Training: To provide skills in producing short films and multi-media videos, a 14-day workshop on digital storytelling for 45 youth began yesterday in Thimphu.

Digital storytelling is a modern extension of the ancient art of storytelling, interwoven with digitised still and moving images, narratives and sound.  Using these media, the participants will develop a narrative to tell stories.

An Americian photojournalist brought in by Department of Information and Media (DoIM), AJ Heath, will be providing the basic skills on photography, interviewing and editing to the participants.

AJ Heath said that the need for the new digital communication was required to connect to a wider audience through the use of multimedia technologies. “It’s a modern way of telling a story, along with having a wider coverage,” he said.

Participants are given a “blank canvas” wherein they can build their own stories and share their life experience using creative images and other mediums.  Ordinary stories are given a deeper dimension, with vivid colour to characters, situations and expressions in order to entertain and captivate the people.

A press release from the Youth Media Centre (YMC) states that the training is not just designed to transfer knowledge to participants, but also to amplify the voice of a community.  The training intends to help youth discover how to use multimedia technology to share their stories and issues the way they want them to be addressed.

By Younten Tshedup