EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog

Nicole Neagu

If we are asked to go down memory lane and think of our favourite story growing up, I guarantee that for at least a few of us, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling will pop into our minds. For those who haven’t yet been introduced to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it’s a series that follows a young boy, who on his eleventh birthday is invited to study at the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry after the lovable and aloof Hagrid, delivers his iconic “Yer a wizard, Harry.” The series continues and centres around Harry and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, over the course of seven books (and eight movie adaptations) and the hijinks and adventure that ensue.

While that was a very watered-down recounting of what the Harry Potter series is all about, one thing is for certain, Harry Potter played a crucial role in millions of people’s lives.

Where it began

I was one of the lucky few that discovered Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in elementary school at the young age of eleven (coincidence?). I think this is where the charm of the story really began for me. All of a sudden, I’m reading about a little boy, the same age as me, who learned he was special and had the opportunity to drop everything that was sad in his life for a world of mystery and magic. Doesn’t everyone want that? I found myself waiting outside my door for that letter with emerald green writing to arrive and invite me to study at Hogwarts.

While that day never came, I was still able to attend Hogwarts through reading the series. What makes his journey so captivating and intriguing is the fact that we grew up with Harry and it felt like we were right alongside him. Although we didn’t know him personally, in reading the books, we truly got to know him and his story. This may not be the case to those who read the books later into their adulthood, but for the young readers, Harry was a friend. In all, Harry was relatable to us at a young age because he was just a small boy dealing with fear, authority, bravery, and new surroundings.

The four I’s

I can sit here and talk about why I love Harry Potter forever, but let’s look at the facts. Is Harry Potter powerful storytelling? To do so, I will be using Ashley Fell’s Four I’s from her TED Talk, Why storytelling is so powerful in the digital era:

Interest. I think in looking at the absolute beast that the Wizarding World franchise has become, it is clear that there was interest in the books, and later on an interest in the movies.

Instruct. What did Harry Potter teach us? While it’s important to separate the author (and her problematic views) from her work, Harry Potter taught us the importance inclusion, whether that’s including friends who have a different background than you or working together to fight a common enemy.

Involve. One thing about the writing style in the Harry Potter books that I enjoyed is the fact that you learned along with Harry. Harry became aware of important plot points right along with us. We felt emotionally connected to the story and felt sadness with Harry as well as happiness.

Inspire. If Harry Potter did one thing, it inspired. From videos like Harry Potter Puppet Pals to full musicals like Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and references and jokes in mainstream media on shows like SNL, The Simpsons, and Southpark, Harry Potter inspired many to create (whether in parody form or not).

Ultimately, Harry Potter is one of the most memorable and engaging stories that exists in our lifetime. The franchise has quickly grown outside the original stories and we will continue to see it grow in the years to come.

Turning Red is just one of many coming-of-age stories released by Disney and Pixar. However, it was a particularly memorable and a stand-out story for me as it fostered an emotional connection to the characters and their experiences – we will dive further into this shortly. For those who have not seen it, Turning Red follows 13-year-old Mei Lee’s journey from preadolescence to becoming a teenager amongst the heavy weight of parental expectations, personal desires, and uncontrollable biological changes.

Why I Loved It

While there are tons of Disney and Pixar movies that I have grew up on and have personally loved over the years, the 2022 release of Turning Red is just one of those movies that managed to creep its way into my heart for to easily become one of my favorite movies of all time:

• It is heartfelt: I know we’ve all experienced that awkward and stressful transition from preadolescence to the teenager years where puberty begins to hit. We watch Mei Lee go through the struggle of this throughout the movie. In her case, Mei Lee turns into a red panda whenever these emotions begin to rise. However, we see that she is not alone and has the love of friends and family to guide her through.
• It’s familiar: Throughout the movie, we can see that the movie takes place in Toronto – a familiar Canadian city that we all might recognize. It features the famous CN Tower, Chinatown, and even the transit system!
• It Represents: Mei Lee is a young Asian girl growing up in a big Canadian city. Throughout the movie, we can see visual references to aspects of Chinese culture. I think it is wonderful and important to see representation in stories and have this lens amplified to an audience.
• It’s Personal: For me, I could relate to a lot of what Mei Lee was experiencing and that was also what stood out. I myself am also a Chinese Canadian so I was able to identify with Mei Lee’s character. The movie features some nostalgic elements that I also saw in my childhood – like a Tamagotchi.

Why Turning Red is Good Storytelling:

In a TedTalk by Ashley Fell, on Why storytelling is so powerful in the digital era, she goes over a few key components: A good story is one you can identify with, they interest us, instruct us, involve us, inspire us in some way, and good stories are inherently visual. Turning Red does a good job at putting these principles into action, and thus managing to tell a memorable story.

Turning Red is Universal and Interest’s Us

As a coming-of-age story, I think most of us can identify with the aspect of ‘growing up’ and trying to find ourselves as we juggle a period of discovery regardless of age, gender, or culture – that experience is familiar. In the movie, we see Mei Lee even hide a journal from her mother. I’m not sure about you, but I definitely also had a journal when I was a tween that I tucked away.

It humanizes the experience of growing pains in a digestible way. And Turning Red does not shy away from showing the very real internal emotional and relational conflicts and what some might consider to be a more taboo topic such as puberty. This is also what makes the story so compelling: it’s relatability and confidence in telling a story that some may argue as uncomfortable to talk about. Some parents have critiqued this story in that it touches on topics that should be left out of childrens story.

And let’s not forget about the captivating visuals in this animation that help bring the story to life. The characters are fully animated, colorful, and expressive. Ashely Fell also mentioned that the three key components of a great story include: color, picture, and movement. As an animation – we get to see all of this unfold before our eyes. We see a girl transform not just figuratively, but literally into this giant red panda!

Turning Red Instructs Us

We get to see the development of a character. We get to see the impact of positive friendships as a core support. We get to see the very real aspect of a girl trying to meet her mother’s expectations. We get to see this character wrestle with these experiences and ultimately learn to accept them as part of who she is growing into. Turning Red teaches us that these things are normal, and not something to shy away from. It teaches us to embrace ourselves and that eventually we will figure it out.

Turning Red Inspires Us

This story is inspiring because it amplifies a topic that maybe mainstream society may find uncomfortable or challenging to talk about. Despite the criticisms that Turning Red has received, I think it challenges the narrative of just spewing out happy fairytales and opens the dialogue for maybe addressing other real and human topics and putting it at the forefront of a story as a learning experience.

Furthermore, if we take some time to delve into why the story was written by director Domee Shi, we can see that Shi actually was pulling from a lot of her own experiences growing up. In turn, Pixar also saw this universality in her story and chose to bring it to life for a larger audience. Perhaps this best serves as an example as to how our own stories can become something more as long as we give it a voice.

For me, Turning Red will always be a movie that if someone were to ever ask me what a ‘good story is’ – it would the first one I think of for these reasons listed above. If you have not watched it already, I highly suggest at least seeing the trailer to get a taste of what the story has to offer. And I hope that you find it as memorable as I did.

Moana is a Disney animated movie that tells the story of a teenage girl who, despite protest and disapproval from her tribe, sets out on a dangerous sailing adventure to try to save her people. Moana is expected to follow her Father’s footsteps and become the next chief of her tribe, but her heart pulls her in a different direction which takes her on a brave and dangerous journey throughout the movie.

What Makes Moana a Good Story?

1. Moana’s storyline is relatable

According to TEDx Talk: “Why storytelling is so powerful in the digital era” by Ashley Fell good stories are ones that are relateable and that we can identify with. In the movie Moana the daughter of a tribe’s Chief grows up being prepped to one day take over her father’s position as her islands Chief. However Moana dream of her own was not to be Chief, but instead she felt called by the ocean and was on a mission to become a master way finder. Moana struggled with not wanting to follow in her father’s footsteps she did not want to let her parents down. A theme i am sure we all can identify with.

For me, when I graduated highschool and I was trying to decide “what I wanted to be when I grew up” I struggled with pleasing my parents or pleasing myself. I was expected to follow a certain path but it was not the path I wanted to follow. I relate to Moana’s story and in a way felt like I could understand the internal struggle she was facing with doing what she thought she was supposed to, or following her heart.

2. Moana is a character we want to root for

As mentioned in our Module 2 video , one of the main principles of storytelling (according to Pixar) is that a good story gives you a character to root for. Moana is a character that is easy to root for because it is easy to put yourself in her shoes of struggling with making the right decision and being conflicted with being who others want you to be, or being who you want to be.

3. Moana has conflict, a climax, and a resolution

According to our Module 2 video a good story includes conflict, a climax, and a resolution.

Conflict: Moana main conflict throughout her story is whether or not she follows her heart and her own dream, or if she follows the path she is expected to take. This theme is something I am sure we have all struggled with at some point. As a people please myself this is a reoccurring theme for me and is one of the reasons why this film resonates with me so much.

Climax: Moana’s sailing journey is centered around her trying to find demi-god Maui to have him restore the heart of Te Fiti to save the people of her island. The climax of the story is when Moana, with the help of Maui, is able to return the heart to Te Fiti and save her island.

Resolution: At the end of the movie Moana returns to her island, reunites with her parents, and later becomes chief of her island and a wayfinder.

By: Heather Bell

One of my favorite all time movies is the film, “Catch and Release” which stars Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant and Kevin Smith.  It is a romance/drama film set in 2006.  Garner plays Grey, a woman whose fiancé, named Grady, has just died from a tragic skydiving accident.  She is very sad and in mourning because now she does not know what her future will hold.  Many of his friends have arrived for the funeral and stay to keep her company. 

                One night a message is left on Grady’s phone.  It is a young woman named Maureen looking for the child support cheque for a child she and Grady share.  Maureen is not aware that Grady has died.  Grey is very upset about this message because she doesn’t know anything about another woman and especially about the child he fathered. It is revealed that his friend knew about the woman and the child.  Grey ignores the message, thinking Maureen will go away.

                Unexpectedly, Maureen and her son show up at Grady’s house, looking for Grady and more importantly, the support cheque she desperately needs.  Grey is confused about what to think because the woman appears to be likeable.  As well, the child bears a striking resemblance to the father.  Grey’s anger and resentment towards Grady grows and it quickly consumes her every thought.  How could he do this to her?  How long has this been going on?  To exasperate the situation, Grady’s mother blames Grey for her son stepping out on the relationship, stating that ‘a satisfied man doesn’t have affairs with massage therapists.’  Grey doesn’t know who to blame for the situation.

                Since Grady is no longer alive to give Maureen child support payments, his mother agrees to do so, but only once a paternity test is completed to prove that Grady is the father of the child.  On one hand, she doesn’t want to believe that her son would make such a poor decision to get involved with another woman outside of his relationship.  But on the other hand, this child represents the last link to her son whom she desperately misses.  The more time that Maureen and her son spend around Grady’s friends and family, the more they start to accept her.  Perhaps she is not the home wrecker she was initially believed to be.

                Unfortunately, the paternity test comes back that Grady is in fact not the father of the child.  Everyone involved is very confused, except for the child who doesn’t seem to care one way or the other.  Grey finds herself in unfamiliar territory.  She wants to help the child financially because those were Grady’s wishes.  Grey makes an agreement with Grady’s mother, that the child will continue to receive support.

                After much contemplation about what happened in their relationship, Grey decides to let go of the of the anger she felt towards Grady.  She instead chooses to remember the good parts of him and the good parts of the relationship.  She moves on with her life be beginning a romantic relationship with a new partner, one of Grady’s friends.

                This story really stuck with me because it took the main character out of her comfort zone and it threw her in the polar opposite and I liked how Grey dealt with the interpersonal issues. What appealed to me as well is that it gave me a character, several characters actually that I could root for.  As the story went along, my opinions of different characters began to change because I developed empathy for some of them.

Burundi is a small country in east Africa. The Kingdom of Burundi dates back as far as the 16th century. During the 19th century, Germany colonized the area, creating the colony of German East Africa. An attack on the region by allied forces during World War I saw the area shifted to be under Belgium’s control, and after World War II, the area was classified as a United Nations Trust Territory.

Burundi gained its independence from Belgium in 1962, following upheaval in the area, including the Rwandan Revolution. Ethnic tensions in the country were high, and a failed coup d’etat occurred in 1965 because of that. Two more coups shortly thereafter succeeded in deposing the country’s monarchy, and Burundi was declared a Republic.

However, King Ntare V returned to Burundi in 1972, during a rebellion. Ntare was quickly assassinated, and the rebellion was countered with what became known as the First Burundian Genocide. Tensions between ethnic groups remained pronounced for decades, with the balance of power shifting back and forth, until 1992 when an attempt at introducing a system of multiple political parties resulted in a civil war, which caused the Second Burundian Genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were killed in the genocides and civil war.

At the start of the 21st century, peace talks and involvement from the United Nations led to a calming of conflicts, and reconstruction efforts began in 2006. Unrest has plagued the nation, however, with the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on the Burundian government to end its continued practice of serious human rights violations. To this day, Burundi remains one of the world’s poorest nations, with a lack of stability, security, and resources.

UNICEF has identified that 78% of Burundian children are living in poverty. Roughly 500,000 Burundian children live in extreme poverty. Because of this, the work that nonprofit Harbor4Life does is essential. Running an orphanage outside of the capital of Bujumbura, H4L has helped dozens of children and young adults to be cared for, receive the necessities of life, and be educated.

Please see these social media posts to learn more about the work that Harbor4Life does, and how you can help it achieve its goals and support the children that depend on it.

https://twitter.com/janitaburgess/status/1562266436718178304

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChoCfKOr0_x/

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChoCyNLrh5Q/

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChoDDgArVVo/