First Week
Lecture:
To be honest, I have no idea what is digital story telling before taking this course. I have always been thinking that only the stories that can be heard, can be paid attention to and the stories that will make people interested have the meaning to be told to others.
But it seems that I have a wrong interpretation of the meaning of digital story telling.
Like Revels (2014) said, digital story telling is a tool for everyone to tell their own story.
It is amazing that everyone can tell their own story, whether their voice can be heard or not, whether the content is interesting or not. It’s all about you. It’s your own story.
Workshop:
Although this is not the first time for me to play the icebreaker game, I still feels very excited. One reason is that I am good at this game. Another reason is that I really enjoy meeting different people in this way. From remembering names to remembering each other’s hobbies, we are getting closer and closer. Everything begins with “what’s your name”.
Second Week
Lecture:
After watching the digital stories on Capture Wales website, I think that making digital story telling project for a specific group of people is a great thing. But it is a pity that the website is now in danger of being shut down. Unfortunately, many digital story telling website are facing this kind of risk.
But the stories on these sites have great vitality and deserve to be seen by more people.
Is there a way to keep these sites running?
Workshop:
Talking about telling my own story, I think it has to be something that impresses me most. Actually the first thing came into my mind is the graduation picture of my roommate and me. This friendship played an important role in my university time because they accompanied me for four years. It is no exaggeration to say that they are the best friends I have ever had. And I believe even if we stay in different places now, our relationship will not change easily.
In fact, I am a little nervous about telling my own story, but I am still happy to share it with others. Because it means a lot to me.
After listening to others’ stories, I think people in my group are all experienced people with deep stories and emotions in their heart. Maybe this is the key of telling a good story, just like Revels (2014) said in the story telling guide. That is telling your own story.
Third Week
Lecture:
Although it is always said that the key of digital story telling is to tell one’s own story, I didn’t expect that someone’s personal memories can reflect the changing history of the time. Maybe this is what Voices from the Factory Floor project wants to tell us.
Workshop:
It is so sad to know that I am not good at story telling at all! I think many people in my group are born to be great storytellers. Although I used to write novels when I was in high school, my writing is increasingly influenced by the way I write news now. I prefer to write about facts rather than emotions subconsciously.
In fact, I can’t remember all the details about my feelings in that period. The only thing I remember is the thing that impressed me most. So I wrote about what happened when one of my roommates left us to join in the army. But Sharon told us it’s better to write about personal experience and feelings because this is our story, not story about others. I think maybe it’s because I ignore my own feelings too much sometimes.
Forth Week
Lecture:
This week we put our stories on the Google map. I think it’s like posting pictures and comments of every tourist attractions and restaurants I visit on the map. And then people will look through my comment and even choose what they’d like to eat according to it. It feels like my experience is woven into theirs and our lives are connected together. In fact, I can often see images flashed through when I’m listening to others’ experience and reading their stories. Maybe because they remind me of things that I experienced before. I think it’s also a way of connecting with others.
We also have a look of the story touchboard. I don’t know much about technology, but it’s really interesting to be able to tell stories with something so simple and small.
Workshop:
We start planning for our story project and choose music as our topic. Music not only carries people’s emotions but also their memories. And I think even though we are from different countries and spoke different languages, we can connect with each other because of music. Even if we don’t understand the lyrics sometimes, we can easily feel the emotion and power in it. The most important thing is, although not everyone has music talent, music still becomes an integral part of our lives and tightly integrated into it.
Fifth Week
This week’s workshop makes me feel like we can really resonate emotionally with other people by listening to their words. Drumm (2013) once said hearing other people’s stories can prompt multiple responses including empathy and understanding.
People in my group all have their stories to tell. But I was deeply impressed by Issa’s story. He once told me about his country and the sadness of being forced to leave there, but I can only feel this sadness and be moved by listening to his story, especially when he mentioned the jasmine of Damascus and the music he sang when he left Syria. It really reminds me of أدونيس’s poem. “Jasmine of Damascus… Please leave the flower to its dreams and aspirations and for those in love.”
Sixth Week
We’ve spent several weeks to discuss what form should we use to present our work. Issa suggested that we can use music notes to present our topic. We all agreed that we can combine our voice and pictures together by putting photos on the white paper and connect them with a series of music notes.
Seventh Week
Lecture:
Actually we didn’t put much attention on the project. But it seems we’ve done a good job. Yeah!!! It’s so amazing to see how we put our ideas and stories together. I feel that our lives are connected together by these music notes.
And…it’s been a long time since the last time I did handcraft work.
Workshop:
It’s time to write a story for the final project.
During this week, I’ve always been thinking that I have nothing to tell any more. I am so ordinary, living the life everyone is living. I can’t even remember the last time I was excited about something. It seems that everyone in my group have the same feeling as me.
But I have to find something to tell. So I just started looking through my electronic album and I saw the pictures when I worked as a volunteer in 2016 G20 summit.
I just worte on my computer:
“If you ask me what’s the most unforgettable thing I’ve done so far…”
Eighth Week & Nineth Week
We learn how to use PS and PR. It’s always exciting to see how much work we can do by using these handy tools on the computer. I’ve been thinking to film a video about my life in Cardiff, perhaps it’s time to get started.
Tenth Week
Copyright!! It’s always essential to remember copyright!! We should respect other people’s working outcomes.
There’s a lot of emotions rising in my heart at the end of the course. I’ve done many things that I can’t even imagine before. And Sharon is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever met.
Final
After watching others’ stories, I think everyone has done a great job making their final project. Now that I think back to how hard it was for me to take this course, it’s all gone. Digital story telling is really a good way to tell your life story. It’s not about being heard by others, it’s all about recording your life and thoughts. I believe I will continue my journey on digital story telling.
References:
Revels. L. (2014) Digital Storytelling Resource Guide, pp. 2.
Drumm. M. (2013) The role of personal storytelling in practice. Insights. 23, pp. 2.
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