"Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people, but stories can also repair that broken dignity...when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise."
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Danger of a Single Story
Digital storytelling refers to the process of developing personal narratives based on certain life experiences. Those stories are supported by a combination of text, audio recording, images, music and animation to create short films. By using multimedia, digital storytelling brings what would have otherwise been a traditional, written story to life.
Key things to include:
This is still an academic project, despite taking a more creative route. You will need to include citations of sources as you talk. You can include these in the video by having them pop-up on the screen at the top or bottom (small text is fine) as they come up in your script (see circled citation below).
Make sure to have a clear introduction. The introduction can be creative to start, but should wrap up with a concise and clear set of goals for the video.
Walk through the debate, as you see it. What evidence do we have to support the idea of eliminating race as a variable? What evidence do we have against this proposition? Why does this debate matter so much to so many forensic anthropologists?
Make sure your position is clear by the end of the video. I have no vested interest in one position being right. I am more convinced by the “don’t use race” side, but this shouldn’t dissuade you from making the case for the opposite. This is not a debate with an obvious answer. I care about the quality of research and how it’s presented over anything else.
I strongly encourage the following:
Good Intro/outro comments
Credits screen at the end (with citations of all things used – refs, audio, video, pics, etc)
Images from anywhere to help support your argument (cite these)
Video clips (keep these short, and remember to cite)
Also, make sure to write a narrator script and edit it well before you record it
It really helps to storyboard the video, meaning sketch out the “scenes” in the video, and what is happening in each scene. Think about the order of these scenes, what they want to accomplish, and so forth. You can really get a sense of the flow of the video by doing this.
If you really want to have fun with this
Be creative!
Use costumes
Create characters that “talk” to each other
Run ideas by me if you really want to play around with this. This is not required to excel on this assignment, it’s simply an option to have a bit more fun with this and get creative if that’s something you enjoy. You can absolutely still ace this assignment with a very modest and direct video about the science around this debate, without any theatrics.
What to Avoid
No talking heads for 5min straight. I do want to encourage you to be creative here, so I don’t want something that resembles a 5min TikTok of someone talking into the camera for 4-5min.
How will you be evaluated?
I will assess these videos primarily on the script and the science that is cited and talked about. So I’m looking first and foremost that you represent the debate well, and that I see evidence that you have thought through the debate intentionally and carefully.
I want to see a well defended position that also respects and presents the opposite position fairly and respectfully.
The length of the video should not be less than 4minutes.
I want to see citations on the screen as you talk about these issues.
This is not a digital art or filmmaking class, so I’m not assessing you on the details of your video production. I expect this to be fairly basic – that is absolutely fine! However, if the editing makes the video confusing, or if the sound is so low I can barely hear you, we could run into problems. Essentially, what I’m saying here is that as long as all the basics (I can clearly see and hear you) are there don’t worry about the production quality. This will only be an issue if it prevents me from understanding what is going on.
