Christopher W's Digital Story Treatment
From LIS5313
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[edit] Summary
Title: 800 Miles
Prompt: A
Description: This video will explore the complicated and serendipitous network of acquaintances that led my mom and dad to meet each other one fateful night in June of 1970, eventually leading to thirty-five years of happy marriage. I've always admired my parents for their loving, affectionate, and healthy relationship as a married couple, and their happy marriage has had a huge impact on my life as their son. The story will be told from my point of view, looking back at my parents and the early years of their relationship.
[edit] Media Assets
I have acquired several family photographs of my parents in the early years of their relationship, as well as the relatives and acquaintances that eventually led them to each other. I plan to crop several of these images, and to add text, circles, and arrows to a handful of them. Hopefully these visual aids will clarify "who is who" and will emphasize the complexity of the network of friends and relatives that eventually introduced my parents to each other.
While a map-based media asset would seem appropriate for this piece, I had trouble finding a way to emphasize this aspect of the story without using an image that took this idea far too literally. Furthermore, even though the title of the story itself is related to distance, I felt that it was more important to emphasize the complexity of the acquaintances as opposed to the physical distance that separated my parents before they met.
For a soundtrack, I had originally wanted to use something quiet and folksy, perhaps reminiscent of Iron and Wine. However, after I heard a song on the radio with a very simple and pretty piano-based melody, I began to explore similar music licensed under Creative Commons. I feel that this will accentuate the sentimental tone of the video, as well as compliment the "retro" appearance of many of the images.
[edit] Pacing, Rhythm, and Juxtaposition
Currently, I want the pacing of the video to be very gradual, emphasizing the number of complicated steps and "degrees of separation" the eventually united my mom and dad. I envision the sequence of the video working closely with the pacing, introducing the individuals that introduced my mom and dad to each other and then eventually leading to a more specific focus on my mom and dad, their early relationship and their wedding. The end of the video will consist of a collage including cropped portions of the previously used images to emphasize the complexity of acquaintances that led my parents to each other.
[edit] Narration or Dialogue
I plan on using narration for this video. Here is a very rough draft of what I envision:
"Eight hundred-miles can seem like quite a distance. This is Sherman Brent. His friends call him Sherm. Sherm is married to Kim, who's the cousin of Gail, who's the daughter of Ty. Ty and Kim are close. Sherm and Kim live in Millington, Tennessee. This is Judy, one of the Brents' neighbors. More about her later. Ty and Gail would visit the Brents every summer. This is Bob, Ty's nephew and Gail's cousin. He lives in Winter Park, Florida. Over eight-hundred miles away. In June 1970, Bob joins Ty and Gail to visit the Brents. Everyone goes fishing. And Bob and Judy spend the whole night talking. They start dating. They fall in love. They get married. And they live happily ever after. So it’s a good thing Judy knew Sherm and Kim, who knew Ty, who knew Gail, who knew Bob. And eight-hundred miles doesn’t seem so far away."
[edit] Reflection
So far, I want to use a series of photographs to illustrate the network of acquaintances and relatives that eventually introduced my parents to each other. I find the complexity quite humorous and the serendipity downright endearing, and I consider this piece a tribute to my parents example of a healthy and happy marriage. I'd like to be able to tie my parents' relationship into some kind of "big picture," and I'm not sure if I'm really doing that or not with the whole "eight-hundred miles" theme. In any case, I want the video to be thoughtful, simple, sentimental and somewhat humorous (maybe even playful?), illustrating the strange coincidences and good fortune that draw people to each other.
[edit] Draft Media
So far, the only important media assets that I have acquired are scanned copies of family photographs (see below). These include pictures of my parents on the boat where they met, as well as pictures of relevant family members as well (such as Sherm, Kim, and Gail). I have also included pictures of my parents in the early days of their relationship and pictures from their wedding.
I am still investigating supplemental images that are related and that can convey the themes of the piece. Per suggestions by others, I will stay away from images involving other people, simply because there are already enough individuals figuring into the story, and I don't want to detract from or complicate the story.
I am also still investigating possible music options for the soundtrack. Per advice from classmates on the class blog, I am considering using music from Incompetech since the music is clearly organized and licensed under Creative Commons.
Most of this week has been spent cropping images for the digital story, removing unnecessary parts of images and finding ways to emphasize and center the focal point of the pictures. Below are links to some of the draft images, hosted on iSpace.
I will also add captions and arrows to indicate names and connections between individuals.
[edit] Copyrighted Materials
I do not plan on using copyrighted materials in my digital story.
