Going Digital

Back in the 1990's a movement began in Berkeley, California to tell stories using video. Or digital video storytelling. The trend caught

on and now is a great method for sharing stories about our lives and world.

The staff at Blue Ridge Literacy spent three weeks working with Roanoke College's Director of International Education to produce their own digital stories in February.

Well -- here is the written story on how our adventure went.

First, we received a pre-assignment to think about a specific topic. We were provided sample videos to watch to become familiar with the process. Wow -- the sample video stories were very powerful! Some were funny and some sad. Others were informative and expressive.

Next, we were tasked to prepare a script based upon our topic. You can figure 100 words is about 1-2 minutes -- depending on the pace of your voice.

That was tough too -- finding the voice to narrate our respective stories.

After recording our story we searched for pictures, sounds and music to use in conjunction with our story. Sometimes a picture provided a better understanding of our thoughts or intentions. I used animal noises when describing people fighting and applause when my story was depicting, hopeful.

Finally, we compiled all of our music, pictures and sound effects into WeVideo editing software for editing. We used additional graphics and features of the editing software to produce both audio and video for our story.

They all turned out great!

Here is a sample of a video from our BRL Program Stephanie Holladay. Enjoy!

https://www.wevideo.com/view/866275741

https://www.facebook.com/BlueRidgeLiteracy/videos/1275920969165554/

For more information about digital storytelling, check out www.storycenter.org.