“A Storied Life”: A New Generation of Digital Storytellers Emerges
Participants from “A Storied Life,” a digital storytelling workshop held at the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, NY.
In January, at the culminating event for, “A Storied Life,” a 12-week digital storytelling workshop offered by the Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) in partnership with The Knolls, a Bethel Community, eight filmmakers — all aged 55+ — wowed a packed screening room with digital film shorts depicting personal stories of love, loss, and discovery.
“You have eight people here who are sharing a small slice of their lives. When we came together at Jacob Burns, we really didn’t know each other, but let me tell you these stories truly brought us together.”
Gail Ryan, Participant
Theresa Dawson, Education Program Manager at JBFC and media arts/filmmaking teaching artist, taught this workshop at JBFC’s Media Arts Lab, and provided participants with the tools to create digital short films which culminated into a screening for friends and family.
The short films produced during the workshop series were impressive and featured complex edits like sound effects, transitions, and voiceovers. It was extraordinary to learn that the majority of the participants had no experience with media production prior to taking this course. “I am interested in reaching participants who don’t usually have access to media production experiences, so I was interested in learning about working with an exclusively older population who are doubly excluded – both in terms of lack of familiarity and access to media production tools, and frequently also social exclusion,” said Theresa. “The participants coming in were a little overwhelmed about the technological side of this course, but I worked to get them hands-on right away.”
The participants’ work adhered to the three main phases of video production; pre-production, production, and post-production. They wrote narration, selected and scanned photographs, shot photos and video, recorded sound using an iPad, and assembled these components into a five-frame story using iMovie editing software. (See above slideshow for images depicting this work. The slideshow has no audio.)
‘Using an iPad in my 95th year is almost as incredible as being in my 95th year.’
Adele Schneider, Participant
Participants also recorded voiceover, sourced materials for their films outside of class, and borrowed iPads so they could practice shooting photos and videos on their own time. “It was incredible to me that being so technologically challenged and using an iPad in my 95th year is almost as incredible as being in my 95th year,” said participant, Adele Schneider.
Theresa was blown away by not only their capacity to build new digital skills, but also by their natural ability to tell wonderful stories and help one another strengthen each others’. “You have eight people here who are sharing a small slice of their lives,” said participant, Gail Ryan. “When we came together at Jacob Burns, we really didn’t know each other, but let me tell you these stories truly brought us together.”
The Power of Storytelling: Inclusion, Connection, and Confidence
Participant, Adele Schneider, 95, discusses her short film with audience members.
Most of the filmmakers based their projects on influential people in their lives. In, “Mom and Pisces,” by Marsha Schlig, Marsha focused on her mother and how she unknowingly introduced her to a lifelong hobby of collecting tropical fish as a young girl. In, “A Love Story,” by Gail Ryan, Gail narrated the life of her late mother who journeyed from Ireland to America to become a nurse and provided her children a life filled with love, joy, and hope. The following are short films by Marsha and Gail. Gail’s film was edited down due to website limitations.
Mom and Pisces by Marsha Schlig
A Love Story by Gail Ryan
“I developed a great connection with the eight participants in my class. I also expanded my world-view by hearing stories that I normally wouldn’t experience, and by seeing how intellectually and creatively curious a group of older learners could be. This was some of the most moving and important work I have engaged in in my many years of teaching.”
Theresa Dawson, Teaching Artist
In Adele Schneider’s film, “For Noel,” she shared stories of her beloved late husband, a gifted sculptor, and included photos of his beautiful work. The original photographs of her husband’s work were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. “I thought this just might be a chance to reincarnate these photographs in some way,” Adele shared after her film was presented. “The experience exceeded my expectations beyond expression.”
Other participants, like Manny Stern, shared stories of life discoveries. In his film, he recalled a recent visit to a distant but familiar farmland that transported him back in time as a young boy. The farmland sparked familiarity because he had once lived there for two and a half years, kept hidden by two strangers who risked their lives to keep him safe during the Nazi occupation of France.
“Every human being is an accumulation of stories,” Manny said to the audience. “Life is a bunch of moments that you string together. Some of them you remember, some of them you forget. I had a very hard time remembering this one. I worked very hard at it and I wasn’t 100% successful, but I think it’s very important for all of us to try to understand where we came from and the arc of our life. And the only way we do that is through telling the stories of our lives.”
“I developed a great connection with the eight participants in my class,” said Theresa. “I also expanded my worldview by hearing stories that I normally wouldn’t experience, and by seeing how intellectually and creatively curious a group of older learners could be. This was some of the most moving and important work I have engaged in in my many years of teaching.”
This program was made possible by a grant from the 2018-2019 Catalyzing Creative Aging Program, led by The National Guild for Community Arts Education in partnership with Lifetime Arts, and funded by Aroha Philanthropies, James Avery Forging Hope, The Moca Foundation, NAMM Foundation, and St. David’s Foundation. The JBFC also received support from the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust.
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Due to the success of the pilot program, JBFC is offering, “Digital Storytelling: A Storied Life,” to students 55 and up March 26 through May 21. To learn more, please visit the JBFC program page.
The slideshow is credited to Theresa Dawson. All photos are credited to Paige Grand Pre, Digital Marketing Associate, JBFC.
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