Digital Storytelling and Reel Works

This is the link to my file from Google Drive.  Click here.



The Reel Works video I chose as my favorite was:

Hush by Vlada Pimenova

1.What do you like about the digital story?

• I like how creatively produced this video was!  It wasn't just interviews, as some of the other videos I watched.  It told her story through something more like a video-montage-diary.

2.What did you learn from the digital story?

• From this particular digital story, I learned about a young girls struggle with feminine identity, perfectionism, depression, maybe OCD.  While I'm not 100% sure what her mental issue was, I think that may have been the point.  Even though the problems may be different, they deal with a lot of the same symptoms.  

3.What surprised you about the digital story?

• I was really surprised by the creativity of the youth on Reel Works.  I am also surprised how she was able to communicate the reality of her situation and tell another side of the story of the mental disorder problems to make them more relatable for the rest of the world.  It was brave of her to go out and put herself out there as a poster child for the issue, and inspiring that she was able to reach such a huge outside audience.

4.How did the digital story provide an example of how digital storytelling can build self esteem, help young people voice an opposition to social problems, or create an alternative to stereotypes of adolescents typically portrayed in mainstream media?

•  The digital story raises awareness and tells a more personal version of the one-sided story of mental illness. More people can experience her story and she is able to challenge/counter the opposing one-sided corporate-sponsored story. I chose this as my favorite because her reality came across so powerfully that it gives the issue back to the people's perspective and allows them more room now to express themselves in their own voice.

5. Do (or how do) these digital stories provide evidence of that these young people are engaged in analysis of their own culture?

• All of the stories I watched, it is clear how the opportunity for young people to express themselves to a global audience is enhancing their voice, making them rethink what they have been told they have to be, feel, think, do.  It gives people the opportunity to escape stereotypical exploitations that have been communicated in the media, and a change to honor and connect with their own cultures and subcultures.

6. Do (or how do) these digital stories support a healthy respect for multiculturalism and diversity?

• Students now have a way to honor and connect with their own cultures and subcultures.  They get to tell their own stories, and instead of having only the stories of those with power/money, the world has the opportunity to become more educated about each culture.  Being able to describe to other people how and why your culture works and differs from others leads to a more complete story, a more respectable story in most cases, and a more relatable/human story than what we see portrayed in the media.  I really would like to call out certain religious texts on this post as one example of a power-controlled source portraying other cultures in a negative way to boost their own power.  When these global digital stories were available and accessible for all people, I would like to believe we will have a gradual decline in hate-crime and war and an increase in human relations.