Did you know that about 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute? Get ready to create digital stories with this activity. With digital storytelling you can create a photo slideshow of any photos and bring them to life with powerful narration; then you can add special effects, soundtracks, titles and captions to create an original digital story.

Read

What storytelling is all about?

• 10 Tips for Crafting a Good Digital Story
• Five Card Flickr (practice and take ideas from this super easy way of making stories out of photos)

Discover

Need some inspiration?

• Ken Burns: On Story (video)
• Jim Jorstad: Digital Storytelling – changing people, perceptions, and lives (video)
• Center for Digital Storytelling (video playlists)

Create

Tools

• Microphone
• Digital camera, or lots of pictures
• Play Free Music from Freeplay Music; Free Music Archive
• Movie Software
  • Windows Movie Maker 2 (free for Windows), or
  • iMovie (free for Mac), or
  • WeVideo (free web application, no downloading required)

Tutorials

• Windows Movie Maker 2
  • Mighty Coach…online video training
  • Getting Started with Movie Maker
  • Free Movie Maker 2 Tutorials
• iMovie
  • iMovie: Create a Photomontage
  • Apple Support Page for iMovie
• WeVideo
  • WeVideo Tutorial

Note: If technology is not available or it’s simply not your thing, you can still create a story. Draw and create a storyboard on paper and record yourself “telling the story” using a regular video camera or the camera in you phone. That can still be a digital product to be proud of!

Step-by-step

1. Check the computer you will use to determine which digital story software you have.
2. Decide on the story you want to tell.
3. Locate all of your photos in one folder. You may take photos with a digital camera, with your phone, or use photos from the Internet (be sure to cite them in your references). Be sure that they are all on your topic and that they can “tell a story”.
4. Write your story script.
5. Create a storyboard.
6. Edit your photos as needed.
7. Create a title screen and a credits screen. Check with a librarian on the best way to do your citations!
8. Add titles to your photos.
9. Use customized motion on photos.
10. Add transitions between photos.
11. Narrate all photos to “tell” your story.
12. Add music to your story.
13. Edit your digital story.
14. Save your project as an .mp4 file. Convert it to mp4 at ZAMZAR.
15. Write a reflection in your journal.

Need an advanced approach?

• If you have previous image-editing experience try GIMP, it’s free and powerful
• Try the new free Adobe Voice app
• Add screen capture using Jing, get it for free
• Check this cool interactive digital story Welcome to Pine Point
• Enroll on a free Digital Storytelling open course
• Learn how to do Stopmotion and Claymation movies

ACHIEVE

Don't forget to talk to your librarian about all the reading, discovering and creating you're doing this summer to earn your Achieve Badge!

Rahm’s Readers is made possible by The James & Madeleine McMullan Foundation, Cubs Care, Comcast, Dr. Scholl Foundation, CPL Foundation Junior Board, Helen M. Harrison Foundation, Macys, Peoples Gas, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, ComEd, R.R. Donnelley, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation, Verizon and RPM Advertising through the Chicago Public Library Foundation.