Finding Media For Your Story

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flickr cc licensed photo by gin_able

Once you have an outline for the steps for the story, start looking for the images, audio, and video that might illustrate the story- you probably want to have more media than you think you might ultimately need. Also do not feel like you have to have literal representations; see what happens when you use metaphors.

Now here is a my rule- the media files you use in your story have to be ones that are licensed or shared with permission to re-use-- this is the only way you can safely then share your new creation knowing it does not contain any copyrighted material plus it is just darn human courtesy to give credit where creation came from. So just finding a picture via Google is not satisfactory. For each media file you find, as you search, be sure to document the source by title and URL and find a person or organization to give credit.

Below you will find a rather extensive list of sites where you can find and use media that are licensed for you to do so or are in the public domain. One of the best source of photos are the Creative Commons licensed ones on flickr- see my guide for flickr searching. Beyond this list below, see 30+ Places to Find Creative Commons Media. You can also use Google Image search that limits itself to ones licensed for re-use, but it requires a few extra clicks to set the option (o results, under Search Tools, then Usage Rights); if you want to create a nifty short cut, see my time for a shortcut at For the Holidays, The Gift of Time.

You Can Contribute to this Page

Go to the editable portion of this page and click the Edit this Page button. Add any new relevant media source sites (please preserve te alphabetical order. At the end of your line add an extra 4 tilde characters (~~~~) which produces a signature for yourself like you see on this page.

For more about adding to this wiki, see How to Contribute.


Multiple Media Types

Images


Audio


Video


Make Your Own Media

The other viable option is to generate your own media via methods like scanning photos and objects, using your own digital cameras, video records, and mobile phone cameras. One of the best audio tools you can use to record and edit on your computer is a free open source tool-- Audacity. In addition, these web-based tools may be useful as media editors or converters.


add to / edit this section

Now you are ready for step 3... select a tool to build your story



If you have specific feedback, questions, or just some kibbles to share, you can post your thoughts to the discussion area for this wiki page.


cogdog-watercolor.pngThis site was created by Alan Levine in October 2010, the second incarnation of the original 50+ Ways concept. A 2014 expansion for mobile apps is being co-created with Darren Kuropatwa. Everything here is open to be linked, re-used, re-mixed, re-cast, etc. This particular page was created on Oct 22, 2010 11:55 pm and has been edited 8 times. The last tweak was made on Mar 15, 2014 1:57 pm by - cogdog cogdog. Share freely, often, and voraciously by linking to http://50ways.cogdogblog.com/