1. Telling My Story
Digital Storytelling
Kira MacGregor

2. TITLE: Beautiful Disregard
AUTHOR: Kira MacGregor
Beautiful Disregard is a collection of works by Kira MacGregor. The works are inspired by a personal
passion with collecting old objects and recreating them into new pieces of work. The concept refers to
transforming disregarded objects into objects of beauty and pleasure.
The simple discovery of a single disregarded object has been the inspiration to much of my work and I
will continue to be inspired by ‘the old’ to create ‘new’.
Story Line: This Digital Story is a documentation of the process of a collection of artworks from a
carefully developed concept. The Digital Story follows the journey from the inspiration, through to the
planning stage and finally resulting in the exhibition of the art collection. However, the story is narrated
from the unique perspective of a scrap piece of metal that eventually becomes a piece of the collection.
Story Outline:
Who – a characterized piece of scrap metal
What –the scrap metal becomes a piece of an artwork
When – does not have a particular time setting but is rather the shortened documentation of a lengthy
process
Where – Begins at a local dump, then to an art studio, eventually finishing in a gallery.
Why – to take an audience on a journey through the development of an art collection for an exhibition.
The story includes the concept, the stages and steps and the emotion that encompasses such a process.
Content: All images were originals taken by the author. The Narration was also by the author and no
music was used throughout the story.
The Process:
Step 1: I developed a thorough and
perfected storyline on WORD which
became the narration. This gave me
the planning document for my story
right through the entire process.

3. Step 2: I then mapped out the
images I would need against the
planning document. Which I
collated into a folder along with
all my other material.
Step 3: I then edited and
adjusted the images to suit the
storyline, mood and character of
the digital story.
Step 4: I then imported all the
images into Windows Movie
Maker and narrated the
storyline all in the same
program.

4. Step 5: I adjusted the image
timing to suit the narration and
added appropriate transitions
between each image.
Step 6: To enhance the
story and convey each step
and main point, I also used
effects on particular
images. These included
‘fade’ ‘zoom’ ‘ripple’ etc.
Step 7: After reviewing the story to ensure it flowed well and communicated the concept and process
successfully, I began to add titles. On significant stages in the story or on particular phrases in the
narration I emphasized these parts with text on simple black backgrounds to not inhibit the feel of the
story.

5. Step 8: I then again added an
effect that I had previously
created on an earlier story which I
now use as a ‘trademark’ for
interest.
Reflection: For the final Digital Story, I have certainly become more familiar and precise with the
process.
Previously, I would begin taking images rather than planning. By now I have concluded that planning in
the beginning has been the most useful tool to creating a precise and strong Digital Story. Hence, I
began with a perfected storyline and narration right from the beginning.
I also found through this early planning the collection of images was a less time consuming process as I
already knew what images I would need for the digital story. In addition to this, in previous stories I had
used a separate program from the Windows Movie Maker to record the narration. But with the exact
narration already developed, the images selected and the correct microphone, there was less need to
adjust the narration. Consequently, I was able to record the narration directly on to the storyboard in
Windows Movie Maker.
After reviewing the story I still found when I added some ‘effects’ it compromised the quality of the
image which was occasional throughout the story, unfortunately not to the standard I would have
hoped. But I believe this may be due to the saving of the image in fewer pixels which was unable to be
adjusted. In conclusion, I was satisfied with the process overall and certainly enjoyed the entire
production.