Community Workshops

During the live workshop, we try to complete a very rough edit of your digital story by the end. We depend on you to bring your own photos or video or audio images to the workshop.

Each workshop is customized for the storytellers attending, as some people have more technical skills or access to technology than others. We strategize with you to develop an idea, you bring your own photos, video, audio etc. that you’d like to use to create your story. We can do the editing for you on a short (under 2 minutes) video or we can give you pointers on learning to edit. Depending on what you want to get out of the workshop.

We share experiences and knowledge online with other creative people. Each workshop is divided into roughly four parts: Intro, Production, Editing and Screening. We meet with each small group four times for a total of four to five hours.

During the first meeting, we introduce ourselves, share ideas on the projects, and strategize about what comes next. We try to create a safe space for artists/creative folks from many disciplines to share and develop new ideas for this project. You might be making your first project, working through a creative block or laying the foundation for your own future projects.

The success of your digital story depends on your input. What can you do to get ready? Share your idea with friends. Look through your old images. Your old videos. Your old podcasts. Take photos during your daily walks. Gather visual and audio materials to include in your story.

During the second workshop gathering (scheduled a few weeks after the first), you share your digital images, short video clips, and possibly audio recordings. We can edit your story using a shared screen or view and discuss a rough edit you’ve created yourself. The process of production, editing, discussion and revision continues during the series of four online meetings during the workshop.

Sharing with an audience, even a small one, is a chance to get feedback. But the choices in editing are always yours. You control your own digital story and retain copyright to all of the materials. 

There are two things to consider as you start to wrap up your digital story. How will you refine your project? Who is your audience? If we edit for you, your roughly edited digital story will be posted to Vimeo with a password. You might also use this as an opportunity to practice using video editing software – but access to software is not included in the workshop. 

To refine your project, you might look or listen a few times. Share it with friends or family. Ask them for suggestions or what wasn’t totally clear. You might want to replace one photo with another or change a voice-over (if you choose to have one).

We will go through one round of changes with you as part of the workshop process. We can supply you with a digital copy if you want to send it to festivals.

Your story could appear on the Digital Stories Canada site (with your permission). It is easy to share on social media or with email links. We’ll share your story with curators from the grunt’s Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen. While the screen is visual and without sound, simple captions can be added to replace audio as needed.