Kyleen K Digital Story Treatment
From LIS5313
Contents |
[edit] Summary
Title: The Alaska Connection
Description: My digital story is about connecting with my mother by traveling to the place she grew up, Alaska. The point of view is mine and the purpose is to tell this story, show some highlights from the state, and (briefly) commemorate this event in my life. This story matters to me because I spent my life hearing about where my mom grew up and this was how I encountered the reality by actually experiencing something that, to this day, plays a big role in my mom's life.
[edit] Media Assets
Most of the assets in my video are photos from our trip to Alaska. I used some old photos of my mom's in the final product to better illustrate certain points and to juxtapose similar events from her time there and ours. A handful of pictures in the video came from Flickr to illustrate what I thought Alaska was like when I was a child (a frozen wasteland). The music used is a piece from ccMixter called Writing the Future by Pitx. The sound effects are a record scratch, a growl (both from Soundsnap), and wind blowing (from Soundtransit). The only images I altered are for my title shot, which has words that fade in and out over it, and two photos, one of myself and one of my mother, that I cropped so our faces are more visible.
[edit] Pacing, Rhythm, and Juxtaposition
For the most part, the photos are spread pretty evenly. The first photo, which is where the title appears was dragged out a bit longer so it could be viewed without text. Most of the photos give the viewer an idea of what Alaska is like as the story unfolds. The photos used at the point where I talk about what Alaska made me think of when I was young go by pretty rapidly, just to give the viewer an idea of what I thought Alaska was without taking too much time. To gain the viewer's attention there is a record scratch where the music ends, followed by a growl that coincides with the polar bear photo, and wind blowing to evoke the image of a cold, desolate place. There is a second record scratch that leads back into the music and narration. There is one photo that shows my brother sitting on a very large rock; this mimics a photo taken of my mom in 1976, which I juxtaposed for the final draft. The music used in the digital story is quiet and soothing, which goes well with the images and story. The only point where the music stops is to draw attention to what I once expected Alaska to be.
[edit] Narration, Dialogue, and Text
My mother was raised on a small island in Alaska until she was 15, when her family moved to Florida. She visited once when she was 20, but even after that she always longed to go back to the place she grew up and worried she’d never be able to. Eventually, she got married and had children and when we were growing up, she always told my brother and me about Alaska and how she wanted to take us there. While she was seeing her memories of what was there, I saw a frozen wasteland. As a graduation gift, mom took us to Alaska and the change in her was incredible. She was on a high over being back where she grew up and as we took everything in and shared some of the experiences she had growing up, I began to understand why she loves it so much. I don’t know if it’s the abundance of untouched nature, but there’s something about Alaska that’s hard to describe to someone who’s never been there. I can only recommend going and seeing for yourself.
[edit] Reflection
I think my digital story came together pretty well. I found music I wanted to use almost immediately and had a good idea of what images I wanted when I decided on my digital story idea. After viewing my feedback I had ideas of what I could add and change to punch up my story and make it better. Being something of a perfectionist, I'm not sure I'll ever be completely happy, but right now I think it works well.
[edit] Draft Media
- Digital Story Rough Draft - The Alaska Connection
- Digital Story Final Draft - The Alaska Connection
- Music - Writing the Future by Pitx
Sounds:
Images:
The media are photos contributed by my mother or retrieved from Flickr (only those that have Creative Commons licenses). The music is from ccMixter, the sounds are from Soundsnap and Soundtransit, and I narrated.
[edit] Copyrighted Materials
All materials used in this video came from family members or have Creative Commons licenses.
