Digital Storytelling2013 Workshop@ The San Diego Museum of Art

TYPES OF MEDIA

What are the digital tools you can use to tell your story?• Audio• Video• Images• Text

Context: • YouTube• iTunes U• Website• In-Gallery Display• Custom Interface

WHAT IS PRODUCTION?

This is the breakdown of each step involved in creating a digital story

• Pre-Production• Planning meetings, Scripting,

Storyboarding• Production

• Shooting footage, gathering images, text, and sounds

• Post-Production• Editing the acquired materials

into a final product. • Montage, graphics, color,

sound mixing, etc.

STYLES OF PRODUCTION

This is dictated by the types of technologies used, the amount of scripting, as well as core production elements such as lighting and sound.

• Formal• Documentation• Conversational• Casual/DIY• Family-Friendly

PRE-PRODUCTION

This is the most important step of the process. If you have a clear vision before going into a project it will be much easier in all the other phases.

• GOAL What do you want to achieve?

• AUDIENCE Who do you want to tell your story to?

• CONTENT What do you want to say?

What is GOOD Digital Storytelling?From the Museum of the Future Blog “Digital storytelling: How to tell a story that stands out in the digital age?“ by Jasper Visser

· The story is really unique and unexpected. Unexpected content is one of the three ingredients for a successful viral according to Kevin Allocca in his great TED talk on what makes videos go viral on YouTube, a lesson that also works for other forms of content.

· The story is told in the public space, in ‘active communities’. The streets, Facebook, general media: all the places where the story happens are easily accessible for most people and designed to foster discussion. Unlike your own website or Tuesday night discussion group people come to these places for stories and are, therefore, more likely to respond to them.

What is GOOD Digital Storytelling?(cont’d)· The story is about the audience. The most important lesson I took from Nancy Duarte’s brilliant book Resonate is to treat your audience as a hero whenever you tell them something. People should not only be involved and directly addressed, it should be their story, the thing they are telling, to make it stand out. People usually listen to themselves.

· The story helps create real life connections, has a physical component. The most heavily discussed issue in Leuven, I believe each great story in the digital age needs a physical element to really turn people from simply interested into highly enthusiastic.

From the Museum of the Future Blog ”Digital storytelling: How to tell a story that stands out in the digital age?“ by Jasper Visser

WHY?

Maybe you don’t need digital media to tell the story.(yep, I said that.)-

WHY!?!

Think about what is unique about the information that can be revealed better through sound or video.

• Sound effects• Close ups• Conservation images• Archive images/footage• Creating an experience

AUDIO TOURS

Scripting an audio stop, start with a list.

- What are the facts you want to share?- What elements can visitors can personally

connect with?- How can you connect this painting to the here

and now experience that visitors will be able to understand?

- What are the most overlooked aspects of this work?

AUDIO TOURS

Making the list into one minute of engaging audio

- Take your list and turn it into a story- How can you gradually reveal the

overlooked elements?- Connect the facts to real world present day

experiences- When you finish, write it again from scratch,

that was just a practice round.

CONCLUSION

Know how you want to end what you are saying.

- Avoid the cheesy high school essay wrap up statement

- The cop out is a better alternative: “And this is just one of many examples of <name art genre/artist> work in the collection.”

- This is the hardest part, I recommend listening to other tours/videos for ideas!

AUDIO TOURS

Recording- Drink water frequently- Don’t be afraid to stop and start again- Get yourself into a good mood- Smile and connect with the people in the

room, it will make your voice sound more personable

If you aren’t excited about the content you are reading your audience won’t be either!

BEING ON CAMERA

Nobody likes to be on camera, so how can you mitigate the pain?

• LUCKWear a favorite clothing item, or lucky charm. It sounds silly but it will help you feel confident.

• PRACTICE OUT LOUDRun through it alone or with someone (preferably with someone) but whatever you do practice out-loud

• FOCUS ON THE SMILERSkeep eyes on the positive people and ignore the bored faced ones.

PULLING MORE PEOPLE IN

To reach a wider audience with the story you need to think of what makes it special, and exciting.

• UNIQUE What is unexpected about the story?

• CONNECTION What will make your story resonate with the viewer?

• MEDIUM/CONTEXT What will tell the story best? Where should it be shown?

EXAMPLES: AUDIO TOURS

Audio tour of Robert Riggs's "The Brown Bomber" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7ZE2BOKpUDemons, Angels, & Monsters Audio Tourhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP6K_XbeOgwAsian Art Museum Audio Tour with Art Speak Youth - Indonesian Rod Puppethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_HnZee5EnoWasa Museum Audio Guide - 1 Welcomehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qcFDQHXuBY

EXAMPLES: VIDEOS

Casual conversationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s74fES8qLYThe Getty: Art Out and Abouthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xJCjOcoWkChipstone: The Minds of Makers (series)http://artbabble.com/video/chipstone/minds-makers-hayley-eichenbaumIMA: Promohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nee-g7rBCY8Louisiana Channelhttp://artbabble.com/video/louisiana/sophie-calle-conversation-nameless-man

EXAMPLES: INTERACTIVES

The Getty: iPad App (demo)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUcAtt3DD6o

Cleveland Museum of Art: Gallery Onehttps://vimeo.com/60866006

Portland Art Museum: Object Storieshttp://objectstories.org/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Smarthistory.orghttp://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/How-to-Watch-and-Listen-Critically.htmlAudissey Guide audio tour tips:http://matadornetwork.com/notebook/how-to-make-an-audio-tour-ten-tips-from-audissey-guide-pioneer-rob-pyles/The Museum of the Future: Digital Storytelling:http://themuseumofthefuture.com/2012/10/11/digital-storytelling-how-to-tell-a-story-that-stands-out-in-the-digital-age/StoryCorps tips:http://storycorps.org/record-your-story/ArtBabblewww.artbabble.com

CONTACT

ANNA CHIARETTA LAVATELLI, VIDEO PROJECT MANAGERBALBOA PARK ONLINE COLLABORATIVEPhone: 619 331 1969Email: aclavatelli@bpoc.org

ANDREW MANDINACH, DIGITAL MEDIA COORDINATORBALBOA PARK ONLINE COLLABORATIVEEmail: amandinach@bpoc.org

http://www.bpoc.org