Imagine two people, let’s call them Lore and Jotham, having a conversation about digital storytelling. It could go like this:

Jotham: Digital storytelling … enlighten me! I sort of know what storytelling is, but digital??

Lore: Well, uhm, the short answer is: digital storytelling is sharing a story in a digital way.

[Jotham looks puzzled.]

Lore: Ok, I’ll try to be more precise. If I were going to tell you a story right here, I have my voice and bodylanguage to ‘colour’ my story, I can watch your reactions to the story and react to them. There is no, as they call it in the theatre world, fourth wall between me, the teller, and you, the listener. Same thing goes if it were not just you who is listening, but a whole group of people. But suppose you are not within my view or hearing distance. How could I share my story with you then? Well, if it’s just you, I could call you, or we could do a video call so you would also see my bodylanguage and I’d see your reactions. This would be a simple version of digital storytelling; a story delivered to one person by means of a digital device, in this example a smartphone.

[Jotham seems to understand this.]

Lore: Thanks to the development of all sorts of media technologies, software and hardware, I can use images, music, voice-overs, et cetera as well as my own voice to tell my story. And those technologies also enable me to share it not just with you, but with many more people. It would still be my story, but told and shared by making use of various digital means.

Jotham: So, if I get you right, a film on youtube might fall in the categorie ‘digital storytelling’?  And a commercial clip in which someone shares his or her personal experiences with a new liquid soap, packed in a short story?

Lore: Well, both could be examples of digital storytelling …

DIGITAL STORYTELLING versus TRADITIONAL STORYTELLING

So far for this imaginary conversation in which I tried to point out that not everybody is familiar with the meaning of digital storytelling. And, more implicitly, that the boundaries between a commercial, or a short movie and digital storytelling are not very clear. 

In an attempt to describe digital storytelling more clearly, I searched the internet for its definition. This resulted in quite a few hits which, summarised in my own words, could boil down to the following: 

“Digital storytelling is the modern extension of traditional storytelling, made possible by new media and digital technologies.” 

Assuming that a storyteller wants to trigger something in the listener with the story, also a digitally told story will have to be engaging and inclusive. How to pull this off has been extensively researched within traditional storytelling. And while there are nuances in the results of the various studies, everyone agrees that for a good story the narrative, the choice of what you want to tell and in which order, is pivotal. Similar studies in the field of digital storytelling suggest the same is true for digital storytelling. This implies that also in constructing a digital story you have to think about the theme, plot, character(s), conflict, setting, point of view and style and about how you want to start your story, what should be in the middle part and how who’d like to end your story. What distinguishes digital storytelling from traditional storytelling are the tools you can apply, think sound and still or moving images, to tell (parts of) your story.  Not just as extras to ‘colour’ it, but also as an essential part of your narrative. Another key difference is the way in which it is shared with the listener, namely through digital media rather than in person. 

‘COOKING’ A DIGITAL STORY

Joe Lambert of the Berkeley based StoryCenter (formerly the Center for Digital Storytelling), an expert in the field of digital storytelling, in his very informative ’Digital Storytelling Cookbook’ compares digital storytelling with cooking: the story is the recipe and the (digital) tools one can use to make the recipe are the ingredients. And, as with cooking, it matters in what order you add the ingredients. 

For the ‘preparation’ of digital stories the ingredients ‘image’ and ‘sound’ need your attention. After all, dissemination via digital technologies allows them to become an integral part of the narrative. Another important issue is the technology you are going to use to finally share your story. Think of Podcasts, Youtube, social media, etc. In his Cookbook, Lambert provides tips, underlining the role these aspects can play in the construction of the digital story. I will share some of them below, because they might enhance your understanding of digital storytelling as they did mine.

IMAGE

How can images contribute to what you want to tell? If you ask yourself this question at the end of the construction process of your story, you run the risk of the image showing what you have already expressed in words. Double down, in other words. For the construction of a digitally told story, it is better to ask yourself at the beginning of the process what images come to mind when you think of the moment in your story that is crucial to you, and of other moments. Those images do not have to exist as photos or video images, they can be just in your mind. Take notes of these images. This might help you in a later stage to find the actual images. The next step is to explore the meaning of those images that came up in your mind. “Why this image? What is it conveying to you? Is the meaning explicit or implicit? Does it have more than one meaning? If so, can you describe the multiple meanings?” Try to use and combine images which will create additional layers of meaning. Two common techniques for a storyteller to convey their meaning through the use of implicit imagery are visual metaphor and juxtaposition.

SOUND

Sound is one of the best ways to convey the emotional tone of the story; the way the voice-over is performed, the words that are spoken, and the ambient sound and music that work with the narrative. A recorded-voice as the only sound track can be very powerful at conveying tone and meaning.  When considering the use of sounds (ambient sounds or music) beyond the voice-over, it will help asking yourself “Would the story and the scenes within it be enhanced by the use of additional layers of sound?” If you think this is the case, start with adding just a bit of additional layers of sound. Listen to the result, and ask yourself the same question again. And so on. Be aware when using lyric music. As with images, it might be giving too much of the same information. Try to use music to create an additional meaning of layer that adds depth to your story.

THE SERVING 

Last but not least … How are you going to ‘serve’ your story, and to whom? Think about this in the construction proces. It may have an influence on the result. Considering your audience and the means of presenting your story may alter your final edit. Does the audience know you or details about your story, or would it be necessary to provide some additional information? And should this information be included in the ‘script’ or outside, for instance by means of a text screen at the beginning or end of the story? Or, if you don’t use visuals but have chosen to share your story in a podcast, will an introduction help to appropriately frame your story?

Bridging the digital and narrative worlds: Beyond just being ‘digital’

Of course, there is much more to tell about the process of creating digital stories. And in the Higres project we will do exactly that. In this project we aim at helping people use digital stories to draw attention to, and share information about, intangible cultural heritage that is close to their hearts and/or the subject of their work. After having collected examples of good practices we are now in the process of setting up a training module tailored to this target group. Our aim, at the end of the project, is to provide that information that an individual or institution can use if they want to create their own digital story about the intangible cultural heritage they want to generate interest in among a wide audience.

And to return to Jotham’s question, whether or not a youtube film or a commercial clip in which personal experiences with a new liquid soap can be counted as digital storytelling I’d like to finish my reaction by adding: … both are digital, without doubt. But do they also tick the narrative boxes?

Written by Hester Tammes from the Storytelling Centre