FRIENDS Digital Storytelling Guidelines

for the University of CEBU

Contents
INTRODUCTION - FRIENDS Erasmus+ KA 2.............................................................................2
FRIENDS Digital Storytelling Contest..........................................................................................2
Entry Rules.............................................................................................................................. 3
Thinking of creating a digital story............................................................................................4
How to use this guide...............................................................................................................4
Language of the story - Your video can be in English or any local languages, but subtitles in
English is a requirement (even for English medium videos).....................................................4
Digital story format can be any of the following:.......................................................................4
Video Format:........................................................................................................................... 5
Digital storytelling contest timeline...........................................................................................5
Mechanics of Creating a Digital Story .........................................................................................5
Making a Digital Story Steps....................................................................................................5
Developing an Idea............................................................................................................... 6
Plan...................................................................................................................................... 6
Outline/Script........................................................................................................................ 7
Storyboard............................................................................................................................ 7
Film and Record................................................................................................................... 8
Finish.................................................................................................................................... 8
Submit - How to?/ Requirement............................................................................................9
Copyright..................................................................................................................................... 9
Evaluation and Judging Process and Criteria............................................................................10
Judging Process..................................................................................................................... 10
Special Award........................................................................................................................ 10
Rubric for Digital Storytelling Contest: FRIENDS...................................................................10

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INTRODUCTION - FRIENDS Erasmus+ KA 2

FRIENDS - is an acronym for - Furthering International Relations Capacities and Intercultural

Engagement to Nurture Campus Diversity and to Support Internationalisation at Home

This is a key action 2 project under the broad umbrella of the Erasmus + funding by the
European Union. The FRIENDS project’s main goal is for capacity building among the
collaborating Higher Education Institutes. It is led by Varna University of Management from
Bulgaria. There are four Programe Country Higher Education Institutions from Europe
(Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Turkey) and 12 Partner Country Higher Education Institutions
from Asia namely, 2 from Bhutan, 2 from Cambodia, 2 from Malaysia, 3 from Philippines and 3
from Thailand.

The main goal of FRIENDS under capacity building is to strengthen the involved Asian
universities‘ internationalisation capabilities and to develop their students' global competence
through the purposeful integration of intercultural dimensions into the universities‘ formal and
informal curriculum.

Digital storytelling is a way of sharing your story publicly through various multimedia and
channels. If you feel that sharing your story will help others look at a topic you are addressing
from a new perspective, you can add value to the current conversation surrounding it. Digital
storytelling is an engaging medium to reach a large audience. Digital storytelling can creatively
showcase a mixture of mediums such as audio, video and images.

This guide is designed to help students create a digital story on the theme of intercultural and
international experience.

FRIENDS Digital Storytelling Contest

One of the outputs of this FRIENDS project is to achieve its goal of integrating intercultural
experiences on campus into informal curriculum via the FRIENDS Digital Storytelling contest.
The digital storytelling contest will focus on FRIENDS capacity building of recognizing and
showcasing internationalization and intercultural dimension on partner campuses.

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Entry Rules

Eligibility / participants - 1st and 2nd year students of the University of Cebu from the
2019/2020 Academic year

Number of submissions - Submissions are an individual submission--no pair or group

submissions will be accepted. Only 1 submission per student will be accepted. A minimum of 18
entries must be submitted. The length of the production should not exceed 5 minutes.

Where to submit - Entries should be submitted on a thumb drive to the Student Affairs Office to
be copied in person, or by e-mail attachment / shared google drive link.

Why should you share your story?

● It helps to look at diversity on campus positively.

● It encourages people to look at education beyond the text and classroom experiences and
beyond their degree.
● It will encourage students to participate in study abroad opportunities.
● It will highlight opportunities to be an international buddy or roommate.
● It will help look at why diversity is important in the current global context.
● It will help in spreading awareness about a culture among non-native students on a
campus.
● It encourages students to create a more diverse professional network.
● It challenges students to see intercultural interactions as the norm, not the exception.

Sharing your personal experience can be intimidating and uncomfortable sometimes. However,
illustrating these challenges can be helpful for people who have lived the story. This can serve as
a reflection and a moment to decompress what was gained of a simple, yet powerful experience
that otherwise may have been forgotten. It is also helpful for individuals who might never have
thought about diversity. It may help those on campus view their experiences in a different light.
Using this popular medium may help to challenge long standing beliefs and how individuals
view themselves and the world around them.

You can plan, organize, and make your own digital story on intercultural and international
experience, by using this how-to-guide even if you’ve never attempted a project like this before.

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In this guide you will find:

• Ways to choose your story idea, frame your message, and write your outline

• Step-by-step planning tools to help you prepare and make your final project

• Tips for recording video with your mobile device or other basic recording devices

Happy storytelling!

Thinking of creating a digital story

Storytelling is a great way to connect with people. It is through stories that we learn to
appreciate, recognize and understand experiences and opportunities that we have encountered.
Sharing your intercultural and international experiences during your studies can be a powerful
tool to help guide your future direction and goals. Digital storytelling makes an ordinary story
more powerful with the use of multimedia.

How to use this guide

You don’t need to be an expert to create a digital story. Your story need not be extraordinary to
be shared with others. Every story is different and unique and you can use whatever you are
comfortable to create your digital story.

This guide will help you create your own intercultural experience on campus that will showcase
your story and your voice.

Language of the story

Your video can be in English or any local languages, but subtitles in English is a requirement
(even for English medium videos).

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Digital story format can be any of the following:
➢ Horizontal stories
➢ Short and vertical videos
➢ Full motion videos with sound
➢ Animation or still images
➢ Only Audio

Video Format:
➢ Video
➢ Story with Swipeable Slides
➢ AMP stories
➢ Listicles
➢ Virtual reality

Digital storytelling contest timeline

Digital Story guideline submission - 29th Nov 2019
Finalization of digital story guideline - 15th Jan 2020
Nominating and finalizing jury - 30th Jan 2020
Open call for digital storytelling contest - January last week (24th -31st) 2020
Submission for the digital story - 31st Jan 2020
Judging the digital story - 3rd - 14th Feb 2020
Final result declaration - 26th Feb 2020

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Mechanics of Creating a Digital Story

Making a Digital Story Steps

1. Develop an Idea
2. Plan
3. Outline/Script
4. Storyboard
5. Film and Record
6. Finish
7. Submit

Developing an Idea

In order to create a captivating digital story, you should be passionate about what you want to
tell. It is easier to work on a project that has meaning to you, than to feign interest in something
you think will impress others. Here are a few key ideas that will help you begin to frame your
idea and begin your project.

Some questions to help activate your creativity:

➢ What do you want to tell the audience?
➢ What creative ways can you express your experiences with intercultural and international
experiences, communication and internationalization?
➢ Do you have something unique to say based on your experiences, awkward encounters or
fond memories?
➢ What is a story that only you can tell?
➢ Is there a particular object that ties you to another part of the world?
➢ Can you tell the backstory of a picture? Please creatively share it with us!

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Plan
Once you have an idea, you will also need to have a plan for your storytelling. Making
and having a plan will help you organise your thoughts and help you figure out how best
to use the resources you have.

State the purpose of your storytelling:

● Why do people share a personal story?
● Think about a time you heard someone's personal story that inspired you.
● How did you feel? What was the message?
● What is your story and your message?
● How do you want your audience to feel while watching your story?

Audience: Firstly, identify who you are making the story for. This will give you an idea about
the language level, background of those viewing your work and how much introductory
information you must give within your topic.

Materials: Digital storytelling is able to combine unique aspects of multiple mediums. You may
need to gather backdrops for interviews or a physical object to display for a shot. You may need
to work with lights to set the scene. You may need to create props to emphasize points in your
story.

Equipment: Depending on how you visualize your project, you will need different equipment.
You may be able to create your entire project on your phone if you have the ability to record
decent audio and have a camera. You may want to use external recorders or microphones for the
audio. You may have access to a stand alone camera or a video camera that you will want to use.
You could have excellent editing equipment on your phone or computer that you will use.

Outline/Script

Frame your story: Think about why your story is unique. Since it is going to be only 5 minutes,
you need to consider what details should be included so that you do not lose your plot.

Script: Once you have formulated your idea and gathered materials, you will likely have to
come up with an enticing script to lead your viewers through your project. You will want some
sort of story arc to give a proper beginning, problem, conflict, solution and closure that is full of
authenticity. How will you “hook” us and draw us in? Does your story have emotion? All of

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these things will have to be captured in no more than 5 minutes while maintaining proper tone
and tempo.

Here are a few things to keep in mind while scripting:

➢ Remember honest and real stories are always powerful
➢ Don’t forget to add a few lines on lessons learnt that others can relate to
➢ What is your plot of the story?
➢ What will your viewer take back from watching your story?
➢ Presentation and storyline are equally important to engage and attract your
audience.

Storyboard

Storyboarding refers to a way of planning for all the things that will appear in the digital story
such as music, pictures, words, text, photos, and video. Storyboards help storytellers to picture
the entire story from start to finish.

Storyboarding is a visual that you make to show each scene of your digital story. This is a way to
get all your thoughts onto a piece of paper so you can put in visual and audio ideas in the order
you envision your final project. You might have identified captions, thought bubbles, labels,
animation or other cues that lead pictures, video or animation from scene to scene.

Tips: Try to draw your story visually, what will be your first shot and why?

Film and Record

Digitize: Using your storyboard, you are going to combine all the elements for the visual portion
of your story. This should give you an idea of how your finished project will look. Once you are
satisfied with watching your storyboard come alive, you will add the final touches to your
project.

Voice Over: The voice over narrates the visual story for us. The script is an important part of
moving the audience from scene to scene. This is how we know what the representation of the
visuals are. You will want to be particularly careful of background noise, static and buzzes that
will distract your audience from your story. You may want to be creative in fading the voicing in
or out or creating your own sound effects.

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Music: Another aspect you may want to utilize is music to set your mood and tone for the video.
However, you will have to be careful with copyright and intellectual property on music. Make
sure you have permission to use the music. Another note is to ensure that the music doesn’t
overpower your voice over and compete for the audience’s attention.

Finish

Edit: The editing phase is where the planning and recording come together. This is where you
combine visual and audio parts to create a final product.

Make sure you keep more time than you think you need to edit. Editing is the longest portion of
the process. You may want to utilize peers or lecturers to watch your project with fresh eyes and
give you feedback. You will be so engrossed in creating your perfect project that you may not
notice distracting visual elements in your work and have to reshoot. You will want to ensure
your sound aligns with the scene changes. You may have to shorten your audio or visuals to fit
into the time limit. You may need to create your credits or acknowledge those who helped you.
You may need to re-time your subtitles or animation to better suit the flow of the project.

Learn about products for digital storytelling (some are free):

1. http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/
2. http://elab.athabascau.ca/workshop/digital-storytelling
3. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/
4. https://www.lwks.com/
5. https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-make-astoryboard-for-video--cms-
26374

Submit - How to? / Requirement

After you finish your project, don’t forget to submit it on time to be considered for the contest!
Your digital story should be submitted to Student Affairs Office on time.

Your digital story should not be more than 5 minutes and should be physically submitted in a
flash drive.

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Copyright
If you are using someone else’s images, music, video, research and ideas, you will need to get
permission from the author/owner to use their work.

Any material that is not the digital storyteller’s original work needs to have references/citations
or prior permission for usage of work. A digital story that contains another’s work without
reference and permission will not qualify to be judged by the jury.

Furthermore, if a digital storytelling contestant is found guilty of copyright infringement or

plagiarism will be disqualified (Check with Student Affairs Office for questions on citations).
S/he will not get to participate in any International Relations Office related opportunities such as
study-abroad programme in the future.

For more information on how to get permission and copyright related law in Europe please check
here:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2018/625126/EPRS_STU(2018)625126_
EN.pdf

For Bhutan Copyright laws and procedure check here :

https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/copyright/en/registration/replies/pdf/bhutan.pdf

For more information on how to get permission for copyright check here:
https://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/introduction/getting-permission/

Evaluation and Judging Process and Criteria

Judging Process
Jury: For judging the digital story, 4 experts (2 female and 2 male) will be nominated with varied
backgrounds in filmmaking and digital storytelling.

Special Award
A special award will be given to a digital story that has the most viewers/likes for making an
extra effort to reach the audience through effective strategy of dissemination of their story on a

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 dedicated Youtube Channel. However, this does not guarantee or provide leeway for winning
the contest.

Rubric for Digital Storytelling Contest: FRIENDS

The Digital Storytelling will be scored out of 500 and there are 5 criteria with a maximum score
of 100 each

Name:
Production Name:

Exceptional Admirable Acceptable Attempted Remarks

& score
Criteria 80 - 100 65 - 79 50 - 64 0 - 49

Impact Production was logically put Production was put Production was put Production was put
together and evoked very together and together and evoked together, but may have
strong emotions. evoked strong emotion. lacked logical evolution of
emotions. script or storyboard.

Editing Editing was skillful and Editing was Editing was complete, but Editing may have been
imaginative. Timing of all skillful and may need additional work. incomplete or production
components was expertly imaginative. Timing of components doesn’t look finished.
done. Timing of all may need work.
components was
done well.

Design Audio & Visual components Audio & Visual Audio & Visual Audio & Visual
are expertly blended for an components are components are put components are attempted,
extremely well put together blended for a well together to tell a story. but the production is
production. put together lacking.
production.

Structure Content was very Content was Navigation of the content Segments could not
& comprehensive in comprehensive in may need work for logically be put together by
Navigation information and navigation information and comprehensive the audience.
to allow the audience to navigation to allow understanding of the
easily comprehend the the audience to production.
production. comprehend the
production.

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Creativity Production was original and Production Production was lacking Production was boring and
kept audience attention engaged audience creativity and audience students were not engaged.
for the majority of was lost or distracted
the time

Total
Score

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