Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wesley Fryer

Ken Burns’ Civil War

Last night I watched the first part of Ken Burns’ Civil War documentary series produced for PBS.

Wow.

I agree with the historian in the film who says it is impossible to understand the history and the culture of the United States without a deep understanding of the US Civil War. It defined us in so many ways, and still does to a large extent. This film is clearly an outstanding example of digital storytelling. I know the “Ken Burns effect” in filmmaking refers to the method of panning within a still image to create a sense of movement and greater interest for viewers. The imagery which we have available from that time period is so compelling. This film is worthwhile not only for its effective modeling of digital storytelling techniques, but more importantly for its content and powerful messages.

I had never seen movie footage from the 1930s of Civil War veterans marching in parades for Veteran’s Day in various cities, and President FDR recognizing them for their service and valor. That was really something.

I wish we had audio recordings from that time period, especially recordings of President Abraham Lincoln– but also others: Robert E. Lee, Joshua Chamberlain, Stonewall Jackson, and others. And audio recordings of more “regular” soldiers who did not necessarily become famous, but lived through those incredible times and saw the events firsthand. At least we have the writings of many of them, along with still photos. But I wish we also had recordings of their thoughts in their own voices. This drives home to me the importance of engaging students of all ages in digital storytelling projects in our different communities, which can preserve oral histories for the benefit of posterity.

The roots of the US Civil War truly were sown at the founding of our nation, and its eventual manifestation in bloodshed seems to have been inevitable. The scale of that bloodshed is difficult if not impossible for me to fathom, sitting as I am 140 years after its conclusion. The bravery and courage exhibited, as well as the suffering endured, by the Americans of that generation was tremendous. How fortunate we are to live in the relatively tranquil United States– which is still beset by struggles, conflict and suffering– but thankfully not widespread bloodshed of neighbor against neighbor. We are engaged in war– wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan– and the threat of global terrorism attacks is real. But we are not attempting to settle our disagreements as Americans with other Americans through violence, promulgated via standing armies of both volunteer and conscripted soldiers. Let us pray such a tragedy will never again beset us.

The PBS website on The Civil War by Ken Burns is an excellent resource. The section on Images of the Civil War is particularly good in its discussion of how to communicate effectively with pictures in a narrative, an essential skill for the 21st century digital storyteller.

WikiPedia’s entry for Ken Burns includes an extensive listing of other documentaries he has created. (NetFlix currently lists 17 of them.) I’m sure in the months and years to come I’ll be watching a large number of those as well, and continuing to take notes– learning from a master digital storyteller.

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On this day..


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One response to “Ken Burns’ Civil War”

  1. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    Well, you’ll be happy to learn that there are audio recordings and even video recordings of Civil War veterans. There are many sources including the Michigan State U. audio library (downloads available), some DVDs put together by Belle Grove Publishing (I can only remember the name of one of them and it is called “Echos of the Blue and Grey).” On the internet, I have run into famous folks on audio such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Thomas Edison, Edwin Booth (John Wilkes’ brother), Florence Nightengale and even an audio story by a guy who was present during the Gettysburg Address (he was about age 11 as I recall). There are recordings of president Ben Harrison, who fought in the Civil War, and many presidents prior to the 1930s.

    I’ve had a lot of fun watching and listening to many of these. Unfortunately, nothing available from old Abe, etc. Just do some typing into Google and you’ll run into this stuff I have told you about.

    Best wishes, Jim