Elements of a Digitial Story

Element #1: Know your Audience
I think the audience for both video's was the students & possibly parents - to inform them of something & to reinforce the learning by making a video of the results and process.  In the second example, I like the use of text because, for me, I understand things better if I read them rather than if it was told to me. I would have enjoyed hearing more student voices, however, and probably would have added that if I was doing it - like the first example did.

For my story, I plan to use first person narrative. I'd like my audience to be my fellow students, maybe my family (particularly my children).

Element #2: Dramatic Question

Although the first example video 's ending was very cute (with the videomakers waving & saying their name into the camera), I didn't think it did a great job answering the dramatic question "are we making Guam Ugly." I thought it could be better if it showed more places with trash around it (what they showed look just like they went to one place - although this could be wrong).

I love the idea of the surprising ending that makes sense within context of my story. I'm thinking of how I could incorporate that into my story. I'm expecting my dramatic question to be something around culture identity..... I was 20 years old before I realized what culture was.

Element #3: Emotional content
The first example uses depression and feeling of loneliness as its emotional content. The second example uses a mother's wish to learn about her culture in order to pass it on to her children... the universal feeling of inter-generational connection is the emotional content that hooks the viewer. The third example asks "what is a stranger" and it is resolved in a surprising way - strangers look like regular people  not the scary monsters the children drew pictures of... they can even look like the teacher.

Element #4: The gift of your voice
Wow - love the first example. The expression the woman had on her face when she talked about licking salt was wonderful. I love the "mountain" people and the "ocean" people content - something wonderful about hearing that from her voice.
Example two included the children reading their story & singing the background music which really made it feel like a child-directed story vs. if an adult would have read it. The written word also gave the feeling of the video being more like a story-book.... and interesting choice.

Element #5: The soundtrack
I can see using old-time, traditional, music as a soundtrack to my digital story....

Element #6: Economy
What a great idea - to create story's from pictures and record them into movies - love it. For the most part, the images stayed on the screen just long enough and followed the story nicely.

Element #7: Pacing
The basketball team (and the teachers) made me laugh! I would have liked some of the photos towards the end paced faster.... but my ultimate criticism is that - I want to see more!!!