Recently in 2. Digital Story Analysis Category

http://www.cultureisaweapon.org/popmovie.php?m=2&b=hi

This digital story is about survival and realization. It attempts to have the audience take a walk in the shoes of very unique situations in one girl's life. The story consisted of physical pain the girl had endured while growing up, this set the emotional tone of the story. The way in which she used her voice, exemplified the pain that was endured. As a child her she was molested and abused. Naturally, one may feel that it is their fault for the actions of others. This feeling began to shape the way in which she viewed herself. In addition to this unbearable pain, she was repeatedly told she was a liar and that the accounts of others actions occurred because of her. Her unique situation caused her to move from many different locations, thus making it even more difficult for her to escape from a "abnormal life". I say abnormal because to most it is, but to her it seemed to be what was normal. Later, after meeting a friend the met up with three boys at a hotel. The guys' intent was not in the best interest for her, she was (again) sexually abused. At this point she knew that there was no way to go but up from her current stand point. She states that on one day she came to the realization that there is more to her than she ever knew. Last but not least, after everything she had gone through, after all the pain and ridicule, she took a positive outlook on her life. She also realized that her these situations helped her learn from them and made her who she is now. She says "wounded are the best healers and the healed are the best survivors." I admired this quote because I felt that it summed her past and her upcoming future. 


I enjoyed watching this digital story, not because of the content of the story but rather the overall point of the story. It was hard to hear some of the pain she endured and I feel that it was very brave of her to be able to relive these occurrences and tell her story. The fact that even after all of the resentment she may have felt she was able to bounce back and in a sense start over with her life. The song at the end was very moving because it really irritated her feelings toward both situations.

http://www.storycenter.org/stories/index.php?cat=7


This story is about a woman's passion for music. In this digital story she goes on to express what music mean to her and her family. She explains how music serves as common ground and "bridge" for her family. Her daughters passion for music grew as she watched and experienced this passion with her mother. This story describes personal events and everyday traditions her family partakes in. The picture consist mostly of her and her family. Many shots included her and her family playing musical instruments. Also, she incorporates shots of where she lives. 





I like how the story starts with a song because it is more introduction to the voice over, and it automatically sets the tone of the story. The goes on to describe the importance of music in her life and also in her family. I love to hear stories in which express ones passion, I feel that passion is a necessity in living a healthy life. Passion is everything to me and to her someone speak about their passion reminds me of my passion. I like how she explains how music connects her with her family and how music serves as a common ground for everyone in her family. I also like how she both started and ended the story with music and throughout the voice over their were instruments and instrumental music playing. This only better expressed the impact music has on her and her family and it's undeniable importance.

www.soros.org/resources/multimedia/digital
  This video was very moving, a story that is a definate attention grabber and emotional. A girl's Parents dying of AIDS, wut could be more devastating, the creator of this video used the human perspective to catch viewers eye. The pictures of people coming in and out of the girls home gives veiwers a chance to see he reality of story the creator is trying to convey, the music also helped you feel the emotion that the creator felt or that she tought the girl felt, A girl's parents died of AIDS. The creator definately convey the meaning of a bombshell. I think she always uses transition of the story well, from  sorrow to resilience, and shows what resilience means, The ormat of the story wasnt abnormal also which helped me stay interested. as to where usually the problem comes in the middle she started off with climatic action and resolved the promlem for the rest of the time. i think she really put together a nice video not to long, not to short, and got across her point, You can overcome anything,In my opinion, I also thought one of if not the strongest points of her video was the use of her pictures, which really gve me a sense of the people's sruggle and they're envorment adn living conditions in that area. I thought the transitions from slide to slide could've been more creative, but i could see how a weird fly in or dissolve slide transition could take away from the emotion of the story.

"When I was your case manager" is very interesting and true story about a case manager that cared for an immigrant while he went through all the struggles of school and life. The case manager was very loving but in most people's mind she was too emotionaly attached. She said she "would sometimes hold myself responsible for success and that was wrong." It seemed from the story that these two, at times, had a very bumpy, difficult, unpredictable, but sometimes fun relationship. The case manager learned that it was okay to love but sometimes leave some room and distance. What I don't really understand though is why she though what she did was wrong. Also, what were thier downfalls or more specific details on the relationship. But, the case manager gives enough business for you to guess what is on her mind. So for those of you that need to know, this ain't need to know.
http://storycircles.org/play.php?vid=327

The first video I watched was "The Wounded are the Best Healers". This digital story was about a young lady named Alexxa Gooenoughe. Her story talks about molestation, abuse, and tribulations. The narrator, Alexxa, tells stories of some very scary moments during her life on the run. Then you witness change in the story, the once troubled and wounded young women becomes the healer. I liked this story, I felt it showcased darkness shedding to light. It showed the troubles the narrator underwent, it also showed how she learned from her mistakes and chose to make a difference from her experience. I also liked the picture selection, I felt it showed a wide variety of 

In the video ghost of time the song and the footage remind us of all the races and both genders that have struggled to get to the point they are today. I loved the song selection and title because it goes along perfectly with the theme and what's going on. We see the people who fought for our rights and attempted to bring us together. Thats what I saw even though this video is an Obama tribute. I loved everything about the video, but if it were me I would make sure to remind people that we still have a ways to go in terms of becoming one as individuals and treating each other as humans. True Obama's in office, but I don't think thats quite the final step. Ghost of time means the heroes who were not forgotten, but were not heard or given a chance in their lifetime, but they made themselves be heard and took what they did not have. Thats what Ghost of time is if you ask me.
http://storycircles.org/play.php?vid=352

http://storycircles.org/play.php?vid=327

The first story I did was on "When I Was Your Case Manager." This story starts off with "I had a lot of doubts.." and it shows a picture of the narrator's client, but it doesn't show their face, and ends just the same. It explains in this video what most psychologists / psychiatrists may think about their clients, especially if they are just starting off. This video talks about the past and makes it seem like they are no long psychologist and client, but maybe they no longer have contact. You can hear in the narrator's voice that she cared throughout the whole video, but also near the end, she began to learn to show it better. I believe the topic of this video is the psychologist / psychiatrist and the clients differences and how they can get through them. I believe the moral of this video is that you can get through anything if you try. Also another possible one is that everyone is different, try to understand.
The whole film was in black and white, which I believe makes the video stronger, as well as the language ("bullshit immigration laws"), as well as the video not having music helps tell the story and makes it stronger as well.

http://storycircles.org/play.php?vid=319
This story begins with pictures that the author may have drawn, and he begins to explain about his passion for drawing, which leads to music. This video could relate to anyone, since throughout the movie he changes, and let's go of "the boy who always had a pencil in hand."  I believe the topic of this strong, especially towards high school students as well as college student trying to figure out who they are. The photos and music the narrator uses are inspiring themselves. They show how he is in a way, because it shows his thoughts that he placed on the paper, and he explained detail very well like he was "thrust into music" even though he doesn't really know how it happened. The text at the beginning were "Spark! 2008" Which may be a place that he made the movie for, or it could be a secondary title, followed by the year it was made. That spark could be his artistic passion, beginning to burst into flame.



~Justin

http://www.storycircles.org/index.php

  This blog was very well put together, i felt, because of the way the music reinforced the punchlines in the story. I thought that it kept me wanting to hear more because of the make up of the story. The story itself seemed like an intro to a movie, which i thought was probably really advanced"not knowing the person who did it". The story was well rounded and gave me lots of information as far as ,who,what,when,where.He layed the story out very chronilogical so it was easy to follow. I liked that this video was a build up format because it definately made it more interesting to watch and listen to. The content of the story drew more personal meaning for the writer in my opinion, which also help with the attention grabbing aspect. I Thought that it should've been longer just because i was enjoying it, but he definately got his point across in the length of his video. I think the only thing that i would've changed would be to add color pictures, but style is always varient and can really never be wrong.

The second story I watched was entitled Growing Up Hmong Amering by Alex Vang. In this story Alex speaks about his experience growing up in mainstream American culture as the child of two Hmong immigrants. At the beginning of the video Alex spoke mostly about how he was ashamed of his family as he grew up. Ashamed of the fact that his parents didn't work, ashamed of the fact that he was one of tweleve children, and other things like this. Towrds the end, however, Alex speaks of how he eventually came to accept and appreciate who he was as a Hmong.

The first shot that I remember seeing was a picture of him as a child. This photo was juxtaposed with the phrase "I didn't have much knowledge of what it meant to be Hmong before college".  There is a look of uncertainty in the child's eyes which I thought fit perfectly with the story. One thing I didn't like, however, was the pace of the editing. I thought some of the pictures stayed on screen for too long, to the point where the photo no longer fit with the voice over. Another thing I didn't like was when he displayed facts about the Hmong population in America, while he was still narrating the story. I felt like I was losing the story if I payed attention to the facts, or like I was losing important facts if I continued to listen to his voice.

Towards the end, he began to display a montage of photos of him in his cap and gown. At the same time he spoke of how he was now proud to be Hmong, proud of what he's learned about his people and his heritage, and proud of his accomplishments as well. I thought those pictures accurately illustrated what he was conveying.

http://www.cultureisaweapon.org/popmovie.php?m=1&b=hi

The first video I chose to do was called Nina from http://www.creativenarrations.net/site/storybook/index.html. She explains how it feels to be born from an interracial couple and to be mixed with black and white. She said that when she was little she always wanted to look like her mommy (who was white) but most of the kids considered her black. Her school was divided up into white kids and the Hasians (which wasn't African American but they looked black), she was put with the white kids but did not feel as though she fit in anywhere. The majority of her friends were white and she said that the black kids considered her white and the white kids considered her black but her true friends don't care. Once she realizes who she truly is she identifies with both black and white and feels you should like her for who she is and not her skin color.

Her context in the story was very good I felt because it is a personal story about herself and she explains her situation completely to the person watching and makes you able to understand how she feels. The theme of the story seemed to be 'love me as I am and not for what I look like'.Her form for the story was also very good because she showed videos, close ups, full body shots, and also she showed pictures from far away where she would zoom in. The music in the background fit her video very nicely at all times even when she was talking. I thought this was a very good video and it shows how hard it may be at times to indentify with one group specifically and that you should love people for whats inside, not whats on the outside.

 

The first Digital Story I watched was from the website www.cultureisaweapon.org. It was entitled Swing Low, Swing High by Krystal. The story was Krystal's account of the suicidal death of her brother. Overall I think her piece was good. One thing that distracted me from the flow, however, was her voice at times. It sometimes sounded a bit choppy, taking away from the juxtaposition of the voice over and the photos. On a more positive note, however, the fact that she used her own voice had a very emotional impact on me as a listener. I especially remember the line "I miss him." As she said these words you could hear her voice crack, you could feel her pain and sadness. Along with her own voice, she also had a male do a voice over for a shot which was a fade in of a letter her brother wrote to her before his death. This again had a very emotional impact on me as the listener, for it was almost as though I was hearing him writing to his baby sister right before he commited suicide.

One thing that  I thought could have been done better was a shot that was a photo of her brother playing around with family and friends holding up a play gun to the camera laughing along with everyone else. Though this picture served as a recollection of her brother, the voice over which juxtaposed this photo said, "He died with a gunshot wound from the head". With a critical statement such as that, I thought the photo of her brother play-posing with a gun was a bit innapropriate. One shot I did especially like, however, was towards the beginning. It was a video of about 7 empty swings swinging back and forth simultaneously. This video fit appropriatly with the title Swing High Swing Low. Also, the empty swings served as a representation for her brother who was no longer there. A similar shot also shows up at the end of the story. As the story concludes there is a video of Krystal herself swinging on a swing seemingly happy, as to represent her content.  I thought it was a beautiful way to conclude. For it illustrated the journey from trauma of losing her brother, toher healing and where she is now.

http://www.cultureisaweapon.org/popmovie.php?m=11&b=hi

 

This story is about a boy that started off with the good. everything was going perfect with his family, playing with his sister living the life. his mom and dad has been married for 20 years. but here comes the hard times. his dad would come home in the early mornings drunk and acting crazy. everyday now there was fights arguments. but his mom would put up with it. she would just work and work even around the house. carlos entered a gang because he thought it was his family and his way out of the madness of living in a house of no control. carlos was getting jump, stabed, and shout for his so called family. now he is free but he is scared that he is free friends dying and getting locked up is scary. him mom and dad sticks together because then u fight and argue and all the flaw you have are making your family stronger.

http://www.cultureisaweapon.org/stories/mainframe.php?s=15

this story really touch me in a way. thats how my family you to be with the mom and dad fighting, sister coming in the house anytime she wants. but we stuck together. i like everything about this story the way it comes on with the song so hard. it made me think how my life ways back then. it could get no better.

Letter to my Mother

          This digital stories is about a young man who loses his mother at a young age and his stepmother is very nasty and abusive to him it was sad but at the same time it makes you appreciate having your god given mother and want respect her. The video begins with him talking about how his stepmother mistreats him after he lost his real mother 18 months ago and he was only six years old at the time. The images he uses really helps you understand where he comes from and how it was for him growing up he goes from tricycles to basketball player, and as the stories goes on I feel like he talks about his dad in a disappointed fashion he feels like his dad should care about how his new wife treated him and he did. He has not been in touch with his dad so much and it's been a millennium since he seen his stepmother. And later in life when he gets married he puts the same ring his mother owned on his wife Valarie's finger. I like this story it was very touching and the music helped the story seem very sad.

 

http://storycircles.org/play.php?vid=108

 

 

 

 

Finally

          This digital story is about a girl who fells her moms love when her mom is lying on her death bed in the hospital. It's very hard to lose a loved one I'm sure everyone knows that, in the story I like how she starts off with an image of the sun rising and at the end she uses a picture of the sun setting and then the title shows up and it makes since how everyday starts with the sun rising and setting at night. She does not use too many images I only counted about ten but the ones she did use went hand in hand with her digital story. The images she uses are pictures of her mother in her last days of life and the music was very dramatic and slow. The music went with her story and helped put a emphasis on what she was saying and the images she was showing I think this was also a good digital story even doe it was very short.

http://www.storycircles.org/play.php?vid=154

 

 

Joey Vazquez wrote the digital story "Homophobic". He grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with the struggle of being a colored queer during. Being queer was not a choice for him, it was simply who he was. Even though his father tried to befriend Joey, his mother said his choices were not acceptable and kicked him out. He then found a supporting family through Third World Majority. Here he has the freedom to be Joey.

In my opinion, Joey Vazquez wrote a powerful message of wanting acceptance. His family, his friends, everyone shut him out because of his sexuality. He tries and tries again to be the mold of which everyone wants, yet he simply cannot fit into it. Why is it that we cannot just be accepting of everyone and look beyond the typical American? Suicide and drug addiction was almost Joey's final answer.

The video consisted of a montage of pictures. Dissolving picture into picture was very successful in this digital story. The instrument beat in the background was a great choice, along with the voice over. Joey Vazquez voice over was very powerful and successful in this video because he created a tone. I believe the two raps and small speech between his "mother and father" is what made this video. 

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

 Dear Jody

"Dear Jody" was created by Sasha Charles in May of 2007 through digital storytelling workshop.  It was produced by Digital Storytelling Center and funded by The Childrens Bureau Discretionary Grants Program.  Sasha Charles grew up very fast, taking care of Jody (her brother), because her parents were too busy fighting. She was taken out of an abusive home and put into the system of foster care at a young age, only without her best friend, her brother Jody.

To me Sasha Charles story was a struggle to reaching the top again only&nbsProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 3Bon her own. When Sasha took care of Jody, she tried to be the best because she wanted him to succeed in his life, so she set an example. As she was pulled away from Jody, she was filled with enrage, and let her grades slip and her fist swing. To reach the top, Jody needed a friend to tell her to open her eyes. Her case worker was that very person. Sasha will be that person for Jody forever. I can relate to this story because my brother and I are very close. He is one of my best friends.

The video had a good incorporation of both pictures and video footage. The two videos within the story are of Jody. They are successful in showing the mood, you see her jumping around as she graduates in a wide shot and impatiently waiting to see Jody in a bust shot. The picture of Sasha and Jody, tie the whole video together. The music was an ideal tempo and the pace of the story was also successful because it gave us time to consider what has happened to Sasha and Jody.            

    The first digital video that I analyzed was "The Wounded are the Best Healers" by Alexxa Goodnoughe.

    The overview is about how Alexxa grows up as a foster child and how she was able to cope with all types of abuse.   

    I felt that this video was very well put together. Although there was a tiny number of flaws, I really enjoyed this piece.
   
    When the voice over began, it automatically caught my attention. Because the first slide did not have any sound, the voice over brought me into the story. It pulled me in by starting with an attention getter, "Every night he came into my room. Every night, I laid there with my eyes shut."  Her tone made the story more serious than it would have if she spoke in a different tone. Even though her tone enhanced the story, I think it was a little mono-toned. A mono-toned voice over creates a lifeless story. If she were to tell the story with additional expression, I believe it would've been even more enhanced.

    The photos were extremely appropriate for the message that Alexxa was trying to broadcast. I liked the way she had transitions between her slides. Although she had transitions in her video, she did an exceptional job at not over doing it. If the digital video did not have any transitions, the story would not have been as interesting. The transition that I found the most interesting was when she was describing what happened when she returned to the guys' room at the motel. As she described how the guys locked the door as soon as they entered the room, she had frightening instrumental music and did a close up on the hallway of the motel. I thought that transition enhanced the suspense of the story.
   
    Alexxa's ending was superb. I liked the ending very much. The ending was filled with happiness and encouragement. Towards the end, her tone and mood changed dramatically. Alexxa transitioned from serious and hurt to accomplished and full of life. She showed that she was able to let go of all the bad, and look forward to the good.

    As I was watching her video, I developed sadness for her. I felt sorry that she was involved in so many horrid situations. In the end, I was proud of her for overcoming so much.

  

    The second digital story that I analyzed was called "Journey" by Daisy Larios.

    The overview is about her, her family and her journey to finding how similar she is to her parents.

    I enjoyed this video. I felt that it did a great job at showing her feelings throughout her journey. When she explained how she disregarded her mexican heritage, it automatically reminded me of myself. I was originally from Oklahoma. Where I came from, I hardly saw any Hmong people. When I moved up to Minnesota, I saw them everywhere. I was uncomfortable seeing people of my own race and ethnicity in public. How horrible is that!? As time went on, I realized that they are just the same as me. I am Hmong. We are all alike. At the end of her journey Daisy realized that her and her parents are more alike than she imagined.

    The images used in this video, too, were appropriate for Daisy's story. Although she did not use as many images as the previous digital video that I viewed, they did a positive job of telling her piece. It shows that sometimes, using less is definitely more. I thought the transitions were good. Although they were good, they could have been better. She should have used a greater variety of transitions instead of just doing a slow close-up on the images.

    I also liked the voice over's tone. It was not too boring and mono-toned. It made the video more compelling. It also did not sound as if she was reading a piece of paper. That is what enhanced the video.

    As for the soundtrack, I felt that it didn't really go with the story. It was good that it was an instrumental, but she could have chosen a more quiet and peaceful soundtrack. I liked the way the soundtrack just stopped when she finally realized that her and her parents were not that different. It was a point of understanding and appreciation.

    I liked how Daisy ended her video with a quote. The quote from Lao Tzu "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" says a lot about her thoughts. To me, it tells me that if I want to begin my own journey, I have to be willing to take that first step to achieve my goals. I cannot wait for someone else to do it for me. 

http://www.storycircles.org/play.php?vid=106

I thought the movie was very creative. It moved at a good pace and had quite a bit of humor to it as well. In the beginning, she has a picture of her rear with "100% Welsh Beef" written across it. This, in my opinion, shows the British stereotype that Welsh women have huge rears.
          In the beginning of the movie, I like how she says that she does not have a weird obsession of sheep and gave up the harp(a traditional Welsh instrument) for the trumpet. She separates herself from some British stereotypes of Welsh people. I find it very interesting when she says that she goes to English-style pubs, drinking English beer and eating her chips(fries) while other, more nationalistic Welsh people "spit at the English" and write Welsh phrases on walls. It's VERY COOL how when she goes abroad she is laughed at for her Welsh language, as well as her other Welsh characteristics, but when she returns home to her university, she is not Welsh enough. This shows me that it's very hard to be "Proper Welsh", and it all depends on the person you ask.
          I thought that the aesthetics could have been a little better, though she did a good job by showing pictures of traditional Welsh things(i.e. a Welsh hat, her as a young girl in traditional Welsh clothes, etc.). Her sequence is pretty good. Each of her shots goes with exactly what she is talking about, and the pace is not too fast or too slow, but just right. Every shot changes when she moves on to the next subject.
          I think she did an overall good job. The message is clear, she obviously is Welsh, but can't decide how much for herself. She did a good job describing how other people perceive her level of being Welsh based on how she talks, lives, etc. This was a good story with a good dose of humor.
 
 

What makes a good story?

Read about stories on iRoom Stories, browse the list of links on the RIGHT SIDEBAR of this blog, and see Lambert’s suggested links (appendix in your Digital Storytelling book).

For this assignment, view digital stories, considering the CONTEXT, CONTENT and FORM of each story.

Post a short analysis of two digital stories (favorites or least favorites). For each post an image (and/or pull image grabs of your favorite images), and link to the original piece.

For each write a short reflection (about 125-250 words) for each piece you’ve selected.

Consider:

1- the context [where the story was created, or anything you know about the maker, if there is text that tells you info posted with the video, where it was created (workshop)]

2- the content[what the story is about, theme, thesis, moral…]

3- the form of the piece [what forms of media used, how the piece is edited, etc]

4 - why this is a “good” story (read: why/how this piece engages you, draws you in, why you like it…)

!!! Post in Category 2. Digital Story Analysis by 8am on Thursday, June 25 !!!

Here are examples from my former students: DS in Communities of Color and We Media