Digital Storytelling
Intended Audience
All members including people living with cancer, family members and significant caregivers.
Program Description
In this workshop, members will be guided as they create their very own short film (Digital Story) about a meaningful moment or experience in their lives. Each participant will creatively write a short 400–500-word story before selecting images/video/music to accompany the narration. They will then put it all together using a basic video editing software to produce a short 3-4 minute film.
Benefits and Impact
Digital storytelling is a powerful experience for the filmmaker, and a highly effective medium that helps viewers understand a meaningful event in that person’s life. Other benefits reported by participants, include:
- meaningful personal exploration and self-reflection
- comradery and fun with other members
- the joy of creative expression
- a sense of accomplishment
- a powerful outlet for sharing powerful emotions and experiences
What to Expect at a Session
The workshop will be facilitated by Digital Storytelling specialist Mike Lang over Zoom or in person. During the five sessions, Mike will help participants to: 1) Find meaningful moments in your life experience related to health and wellness, 2) Write and record a voice-over, 3) Craft your own story using basic video editing techniques, and 4) explore how to share your finished story for maximum impact. No previous experience is required, and all equipment can be provided if necessary.
What the research says:
Telling one’s story can be an important way for people living with cancer to find hope, be part of a community, and cope with their disease (Chelf et al., 2000). Digital storytelling has been closely studied in Calgary by Mike Lang (Lang et al., 2019), and numerous benefits of the practice have been found, such as reconciliation of past experiences, distraction from treatment, and reconnection with friends and family (Laing et al., 2017; Laing et al., 2019). Therapies involving creative arts have also been found to improve several health related outcomes in cancer survivors, including quality of life and anxiety (Boehm et al., 2014; Bosman et al., 2021).
