Participants make their own 2-3 minute stories, the number of stories dependant on the number of people taking part. These are usually taught through a series of workshops and during this process a wide range of skills are learned. My job as a facilitator is to help draw out the stories in the first place and to advise and help them along the way so that they end up with a story they will be proud of. These are not meant to be documentaries and their appeal lies in the fact that they are real stories about real people told in their own words.
Because digital storytelling has the potential to move other people, to challenge the way in which people see each other it can be used as a valuable tool to bring better understanding within communities particularly between different generations. Their impact makes a positive and unique contribution to the health and well-being of the wider community and targets social need. Although the aim is to make a short ‘snapshot’ of a person’s life, a sort of scrapbook page, when assembled and viewed together each tells a much bigger story.