2.2 Context

Digital Storytelling has gathered some momentum in Europe since 2003, when the BBC organised the first international conference in DS, in Cardiff, Wales. The reach of DS, in terms of styles of delivery and the applications for which the form is used has led to some interesting developments and resources worldwide. There are now a number of DS manuals and training guides, freely downloadable, click here for a list of links. However, due to the variety of methods now used, they can be somewhat contradictory. For this training manual, specific reference is made to the BBC ‘short form’ technique developed by Dr Daniel Meadows and the Capture Wales team. ‘Short form’ refers to a personal narrative story of approximately two minutes, using a collection of the storyteller’s own photographs. Video clips are usually avoided, unless central to the story, as is music, unless it has a relevant link to the story or the storyteller.

There are several methods by which to conduct DS activities: in class as part of a formal curriculum, in workshops over a specified timescale, individually/recreationally and on a commissioned basis. This manual will focus on DS in a workshop setting.

The Detales project advocates the use of ‘low cost’ technologies for the purposes of producing DS. Within a European context, ‘low cost’ is difficult to define, so the project team has taken as its starting point, European residents with an ‘average and limited’ amount to spend on equipment. The inventory varies from one partner nation to another, but each group’s kit list is included in the manual, with an approximate cost in Euros.

The choice has been made in writing this manual to avoid creating tutorials for specific pieces of software, partly because software changes constantly and therefore manuals become quickly outdated, and partly because our partners want the flexibility to use software available in their own countries, so to produce a number of tutorials would be too time consuming and costly. However, there are links to specific tutorials online and they are signposted within this manual.

 

 

 

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