Digital Story
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"A Grand Mother ", by Candy Elsmore
A Grand Mother won the Supreme Creative Remix award sponsored by Creative Commons New Zealand
In my video ‘A Grand Mother’ I wanted to convey the feelings of pride and delight that my family felt when we discovered that our grandmother / great grandmother had signed the Suffrage Petition over 100 years ago. As the story is quite personal in nature I wanted the approach of the video to reflect that so I filmed it in one continuous take as though the viewer had popped around for a cuppa and was sitting at my table while I told them the story of Mary Edith. Another reason I wanted to tell the story in a ‘conversational’ and ‘low tech’ kind of way was to prove to myself as much as anyone that the huge amount of digital information on the web is available to be interpreted and presented in such a way that it becomes personally involving and meaningful storytelling. It seems to me there is an incalculable amount of information in the cloud but it’s just a means to an end if we can’t find the personal connections with it to bring it to life and give it real value and meaning. Although the story of ‘A Grand Mother’ is quite a personal family story I think the importance of ancestors and family is universally held and as such I hope it will resonate with many. As the whakatauki says “Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao, Māku e kī atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata! Ask me what is the greatest thing in the world, I will reply: It is people, it is people, it is people!” ‘A Grand Mother’ is the first edited video I’ve ever made – I just got my digital video camera a couple of months ago. It was great fun to research and make, and most of all I’m really pleased that I made it for my family to watch and keep. Thank you for providing the opportunity and for being the catalyst. If for any reason the Vimeo version is unavailable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXosbHYYEq0 -
"How Maui Captured the Sun", by Amanda Tauber
This entry won a student prize sponsored by DigitalNZ
Through Scratch (Free animation programming) I have created my own remix of the original Maori legend; "How Maui Captured the Sun". I have drawn and animated all the images freehand on the computer with the exception of one picture with no known copyright (link: eyeofthefish.org/hook-of-the-fish/) I think people will enjoy this video because it is a creative way of showing the legend. It is easy to understand meaning that people of all ages can enjoy this. -
"Manny's New Zealand Story", by Casey Carsel
This entry won a student prize sponsored by DigitalNZ and a Lead Judges' special award sponsored by Department of Conservation
I made a stop motion animation with a mannequin as the protagonist as the basis of my digital New Zealand story. The character goes through various events of his life relating to New Zealand. From when he fished up New Zealand (people used to pronounce Manny as Maui according to the story) to when he ran through town after the February Christchurch earthquake. Although this idea has probably been done before, I thought it would be fitting for the situation as that way the viewer, as a New Zealander, would find it easier to put themselves into the situation. I think I used New Zealand digital content well in not only the conventional picture usage, but in making Manny's room have content and through the video usage, especially in getting all the special allowances to use specific pieces of film. The room was also created specifically for the film and not only did I get all the permissions for both film, music, and pictures, I also created some of my own and used good ol' Kiwi ingenuity to get me through any difficulties. While completing the challenge, I had fun and think (well, hope) I made it original even within the task idea. I think the viewer would want to spend time with this entry because as it teaches you things, it also jokes and in using an unusual medium it will keep the readers attention for longer than just a slideshow or just a video. In spending so much time with this entry (enough to think of the mannequin as a person more than jokingly) I have gained a passion for this, and I think that passion communicates to the viewer too. It was difficult keeping everything in perspective when timing the subtitles, but I did my best to have the highest quality of every aspect possible for a student film. Overall this entry is so gosh darn awesome because it is so gosh darn different, so gosh darn fun, and so gosh darn information into things about New Zealand that people would not necessarily know. -
"New Zealand", by Rita Godlevskis
New Zealand won the Digital Story category sponsored by National Library of New Zealand
My New Zealand-inspired short video piece combines images from the National Library NZ with my own personal photographs. In telling “A New Zealand Aotearoa Story”, I have combined historical images with images of my own experiences here. As pioneers would have documented their lives upon arrival, I have done the same. I arrived in November 2009 and love learning about my new home. In this period of discovery I have traveled throughout the country adding to my visual diary all along the way. Although much has changed since the historical images were taken, the iconic imagery of the New Zealand landscape has a timeless quality to it. Many aspects of New Zealand cityscapes established by the early settlers also still exist today. With my video, I hope that the observations on the differences and similarities in our experiences of this unique country can contribute some small part to a larger national dialogue about the experiences of newcomers: both settlers of old and contemporary migrants. -
"Newton Stories", by Petra Jane and Peter Smith
We used historic and modern photos to tell the story of Auckland's most interesting inner-city suburb.
Selected judges' comments
"Petra and Peter's entry showcases the history and development of Newton as a suburb. It's filled with lots of interesting facts about how the culture and architecture of the area has developed over time. It highlights the great amount of change the area has been through in its short history. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the old with the new photographs, as well as the collections of stories on each of the pages."
