Once Upon a Time....

What do you associate with the word storytelling?  What comes to mind visually when you think of the word?

When I think of storytelling, the first thing that comes to mind is my grandmother's Curio Cabinet.  For as long as I can remember, when I would visit, we would spend one afternoon cleaning the cabinet in which she placed her treasures from around the world.  Since she was Russian, many of the objects came from her mother prior to the Revolution.  We would take each object out, clean it and she would tell me its story.

For me, storytelling embodies voice, emotion and  connection.

The cadence of one's voice is a critical component of storytelling.  When I worked as a Librarian is the Aspen Middle School, I loved to read stories to the kids.  It was my voice that made the story come alive.  I do one helluva "Wicked Witch of the West."  But, I am just an amateur.  Listen to some Cowboy Poetry, or the poems of Sarah Kay to hear how voice makes for a compelling story.

Stories are powerful when you are connected to them emotionally.  A great memory I have of storytelling are the stories told 'round the campfire.'  When I was young, I went to camp in Vermont.  The all girls camp had an affiliate boy's camp and several times during the summer, we would go to Camp Norway to sit round their large campfire.  We would listen to stories, sing songs, and play games.  I can still retell one of those stories that I heard over 45 years ago.

Our culture is based on stories.  Whether it is the Creation Story of the Bible,

the constant battle of Good vs. Evil in fairy tales,

or the subtle imagery of nursery rhymes,

most of us remember these stories from our childhood.  They are the remnants of the oral tradition, the way that wisdom and learning was passed from one generation to the next before the invention of writing.

How does Digital Storytelling change the way we tell stories.  I will never forget the time I visited my grandmother with my MAC Laptop and a camera shaped like a ball that connected to the computer (can't for the life of me remember the name), and we documented the Curio Cabinet together with a cassette tape recorder and camera.  I transcribed her words and printed a booklet for her.  I only wish I hadn't lost the original file, because now, I would be able to post this online.  What a treasure.  Fortunately I still have the printed version.

Digital storytelling is about sharing.  It is about extending your story beyond your horizons.  Gardner Campbell tells us of a boy from Africa who contacted him because he read a story that was posted by Gardner for one of his students.  This boy contacted Gardner because he HAD to contact the student who had written about Tupac Shakur.  There was a shared CONNECTION.

Storytelling for me is about voice, emotion and connection.  Without the story of my grandmother's Curio Cabinet, I would never have created one of my own.  Oh, and the stories it could tell.

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Think Globally...Act Locally

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Five Card Story: Think Globally...Act Locally!

Until each and everyone of us is willing to take responsibility for the world around us, we will continue to witness the extinction of the entire planet, one species at a time.

Creating a story from random images in Flickr is an interesting exercise.  It took me a few tries to get one that actually made sense.  This particular set of images is somewhat depressing, but I had to use the image of the horse because it was so compelling.  The picture of the plastic dinosaur is almost comical but it allows me to insert the concept of extinction into the story.  And it is comical to think that because of our own stupid actions, we are destroying the planet.  A good way to get the creative juices flowing.  Try one for yourself using this link....http://5card.cogdogblog.com//play.php?suit=5card

a Five Card Flickr story created by Cathleen Nardi

Until each and everyone of us is willing...

flickr photo by bionicteaching

to take responsibility

flickr photo by bionicteaching

we will continue to witness the extinction

flickr photo by keepps


of the entire planet,

flickr photo by Serenae

one species at a time.

flickr photo by Serenae

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The Hills Are Alive...with Animated Gifs

Make an animated gif from your favorite/least favorite movie capturing the essence of a key scene. (Make sure the movement is minimal but essential).

I didn't really want to do this exercise until my Frainger Ary Aranguiz told us she was hooked and posted 3 in a row.  Another DS106er asked why all the fuss about animated GIFs.  It was Alan Levine's response and Jim Groom's detailed instructions that won me over.

"Why is there such a focus on GIF animation? Do they really hold that much potential as a tool for communication or art form? Should I spend my time trying to learn this? I can, probably, get the tech...but Why?"

"But when you go through a mindful process-- identifying a subtle piece of the world to isolate, or a moment/character in a film, it gets interesting. I am curious how people develop a sense for what might make a good GIF (I have some ideas). But for a film clip, it is this great reductionist process to extract a few seconds form a larger work, focus it down to a short video clip, then import into Photoshop/GIMP, and reduce it even more to a number of frames, and reduce it even ore to emphasize the moment, or reduce the file size..And when you get to the point of being able to isolate movement to just a small portion of a frame rather than just flipping them like cards.. well you have arrive IMHO to an artful process."

I selected the classic Sound of Music for my project.  I saw the film when I was about 7 years old. I try to watch it at least once every year.  I know every song, and I always cry.  I even saw the picture when I was in Salzberg, Austria at a guesthouse.  Their idea of afternoon tea was to offer wine and cheese and play the Sound of Music.

When I reread the instructions, (Make sure movement is minimal but essential -- and Jim Grooms recommendation to not exceed 10 frames), I simply could not clip her midway through the line.  The result is 19 frames and you get the ALIVE.

For me, this particular scene says it all.  In fact, what she is really saying is "Yeah.  I completed my first animated GIF!"