Week 11: 4/5 My Multimodality DS Reflection

What are the 3 intentional uses of multimodality in your DS and why you chose them?

1. Imagery: I created each graphic slide in order to achieve a cohesive look throughout the piece. My goal was to put together a video that was simple and straightforward. The piece uses a lot of white space around the graphics. This helps to keep the video simple and uncluttered. When artwork does not match, appears busy, or shares too many styles, it becomes distracting and is more difficult to view. For interest and variation, I threw in a few watercolor images. These images also helped the flow from slide to slide in parts of the video.

2. Filters & Sound Effects: I wanted to add a sense of drama to the three book scenes I included in my digital story from Flora and Ulysses. I did this for two reasons. First, I wanted my audience to know we were inside the book in this portion of the digital story. By adding the aged movie filter, each of these scenes stood out from the rest of the video. Second, these three events within the story have significant feeling and emotion associated with them as they relate to the plot components, (rising action, climax, resolution and solution). As the storyteller, it was my duty to represent each of the scenes as the author had intended them to be read. It was important that I communicate each of these scenes using the appropriate tone. Adding well chosen sound effects helped me achieve this too. I’m hoping it also kept my audience engaged too.

3. Music: I took my time and carefully chose music to accompany my cover slides because I wanted my audience to be met with an inviting and engaging tone. My goal was to engage the audience right away. The acoustic guitar offers a simple low-key sound that is also friendly and invites the audience to watch. The music I chose for Flora and Ulysses had to be upbeat and entertaining. It  had to say, “Hey, look at the squirrel! How many stories include a superhero squirrel? I chose music that was playful, engaging and a little zainy. This helps tell the audience that this story is fiction and fun.

What qualities would a good digital storytelling product have? Please elaborate.

A good digital storytelling product contains a combination of well-balanced multimodal elements including:

Audio- This includes sound effects, music, and a friendly and upbeat narrator

Graphics/Images- Use images that work well together and communicate meaning without confusing the audience
Concept- Make sure the objective is made clear and is explained well

Audience- Know your target audience and keep them in mind when you are building
your piece

Care in Execution - If you do not care about your piece, it will show and it will not be successful

Engaging - Grab the audience, Make them want to watch

Final Digital Story