Creating Compelling Stories:
The Esthetics and Mechanics of Digital NarrativesAbstract:
Children spend years learning how to create and evaluate written documents, yet are given little or no experience crafting digital narratives using images, sounds, and movement. Yet these same children spend hours a day exposed to media outside the classroom – more hours than they spend reading or writing linear documents. Just as written documents can be used to explore almost any field of study, so too can digital media.
This interactive workshop explores the esthetics and mechanics of digital narratives with the goal that participants will be able to create professional quality stories in the form of movies made from animated still images (using pan and zoom effects), recorded narration, and customized music tracks. The workshop is divided into two major sections. The first part focuses on various esthetic components including:
• Image aspect ratio (normal television vs widescreen)
• The elements of image composition (rule of thirds, headroom, etc.)
• The use of motion effects (pan, zoom, etc.)
• Overall pacing of the production
• Purpose and composition of background music
• Structure and recording of the narrationThe second part explores the mechanics of the final production using inexpensive professional-quality tools including ProShow Gold, Adobe Photoshop Elements 3, Wavepad, Sonicfire Pro, eZedia QTI and other tools as appropriate. Topics for this section include:
• Taking and/or locating relevant digital images on content servers
• The importance of resolution
• Recording a script
• Assembling a rough cut
• Adding titles and credits
• Composing and adding background music
• Selecting final output format
• Making the final project (including burning a DVD and/or posting the project to a digital content server)Participants will acquire skills through the process of creating their own digital narrative.
Prerequisites: Participants should have access to and be familiar with digital cameras and know how to transfer camera images to a computer.
Presentation type... workshop Audience................ all Duration................. 1 day workshop Handouts................ no Dr. Thornburg will gladly tailor any presentation to your specific needs.
