Memories and Mediascapes
An innovative digital workshop designed for pan-European learners aged 50+ which culminated in a harbourside soundwalk app and online map.
In May 2011 Watershed hosted a workshop for learners aged over fifty from across Europe to use technology to share their stories around the theme of water. The week-long workshop culminated in the creation of a soundwalk App containing stories created by the workshop's participants. An online map was created from the App, which took people on a journey around Bristol's historic harbourside.
The participants were from across Europe, hailing from Turkey, Romania, Portugal, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Iceland, France, Netherlands, and the UK. Using the theme of water as a starting point, the participants used digital tools to capture sounds and images of their past, creating a soundwalk of personal narratives that others could share. Using sound, photos, images and objects and video editing software, participants each created a short film based around the theme of water. Working together as a group, they received training in story and script development, audio and image capture, and video editing.
The soundwalk used PIRL (Played in Real Life) technology developed by Bristol-based company Calvium, which enables users to create mobile experiences and applications which are sensitive to location. The PIRL technology was used to create a soundwalk application containing the digital stories made by the participants, which placed the stories in various locations on a map of the harbourside. Users could download the application and play it out in the harbourside, where the media content would automatically be triggered in exactly the right place.
The workshop was facillitated by Mandy Mcintosh, Glasgow-based visual artist and creative director of Ham and Enos.
Related links:
Memories and Mediascapes Workshop Blog
Love: A Digital Storytelling Workshop
Ham and Enos
Grundtvig
Memories and Mediascapes was funded with support from the European Commission under the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning programme. This publication [communication] reflects the views of the author, and the commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Ended in May 2011