Lambert's Seven Elements

1. Point (of view)
There has to be a reason behind telling your story.  Just giving a list of what happening is boring and useless.  A point can be a need, desire, or problem that you want to address.  The point of view can be the audience's connection with the story and can be the reason that they understand the premise of the story.  
2. Dramatic Question
Making a point won't hold your audience's attention, you have to have something bigger and broader.  A question runs throughout the story and is in the opening and closing lines.  It's the beginning and the end - Will the girl get the guy? (beginning) the pursuit (middle) and the getting/not getting of the guy (ending).  
3. Emotional Content
Stories need emotion - without emotion fueling a story, it is nothing.  It is boring and useless.  An emotional story connects with an audience like nothing else.  It is a way to involve your audience. Different emotions drive different stories, and a different emotion behind the same story can change it entirely.  
4. The Gift of Your Voice 
Having a voice over can add so much to a story.  We all talk a little differently, and having a conversation with you audience can make your audience more engaged.  We naturally listen more to a voice then to anything else.  We listen for inflections and pauses to help us understand the proper reaction to the story being told.  
5. The Power of the Soundtrack
We are at a time where people walk with soundtracks constantly playing in their heads.  We think to music, we are exposed to a lot of different kinds of music and can connect certain music to certain emotions and situations.  If your soundtrack is off - a sweet, soft song playing while something bad is happening won't connect and will confuse your audience.  Also, the opposite of if fast music is playing and something slow is happening an audience will get lost and lose focus.  We, as audience members, know what music is supposed to go with what, so you have to go with what you know.  
6. Economy 


7. Pacing 
The rhythm of the story determines if the audience will stay interested and entertained.  If the story is too fast, it will create urgency, and could lose the audience if there is no chance to catch their breath.  If the story is slow it could be romantic or relaxed - but if it's too slow the audience will stray.  Changing pace in your story could be very effective - it can help move the story along and keep the audience engaged. You have to be sure to give your audience a chance to stop and process - move at an even pace, but every so often stop or slow down - you know the story but they don't.  

Digital Storytelling

Digital stories.  A new thing to me, sort of.  I like stories with video, but this is stories with pictures.  Kind of like our audio stories but with pictures to help illustrate the story being told.

The first digital story was from the Center for Digital Storytelling, I like was called: Ironing by Ryan Trauman.  He's from North Dakota and has a masters in Creative Writing.  The story has pictures from his life, as well as other pictures like shirts in a closet, but i like the ones of his family and himself better because it gives the story more personal depth.  He talks about how ironing is something that is very important in his life.  He talks about how he remembers his mom calling him and his brother to come and talk to her while she ironed, and how he irons alone in his basement now.  He finds the repetition calming and soothing, kind of how he believes his mom felt with two boys chattering away while she ironed in her housecoat.  While I don't particularly like ironing myself, I can't tell you how many times I've sat and chatted with my mom while she was ironing.  It is a regular house chore that we've all done or seen done, and will always be with us throughout our life.  

The second story I liked was from the Center for Digital Storytelling also, and was called: Home...in Past Tense by Bix Gabriel.  She tells about her past home in Hyderbad, India and how it has changed so much since she left for New York.  She talks about how she doesn't recognize a lot of places because everything around them has changed so much, until you find your way to this market, that is exactly the same.  How does that one market, or shop, or stand define your home?  I know my past home was defined by the ballet studio and the hot dog man's stand down the road.  How do our surroundings affect our definition of home?  I relate to this story a lot because of how many times I've moved, and returning to a place you left always seems to be different than the place you knew and remember. 

Listen and Hear

Hello my dears,

Here is a little story about how my parents met.  It's pretty cute, kinda funny, and very much my parents.


A Love Story from UA, Telecommunication and Film on Vimeo.



Since then, they are still going strong after 27, almost 28 years now.  They've traveled the world, had two lovely (if i do say so myself) children, and are looking forward to growing old (no mom, i don't think you'll ever be old) together.  They have a great relationship - one to be admired.  After all is said and done, they are partners for life, one incomplete without the other.