Digital Storytelling

Nature of human beings + new technology = new TV

This is Daniel Meadow's philosophy, which he explained during his lecture on Digital storytelling. It is in our nature to tell stories. It is almost as if we popped into this world with the story structure already embedded in our head. When this need for story telling is combined with digital media, the result is interesting television.

This is exactly the idea behind the BBC's 'Capture Wales' project. They take people's real-life experiences and transform them into a digital story, using their own photos, words and voice. Even if technology sends you into a cold sweat, this is something you can do! From childhood teddybears to a girlfriend's shoe obsession, everyone is capturing a memory, a little piece of history. People have a voice, and their voice is being heard.

With all this fresh in my mind I got inspired to do a little bit of digital storytelling myself. At my annual family get together I became a sort of digital spy. Armed with a dictaphone hidden up my sleeve (I didn't want to cause shyness among my subjects) I proceeded to record my Granny and her sister talking about their somewhat hectic childhood growing up in an old farmhouse in Northern Ireland.

All that remains now is to dig around in the loft to find a photo of the farmhouse, put their voices over the top, and hey presto! my very own digital story is born.