewhere in Great Britain. The filmmaker, Daniel Meadows, is a photographer. The story itself took place in 1973, and has a bit of a retro feel to it. It was created mainly from inside and around a red doubledecker bus that Daniel named "The Free Photographis Omnibus".
2.) The story is about how Daniel Meadows went around Britain in 1973 taking pictures of people for free, and then giving them the photographs. He says he felt a bit like robin hood, taking money from his sponsors and distributing the final product (photos) to the publick for free. Several decades later he found the same people by posting their photos in the newspaper, and taking another photo of them. They were all in similar poses and were always with the same person that they were with in the original photo. He had pictures of sisters, brothers, individuals, mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, re enacting their original 1973 photograph. Some of them had deeper stories, such as one women who had just walked out on her husband when the first picture was taken and says several decades later that it was one of the best things she ever did. Others had funny facts about their orginal pictures. For example there were 2 sisters in the original photo, one at the time was a go go dancer. Her sister laughs at her now saying that she wore silver platform boots too.
3.) I really like the form of the piece. He uses a lot of the original news paper clippings, and many photographs of course. At the beginning there is a bus sound effect but the rest of the film is just his voice. He tends to fade in and out of photos as well as zoom in and out. I like when he shows the before and after pictures by putting them side by side. My favorite is the last image of him in the 70's leaning against the doubledecker bus, right next to an image of him now leaning against the bus.
4.) I really liked the concept of the story. Taking pictures and talking to these people and then several decades later finding them and taking their picture again. It shows where they were in life compared to where they are now, It's nice to see that although many things may have changed in their lives, the closeness to the people that they took their photos with remains the same.
Here is the second link and analysis
1.) This is an extremely short but really creative video. These are drawings done by daniel meadows wife, Georgie. She created it in 2004 for their 25 year anniversary.
2.) The story is a brief look at their daily life, more specifically their mornings. There is a lighthearted humor in it too that fits with the story. Daniel usually rolls out of bed in the morning, puts on a robe and goes into the kitchen to make tea. He then brings a cup to his still sleeping wife and promptly strips down to his underwear, where the animation stops. I assume that he goes to take his morning shower at this time.
3.) Probably the best part of the story is the form of the piece. These are cartoon like drawings with a little bit of animation and sound effects. For example when he turns on the light switch his fingers flip the switch up and she zeros in on it and repeats the gesture. Then there is the sound effect of a light switch and the room gets brighter. There is also a scene where he stands in front of the sink and the whole drawing is still but you can hear the running water so it seems that he is filling up the kettle. It is also mostly black and white except for when the people on the front of the tea box blush pink. There is only a little bit of text at the beginning of the clip and at the end. At the beginning it says "25 years... 9,125 mornings" to set the stage for the piece and then at the end she writes "thank you daniel".
4.) I really like this piece because it told a story without any voice overs, just sound effects and a little bit of motion. It's also creative in the aspect that she took something so simple such as a morning routine and made it into an entertaining story. I also like the fact that although she is clearly making fun of her husband, you can tell that she loves him.
I chose to analyze two very different stories which both demonstrate a sense of accomplishment and recovery. They also both focus on human rights values in different ways. Enjoy!
