Week 3: Posting #3

The three digital stories I watched were very good.  Each had strengths and areas for improvement.  The first story, by Vanessa Clay, is very well paced with a strong voice.  Vanessa takes the time to pause throughout her story to maintain a good flow.  She creates an interesting dramatic question when she begins her story by describing her self-opinion as "boring" due to her cultural heritage.  By the end of the story, we know that Vanessa took the time to explore her family culture and embraced who she is and where she came from.  She no longer finds herself boring.  There are a few moments when Vanessa's words sound awkward.  She says "so much cookies" and it sounds odd.  This, and some other minor mistakes, sound as if she was correcting a flub in her speech and instead of re-recording the take decided to keep it.  However, in the grand scheme of the video, these small mistakes take very little from the strong story that Vanessa creates about her personal cultural experience.

The next video, by Jared St. Brown, is interesting and creative.  Jared does a great job of telling a story about a cross-country trip he took with his grandfather and father.  Jared's narration was fluid and easy to follow.  He used strong imagery and creative writing to tell his story.  There were times when the pacing of his story did not seem to match up well with the images.  In the beginning of the story, it seemed like he should show images of his father and grandfather as he spoke about each of them.  Jared's story was touching and had emotional content that spoke to the patriot in all of us.

The final video, by Amber Haller, was touching and heartfelt.  Amber presents a letter to her late grandmother set to classical music.  The letter identifies her grandmother as her inspiration for continuing with her education and pursuing her masters degree.  This video has very strong emotional content, as Amber's grandmother passed away tragically just 2 months after she retired.  The music, while simple, did a good job of emphasizing the sentimental nature of the video.  I think the video could have been made even more personal if Amber had read the letter aloud and narrated the video.  Voice can add a lot of depth and emotion, and give a more personal connection to the viewer/listener.