Catawba Stories: Tips

Planning and Construction
Finding Images and Audio
Defining a Digital Story
Elements of a Good Digital Story

planning and construction

Choose a category for which you'd like to share a story.
Read the how to create your story page.
Review the recommended software (or use your own) to gauge what options are available to you in creating your story.
Using helpful tools like Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Word will help you plan out or storyboard your story.
Around 250 spoken words typically works well for a 2-minute story.
Gather any images/photos, audio, video, and music that you'd like to use in your story. Do I HAVE to use video and images?
Adding your voice over (your recorded voice telling your story) first will help you easily set the timing of your visuals and transitions throughout your story.

finding images and audio

We recommend using or submitting 1-12 images for your story. Some resources for finding images and audio are:

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: The digital stories on this site included images and audio found on the Internet using commonly available search engines. The stories have been created for non-profit, community use by students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We believe this use is within the fair use of existing copyright laws. If any copyright owner objects to the use of any work appearing on this site, please contact us immediately and we will remove the work and review the propriety of including it.

defining a digital story

Digital Stories:

are short, personal, multimedia tales told from the heart
use computer-based tools to tell stories
are delivered with feeling in the first-person in the storyteller's own voice and style
combine narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie with strong emotional component
can be historical or reflective
focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view

elements of a good digital story

Point of View - What is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author?
A Dramatic Question - A key question that keeps the viewer's attention and will be answered by the end of the story.
Emotional Content - Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the story to the audience.
The Gift of Your Voice - A way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context.
The Power of the Soundtrack - Music or other sounds that support and embellish the storyline.
Economy - Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer.
Pacing - The rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses.

Source: The Center for Digital Storytelling (CDS) in Berkeley, California is known for developing and disseminating the Seven Elements of Digital Storytelling, which are often cited as a useful starting point to begin working with digital stories.