“Memory is funny. Specific and vague. Visceral and unreliable. Truth, and fiction” (the Goggles).
The Pine Point project is truly multimodal, from clickable text, illustrations, video, sound/music, and animation. What I really enjoyed about “Welcome to Pine Point” was that it seemed to follow all the “unruly” guidelines that Bloom writes in his “Five Ways to Read a Curated Archive of DLN.” The narrative was about an ordinary town with ordinary people, but allowed for their stories to be told about the town they hold dear but no longer reside in. As the Goggles say in their Pine Point project: “It could have been a book, but it probably makes more sense that it became this.” Shoebridge and Simons could have made a book about Pine Point, but they chose to preserve the living memory of the place in a digital narrative. I’m sure Lisa Blackman would refer to this as “transmedial storytelling” and quite possibly a “haunting” (side note: I’m sorry to say I’m not focusing on Blackman’s awesome article this week).
I also enjoyed one of the sample student videos (“Two Windows of My Life”) on Darren Chase’s library site. Even though this was a short video, I learned a lot from this student. I have always wanted to make a video about myself, but not really about me. Rather, I’ve always wanted to tell my story, but in a way that relates to others and makes them feel something. This type of creativity has always been difficult for me. Honestly, while I have tech skills (I used to edit videos in high school) I never thought I would have the creativity to create my own digital narrative. Well…I would say it’s more audio than video.
Reflection: I’ve always liked to keep any work I do purely academic, but after reading the pieces in “Stories That Speak To Us” and after viewing the videos on the SBU library website, I decided to change things up a bit. So I came up with the idea of creating a digital narrative about my family. If I had more time and tools, I would have loved to create something like the Pine Point narrative (like a memory book or post card collection, but digital). I also wanted to make sure I followed all “Seven Elements” of creating a digital story (including a quirky song…that I probably would not have chosen if I had not read the “Seven Elements”). I also kept in mind Bloome’s emphasis on digital narratives having the ability to preserve the stories of ordinary people.
Reflection Pt II/Rant: I would like to apologize for the poor quality of the video…I consider myself a “pro” at Windows Movie Maker, but my new computer does not have it installed and I recently found out that WMM is no longer available for download 🙁 And while I have a Mac computer at work, I do not have one available at home. Also, the video maker I ended up downloading on my PC (Movavi) would only allow me to post the video to YouTube (without the annoying promo banner) if I purchased the product (I learned this…AFTER I made the video!). So sad to say, even though I had this post ready to go…I had to fight with technology to get this video up (finally).
Questions (questions are related to the readings and not at all related to my video, though comments about the video are welcome…but please be kind!):
- As we think of stories, each one can be written down, but what are the affordances of using a digital medium?
- Do you agree with Punday’s argument that “intrigue is a structure implicit in almost all electronic narratives and that it complements rather than replaces the narration” (26)?; and why?
- Do you think that there will be another content collapse? Will “camera-first” content lead to us just copying and pasting videos, rather than text?
First of all, I loved your video! I especially liked how your progressed from focusing on yourself, to your family, to the Philippines. Also- your voice and pace were so perfect! I think you should consider podcasting…
I think the digital medium provides a number of affordances for story-telling. Along with the fact that they allow for multimodality as well as for the reader to take on a direct role as Punday notes, I think it feels more personal (which is surprising… before completing the reading for this week and really thinking about digital narratives, I’d assume they’d be less personal). Digital narratives like yours can be created by the author, meaning that both the production and the writing are completed by the same person, there is no “middle-man.” Most books or printed stories require a different person or team to complete the production process.
I also think it’s important to note that digital narratives allow more access to stories to more people. The multi-modality of digital projects can allow for the story to reach differently-abled people. For example, a blind user would still be able to access and understand your story due to the audio you provide.
Hi Caitlin,
Thanks – you’re too kind! After my sad attempt at making a video, I realized it probably worked better as a podcast (as you suggested). Maybe I will think of that for future posts.
I agree – I believe digital narratives bring up the role of the writer/designer; as you said the person writing the content and producing the content can be the same person. I also agree with you regarding accessibility (though I did forget to upload my closed captions! – I’ll have to remember to add those in)
Hey, Caterina! Like Caitlin, I really enjoyed your video! Your voice and pace were indeed perfect! Great job! I thought the video was done beautifully; no need to apologize. I didn’t even think it was poor quality!
I like your first question. If you use a digital medium, you would indeed be able to reach a much wider audience, as Caitlin points out. You would also be able to visually tell a story through pictures, instead of through words, which would help those who are unable to read in the language in which you write or those who cannot read at all. It’s like going to see a film adaptation of a book you’ve read. I’ve read the Harry Potter series seven times, and I went to see the film adaptation in theatres because I wanted to see it portrayed on screen (they did an amazing job with the film adaptations, in my opinion). For someone who does not like to read or just can’t, seeing the Harry Potter movies will offer the same main plot (not all of the subplots) as each of the books, but just portrayed visually.
Thanks Ryan 🙂 I’ve always been concerned with accessibility (especially after taking Professor Dunn’s class) and I think the more we make our work available in different modes, the better. I think film adaptations are a great example! Another example I can think of, is when my high school librarian conducted a fake “Hunger Games” during lunch time. Students who never heard of the book series and were not remotely interested in reading, became interested in the books because of their participation in the game. Creating materials in different mediums helps engage many different types of learners.
By the way, I LOVE Chicago! They’re actually performing this summer at Jones Beach!
Yay another Chicago fan! I haven’t seen them in a while. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Caterina,
thanks for sharing this cool video. The Hunger Games ARG that you mentioned sounds pretty intense.
I meant to record Dr. Sharma’s talk on Tuesday, and forgot to set it up after we got to the room–very mad at myself because I wanted to share that with you and Caitlin. His essay, and the discussion in class, referred to the affordances of the video interviews and how they add an unruly richness to scholarship. (Afterward he mentioned to me that he felt his remarks in class were scattered, but I do not think anyone felt that way–it was in fact the natural effect of working with these media to tell a complex, layered story that lends itself to more multiple perspectives, even from the point of a single person).
Watermarks on commercial software are not a sign of your lack of skill. The challenge is to find open source video programs. I like Open Shot. https://www.openshot.org/
I’m glad to hear that Chicago still appeals to younger people than me (I grew up with them–in Chicago, when they launched their first albums. I still think Chicago Transit Authority, their first album, is my favorite, as it was not mainstreamed and very jazzy.) I’m not sure if you knew but here is trivia–when they first launched, the band was called Chicago Transit Authority (the name of Chicago’s public transit network) and the transit authority complained to Mayor Daley Sr. because they thought the band’s image was too rebellious and hippyish. So they were forced to change the name to just Chicago.
Hi Professor Davidson,
Thank you! I appreciate your comments regarding Dr. Sharma and my video. I will look into using Open Shot in the future!
I don’t think I knew about Chicago’s original name; that is an interesting history. I know tons of music from the ’60s – on because of my mom. She and I love Peter Cetera’s voice!