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The seven elements of a digital
story
A Point of View
All stories are told to make a point.
Most stories follow a pattern where a problem, a need or a desire is
addressed by a central character. The story then arrives a specific
outcome which is what you as an author are trying to address this is
you point of view. |
Dramatic Question
Simply keeping a point of view
doesn't keep the viewers attention throughout the story. A well
crafted story establishes a tension from the beginning that hold
until the story is over. Will the hero reach the goal? In the murder
- who really did it? What is going to happen next? Will she escape?
For this competition this is going to be a difficult element to
build into your story. |
Economy
Economy is generally the largest problem with
telling a story. Most people do not realise that the story they have
to tell can be effectively illustrated with a small number of images
and video, and a relatively short text.
Some story tellers
line of the images and then create the text to tell the story while
others do it around the other way. Try to keep the story visually
rich while moving forward with the minimum of dialogue.
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Emotional Content
All of us have been in the middle of
a story, a novel or film and found ourselves emotionally engaged.
Can you give your 'Teach me....' story some emotional
content? Can you make us feel sorry for the ice cube as it slowly
melts? Can you insert some hate into the pushing that might be going
on to explain one of Newton's laws? |
Pacing
Often the most transparent feature of a story
is how it is paced. Pacing is considered by many to be the true
secret of successful storytelling. The rhythm of a story determines
much of what sustains an audience interest.
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The Gift of Your Voice
Our voice is a great gift so a
voiceover of the storyteller could significantly enhance the story.
One way of building a digital story is firstly to collect the
voiceover and then add the images. |
The Power of the Soundtrack
What music, what sounds
are appropriate for your digital story. Music can play tricks on our
perception of visual information. It can stir up a powerful
emotional response very different from what the visual information
is suggesting..
Be careful with the copyright law. There are
now numerous companies that have developed copyright free music
collections and software that assist you in designing a soundtrack
that is wholly yours.
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