Introduction to Storytelling

Introduction to Storytelling WITNESS invites you to use, remix and share this curriculum. All materials are under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License. You can also find more video advocacy training materials at www.witness.org.

Storytelling puts the human into human rights . Story is at the heart of video … without a compelling story, your audience will not be moved to act.

What is visual storytelling for human rights? DEFINED: The strategic use of images, pictures, and sounds to tell stories that can pressure, shame, move or compel key audiences to take action that will protect, defend and uphold human rights. GOAL: The story inspires the action you want from the audience.

Stories are about people Stories need to be fixed in time and space Stories speak the audience’s language Stories stir up emotions Stories don’t tell. They show. Stories have at least one “moment of truth” Stories have clear meaning The people in your story have to want something Let your characters speak for themselves Audiences bore easily so stories need challenges/obstacles Andy Goodman’s 10 Rules for Storytelling How can you Tell a Good Story? Part 1: The Philosophy

Is there one way to tell a story…. No! But the most effective stories often have Dramatic momentum Tension or ‘conflict’ Powerful characters we care about and Telling details STORYTELLING

Not necessarily violence, but conflict between individuals, between individuals and an external institution etc., or conflicts of personality, of ideas, or daily struggles of life against an unfair world DRAMATIC CONFLICT

Have at least one memorable fact and one detail that will remain in people’s minds….. MEMORABLE FACTS & DETAILS

The 6 Guiding Principles of Story: VOICES: The people (or text) who tell the story STRUCTURE : The way in which your film is organized or in other words, the backbone AUDIO/VISUAL ELEMENTS: What you hear and see on screen STYLE: What your films ‘looks & feels’ like ETHICAL REPRESENTATION: How you honor a person’s dignity and respect their privacy SPACE FOR ACTION: A concrete and specific act your audience can take to create change HOW

PRINCIPLE 1: VOICES WHO WILL TELL YOUR STORY?

Voice Options Survivors of human rights abuses Relatives of the person/s abused Witnesses of human rights abuses Experts Journalists Narrator Peer-reviewed citations / Other Texts Who / what else?

What should you consider when choosing which voices to include? EXPLORE

Emotional: The voices that speak to the viewer’s heart Analytical: The voices that support the facts Ethical : The voices that must be included for ethical reasons and agency Political: The voices your audience trusts and needs to hear from ESSENTIAL: CREDIBILITY

What are the building blocks in the video & what links these independent blocks together (transitions)? Transition Transition Story Expert Fact Expert Story Expert Fact Expert Story PRINCIPLE 2: STRUCTURE

WHOSE VOICES WERE INCLUDED? EXCLUDED?

Beginning : Set up the story, the situation, the argument, a common assumption (challenge it…) Middle : Tell the story, engage your viewers to understand and care Ending : Conclude and ‘hand it off” to the audience BEGINNING – MIDDLE - END

CASE STUDY Location/Partner: Kenya, CEMERIDE and Minority Rights Group Objective: Secure ruling from African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on displacement of Endorois people from their ancestral lands in Kenya Audience: African Commission, to be followed up with a public engagement campaign using a different version of video Message: Endorois people have suffered violations of their rights under specific articles of the African Charter Story/ Voices: Timing/Distribution: : Impact:

PRINCIPLE 3: AUDIO & VISUAL WHAT WILL WE HEAR? SEE?

Location/Partner: Burma, Burma Issues Objective: Support the push to refer Burma to the UNSC under ‘threat to the peace’ Message: Actions of Burma’s military regime in eastern Burma are a threat to the peace Story/ Voices: Condensed summary of situation, with emblematic story of one older woman Timing/Distribution: :Used in solidarity organizing and shown to officials in Indonesia, UK, USA and at UN, alongside presentations. Also viewed almost a million times on YouTube. Impact: Supported organizing work; ultimately no referral to UNSC

WHAT VISUALS WERE INCLUDED? EXCLUDED?

A-roll (interviews) Observed conversations B-roll Re-enactments Still photos Documents Graphics (maps, charts, etc.) Split screens Title cards + Lower Thirds Subtitles Archival or stock footage VISUALS TO CONSIDER

WHAT AUDIO WAS INCLUDED? EXCLUDED?

AUDIO TO CONSIDER Testimony Overheard conversations Narration Music Silence Wild sound Sound effects

Style: The ‘look’ and ‘feel’ that will resonate with your target audience. 1. Hear Us, Memory’s Story (6 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L68KxQcjbls PRINCIPLE 4: STYLE Click on the links below to watch clips and answer these questions: What are the elements of style (aka, look + feel) in these clips? Compare and contrast. What clip resonated with you most & why?

Hand held camera work v. On a tripod Fast-paced v. slow paced Glitzy (Highly-produced) v. Gritty (Home-spun) Interviews v. Narration Directed v. Verité Music choice Interviews: Looking directly into the camera v. the traditional interview set up looking at interviewer v. intentionally using an awkward set up, including high or low angles of interviews Concealed identify / voice Investigative report feel v. Movement-building feel Other? STYLE CONSIDERATIONS

What are the ethical issues that arise in this clip? What ethical challenges will you face in your project? Brainstorm this list. PRINCIPLE 5: ETHICAL REPRESENTATION Click on this link to watch a video and answer the questions below: http://youtu.be/d3Pc-FgEB7k (Begin at 2:15 – end at 2:51)

Potential Ethical Challenges How will you get informed consent? How will you protect safety & security? How will you protect privacy? How will you protect a person’s dignity? Will you share the decision-making process with interviewees? Will you pay your interviewees? Will you let interviewees review cuts? How do you handle hostile interviewees? Will you use footage you don’t have permission for? Will you reenact events that happened in the past? Framing, style & editing Other? CONSIDERATIONS

Ethical Representation Key Best Practices of Ethical Representation in Human Rights Filmmaking Cause no harm Be sure to be proud to send the final cut to your interviewees Do not re-vicitmize your interviewees. Lift them up. Ensure future ethical use of the footage (consider the remix culture) Other?

Advocacy video turns it over to the audience to take action Need to build a ‘space for action’ into the video – not make it a closed, sealed space This ‘space for action’ should point to a solution … a possible happy ending PRINCIPLE 6: SPACE FOR ACTION

How much does the audience feel implicated or involved in the story and in the ending? After watching are they detached, removed, helpless? Or included, hopeful, engaged, shamed, motivated, inspired, outraged? Is the story closed-off or is there room for change? Do you provide clear options for action? INSPIRING THE ACTION YOU WANT?

Recap Storytelling for Advocacy Story is at the heart of video Human rights stories are about people Stories don’t tell -- they show Story serves advocacy. A film is for a purpose, not about something. Advocacy story-telling is about effectively communicating your message to an audience in order to generate action. Build your storytelling on your audience analysis – what will reasonate with them?

Introduction to Storytelling

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