Elizabeth Walker- STORYMAP
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
One Good Reason to Watch "Remembering Elizabeth Walker"
Elizabeth Walker was a notable pioneer who lived in the 1700's. But the story is more about her great, great, grand-daughter Stella. Stella is facing strife in her life and travels to Nebraska (from NYC) to get away and find some peace and quiet to consider her options. While she is there, visiting her Great Aunt Mary, she learns about her GGGrandmother Elizabeth who is buried in a nearby cemetary. Stella journeys to her gravesite and learns more about herself than she had ever expected or hoped to. Read on to find a good reason to watch "Remembering Elizabeth Walker."
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Why would you watch "Turning 50?"
"Turning 50" is a short video about my climb up Mt. Shasta to commemorate my 50th birthday. It starts with traveling to the town of Mt. Shasta and works it's way up towards the top of the mountain. Of course there are several elements during the journey that are included in the video: among them, laughter, fear, overwhelm, and relief. Turning 50 is my story of confronting challenge, digging deep for determination, and the experience of extreme letdown when I didn't quite make it to the top. But it has a happy ending because of the pride I felt at simply making the climb and learning that, eventhough I was 50, I could still do what I did, which was far more than climb a mountain.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Reflections on writing "Remembering Elizabeth Walker"
Ideas for the story,"Remembering Elizabeth Walker" began in a cemetery in Oregon. The cemetery was charming, very old and quite colorful. While wandering around reading the various headstones, my friend (the star of the show) and I, came across Elizabeth Walker's headstone dated 1797. I was impressed by seeing something from so long ago and quickly saw images in my mind of what life may have been like for Elizabeth Walker in the 1700's. It was then that I decided I would somehow include the cemetery and Elizabeth's headstone in my second Psych 767 digital story.
Over the next several days, as I thought about writing the story, I knew that I wanted to include in it a section that showed someone standing over Elizabeth's grave site having flashbacks (in black and white) that were somehow connected with her(Elizabeth). The flashback idea directed me toward a topic that could trigger flashbacks...which resulted in being domestic violence. From there, Stella (I've always loved that name) became the second main character.
From there one idea lead to another resulting in a story about a young woman, who was in an abusive marriage, getting in touch with her Grandmother's "spirit" and gaining internal strength to do what she needed to do to move on with her life...away from the abuse. I've done professional counseling with violent men and used my knowledge and understanding of domestic violence to create my story.
While I developed the story, I realized that I was actually writing to an audience of women who were struggling to get out of abusive marriages. The images I chose to reflect abuse were representative of the pain and confusion that abused women experience who have difficulty getting out of abusive relationships. I wanted to speak to those women and tell them that they all have an internal self that may be stronger than they feel or realize. I also hoped to tell them that they are not alone and that there are so many common themes within abusive relationships.
Creating this story provided me with the experience of molding my thoughts and past counseling experiences into something that told a story that others could appreciate and understand and perhaps it could actually be helpful in their lives. I started this story out as more of a fun, light-hearted story. But in the end, it triggered deeper more complex feelings than I had anticipated. I think that some women, and maybe men, who view this story may actually gain a better understanding of domestic violence and how it grabs hold of someone and often doesn't let go....as in the "cycle of abuse." Hopefully they may even give some thought to finding their internal strength and make decisions that may carry them out of an abusive relationship and into a better place in their lives.
The most noteworthy element I learned in writing this piece was that in letting one's thoughts and ideas flow without rigid control (often experienced when on tries too hard) a story may actually evolve that has substance and value that may eventually be applied to reality. In future digital stories, I intend to relax more and let the process of writing and creating flow rather than "try" so hard to write something profound. After all, it is in the process of letting go that allows for a truly creative process to flourish.
Over the next several days, as I thought about writing the story, I knew that I wanted to include in it a section that showed someone standing over Elizabeth's grave site having flashbacks (in black and white) that were somehow connected with her(Elizabeth). The flashback idea directed me toward a topic that could trigger flashbacks...which resulted in being domestic violence. From there, Stella (I've always loved that name) became the second main character.
From there one idea lead to another resulting in a story about a young woman, who was in an abusive marriage, getting in touch with her Grandmother's "spirit" and gaining internal strength to do what she needed to do to move on with her life...away from the abuse. I've done professional counseling with violent men and used my knowledge and understanding of domestic violence to create my story.
While I developed the story, I realized that I was actually writing to an audience of women who were struggling to get out of abusive marriages. The images I chose to reflect abuse were representative of the pain and confusion that abused women experience who have difficulty getting out of abusive relationships. I wanted to speak to those women and tell them that they all have an internal self that may be stronger than they feel or realize. I also hoped to tell them that they are not alone and that there are so many common themes within abusive relationships.
Creating this story provided me with the experience of molding my thoughts and past counseling experiences into something that told a story that others could appreciate and understand and perhaps it could actually be helpful in their lives. I started this story out as more of a fun, light-hearted story. But in the end, it triggered deeper more complex feelings than I had anticipated. I think that some women, and maybe men, who view this story may actually gain a better understanding of domestic violence and how it grabs hold of someone and often doesn't let go....as in the "cycle of abuse." Hopefully they may even give some thought to finding their internal strength and make decisions that may carry them out of an abusive relationship and into a better place in their lives.
The most noteworthy element I learned in writing this piece was that in letting one's thoughts and ideas flow without rigid control (often experienced when on tries too hard) a story may actually evolve that has substance and value that may eventually be applied to reality. In future digital stories, I intend to relax more and let the process of writing and creating flow rather than "try" so hard to write something profound. After all, it is in the process of letting go that allows for a truly creative process to flourish.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Reflections on writing "Turning 50"
Reflections on “Turning 50”
Keta R. Paulson
Psych 767
“Turning 50” is a short digital story (review) about my experience climbing Mt. Shasta in honor of my 50th birthday. It describes some of the physical encounters and emotionals that I observed during the climb.
I created this piece not only to inform my readers about the climb, and its’ difficult challenges, but also to communicate the pride I felt in executing the climb. I wanted to share the experience with those who watched my story.
With the use of images I believe I accomplished my goal in giving my readers an experience of the climb beyond the simple words that I used to describe it. My obsessive compulsive disorder comes out when I’m looking for on-line images (i.e. Google and Getty) as I enjoy the sense of finding just the right shot to assist in communicating the meaning of my words. Doing so took many hours of sifting through various images and web sites.
I chose to use images for this digital story rather than an actual video of climbing up Mt. Shasta for three reasons. First and foremost was because I’m in the process of learning how to create digital stories and therefore, wanted to learn from the ground up. Second, I felt it would take more time and be more complicated to use an actual video for this project. And lastly, I chose to go with the “picture says 1000 words” idea. I found it more interesting to use the various images that I chose because they actually said more than words. Therefore I was able to express a deeper experience both physically and emotionally of the climb.
Now that I have completed the task of making “my first video” I believe I am better prepared to go the next step and use video clips, images, and, hopefully, music for my next project. It was very tedious aligning the images with my words/voice. However, after several frames I got the hang of it and could actually sense just how long an image needed to appear to coincide with my words. Other technical factors that contributed to my learning were figuring out how to better navigate on my Blog. This included uploading and editing my video. In addition, I developed a better sense of what actually needed to be edited or deleted. Lastly, I developed a bit of confidence in creating, structuring, and producing a video. But, there is far more to learn so onward to video #2!
Keta R. Paulson
Psych 767
“Turning 50” is a short digital story (review) about my experience climbing Mt. Shasta in honor of my 50th birthday. It describes some of the physical encounters and emotionals that I observed during the climb.
I created this piece not only to inform my readers about the climb, and its’ difficult challenges, but also to communicate the pride I felt in executing the climb. I wanted to share the experience with those who watched my story.
With the use of images I believe I accomplished my goal in giving my readers an experience of the climb beyond the simple words that I used to describe it. My obsessive compulsive disorder comes out when I’m looking for on-line images (i.e. Google and Getty) as I enjoy the sense of finding just the right shot to assist in communicating the meaning of my words. Doing so took many hours of sifting through various images and web sites.
I chose to use images for this digital story rather than an actual video of climbing up Mt. Shasta for three reasons. First and foremost was because I’m in the process of learning how to create digital stories and therefore, wanted to learn from the ground up. Second, I felt it would take more time and be more complicated to use an actual video for this project. And lastly, I chose to go with the “picture says 1000 words” idea. I found it more interesting to use the various images that I chose because they actually said more than words. Therefore I was able to express a deeper experience both physically and emotionally of the climb.
Now that I have completed the task of making “my first video” I believe I am better prepared to go the next step and use video clips, images, and, hopefully, music for my next project. It was very tedious aligning the images with my words/voice. However, after several frames I got the hang of it and could actually sense just how long an image needed to appear to coincide with my words. Other technical factors that contributed to my learning were figuring out how to better navigate on my Blog. This included uploading and editing my video. In addition, I developed a better sense of what actually needed to be edited or deleted. Lastly, I developed a bit of confidence in creating, structuring, and producing a video. But, there is far more to learn so onward to video #2!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The first Saturday in May.....
This is me with Katara.....she's the latest member in our family. I think she's always going to look and act like a puppy.....she's a permanent puppy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
