READING REFLECTION 1:There is a story to be told...What is a story, what is a digital story, what is story telling, what is digital storytelling?
I learned many things about stories from this article, a story is a way of communicating or teaching about an event that contains a beginning, middle and end, normally containing characters and a plot. A digital story is a story that is not told in person but rather through a digital medium. Sometimes digital storys are conveyed through music, dance, books, script, poetry or movies and are known as art. Story telling is the art of conveying the story through your communication skills. You can tell a story with your voice which should use a non monotonic fashion, the teller should grab the attention of the listeners by using proper eye contact to really interact with the audience. Digital storytelling has to do with conveying a story to the audience through a medium such as an online article, audio/ video recording. A good story for me usually has a sense of truth to it or believable plot. I love listening to people tell stories that can hold my attention with their passionate attitude to convey a certain event that is a known story or personal experience. I believe that I myself, am a great storyteller, I may not be a great speaker, but the intrest I demand from my audience goes a long way and makes my stories interesting and desirable.
READING REFLECTION 2: What is digital storytelling... Nextexit reflection...
In this short reading, we learn that not only computers are the only tool to convey a digital story but also other tools can be used to share experiences like a pen, movable type, photography, film and video that allow us to regurgitate our stories and share them with many people. I find the ways that Coca-Cola separates themselves from others by digital storytelling very interesting and a useful tool. Also from a marketing standpoint creating communities through digital storytelling is a great medium and seems very effective.
I found the beginning of the cook book to be very interesting with the break down of how people go about telling a story. The reason for me feeling as though this is very interesting is because everyone I have ever met always seems to like my stories or thinks that I tell them in a rather amusing fashion. The first few chapters had me thinking, although it seems as though all stories are well thought out and to the point when we tell a story it is actually in fact important to make a story more of an open ended journey. Reacting to your audience is something that I find really intriguing. Most of the time I think a story has a point, so just try to get to that point. But, more times then not, the listener will find a bump in your story that they find amusing and would like to hear more about. Ad libbing these "bumps" in the story and giving the audience what they want to hear is something that I feel is key to a great storyteller and a well put together story. The next topic of discussion within the cookbook that really grabbed me was the "Dramatic Question," this really interested me and the way I like to hear stories. The author goes on to explain that just bringing up a point doesn't always grab the attention of the reader or audience. But providing a dramatic question to them, like Shakespear does in a number of his stories, leaves the audience on the edge sometimes asking why or pondering a rhyme or reason to the question provided. This reading also mentions the framework or storytelling is knowing what medium to use in which situation which I learned is the basics to storytelling. I find this interesting because if it is the "fundamentals" of being a storyteller (keeping up with proper media) then why do experienced storytellers mostly lose their sharp sense of media. Also why is this generation of students so well at using music in a story? I found that fact rather interesting. This was very informative so far and an interesting read that I gained a substantial amount of knowledge about storytelling from only reading the first few chapters.
READING REFLECTION 4: COOKBOOK ch. 4,5 reflection
Chapters four and five of the Storytelling cookbook I found to be an interesting and educational read, pertaining to the layout of planning and implementing a story. In the opening, the author goes into the fact of timing is everything when it comes to layout and planning a story. A few seconds too long and the reader loses intrest and bordom sets in, too short the reader misses vital information for the story. This seems like a little aspect but is actually very crucial in storytelling. Another interesting fact was that a chance to see the pictures within the story are vital before the voice thread comes through. This gives a chance for the audience to let the pictures sink in, so they can formulate ideas of their own before the tellers interpretation. Chapter five looks more into the implementing and media for creating the sed story. Many different media have been already presented to us in class in prior weeks and I have found them to be very useful, user-friendly and technologically sound. Imovie and Voicethread are just two examples of the software that we have been exposed to. I find this way of telling a story very helpful, easy and practical with todays technology.
Why did I chose this video? Well this quite possibly could be the most influential/inspiring video that I have ever seen that I can relate to. I love the fact that this story shows not to conform to trendiness or go along with the crowd. It shows a story where being yourself will pay off, and to do the things you love not for fame or money but because you love it. It is pretty much opposite of the thinking that is of most people today and I feel this video can be learned from. Also, I wish that more people can live their lives much more laid back, with the flow like this person, and not abandon their dreams at the drop of a hat because of social pressure to get a "real job" or pay bills, forget that way of thinking. Do what you love, until you cant anymore, and good things will come.
READING REFLECTION OHLER: This weeks reading was important to familiarize ourselves with a rubric style format of grading our digital story project coming up in the near future. There are many different categories that one could add into his or her rubric in order to form a grading system for the grading of this digital story. Using categories such as how well the story was; written, fulfilled the criteria at hand, included well thought out planning, voice/creativity/and originality. All these traits should be looked at when organizing a grading rubric for an individual project such as this. Also another good way to check over your story as a storyteller is using a peer review with fellow student.
Cool 2.0 tools REFLECTION: Basically, using the cool tool of Google Earth to tell a story, a student or individual can use Google to tell a story using a worldwide map instead of being confined to just writing, which can lose the interest of the audience. How a student can use a map to write a story.
They can create a scavenger hunt uses the whole world
They can use an image of a place anywhere on Earth as a story starter
They can map the settings of a book they are reading
They can write a collective "Where have you been" subject
They can follow a biography of an important character in history see events that influenced or were influenced by him/her
They can tell the story of a learning situation that took place in your classroom in a school year
Reaction to INDIVIDUAL Project:
Mike Ewanichak
Reaction to Individual Project
Why hire me
March 9, 2013
First and foremost I would like to say that I had more fun with this individual project then I have ever had with any other school activity. That being said, this project brought me out of my comfort zone. You might ask, how is being uncomfortable fun? Because I was able to learn things about myself that I did not know I was capable of, and also broke me out of my shell a little more with having to present a video of myself to my peers.
This project truly was inspiring to me and honestly I am very lucky to be a part of this class. Going into this project I was very unsure of what to use as the topic or main idea of my video. Ideas ran through my head although I felt as though my fellow students have a better grasp on their resume and also their career path. My path, still very unclear as to where it leads me, I though that I would struggle greatly while trying to expand on my resume to make a video. That being said, within my video, I used this "weakness" of not knowing what topic or path to take as an advantage. I show the audience that yes, it is necessary to make money to live life, but some might not have an idea of the means in which ones income is made. Thats where I am, I know I want to be successful, I have dreams and goals that stretch worldwide. The problem lies in commitment, I not only feel as though there is no need to commit to a career path at my young age of twenty-three, but also I think it is unnecessary and too many of my acquaintances in the past have made wrong moves by focusing their vision of where they want to be too acutely. I think that in life in general, if your scope of vision isn't wide enough to let in new ideas, than you might miss very crucial opportunities. In the video that I created I try to make light of the fact that no, I do not no exactly what I want to do in life, but with a few of my personality traits I believe that I can accomplish every goal I set. I think its funny that when I was asked to create this short story about things that make you an "attractive" person or employee, I immediately looked to make a fool out of myself. That way of thinking Im sure is much different than that of many others but I think thats what makes me a special person. I like to do things different, that is one of the ideas that I wanted to come across with my short story. Many people feel as though they have a degree, they do community service, and they know whats in their textbooks so they are ready for life. I believe this way of thinking is opposite of what school should do for a student. Being sociable, responsible and also experienced is some things that college students miss out on in one way or another when attending college. I believe the degree and "book smarts" is an important factor, but being able to communicate with others, and also having real life knowledge is something that can go unmatched. I was trying to show these feelings in my short story and I believe thats why it may have went slightly over the allotted time frame.
If I could do this video again I would make it shorter, due to the fact that mine spanned almost five and a half minutes. Not only shorter, I would plan more clearly my approach. Although the topic of planning, scripting and using storyboards was stressed by our instructor, I strayed away from my main goal of the movie in the early stages of the development process.
Lastly, this truly was a life changing experience and a memorable project. Not only am I more fluent with video making, I have made three more short movies on iMovie and have my own youtube channel, I am up to eighty views on one of my videos! I want to stress the fact that being allowed to show creativity in this project helped me a ton. I love when an instructor trusts their students enough to leave the fate of the project to the students. My instructor let us interpret the topic, made us critically think about what it was that we wanted out of this short story, and taught us the necessary steps to making it happen. Overall this was an A+ experience for me as a student and hopefully my grade comes out similar to that of my encounter.
TOPIC IDEA: March 20, 2013
My ideas for the group project topic were to include something that I have a good amount of knowledge about. My idea was that we should make a comprehensive video of what I like to call "Balling on a Budget" or in other words, looking good but spending less. I think this is a funny yet informational idea on how to look good as a college student in different environments without sacrificing too much money. My ideas include finding a number of ways to save cash and still impress your peers. Balling on a Budget is more of a slang way of saying it, with the term "ballin" meaning impressing, or showing off, usually your financial position. Another fall back idea we had was how to tie a tie, and also how to bake a lasagna in case our first video "Balling on a Budget" doesn't work out.
READING REFLECTION 1:There is a story to be told...What is a story, what is a digital story, what is story telling, what is digital storytelling?
I learned many things about stories from this article, a story is a way of communicating or teaching about an event that contains a beginning, middle and end, normally containing characters and a plot. A digital story is a story that is not told in person but rather through a digital medium. Sometimes digital storys are conveyed through music, dance, books, script, poetry or movies and are known as art. Story telling is the art of conveying the story through your communication skills. You can tell a story with your voice which should use a non monotonic fashion, the teller should grab the attention of the listeners by using proper eye contact to really interact with the audience. Digital storytelling has to do with conveying a story to the audience through a medium such as an online article, audio/ video recording. A good story for me usually has a sense of truth to it or believable plot. I love listening to people tell stories that can hold my attention with their passionate attitude to convey a certain event that is a known story or personal experience. I believe that I myself, am a great storyteller, I may not be a great speaker, but the intrest I demand from my audience goes a long way and makes my stories interesting and desirable.
READING REFLECTION 2: What is digital storytelling... Nextexit reflection...
In this short reading, we learn that not only computers are the only tool to convey a digital story but also other tools can be used to share experiences like a pen, movable type, photography, film and video that allow us to regurgitate our stories and share them with many people. I find the ways that Coca-Cola separates themselves from others by digital storytelling very interesting and a useful tool. Also from a marketing standpoint creating communities through digital storytelling is a great medium and seems very effective.
READING REFLECTION 3: COOKBOOK ch. 1,2,3 reflection
I found the beginning of the cook book to be very interesting with the break down of how people go about telling a story. The reason for me feeling as though this is very interesting is because everyone I have ever met always seems to like my stories or thinks that I tell them in a rather amusing fashion. The first few chapters had me thinking, although it seems as though all stories are well thought out and to the point when we tell a story it is actually in fact important to make a story more of an open ended journey. Reacting to your audience is something that I find really intriguing. Most of the time I think a story has a point, so just try to get to that point. But, more times then not, the listener will find a bump in your story that they find amusing and would like to hear more about. Ad libbing these "bumps" in the story and giving the audience what they want to hear is something that I feel is key to a great storyteller and a well put together story. The next topic of discussion within the cookbook that really grabbed me was the "Dramatic Question," this really interested me and the way I like to hear stories. The author goes on to explain that just bringing up a point doesn't always grab the attention of the reader or audience. But providing a dramatic question to them, like Shakespear does in a number of his stories, leaves the audience on the edge sometimes asking why or pondering a rhyme or reason to the question provided. This reading also mentions the framework or storytelling is knowing what medium to use in which situation which I learned is the basics to storytelling. I find this interesting because if it is the "fundamentals" of being a storyteller (keeping up with proper media) then why do experienced storytellers mostly lose their sharp sense of media. Also why is this generation of students so well at using music in a story? I found that fact rather interesting. This was very informative so far and an interesting read that I gained a substantial amount of knowledge about storytelling from only reading the first few chapters.
READING REFLECTION 4: COOKBOOK ch. 4,5 reflection
Chapters four and five of the Storytelling cookbook I found to be an interesting and educational read, pertaining to the layout of planning and implementing a story. In the opening, the author goes into the fact of timing is everything when it comes to layout and planning a story. A few seconds too long and the reader loses intrest and bordom sets in, too short the reader misses vital information for the story. This seems like a little aspect but is actually very crucial in storytelling. Another interesting fact was that a chance to see the pictures within the story are vital before the voice thread comes through. This gives a chance for the audience to let the pictures sink in, so they can formulate ideas of their own before the tellers interpretation. Chapter five looks more into the implementing and media for creating the sed story. Many different media have been already presented to us in class in prior weeks and I have found them to be very useful, user-friendly and technologically sound. Imovie and Voicethread are just two examples of the software that we have been exposed to. I find this way of telling a story very helpful, easy and practical with todays technology.
SHORT STORY VIDEO:
http://youtu.be/65t8hYcRzSA
Why did I chose this video? Well this quite possibly could be the most influential/inspiring video that I have ever seen that I can relate to. I love the fact that this story shows not to conform to trendiness or go along with the crowd. It shows a story where being yourself will pay off, and to do the things you love not for fame or money but because you love it. It is pretty much opposite of the thinking that is of most people today and I feel this video can be learned from. Also, I wish that more people can live their lives much more laid back, with the flow like this person, and not abandon their dreams at the drop of a hat because of social pressure to get a "real job" or pay bills, forget that way of thinking. Do what you love, until you cant anymore, and good things will come.
READING REFLECTION OHLER: This weeks reading was important to familiarize ourselves with a rubric style format of grading our digital story project coming up in the near future. There are many different categories that one could add into his or her rubric in order to form a grading system for the grading of this digital story. Using categories such as how well the story was; written, fulfilled the criteria at hand, included well thought out planning, voice/creativity/and originality. All these traits should be looked at when organizing a grading rubric for an individual project such as this. Also another good way to check over your story as a storyteller is using a peer review with fellow student.
Cool 2.0 tools REFLECTION:
Basically, using the cool tool of Google Earth to tell a story, a student or individual can use Google to tell a story using a worldwide map instead of being confined to just writing, which can lose the interest of the audience.
How a student can use a map to write a story.
Reaction to INDIVIDUAL Project:
Mike Ewanichak
Reaction to Individual Project
Why hire me
March 9, 2013
First and foremost I would like to say that I had more fun with this individual project then I have ever had with any other school activity. That being said, this project brought me out of my comfort zone. You might ask, how is being uncomfortable fun? Because I was able to learn things about myself that I did not know I was capable of, and also broke me out of my shell a little more with having to present a video of myself to my peers.
This project truly was inspiring to me and honestly I am very lucky to be a part of this class. Going into this project I was very unsure of what to use as the topic or main idea of my video. Ideas ran through my head although I felt as though my fellow students have a better grasp on their resume and also their career path. My path, still very unclear as to where it leads me, I though that I would struggle greatly while trying to expand on my resume to make a video. That being said, within my video, I used this "weakness" of not knowing what topic or path to take as an advantage. I show the audience that yes, it is necessary to make money to live life, but some might not have an idea of the means in which ones income is made. Thats where I am, I know I want to be successful, I have dreams and goals that stretch worldwide. The problem lies in commitment, I not only feel as though there is no need to commit to a career path at my young age of twenty-three, but also I think it is unnecessary and too many of my acquaintances in the past have made wrong moves by focusing their vision of where they want to be too acutely. I think that in life in general, if your scope of vision isn't wide enough to let in new ideas, than you might miss very crucial opportunities. In the video that I created I try to make light of the fact that no, I do not no exactly what I want to do in life, but with a few of my personality traits I believe that I can accomplish every goal I set. I think its funny that when I was asked to create this short story about things that make you an "attractive" person or employee, I immediately looked to make a fool out of myself. That way of thinking Im sure is much different than that of many others but I think thats what makes me a special person. I like to do things different, that is one of the ideas that I wanted to come across with my short story. Many people feel as though they have a degree, they do community service, and they know whats in their textbooks so they are ready for life. I believe this way of thinking is opposite of what school should do for a student. Being sociable, responsible and also experienced is some things that college students miss out on in one way or another when attending college. I believe the degree and "book smarts" is an important factor, but being able to communicate with others, and also having real life knowledge is something that can go unmatched. I was trying to show these feelings in my short story and I believe thats why it may have went slightly over the allotted time frame.
If I could do this video again I would make it shorter, due to the fact that mine spanned almost five and a half minutes. Not only shorter, I would plan more clearly my approach. Although the topic of planning, scripting and using storyboards was stressed by our instructor, I strayed away from my main goal of the movie in the early stages of the development process.
Lastly, this truly was a life changing experience and a memorable project. Not only am I more fluent with video making, I have made three more short movies on iMovie and have my own youtube channel, I am up to eighty views on one of my videos! I want to stress the fact that being allowed to show creativity in this project helped me a ton. I love when an instructor trusts their students enough to leave the fate of the project to the students. My instructor let us interpret the topic, made us critically think about what it was that we wanted out of this short story, and taught us the necessary steps to making it happen. Overall this was an A+ experience for me as a student and hopefully my grade comes out similar to that of my encounter.
TOPIC IDEA: March 20, 2013
My ideas for the group project topic were to include something that I have a good amount of knowledge about. My idea was that we should make a comprehensive video of what I like to call "Balling on a Budget" or in other words, looking good but spending less. I think this is a funny yet informational idea on how to look good as a college student in different environments without sacrificing too much money. My ideas include finding a number of ways to save cash and still impress your peers. Balling on a Budget is more of a slang way of saying it, with the term "ballin" meaning impressing, or showing off, usually your financial position. Another fall back idea we had was how to tie a tie, and also how to bake a lasagna in case our first video "Balling on a Budget" doesn't work out.