Last week I went online to research a new battery for my car. In the past, I had always gone to an auto store, bought the least expensive battery and borrowed their tools while I stood in the summer heat and installed it. NOT IN THIS SUMMER'S HEAT! This tiime I went to the AAA website, ordered a battery online and scheduled to have a service van come to my home and install it. I was sent a digital text message confirming the appointment that even had a link to a live, REAL-TIME Google map of where the driver was, and how long it would be before his arrival - updated each minute! Ah, the digital world!
We can't avoid it. We live in the digital age: computers; cell phones; Wi-Fi; mobile hot-spots; 24-7 live-feed web cameras; mobile phone apps, etc. Many of us welcome oral storytelling as a "break" from the cacophony of the digital world; a return to the "good old days" of sitting around the general store, the kitchen table or the campfire and sharing stories in their seemingly "simple and gentler" format.
And yet, it can be detrimental for the "old-school, traditional" storyteller to discount or completely disregard the digital world.
Case in point: ignoring the fact that one may need "amplification", a sound system so that they can be heard by the entire audience, will certainly harm their program and could possibly damage their reputation. To guard against this, I always inquire about a sound system, but also always bring along my own microphone and battery operated speaker.
But let's go beyond that. How can storytellers utilize more of the digital world to augment their storytelling? Some time ago, Sean Buvala told a mesmerizing story while using a small "finger piano" hooked up to a speaker. The simple repetition of the notes he played, amplified by the sound system added another dimension to the story. Although Power Points have largely fallen by the wayside, the use of projected graphics and images is used by many tellers to take the audience on far-flung journeys and enhance the entire storytelling process. Sometimes "voice-overs" or audio recordings from the past can help "immerse" the audience in the moment of the story.
Case in point: The tragedy of the Hindenburg Dirigible. There is little that can recreate the emotional tension and helplessness of the moment, as the actual sound of the radio announcer's passionate cries and cracking voice utering that now-famous phrase, "Oh, the humanity!"
I know what some of you are thinking, "I don't have the knowledge or ability to use that kind technology." It's okay, you don't have to. There are a number of tellers or others that could help you when needed.
But here's the important point - don't discount the value or possibilities of what might be of use in this technology saturated world to the traditional oral storyteller. Take some time to search out some "digital storytelling". (See Tidbits article Below.)
Be open to the creativity in the form. What can you learn from these stories? Be open to your own creativity in both recreating digital concepts - or turning digital concepts into analog telling.
You may find some ideas that could enhance your stories, or even spark some new ones. You may discover something about the structure of a story that will inspire you to play with the current structure of a story you have. You might see (or hear) something in a digital story that will challenge you to translate it into a (analog) sound, or gesture in your own story that makes it more present for the audience.
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Monday - July 11th
