Hello from Remy and Piya
"How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?" -E.M. Forster
In a globally expanding age in which the possibility for interaction is unlimited and conflict is on the fly, an outlet for expression while traveling is absolutely crucial in processing and reflecting the meaning of a journey. For centuries, travel writers have shared their experiences and interpretations with the world while traveling through it. As a traveler yourself, what might you have to say?
We are G-LAB's digital storytelling instructors. We work with new media technologies to tell stories in a modern way - blogs, podcasts, photo essays, and digital stories. What are digital stories? ... they are a combination of text, image, voiceover, and video used to enhance the layers of the personal narrative.
In an increasingly technological time, expression is no longer limited to the written word. So let's move beyond the traditional; expand our creative horizons towards other mediums and disciplines. When we travel all senses are evoked. We see, hear, and feel strikingly new things that criss-cross into a mosaic of meaning. And when we process such experiences we need an adequate space to express this, a space that isn’t one-dimensional like the written page. When you are a traveler you are also a photographer, a documentarian, an anthropologist, and your tools are scarcely limited to the word. While in Morocco you’ll take digital pictures, video footage, voice recordings, write in your journal, and discover the intricacies and stories of the vibrant world around you. So how can you combine all these elements into describing what you have experienced abroad? Through the advent of new media, and particularly digital stories. The idea is to make expression as interactive as possible, to steer away from the traditional text on the page and closer to what it is really like to live and travel... to show what you see, share the sounds you hear, and present the textures and smells of the cultures you encounter. Create a short documentary, focus on the personal narrative, give a poem fresh legs with images and sound, record the landscape through soundscapes, or piece together a photo essay in the Medina. Start thinking of stories and bring your ideas to orientation at Life Bridge for our digital story (DS) workshop on Saturday. See you all there!
