- Before starting.
- Read through this entire guide!
- Map out the process of creating a digital story, from topic to technical aspects, before starting your work.
- ELD offers digital storytelling workshops from time to time. In addition to reviewing this guide, you could attend one of these workshops. Check with ELD about upcoming workshops.
- Elements of an eld digital story.
- Two to three minute video
- Longer text to accompany and expand on the information in the video
- Short quiz on the material in your video
- Bibliography
- Choosing a topic.
- Choose something not yet done by ELD. Check with us to clear your topic before you proceed with anything else
- Your topic should be tied to a specific physical site in the area
- Your topic should answer a specific question or small set of questions
- Your topic should not be too broad: remember your video should be no more than two to three minutes
- Finding a mentor.
- Find a mentor to work with as you create your story. It can be someone from the ELD group, but it can also be another faculty member or a community member. It should be someone with expertise in your topic
- Your mentor should be available to answer questions about your project, help you find sources of information, approve your storyboard for accuracy, and review and approve your final digital story. The mentor must email his/her agreement to work with you and his/her approval of the storyboard and the final digital story to ELD. Let your mentor know that these are the expectations, then inform ELD of the name and contact information of your mentor
- Gathering your materials.
- You will need information, documents, photographs, and possibly video footage and music for your digital story:
- Online sources: A lot of material can be found online. Many libraries, archives, and other organizations have digitalized their materials
- Visiting libraries and archives: You may also need to make a physical visit to libraries, archives, museums, and local ethnic organizations as many materials are still not digitalized. Plan ahead! Some materials will need to be retrieved from storage or ordered through Interlibrary Loan. Call the institution before you go so you don’t waste time. Bring money for copies and a flash drive, as some places will allow you to scan to file
- People: Local experts, building curators, and historians may also be good sources of information. Many are very happy to help!
- Site visits:
- You should visit the site you are writing about to see what is available there. They may have their own archives, and people may be available to help with your research and even give interviews. Before your visit, contact someone there to make sure they are available when you want to visit.o Plan at least two trips to your onsite location(s) to take photographs and video footage. On the first trip you can take sample footage
- You can check out video cameras from the Foreign Language and Technology Center for this part of the project
- When taking photographs and videotaping, make sure there is no background noise, the lighting is good, etc. Also, pay attention to your surroundings and make sure you are safe!
- It’s a good idea to have a decent idea of what you want to use in your video before you start videotaping so you don’t have to wade through a lot of material later. Important! Keep a list of the source of everything you find and anyone you talk to in case you use it in your final project. There is bibliography software which can help you
- You will need information, documents, photographs, and possibly video footage and music for your digital story:
- Copyright and consent
- Citing text
- If you quote or reference a text, you should cite it. You should not simply copy any text.
- You should cite all images, audio and video materials you use, even if you do not need permission to use them
- Use appropriate style guides (APA, MLA, Chicago Style)
- Public domain: Most works published before January 1st, 1923 are in the public domain (see exceptions)
- Fair use: Copyrighted material may be used in certain circumstances including research, teaching, and reporting. But you still need to cite your sources!
- Creative Commons: Flexible internet copyright which explains which rights a creator maintains and which he or she waives
- When you need to request permission
- You will need to get consent for any video or audio recordings of people including of “public” events inside private establishments
- You do not need consent for your own photos and videos of places and things
- Citing text
- Writing the script
- Focus on a dramatic question: There must be an important question which keeps the audience’s attention and which you answer by the end of the video. Make sure that the question is clear to your audience from the outset
- Decide on your point-of-view: do you want to use the third-person, which is more formal and official, or the first-person (I), which is more personal and emotional?
- Length: Keep your video to two to three minutes maximum. Remember that less is more, especially when it comes to videos. People often don’t want to watch longer videos, and if they are watching a video on the street, this is even more important. Shorter videos are also generally more powerful. To ensure that your video is not too long, your script should be no longer than one double-spaced, typed page. Remember: not all the interesting information you found should necessarily go in the video. You can save some for the accompanying text
- Use the hourglass model: Give background information, pose your question, then give more specific details. End with the answer to your question, then give the more general significance of your story.
- Writing tips:
- Know more about the topic then you will end putting in the story
- Write the story, then take a break and come back later with a fresh eye
- Find an editor (it could be a friend or an expert on the subject-matter)
- Give yourself a good amount of time to write your script. It’s a long process!
- Create a storyboard.
- This is a must and will save you a lot of time and headache later
- A storyboard is a chart that allows you to clearly outline your video before you make it. You can write it on a sheet of paper, create it in a word-processing program, or find storyboard software online
- In your storyboard, match the text, in the order it will be presented, with the images that will accompany it. Break it down so you have one image or video per segment of text
- Include all other important information in your storyboard, such as where music will play, types of transitions, special effects, text to be included, background color, notes about the narration, etc. It’s also a good idea to include all bibliographic information for any materials you use in this chart
- Make sure to edit any video materials to fit into your storyboard scheme before you put everything into the video editing program
- After you make the storyboard, you must submit it to your mentor for approval before you start creating your video. Once you get their written approval, submit it to ELD
- Making the audio for your video.
- Use a program like Audacity to record your audio. You can reserve time in the FLTC recording studio to make your audio
- Practice reading your text several times before you record and time yourself to make sure your video won’t be too long
- Don’t race through your text to keep your video short! It will be hard to listen to and won’t keep the attention of your audience
- Your audio should have an interesting rhythm and dynamic pace which will keep your story lively, so make sure you vary your pace and intonation during the recording
- After you record your audio, you will need to edit it to remove pauses, background noises, etc.
- Soundtrack.
- You can use music to enhance your story and add depth to it
- Make sure to get copyright permission for any music you use that is not your own
- Check out sites like Creative Commons and Magnatune for music you can use legally for educational purposes
- Video editing.
- To create your video, you can use a video editing software application like iMovie, which is available on all Macs, or Windows Movie Maker, which is available on all PCs in the Student Self-Access Lab, located in Manoogian 308, at the Foreign Language Technology Center (FLTC). Final Cut Pro, a more advanced video editing software, is also available to students at the FLTC in its Editing Suite, but you’ll need to reserve time to use it
- Upload your images, video footage, and audio into the video-editing program and then fit the visuals to the audio
- Add titles, credits, transitions, and other effects (Ken Burns)
- Check the length and adjust accordingly
- Where to publish your finished story.
- YouTube: Public, private, unlisted
- Requirements for your story to be accepted by the eld project.
- Work with a mentor and provide ELD with the name and contact information for your mentor before you begin working. See step four for guidelines for finding a mentor
- Attend an ELD digital storytelling workshop before starting
- Behave in a polite and courteous manner with everyone you interact with when you are working on your digital story project, because you are representing ELD and Wayne State University
- Submit your storyboard for approval to your mentor and submit his/her written approval of it to ELD before proceeding with the video
- Your final submission must include all the elements of an ELD digital story, i.e. there should be a video about two to three minutes long
- Provide a video, written text, and quiz for your story
- Provide a complete bibliography for all materials you used and consent forms for all materials requiring permission
- Provide a reflection paper on your experience creating the digital story when you submit the digital story
Your digital story will be reviewed by ELD members for quality. If the story does not meet ELD quality criteria for digital stories, it will not be accepted for publication.