Digital Story telling

Stories of resistance from the Global Campaign website

Thanks to Sally Jean Shackleton from Womensnet South Africaand APC Africa Women WENT participants for the following information about digital storytelling.

What is digital storytelling?

"The story depends upon every one of us to come into being. It needs us all, needs our remembering, understanding, and creating what we have heard together to keep on coming into being." Trinh T. Minh-ha, Woman, Native, Other, 1989."

Story telling has long been a tool for learning lessons, preserving memory and history, transmitting culture and tradition, entertaining others, for healing and caution. Stories have a value for both the teller and the listener. For those relating a story it has value in expression and healing, and for the listener in learning and sharing. Every person has stories to tell, and it’s in the telling that we discover how much of our experiences and learning we have in common with others. Stories make our connection with others and with the world real. They weave together our individual experiences to reveal a picture of a community, a group and a country.

The ‘digital’ in digital story telling, refers to the medium used to transmit stories. Digital stories, simply, are stories produced, stored and disseminated using digital media.

Comments from women after making their digital stories: [WENT Africa 2007]

“It was like recovering from a chronic illness. Honestly, I don’t know if this has something to do with magic or what. I hope I will continue to feel the way I feel now.”

“I am really glad. The workshop has made me stronger from knowing my story is not vain; and affirms that I have the right to feel the way I do. Listening to other people’s stories also has motivated me towards action; enabling me to brace up for the challenge of telling my story and seeking justice.”

Comments on sharing a story in story-circle:

“When you tell it, you face it”

“There is a similarity in all our stories. We tend to stigmatise and blame ourselves. I was feeling embarrassed… but opening up and listening makes you feel closer to the other. Telling your story is powerful”

“Every time some one was telling it was like it was me as well. I will never forget”

“Telling my story still felt like it was not mine. I still wanted to make it less than it sounds. I mean was it really that bad? I felt I had to still make it sound a bit nice. If we have been in silence for so long when we speak it, it doesn’t sound right”

“I feel privileged that there is an audience listening to the story [who are] interested in listening”

“I didn’t think I had a story but I realise I do. It is a story of personal transformation. I had hope listening to the stories of others”

The digital storytelling process in brief:

Step One: Planning your story
This is about planning what you want to say, and exploring the reasons you would like to tell this particular story. A story-circle allows participants tell their stories and receive gentle feedback from others. The circle helps participants focus their stories. This session is always confidential, allowing participants to share their stories freely.

A story circle is a method of sharing stories and providing feedback to story tellers on their scripts. Some participants shared the ideas they had for the scripts they were developing; others read out their almost complete scripts. The scripts in turn served the bases of the digital stories they would produce. Facilitators and other participants gave feedback on individual scripts which they then incorporated into their final scripts. As participants shared their stories the difficulty of speaking from the perspective of the first person - the “I” - became clear. It is this location of the “I” however which forms the foundation of the Women’sNet methodology and which locates the self in work to bring about social change. This includes the production of digital stories as every person has stories to tell and it is in the telling that we discover how much of our experiences and learning we have in common with others. In other words, through its methodology, Women’sNet asserts that it is in the sharing of personal stories that we build solidarity among seemingly disparate groups of people and communities.

Sharing personal stories about experiences of violence requires courage. Listening to stories about experiences of violence requires humility, sensitivity and compassion. All of the participants were involved in telling the stories of others – be it through their roles as journalists, producers, development practitioners or writers. This shift from the listener to the teller was difficult for all of the participants. The story circle provided a supportive and confidential space for the 12 participants to share painful, powerful and poignant stories. For many, it was the first time they spoke about their experiences. The process affected everyone present in some way. As facilitators and participants listened and gave each other feedback on the scripts and story ideas, it was clear that the act of sharing stories, and the act of listening to them told, hold transformative power. Facilitators also spent time with individual participants discussing and developing their final scripts.

Step Two: Writing a Script
This step involves formalising the story – writing down the script that will become your narration for your story and the starting point for your digital work. You might write down many versions of your story, until you are satisfied with it.

Step Three: Recording your Script
Each participant will record themselves reading their finished scripts. These recordings will be the foundation of the story.

Step Four: Story Boarding
Once your script is finalised, you need to plan how your pictures appear. Your pictures need to be placed according to the words in your script. Your pictures don’t need to be literal (for example, if you talk about a dog, a dog must appear on the screen). You will also insert text or a black screen where you think they are appropriate. We use a template for story boarding.

Step Five: Building your Movie
This is where most technical work is done – where you lay down your narration, insert your pictures and also work on effects such as transitions or picture effects. You work with two software applications: a photo or picture editor and a video or movie editor. You use the photo editing software to edit your pictures (that you might have scanned or taken at the workshop, or even found on the Internet) and the movie editor to build your movie. Once you are finished with your movie, you export and save it. And then its time for screening!

Links to digital stories
"I have listened, I have heard" - Womensnet Digital Story telling initiative

Silence Speaks - Digital Storytelling in support of healing and violence prevention.

Links to additional resources
TechSoup has a 10 step tutorial on how to create Digital Stories, which covers same of the same process steps as the above material and other ideas in more detail.

See the TBTT ICT Information note on 'Making a short film or video' for information about the audio and visual tools referred to in this information note.