Digital storytelling is an excellent tool to use with people in situations of marginalization, because allows them to express themselves in the first person in a space of trust. It also makes it possible to recognize the expression of these people by encouraging the sharing of autobiographical productions among participants and other members of society interested in the real-life situations raised in these videos.
Texte écrit par Karoline Truchon
A sharing circle must bring together the participants and a facilitator for the discussion. During this sharing circle, each participant presents their first thoughts on their history in a sharing circle made up of the other participants of the workshop and the facilitator. Each person in the sharing circle comments every other person’s stories, highlighting both what they think is interesting and what could be improved.
Each participant writes a script of their story, incorporating or not the suggestions offered during the sharing circle (see the example of an easy-to-use scripting tool).
Each of the participants records their story with their own voice. Recordings can be made alone, or with one or more other persons. Depending on the budget, you can use a Zoom-type device or a cell phone in a quiet room.
Each participant produces and/or selects from their personal collection the photos, drawings or other collages to illustrate their story. Each participant produces the background sounds and selects the music clips for their story.
Each participant’s story is assembled using video-editing software by the participant themselves or by a third-party who has editing expertise. Several free and easy-to-use editing software programs are available for Mac (iMovie), PC (Avidemux, OpenShot and HitFilm Express) and for cell phones (Magisto), among others.
All participants’ stories are shown as a group in a festive setting. This sharing is often emotional and allows participants to continue to build relationships between themselves, the facilitator and/or people who have an influence on the lives of participants such as social workers, directors, politicians, journalists and others in sensitive and strategic positions in society.
The stories of the participants are shared within different personal, collective, and academic spaces.
The pioneering organization for digital storytelling is the Story Center in Berkeley: most of the people trained in this participatory method use an adaptation of the model developed by the Story Center, formerly called The Center for Digital Storytelling
