Week 2: 6th-12th March responses: 

In this weeks class we looked at Trans media storytelling and ‘convergence culture’. According to Henry Jenkins trans media is media that’s dispersed across multiple platforms that has a universe and allows people to share the universe, not in a way thats redundant but rather complementary.

We also looked at the differences between trans media and multimodal storytelling. Trans media story telling is spread across various media modes whereas multimodal storytelling is all present at the same time and connected to the same space. They both play with form, however a single author is present in telling a multimodal story and multiple people are involved in telling a trans media story.

There was discourse around the benefits of multimodal storytelling.There are an array of benefits, to name a few; It can reach a broader range of people and consumers, it has potential to drill a story in more. There is more depth to the storyline which allows people to challenge conventions. When using different media modes in the same space, audiences emotions are heightened, which makes use of media affordances.

• What did you notice about the examples of multimodal stories we looked at in class? What media modes and elements did they contain? What did these components bring to the story? What’s the relationship between the different elements in the pieces?

Snowfall was a very engaging, long form narrative we looked at in class. It also happened to be multimodal, the narrative was broken up with images and videos. This gave the consumer agency over the story, as you could choose to read parts and watch parts. The elements it involved weren’t overly interactive as the story unfolded in one way through the act of scrolling downwards. There was text, images, audio and video included in the story. These elements brought value to the story as the reader/viewer could connect multiple forms of media with the one story, emphasising the impact the avalanche had on peoples lives. We knew it was a multimodal story from the get go, as there was a moving image at the top of the page, displaying snowfall, quite a beautiful sight. This gave the consumer some visuals to keep in mind while reading the piece. The relationship between all the elements used enhanced the story as it was backed up with auditory and visual cues. You rely on your memory as you approach aspects of the story alongside visuals and videos you’ve seen.

• What were some of the similarities and differences in the two multimodal pieces you made? Did one work better than the other? Why do you think this is?

The similarity between the two multimodal pieces I made is that they both follow a similar topic, that being ‘the importance of Carbonara in my family’. However, one is a retrospective video with text and the other is a less linear ‘diary entry’ style pdf that gives background on my family and the significance of pasta for us. I feel as though the video stuck to the brief we were given more, as it included text and moving image to tell the story and it felt more multimodal.

• What was one idea or concept from this week’s reading that you found interesting in some way, or confusing? Tease it out a bit in your blog post – what do you think it means and how does it apply to the way we’re exploring making work in this studio?

The article proposed ‘Snow Fall’ was a shift in the paradigm of online journalism. No one had ever seen anything like it before, it was a ‘one block’ narrative that offers different peoples stories presented through image, video and audio. The reading suggested the promotion of the story was very unusual at the time it was made. It was an ever changing mediascape – ‘new’ forms borrowing from older forms, similar to the notion that there are ‘no new stories to write’.In the article it suggested that Snow Fall ‘Broke the rules’ but still stuck to the journalism rule of ‘following the story’, in order to conceptualise it and get it made. I found that the reading gave me more insight into the story and raised the question whether media makers should break conventions? and are the changes actually beneficial (and for whom), or are they just for the sake of changing the dynamic in telling stories.

Week 1: 27th-5th March responses: 

• What is your early understanding of the word ‘multimodal’ and how you might approach making such a work as a media maker? 

Multimodal storytelling strategically mixes storytelling and multimodality. It relies on different ways to present a story by integrating different modes. These might include, gestures, audio, videos, images, labels, words, or textures to produce meaning in the story. As a media creator you may decide to have still images along with some text and voiceovers to deliver your non-fiction story that is based on a true/factual story or phenomenon about a particular subject(s).  

• What is your understanding of creative nonfiction and how we might use characteristics of this literary genre in media making? 

Creative non-fiction implements true stories based on real-world experience/, it’s a genre that allows humans to communicate information, foster empathy and change culture in the world. It’s a genre that uses literary/artistic styles and techniques to tell factual stories. In media making you could use the characteristics of this genre to tell a story succinctly, and accurately. You could have a narrate a story based on real life events or interview a subject about a particular event they’ve experienced first handedly. A nonfiction story told well is one rich in ideas, context and narrative. 

• What stood out to you about how the stories were constructed in some of the examples we looked at in class?

‘Notes of Blindness’ was a story constructed in a peculiar way. The structure was retrospective and non-linear, a lot of the time the storyline was interrupted by conversation and dialogue. This factor made me feel immersed in the story, it made it more moving as I was able to connect further with the subject. What stood out to me most was the way the director played with time. The voices were in past tense but the visuals were captured in the present tense. This is an example of how the director may have been limited by the facts, which often occurs in writing a non-fiction story, he had a framework to work within. As a viewer disorientated by the storyline. This feeling allowed me to connect with the subject, going blind would be a very confusing feeling. The audience is put in the shoes of the subject, we are trying to gather information from both the present and the past, as the subject also tries to recollect his memories through recording his story in the form of voice memos. He recalls that his journey became ‘an absolute business’ implying he had a network of people assisting him to gather his thoughts and make sense of his world through alternate senses.

• What components of those stories did you notice? 

Components of the story that I took notice of was the lighting and specific shot selection.There was an abundance of shadow and contrast throughout the story. It was a visual that appeared to reflect on the subjects blindness progressing. It felt melancholy and isolating, it represented the reliability of memory when one loses such an integral sense in their life, losing you you sight would be debilitating but also enabling of unlocking vast memories.

• What impact did these have for you on the way you understood and felt about the story being told? 

As the viewer it made me empathise with the subject, it made me want to really concentrate on what was being said and shown.

• What are some ideas you have for nonfiction stories to explore this semester? 

This semester I’m looking forward to delving into telling stories that are non-fiction. I want to explore different concepts and employ various subjects to bring stories to fruition. I am interested in telling a few different stories:

1. The rise in at home tattoo parlours, how covid assisted in the rise of ‘DIY’ tattooing.
2. Asking artists how they live off their artistry
3. investigating the impact of childhood injuries, getting told stories by someone with monocular vision (vision in one eye)
4. Asking a young man from Kuwait Syria how he navigated a life amongst archaic ideologies and practices, and how his life has altered in good ways and bad since moving abroad.

• What are your early ideas about how you might make these into multimodal stories? 

I am very interested in documenting stories through film, audio and memoir. I thoroughly enjoyed watching ‘Abstract, the art of design’ concerning Olafur Eliasson. Throughout the docuseries he expressed how his work is dependent on the spectator and creates immersive spaces and experiences, I’d like my stories to do the same. I’d turn the stories from modal to multimodal by going about it in a multi-faceted approach eg. filming, imbedding text, audio and stills. I would like to make mini documentaries that are creatively non-fiction, through juxtaposition, braiding different kinds of information and ways of presenting it, and detailed observation.