From Macro to Micro: The Forgotten Truck in Five Images


I’ve had the Storehouse digital storytelling app on my iPad for some time now — it was touted as the next wave of digital storytelling, from a design standpoint — and I am just now getting into figuring it out, thanks to the Make Cycle for the Making Learning Connected MOOC that has us telling a story in five images. My story is about a toy truck that I picked up at a tag sale for my oldest son (now 16) when he was three years old. It had its days as the main truck for all three boys, but now sits in rusty retirement behind our fire pit.

I can’t seem to find a reason to get rid of it. The truck comes freighted with memories.

So, for my five image story, I decided to try to pan out (with a panoramic app) to capture the entire back yard (macro), and then slowly zoom in (micro) to the truck in its hiding spot. I resisted adding text to the project, although I feel as if it probably needs it for context.

But I will let it stand as it is, and say that more playing with Storehouse has yielded a very powerful story that I will share tomorrow. You’ll be pretty amazed at it, I think.

I also added the five images into flickr. I like the Storehouse version better.

From Macro to Micro (Forgotten Truck)

Speaking of story, I missed the entire online discussion yesterday with CLMOOC folks about the nature of storytelling and the question of “what is a story?” that has framed inquiry in the community lately, but I did create this little Tapestry to make a point about collective storytelling.

Peace (in five),
Kevin

2 Comments
  1. Interesting that you like the Storehouse version better. Is the purpose of the five image story solely as a stepping stone to other projects, deeper and better just as your Storehouse version is more satisfying than your flickr version? Baby steps to a better narrative? I asked this question during the Hangout yesterday. Alas, I got no answer. I am not sure that the five image story is a scaffold for anything any more than a five paragraph theme is anything more than practice for the main event. Some teachers swear by it, but it seems they like it only as an instrument to other purposes. Can it stand alone as a creative genre? Not thinking it does. Could be wrong.

  2. Obviously this whole topic/question is very interesting. What is a narrative? What is a story? I actually prefer the Flickr version, can’t pinpoint why, exactly, except it is easier for me to focus my “storytelling” mind on. I like the 5-picture story concept, but in my mind, it leaves much of the work up to the reader, and much of the interpretation up to the viewer. So the questions of intent and purpose come up. You are not (probably) going to get out of my 5-pic story what I got out of it – but that’s ok. Or is it? As someone who loves words and loves photography, I see the two versions of a story as very different, both valuable on their own but not necessarily comparable. In the classroom, I see the 5-pic story as a starting point or interim step rather than a final product.

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