#usfdons

DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION, SPRING 2014 SEMESTER

Storytelling

            This semester’s Digital Media Production class dove into the importance and utilization of storytelling and story sharing on social media platforms.  We learned that storytelling is something that will not fade, but rather adapt to different media as media progresses.  Storytelling has, and will always have, an important place in our society because stories are the most effective forms of self-expression.  Among the most important things we touched on in class were creating the story itself, integrating it into social media, and finally promoting the work in the most effective fashion.  To create the story we followed tips from the Digital Storytelling Cookbook, such as this one: “A story can be as short as explaining why you bought your first car or house, or as long as War and Peace.”  The key to creating a great story is not the length or depth; the key is originality—a story with your personality is one that is unique enough to fascinate an audience.  Personally, my favorite stories are the one with heart and contain elements that one cannot find in many stories.  That differentiation is made when someone goes out of their way to create a special story for their audience.  As a producer of stories, the most important thing to me is to be authentic.  Being me is the best way to express myself because it is the most genuine and, therefore, the easiest to do so.  Whether it is creating stories centered around my interests or expanding my world to include others’ stories I take interest in, I can effectively convey emotions through the words, audio, photos, or videos I create. 

Processes

            The production process is the most underrated part of any method, as it is usually the first component of the product that is overlooked.  As someone who works heavily in pre-production and production I realize the importance of a well-presented product.  This entails the endless hours of going on Scoop.it, YouTube, or Twitter and making sure the tags are in order.  Tags are quite possibly the most important part of presenting your product because you could have A-quality work of which you are really proud and ready to share, but without those tags it will become lost in the sea of a million other stories floating on the web.  Personally I prefer to work individually but working in partners, especially as we did with the video exercise, helped especially when we had quick questions.  The platforms we used to produce stories were also really valuable because we worked on them individually after collectively going through different lessons.  It was interesting to see how each person interpreted the rules and guidelines we were given.  Some people in the class did some really creative things that I had wished I had thought of, especially Emily’s “Beer-a-Mid” story.  I thought the way she put together that project was super interesting and funny. 

Social Media and Technology

            I can definitely say that I was not hip to the sheer amount of platforms we discussed and used during the course.  The fact that there are really that many options for someone to display their work online is amazing and it speaks to the progress we have made on the internet.  The interconnectivity, as showcased in the Generation Like documentary, is borderline scary because of the possibility of negative implications of being so interconnected every second of one’s life.  On the flip side, the potential for social media as a positive cultural force has already been proven on countless occasions, even fueling political changes as evidenced in the 2012 “Arab Spring.”  The amount of change that can occur in such a short amount of time has become almost commonplace due to the power of social media.  Social media has nearly changed the face of  professions such as journalism and replaced them with the power of the every day user. 

Online Platforms/Venues

            One thing that we went over as a class that irritated me because I had never heard of it before is definitely the platforms in the mold of a straight-forward storytelling machine; websites like Storify, Exposure and Cowbird are all super useful.  The interfaces, especially the interface of Exposure, is the closest to the exact aesthetic that I look for in a good website.  The clean look and capability to host high-resolution photos as well as block of text in a beautiful format is invaluable.  Sites like Scoop.it and Twitter are great for curation of content; retweeting being the weapon of choice for Twitter and “scooping” the weapon for Scoop.it.  Longer form text stories are well-suited on blogging sites like WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr where the stories can “breathe” within the format.  By “breathe” I mean have viewing room without feeling too cramped in the site’s visual setup.  As a creator of content, the most user-friendly site out fo the platforms we studied this semester was probably Scoop.it because of the potential of malleability with the media we shared.  The ability to add unlimited insight on different pieces that you curated as well as create different functioning “topics” was really cool to utilize. 

Mobile

            Mobile apps have evolved into an amazingly convenient and direct way of interacting.  Mobile apps like Vine and Instagram make the sharing of different aspects (or stories) of our lives quick and seamless.  People have learned how to tell effective stories in seven seconds which is incomputable to me.  Mobile apps have also made it easier than ever for everyone to interact with each other at all times because being tied down to a desktop or even a laptop computer is no longer a problem.  Recording a Vine video of my radio show and sharing it out to followers could not be an easier process and it is attributed to user acessibility; most mobile apps are big on being easy to use.  However, some apps—Videolicious, sorry—are more difficult to utilize.  It seems like with Videolicious, there were just too many hoops to jump through just to post a product, which is an automatic turn-off for me.  My favorite mobile apps—Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr—all have one thing in common.  Simplicity. 

Conclusion

            The ability to spread stories has never been more blatant due to the rise of these different storytelling venues and the diverse capabilities they offer.  Platforms like Scoop.it, Storify, Tumblr, and Instagram are invaluable tools to those who want to spread their story like wildfire.  Throughout the semester we have learned how and when to utilize these tools to our advantage and breathe life into our stories.  Obviously, some platforms are more effective than others depending on what type of story you choose to tell, just as some are unfit for specific stories.  The overarching theme of these different platforms, however, is the accessibility to the world that they provide and the impact they allow your story to make.  I will appreciate everything I learned this semester in Digital Media Production and utilize it to the best of my abilties in future endeavors. 

The 2013 West Coast Conference Cross Country Championships, #USFCA style

"Obviously, it's really exciting to win our fifth, and it doesn't really seem like that many. It all goes so fast," head coach Helen Lehman-Winters said. "We came into the championships knowing that this was a really important meet for us. Winning five is really all about the people we have in our program and the standards that they've set. I attribute this success to them."