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community storytelling

Video Theme: Community Storytelling 

 

grandfather and grandson fishing 400px.jpg

Water connects us in many ways. Share a story about how it
connects you to something important. 

Background

We are all connected by water. We all live in a watershed that drains to a creek, lake, or river, and eventually, the ocean. The water that falls where you live may be the same water that flows down a river hundreds of miles away.

We’re fortunate to live in an area with amazing rivers that sustain our iconic pacific northwest salmon, trout, sturgeon, and other wildlife. They provide people a place to boat, float, splash, fish, and paddle. Rivers are also used for shipping goods and some are even used as a source of drinking water.

As cities and towns grew, they built storm sewer systems to move stormwater off buildings, houses and roads as quickly as possible. Today, water that used to soak into the ground flows across hard surfaces and down storm drains along streets, altering our natural waterways and increasing pollution. Storm drains usually lead directly to the nearest stream, carrying oil, grease, dirt, metals, pesticides, litter and bits of plastic are picked up along the way. This pollution is bad news for the water bodies that we use for recreation. It’s also really bad for the fish and wildlife that need clean, cold water to survive. Imagine how you would feel if someone started dumping dirty water into your bathtub while you were using it!

The streams and lakes you connect with may change in your lifetime; maybe they already have. Through the power of storytelling, you can help bring awareness to these special places and the importance of protecting them. 

Theme 2: Community Storytelling 

This category is an invitation to tell a story that expresses your cultural or personal connection to water. This can be different for everyone so use this category as an opportunity to tell a story based on your personal experience and from your unique perspective. 

Use storytelling to touch upon one of these themes that describes your personal connection to water. Make a 55 second video for this theme. Here are some ideas:

 

  • Share a favorite trail near water. Include some fun facts about it so people who haven’t been there can know about it. Learn more about Clark County watersheds here.
  • Think about an experience that connected you with water. Were there experiences you remember when you were young or stories from your family? Was there a memory from water activities with loved ones.

Include a call to action at the end of your video and if highlighting an organization, a website where people can learn more.

Video Tips

  1. Do not use stock footage and photos--we want to see your own video. Using copyrighted footage, photos or music will disqualify your video!
  2. Use YouTube’s Audio Library to find music or use something you’ve created yourself. Your school district may have audio files you could use, such as Sound FX. DO NOT use copyrighted music or your video will be disqualified. Note: there are many YouTube channels claiming to have royalty/copyright-free music. DO NOT use them as the music copyrights can change later and disqualify your video.
  3. Clean your lens. Film in landscape, or horizontally, so your video is wider than it is tall. Hold your phone with two hands while filming. 
  4. Select your video recording quality settings to high quality, 24 to 30 frames per second, use 60 fps if you plan to slow down the video. Render your edited video to the highest quality as well. Finally, under your YouTube profile, go to settings and select the highest upload quality. 
  5. If using a free video editor, select one that does not watermark and will export to YouTube quality (minimum resolution of 720p). Your school may have video editing software or you can search YouTube for advice on best free mobile phone editors for IOS or Android.
  6. English and other languages:  You may narrate your video in English and use another language as subtitles or narrate in another language and subtitle in English. We encourage cultural perspectives!
  7. Song parodies:  Check out this educational parody of this original Mr. Sandman by the Chordettes for inspiration. Of course, you’d pick a more modern song!

Resources to help you make your best video!

Watch past video winners for inspiration:

Questions? Contact us.

Stormwater Partners logo with salmon jumping.