Digital Storytelling

Way back in Week 3 of DS106, I wrote about what I thought was digital storytelling in a post titled “This is Meta-hard.”

While most of what I said is rather hum-drum, “yea I know that”–one quote stands out:

I think that’s what digital storytelling is. I don’t have to know the show or movie or story they want to tell, but through digital media, I can connect with it, understand it, and want to know more.

I still believe this is what storytelling is, but I have a bit of a more mature view on it now. I think storytelling is even broader than what I came into this class thinking it was. After the remix week, I realized that nearly everything on the internet.. (let’s be honest–everything in life) is a remix. Then I had an existentialist crisis when I realized that we shouldn’t even really call things “remixes.”

Final Project

My final project began with a question about Alice in Wonderland. What was her life like after Wonderland?

I went with a story that I thought was mysterious and might be a bit suspenseful. You can see the full story here.

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

I really loved my story. I hope it was what our professor was looking for. It is a little vague and a little weird, but I think it’s a story that I definitely felt connected with.

I feel like a lot of people do fun, upbeat, kooky stories. I wanted to do something darker and more serious. Maybe I’m way off the mark of what we were supposed to do, but… I like it. That’s all that matters.

I do have some regrets about the work I did, though. I can admit it. I wish I had more time these past two weeks to really delve into the story further. I REALLY wanted to do a sound effect story, but there just wasn’t enough time with graduation coming up and finals.

DS106 Community

At the beginning of the semester, it was a lot easier to take part in the DS106 community. But as graduation grew nearer, it got harder and harder to keep up.

I think it would be easier to keep up with the community if we were required to have comments every week. Students just need that. I wish I could have seen more of the DS106 member posts, to be honest. So maybe a round-robin style requirement.

I think I participated most with the radio show. I felt like all of us were rooting each other on when we listened that night. Twitter was a lot of fun that night.

Contributions

Pinteresting Character | Assignment Bank

I was inspired by Alan’s example for our final projects to create an assignment that people could play around with. Students can now build a Pinterest page with a bunch of pins to describe a character.

10-Step Challenge | Assignment Bank

I love taking on photo challenges, so I thought other students would to. This assignment asks students to take ten steps in any direction and take a photo with each of those steps.

TDC 1

Describe one small thing that brings you joy, for example driving under an underpass in the rain.

TDC 2

Take a photo of something that makes you go “Nope nope nope!”

TDC 3

Retitle a movie poster to make it more accurate.

Best Work

Evil Twilight | Mashup Assignment

I really liked the way this one turned out. People constantly spoof Twilight, but few go for the real horror spoofs. I think it works well…

There is No Middle Ground | Video Assignment

This was by far one of my favorite assignments. This is what I love to do. I think the song works well for the series and the clips really tell a great story.

Zero Crash Burn | Design Assignment

I’m including this one in here because it’s epic. Just admit it. It’s wonderful. Plus, after the huge crash and losing a lot of work… I think it deserves to be in here.

“Anyone can be killed” | Design Assignment

I just love the way this one turned out. The colors are muted but speak to the depressing nature of this series. I also loved getting to work with the Photoshop brushes for the blood. I think it turned out really well.

Gifs? I’m gonna wreck it! | Visual Assignment

I think this gif is just awesome because it’s seamless.

Pay it Forward

As a DS106 student, it is SO important to go against the grain and not go with what everyone is doing. I didn’t really learn this until much later in the semester. Don’t be safe! Get out there! Challenge yourself! And ask questions about things you don’t know or understand. Your professors are there to help you.

Final Thoughts

I came into this class with varying levels of skills for digital media. I wasn’t necessarily new to Photoshop or video editing tools, but I still think that I am leaving this class with even more skills than I came in with.

I also think that this class refreshed my creativity. I have been constantly thinking about how a song fits a project I’m working on, how an image might help me later on something else I’m working with, how I could mix audio to make a story I’m telling a friend a lot better. I don’t know, I just feel more creative.

I can’t believe the semester has flown by as fast as it has. Graduation. Moving on. OH GOD.