Door Scene: Take 2

Last week my Digital Media Production and Storytelling class returned to the door scene that we had filmed the week before. Instead of filming off the cuff, we spent the week individually storyboarding the scenes we wanted to shoot and shared them with our group (my group members were kind enough not to laugh at my terrible drawings). Excited to reshoot our door scene, we were surprised to find out there was a twist: we were going to be switching storyboards with another group and shooting their scene. It was interesting to see a scene from another group's perspective and the direction they planned to take the project. We were not allowed to make any alterations and we had to shoot exactly what we saw on the paper. The challenge that my group had was knowing specifically what to shoot and how to shoot it. In the end, I think we created an excellent video that was better than our first one.

Image by dsevilla

The experience of shooting that scene taught me the importance of storyboarding. Storyboards need to be clear and specific enough that someone else could take it and see the same vision that I had in my head. What was also great about having a storyboard is that it gave our group direction when filming because we could shoot one scene at a time and we weren't confused about what to shoot next. I originally struggled with pre-production planning but I am starting to see its value more and more. The main reason I had so much trouble with pre-planning was because I thought that it robbed stories of its creativity and emotional drive out of a story. But I'm learning that that's not necessarily the case. Storyboarding can ensure that the elements that create that emotional pull in a story are included. The process of making one can make you think about what angles, sounds and movement would convey the most meaning. It forces you to take the emotions and power of the story and make it concrete so you can make it real to your audience. Most importantly, pre-planning makes sure that you never lose sight of the story you're planning because you can see it in black and white.

Walking Through the Door

This week my Digital Media Production and Storytelling class had to shoot a door scene in groups of three with very specific parameters, one of them included NO video editing. At first I thought this would be a roadblock but it actually made our video better. The readings we have done for this class so far stresses the importance of focusing on the story in digital storytelling and without the "extras" my group was able to focus on the story itself. We focused on how to convey emotion through facial expressions, movements and dialogue. We were much more focused on precise recording because we couldn't go back and clip scenes or rearrange them. This project was an exercise in telling a very specific story, which is what students can be asked to do in an assignment. The success of the story rests in the storyteller's ability to "stick to the script" and tell the story as the assignment requires. On the technical side, shooting with the iPad, compared to a camera, was a little difficult because it is big and cumbersome and lacked the option to zoom in and out of a shot. With the option to zoom, the iPad might be a better choice for filming but for this assignment, the iPad's use was limiting.


While working on our video, I became worried about spending too much time on planning and not being able to film in the allotted time. Reflecting afterwards made me realize my difficulty with digital story planning. I think I have trouble with the planning stages because in real life when I tell a story, I don't plan it, I just tell it so I feel as though digital storytelling should be the same way. I value stories for its emotional aspects but there are practical elements that go with it that I need to remember. Our assignment this week is to map out our story and come back and film it again. My hope is that putting the exact scenes on paper will clarify our vision for the video and make it even better than our first one. What am I taking away from this experience? Planning beforehand is valuable because it makes shooting easier and more efficient.