Facilitating video storytelling
"Seeing our group of HIV/Aids-infected people
for 5 minutes on video as long as our Mayor on video, gave us the feeling that
we are recognized and seen in our community.”
A women’s leader in a community in Ethiopia expressed this feeling at a
community dialogue, where self-developed video stories were shared amongst
stakeholders in Ethiopia, when they discussed about the changes, that had taken
place in the health sector. “Seeing
ourselves on video, shows how our behavior and attitude has changed in a
positive way on how we deal with challenges in the health sector. It strengthens
our commitment to continue this process of dialogue amongst the service
providers and service users”
This story
is an example on how video storytelling can make a difference in participatory
processes. Video storytelling is a method, where people who have a common topic
of interest, work together to develop a film. The
participants are the directors of the film. The purpose is to help to improve
the communication amongst stakeholders, where connections and visibility make
the difference in the dialogue. The process of filmmaking is as important as
producing the final film itself. The presence of the video camera enables
participants to talk to people, which they would not meet if they would not
make a movie. The method initiates bridge building to key stakeholders at the
border of the system. For example, video
storytelling enabled youngsters in a Moldovan rural community to have a meeting
with the Mayor, so that they could make him aware on the presence of their
youth club. It was the first step to get youth issues on the agenda of the
municipality.
Storytelling and the role of the facilitator
People love
to tell and share stories. To transfer this into a film helps them to build and
develop their creativity, social capacities to relate and to connect. It is fun
to do! The film gives the group a platform to expose their stories to a wider
audience and it is an effective tool to build people’s exposure and confidence. The role of the facilitator is to enable
participants to get a deeper understanding about the issues, they would like to
address to a broader audience. In my career I have been most involved in
projects that were related to social development such as health care,
education, economic development, water & sanitation and youth development. The presence of a self-made film by the group
made a significant difference in the dialogue.
The process
starts by composing the group, that will make the film. Their first step is to share stories,
followed by questions they further would like to explore and discuss with wider
audiences. A good video story has clear goals and a well-elaborated
script. By some simple exercises
the participants learn some basic camera
techniques on how to optimize sound, light and shoot the best frames. The
facilitator plays a coaching role during these exercises, enabling participants to give each other
feedback. In the 2nd stage
the participants capture the video images, with which they would like to tell
their story. This can be done by doing
interviews with a number of stakeholders or through role plays or acting as
they do in real movies. After capturing, the facilitator helps the group with editing
the video, collecting feedback on the first draft and finalizing the video.
Eventually the group presents the video with key stakeholders for discussion
aiming to deepen understanding and catalyze change.
Video storytelling at the EMENA Conference
Generally,
the process takes 3 – 5 days, if the group wants to make a film, where they
shoot at different locations with stakeholders, who are not part of the video
storytelling team. It takes time to
learn how to manage the camera, learn about video editing and to spot the
locations to do the shooting and get appointments with the stakeholders. At the EMENA Conference having the theme
‘Facilitative Leadership’, we managed to shoot the film in 3 hours with a group
of 10 participants. During the stage of exchanging stories, it became apparent
that the transformational role of the client in the facilitative process was
not visible at the Conference.
(Potential) clients were not present at this conference to tell and
share their part of the story. Therefore, an initial group of 4 people decided
to write a script about ‘The development of a facilitative approach, that
helped the client to transform’. During the break 6 additional participants
were casted as actor for the film. One
participant, who already had experience in shooting managed to shoot the story
with the facilitator as a second camera man.
‘The process of developing the
story jointly and doing the acting and shooting together was fun!’ , expressed one of the participants. ‘Within a short time we became like an
united group’. It took the
facilitator 10 hours to review and edit all the footage with the help of the
core team of 4 participants, who wrote the script. The next day, at the final plenary of the
Conference, the 10-minute film was screened to the whole Conference group. The film triggered a lot of laughter and
recognition. ‘This story shows the essence on how change can take place with our
clients through the participatory approach’, expressed one of the
participants. Another, ‘The boss in this
film made me remind of my former boss. It felt as real’. ‘It is amazing to see,
that it is possible to create a visible story that shows the
transformation. It is not always easy to
explain the change a client can expect, when we start with a facilitation
intervention with an organisation’, said another participant. ‘I would love this video to show to potential
clients’. Read the article in the IAF
Newsletter
Video storytelling covers various
purposes
Video storytelling is an empowering tool for learning
and having dialogue on issues, where
bridge building and visualization can make all the difference.
Video storytelling captures life stories
of people, it is fun and supports the capacity development and learning process
of stakeholders and it is an excellent mean in further disseminating life
stories to other platforms for communication purposes. It will be up to the group to decide if they
would like to show their story as a non-fictional or fictional story, having a
clear purpose for further discussion. A video story intervention provides
a new and different perspective in facilitating dialogue!
Simon Koolwijk
Facilitator and expert participatory video
* For more information about training
opportunities in video making and facilitating video storytelling consult Trainingcourses storytelling byvideo
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