Digital Storytelling Project Outline: What/Who/How - Jon Kim

Digital Storytelling Project: Outline

The Effect of Philosophical Thought on the Corporate Mindset

What

For my project, I will make a qualitative analysis on the effect that Philosophical Thought has on the Corporate Mindset. Throughout my time at the business school, I have come to notice several deficiencies that hinder professional growth in students. The business program’s curriculum creates a strong emphasis on quantitative analytical skills and the ability to think methodically. However, students do not receive enough learning in abstract thinking and problem-solving. I believe the existential concepts and rigorous critique of the content covered in philosophy courses would be beneficial in developing a sense of morals and ethics, something that is essential in compelling leaders. This story will follow 2-3 students in their everyday lives, hearing about the thoughts, struggles, aspirations, and challenges they encounter as they pursue career goals and ambitions. I will incorporate their personal experiences with similar experiences of leaders already deemed successful to offer a structured comparison to historical results.

Who

The main focus of my project will revolve around fellow colleagues, influential leaders throughout history who have been successful or unsuccessful, and myself. I will be using my own thoughts, but also the thoughts of 2-3 other students to broaden the scope of the story and get the opinions of a diverse set of people. I will focus on what it means to be a critical thinker and the motives behind their actions. These will be substantiated with external research of successful influential leaders to provide concrete examples of how our personal opinions can be amplified to create an impact on society.

How

The main method for this project will be through interviews. I find this provides the closest, most genuine medium for people to express their thoughts. There will be a set of questions that will be used to interview each student to maintain consistency; however, not all answers to each question will be used. There will be either clips or photos for the visual aspect while each person’s experiences provide a narrative in the background. When incorporating historical figures, anecdotes will be used as well as a description of their background. One consideration will be incorporating music which I am not entirely sure if I will add, but that is something that I will have to decide as I start working on the project.

The FBI and the Klan - Rachel Bressler

American Experience – The FBI and the Klan

“The FBI and the Klan” told a story about Agent Dargan Frierson and his infiltration into the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.  Members of the Klan, steadfast in their efforts to fight communism, saw themselves as patriotic.  On the other hand, they believed that the FBI was an enemy, a defender of communism.  So they decided it was their responsibility to keep America safe from dangers of communism.  That’s where Agent Frierson came in.  In North Carolina, he somehow infiltrated the Klan and was then able to develop several informants within their circles.  Of his various sources, one interesting catch was George Dorset.  Dorset was the Klan’s biggest fundraiser in North Carolina and was one of the most powerful members of Grand Dragon Bob Jones’ inner circle.  Even though Dorset thought that the Klan, and was they stood for, was righteous, he worked for Frierson due to a friendship that had developed. 

            The story was told using two digital medias.  Parts of the video were black and white photographs, while a voiceover played in the background.  The other parts were an interview (in color) with Michael Frierson, whose father was Dargan Frierson.  The way that they used pictures to tell the story was interesting because most of the photographs were of larger scenes and panned over them, not really focusing on anything in particular.  However, they showed close up and still pictures of the most important people to this story: Agent Dargan Frierson and George Dorset.  It was also interesting to see the contrast between the black and white representing the past and the color signifying it was in the present. 

Jon Kim - Jesse Owens, Olympic Runner

The story of Jesse Owens, an olympic runner from Alabama, illustrates his personal defiance against Hitler and the Nazis during World War II. By using pictures of Owens and the places he would go when he was younger, the narrator accurately capture Owens' childhood and the challenges he faced. As the story progresses to his college years, short clips of his races are included. I found the combination of pictures and clips were great mediums that were best suited to supplement the narrator's commentary. Having the clips certainly aided the viewers in gaining a better understanding of Owen's races and being able to experience his stellar performance. However, I believe using only video clips would have been too much, and having variety with photos created an equal balance for the audience.

I believe the narrator also did a good job in tying Owens's passion, running, into the underlying plot of the story, which was his personal battle with the Nazis. At the time, the Germans hosted the Olympic Games in hopes of showcasing their superior aryan race. The audience can see Owens aboard a ship traveling to Germany with a commentary "I'm going across the Atlantic to do battle with Hitler. I won't see US soil again until I win.. or lose." On the other side, the narrator shows clips of Nazi soldiers as well as the aryan athletes preparing for the games. Each event that Owen's wins is a battle that he conquers, and the progression of the plot makes it easy for the viewer to follow. As the video ends, it is clear that Jesse Owens has triumphed over the Nazis with his 4 Gold Medals.

Ripley's most amazing-Adam Harrison-Trent

   In watching this interview with Edward Myers, the principal means of the storytelling is done through both the visual images of the artwork and through the non-diegetic recording of Myers, who is explaining the artwork. In describing what micro-artwork is, and how it is made, the clip is primarily focused on displaying the minuteness of the art, and the intricacies of the manufacturing process, all of which is conveyed in the film through the use of video from its creation, as well as from the interview with Myers, who is explaining the art, the process, the artist, and how Ripley’s came to own some of the art pieces. In addition to these, there are also several transitional animations that help to move the visual plot along. Along with the visual aspects, there is also the audio component from the interview, where Myers explains the details about each piece in the collection. In addition, we also hear from the artist, Willard Wigan, who explains in better detail the complexities involved in creating microscopic art, which adds to our understanding of the collection as a whole. Accompanying throughout the entirety of the clip is muted piano that also aides in the overall enjoyment of the video.     

Deion Love- A Day with Thomas A. Edison

The American Experience clip I chose to analyze for digital storytelling purposes was A Day with Thomas A. Edison. The film went into great detail using a series of events occurring on a regular day of Thomas A. Edison’s life. The production of the film resembles that of the film Birth of a Nation. The video does not include sound and is also black and white. There was no way for the audience to decipher the exact words that the characters were saying. During each scene the film would pause to give a statement or two about the situation that is occurring. Although the film didn’t have sound, it was able to always capture the audience’s attention because of the interesting how-to scenes of forming Edison’s light bulb. The process left the viewers enchanted and captivated.

The absence of sound made me realize how the film reinforced the theory of vita activa or the life of the polis. The film put great detail and emphasis on the power of action and speech and allowed the viewers to see how those responses were so pivotal in that era of time. Also, it showed how proactive the characters were.

David Weinblatt- Edison's Electric Light

Edison’s Electric Light briefly portrayed the powerful impact that Thomas Edison had on society with the invention of his lightbulb. At the beginning of the video, there is audio of a narrator alongside a train with train noises heard in the background. Some light music is also played throughout. The video also focuses on the narrator speaking at several points. When he discusses walking out into the light, multiple pictures of a well-lit house are shown. Many more angles of the house and light posts around it are displayed as well. A writer began to speak and the camera immediately switched to her face. The camera then moved to an illustration of a light bulb in which the original narrator ends the video discussing how the light bulb has essentially enabled us to enter a whole new world.

David Weinblatt- Edison's Electric Light

Edison’s Electric Light briefly portrayed the powerful impact that Thomas Edison had on society with the invention of his lightbulb. At the beginning of the video, there is audio of a narrator alongside a train with train noises heard in the background. Some light music is also played throughout. The video also focuses on the narrator speaking at several points. When he discusses walking out into the light, multiple pictures of a well-lit house are shown. Many more angles of the house and light posts around it are displayed as well. A writer began to speak and the camera immediately switched to her face. The camera then moved to an illustration of a light bulb in which the original narrator ends the video discussing how the light bulb has essentially enabled us to enter a whole new world.