Blog #7

The digital story I chose to watch is The Trail, made by Cindy Gray. It is a personal story about playing with her friend, a horse, through the trail. The trail has many trees on its two sides. The author likes to step on the fallen leaves, view the yellow leaves and listen to birds singing. Walking along the trail with her friend is like an adventure to author. They sometimes climb hills or go through caves. One day, they even lost way in the forest. The author insisted she could find the right way home but finally she conformed to her friend and they arrived home before sunset. As time flies, her energetic friend became old but was still optimistic, enjoyed himself everyday. The author said she would always stay with him.

The story itself is fair, concise, but still full of details and surprise. At first, I thought it was merely a depiction of beautiful view but when I finish watching it, I found the main idea is friendship between author and her horse friend in the end. Author sublimes the story by putting forward her purpose gradually, making the whole story sincere and heart-warming. The speaking is influent but I think it is still not infections enough. For example, when author talked about losing in the boscage, the voice does not create a tense, flurried atmosphere. Pauses are put in suitable place so the structure is quite clear. Pictures appear in the video is pretty: bright yellow and red fallen leaves cover the whole path. Through these pictures, I even feel that I am standing in the trail personally. However, the categories of photos used are limited, I mean they look similar in some degree. What’s more, the image of dogs makes me confused because I think her friend is a horse. The utility of music is brilliant. The sound of cracked leaves and birds singing vivifies author’s description. The best part of the story is the plot of losing in forest. The picture is shaking and the music is wired and gloom, indicating author’s fear and consternation inside. In conclusion, it is a good digital story.