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164] Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education
produced by the Budapest School in the 1970s, there was already a tendency
to include the life story of the person portrayed in the film. Such was the
case with Gyuri Cséplő, in which the main characters private life and way
of thinking were revealed, representing individuals from the same socio¬
cultural background. Such representation serves a high degree of emotional
identification. This tendency has continued in the history of Hungarian
documentary films, especially in the work of Tamäs Almäsi (Stöhr, 2019).
The life stories revealed in narrative documentaries are also invaluable in the
teaching of history and social studies.°?
The analysis of interactive digital narratives with non-linear or branching
narratives can also be included in a screenwriting course, as many digital
applications allow the modular structure of the narrative to be visualized in
a way that is easy to follow (see Part II. Chapter 4).
Although technical media have always been present in film and
photography-related courses, they are now present in virtually all areas of
arts higher education. In performing arts research and training institutions,
narratives are constantly being archived and students learn to digitally edit
their own work. At the Moholy University of the Arts, students can learn
the latest digital techniques of storyboard and comic book creation in the
Visual Storytelling course. Atthe Hungarian Dance University, students can
develop their skills in using tools for sound and video editing in the Media
Studies course.
Students at art universities have a strong sense of professional commitment
combined with continuous professional self-reflection. Students feel strongly
motivated to express their emotions and thoughts through artistic creation.
Those preparing for a career in dance have expressed their professional life
stories, motivations and plans in the form of digital stories. DST workshops
give them the opportunity to reflect on their professional lives and to express
themselves through new media. 1he digital story is an artifact in itself and
a multiple representation, as it is composed of visual, musical and textual
elements. With DST, students can learn how to verbalize and synthesize their
thoughts and how to achieve online self-representation through their stage
photos (Lanszki, 2016c).
DST can also be used to teach genre theory in humanities courses on art
theory and in the mimetics of arts, dance, film, and theater studies. In the ds106
online course, the genre characteristics of horror film were taught through
DST methodology (see Part IV, Chapter 7). But transmedia storytelling is also
an excellent tool for art theory courses, providing an opportunity for students
to compare representations of a theme or fable across different artworks.
Data-driven storytelling can also be integrated into art theory courses, as
59. E.g., Our Cells (Sejtjeink), which presents couples attempting artificial insemination, or the biographical
memoir Judgingly (Itéletleniil), which reveals the life stories of women imprisoned for political reasons
in Kistarcsa (Stéhr, 2019).