Changing Our Name?

I'm toying with the idea of changing our name from "The Digital Storytelling Project" to "Intermedia Digital Arts Project". I feel that our project is more than about simply doing "digital stories" (e.g., as espoused by The Center for Digital Storytelling in Berkeley). I see our project as involving a wide variety of approaches to storytelling employing a variety of storytelling techniques ranging from the simple to complex and artistic. I want to run this by our team, though.  

May 27th Pre- Screening at Citywide Community Focus Center

(notice the white bedsheet we used for the "screen." I got it from Target for $14.00)

Panelists during Q/A session after the screening (above)

The Pre-Screening was a huge success. 3 out of 6 participant-consumers showed up for the screening. All but one of our crew members showed up. Despite some initial sound issues early on, the screening went smoothly, and the reception was positive. The staff/audience gave us a standing ovation afterwards. 

Thanks to Alex Alvarenga for the still pics of the event. 

DVD for PRE-SCREENING COMPLETED!

I have just finished burning the DVD for the upcoming Pre-Screening. I am happy to report that all 6 shorts plus the mini documentary look VERY GOOD, and I think we have something very special going on here. I've made some minor revisions to the videos that have been assembled such as adding some musical scores (original music by our own Cheth Rowe) and adding credits. The total run time is 20 minutes. So we are now 3 days away from our pre-screening (our test screening) which will take place this coming Wednesday May 27 from 2:00pm-4:00pm at Citywide Community Focus Center where I work. This event is co-hosted by our Cultural Competency Work Committee and is being doubled as a Cultural In-Service workshop. The first hour is to be devoted to the screening with Q/A following. The second hour will consist of small group discussions where our clinical staff will discuss the films as well as diversity issues in general. This portion is handled by the cultural competency work committee.

2nd All Crew Meeting

Had our 2nd Meeting on Last Saturday. 

(1)  In our meeting we shared ideas about where we are headed, where we’d like to go, and we relished the idea that our future is open-ended. At this point, more questions than answers. But the notion that our digital storytelling project can evolve into a truly collaborative “intermedia arts project” (blending film, art, psychiatry, social work) was particularly exciting to me. 

 (2)  Thanks to Cheth for a copy of his music CD with some really interesting improvisational pieces. It was particularly refreshing for me to listen to Cheth’s feedback about our videos/slideshows as he reminded me how broad a concept we are dealing with when it comes to the musicality that is already inherent in our videos/slideshows. Elements such as language, editing, dialogue, etc. all possess “musical” qualities already, so most of our pieces may not necessarily need additional “music.”

(3)  Thanks to Scott for the wonderful slideshows and all the hard work that was put into it—meeting our clients twice a week is no easy task (especially commuting from the East Bay). Scott is also putting together some conference papers which will deal with our current project. Scott has been our resident scholar and theoretician. 

(4)  Sekyu—just checked his blog. He arrived safely in Korea and is enjoying his family. Per our conversation during yesterday’s meeting, I will insert the text into the slideshow to highlight the poem Debbie is reading. 

(5)  Last but not least, Vince stuck around after our Saturday meeting to help me fine tune one of my videos. He is such a technical whiz and a great Final Cut tutor! Thanks to Vince, again, for letting us use the LCD projector. Hopefully Vince will be able to come to our clinic this week to check out our sound system.  

(6)  Now that I have all the pieces assembled into my final cut pro, I am ready to burn them into the DVD. I just need to finish the documentary piece which will be very short. So here is the order of the lineup: (a) Eddie’s story, (b) Debbie’s poem, (c) Mike’s tunnel story, (d) The Bird’s Nest, (e) Cancer treatment, (f) and finally the documentary at the end. Probably 15-17 minutes long!

Our First All-Crew Meeting

So now we are wrapping with the "production phase" of our projects as we've gathered most of the footages needed. We held our first all-crew meeting yesterday inviting our postproduction crew, Cheth and Vince, to join us. They watched some of the footages and provided some helpful input. Cheth will be involved in creating original music/soundtrack while Vince will assist with technical and editorial assistance.

At this point, it appears to me that three distinct styles of digital storytelling are emerging. First, we have Scott's group-centered approach that is open-ended and consumer-artist oriented. Then we have the black/white photo-based slideshow of Sekyu. And finally, my approach is more documentary/video style. There is a lot of overlap among us, of course. While each of us are responsible for our own projects, we continue to learn from each other and to collaborate.  Soon, Cheth and Vince (our postproduction team) will play more prominent roles. Incidentally, I invited Chris Mergemekes to join us as a second musician. He recently moved to New York but is eager to part of our crew.

Nona and Robert Shockney

During the last two days, I filmed "Mona" and "Robert." I first noticed Mona through her short, figure drawings that were posted on the wall at our clinic. Sekyu and I spent an hour or so photographing and videotaping her drawing various figures. The drawings were simple line-drawings and resembled caricatures.

Today I went to "Robert's" SRO to videotape an interview. He talked about his photographs which documented the lifestyle of those living in the Tenderloin, particularly in relation to their health, eating habits, etc. After that, he turned on his karyoke machine and sang a beautiful song by the Beetles called "Blackbird." This particular piece will be a hit!

Weekly Summary/Update

Sekyu and I met with two of our clients last week (Debbie and Rene) to complete our video/photography shoots. We documented Rene painting two different styles (watercolor and chalk) from start to finish.     

We also visited Debbie's Coop to finish our second round of interviews. She talked about her inspirations behind her poems. Had a chance to see Sekyu's photographs afterwards. They were amazing. Sekyu will be in charge of putting together Debbie's story.

Scott Wallin met with a group of 3-4 clients last Thursday and Saturday. After reviewing the photos taken by the clients and providing feedback, Scott had them do a creative writing exercise which turned out to be very revealing and may serve as basis for their stories. Scott is doing a fabulous job with the clients. 

Finally, last Thursday, I went to Mt. Zion hospital to videotape Michael's radiation treatment. The hospital staff let us into the radiation room at Michael's inssistence. He told the staff how much he wanted to be videotaped. I had to leave during the actual radiation but was able to take away some good B-rolls.