My favorite digital story that I watched was “My Champion”
by Jose Gonzalez.
Element #1: Point of
View
Jose shared his point of view and perspective. He shared his
story about losing his grandpa and how he was his champion. He shared how he
started acting up and ditching school when he got older but how he is making a
change in the positive direction to make his grandpa proud.
Element #2: Dramatic
Question
At the beginning of the story Jose starts by saying,
“yesterday was the 11th anniversary of his death, but I can remember
it like it just happened. He was always my Champion.”
Element #3: Emotional
Content
This story was very emotional and inspiring to watch. This
digital story was about Jose dealing with a family loss and how he overcame
obstacles that happened after the death. He joined a gang and made some bad
decisions. Now, he graduated in May and works for an environmental group that
saved his life. He is trying to go into the coast guard and make a better life
for himself. Everything that he did with his grandpa he is now teaching kids in
the program to do. This story pulls the strings of your heart because everyone
knows how it feels to lose a loved one.
Element #4: You’re
Voice
Jose’s voice made a
huge impact on his story. You can hear in his voice how much hurt he has for
the loss of his family member. You can also hear the inspiration in his voice
when he talks about overcoming the obstacles and bad choices that he made in
his life after he lost his grandpa. Hearing his voice made this story very
personal to listen to and watch.
Element #5: Sound
Track
There was no music in this digital story. There were two
videos played at the end of him and some kids fishing and his shadow boxing.
The rest of the video featured different pictures of him growing up.
Element #6: Economy
The author did a great job with the length of his pictures
because you could look at each one for a couple minutes before it changed to a
different one. You were able to match his voice with a face and see how happy
he was as a child. He even showed a pictured of him in his gang to show the bad
choices that he made. The video of him boxing at the end was very personal to
him because he says in his story that his grandpa put boxing gloves on him when
he was just 5 years old.
Element #7: Pacing
The narrator did a great job pacing his voice with each
picture and video that went along with his story. I liked how he started the
video with just his voice starting his story about losing his grandpa and the
screen was just set on the title. Once he started a picture of both of them
came on the screen. It flowed really well.
I agree with you that Jose did a fantastic job of letting his voice and the images tell the story without any music. I particularly like how he just used the black, empty screen whenever he referred to his grandfather's death directly. It really gives a sense of how lost and empty he felt without him. The pictures he chose perfectly compliment the parts of the story he put them to, and the the way the story came full circle gives you hope even though the story deals with the issues of grief and loss. I think his use of 1st person is another reason it is so compelling. Like you said, this is a theme anyone who has lost a loved one can connect to. I like how he ends on a positive idea, remembering his grandfather's advise to "Keep your hands up; everything will be alright."
ReplyDeleteThe narrator starts the story with "the 11th anniversary". This hooks you by wondering what happened and how did it affect the narrator? He uses boxing at the beginning of the story and the end of the story tying his grandfather to both. He really did learn from his grandfather as he shows when he is working with other kids. This seems like a long time for the effect of a grandparent's death. I think at least ten years since the downhill slide started at seven and he is considering going into the service in the fall.
ReplyDeleteThis was also one of the stories that I chose to watch. I felt as if the emotional content played a crucial role in establishing a connection between viewers and the author/producer. As you stated, Joe’s voice made the story personal, once again reinstating that emotional content. The pictures at the end of his childhood add to that effect as well. This is a very well put together and thought through story. Nice pick!
ReplyDeleteI loved this digital story, and I think you did a great job of evaluating the seven elements. I think Jose's story was so strong that he did not need music to support his voice. The most emotional part of the story was when the screen was black and he was talking about the loss. This was such a great visual, even though there was nothing on the screen.
ReplyDelete