Story Producer guides speakers of local languages in the production and distribution of colorful Bible story videos… on a low cost Android smartphone! It is a workflow management tool (an offline Android app) that helps the user to orally translate, dramatize and produce video stories in their local language(s). The output of the Story Producer app are mp4 or 3gp animated slideshow videos which can be played on any cell phone or computer. The Story Producer app can enable almost anybody anywhere to become a local Bible story video producer.
This May Be a Good Tool For Your Community If:
- The community is an oral culture with low literacy rates.
- The community has little or no access to Scriptures and perhaps little desire for Scripture.
- There is a desire for quick turnaround from translation to production and distribution.
- There is a need for sensitive production and consumption of audio-visual Bible content.
- There is need for local ownership and local sustainability of SE activities.
Website: Story Producer | More Details Here
How This Works
You can use an Android smartphone for the production. To produce a good product, you need to bring together a small team of local language speakers. Your team can get help by hosting an outside trainer for one week to learn the Story Producer app tool and process. Then your local production team can translate, produce, and share Bible story videos from the templates. This production proceeds on your own time, at your own pace, maybe even at your own cost.
Finer Details
Financial cost: $500 or less per language community (to cover the cost of trainer, training, and equipment). After that, production and distribution is essentially free or affordably carried by the local community.
Translation Method: oral/audio (with text options)
Scripture stories included: 001 The Widow’s Offering
002 The Lost Coin
003 One Lost Sheep
004 Jesus and the Storm
015 Kande’s Story #1
016 Kande’s Story #2
017 Kande’s Story #3
018 Kande’s Story #4
019 Kande’s Story #5
100 God Created Everything
101a Sin enters the World
101b Cain and Abel
102 Noah and the Flood
103 The Tower of Babel
104 Job
105a God Chooses Abram
105b God’s Covenant with Abram
105c Abraham’s Sons
106 God Destroys Sodom
107a Abraham and Isaac
107b Isaac’s Wife
108 Jacob and Esau
109 God Blesses Jacob
110 Jacob Returns to Canaan
111 Joseph the Dreamer
112 Joseph a Slave in Egypt
113 Joseph Honored
114a The Famine in Egypt
114b Joseph Tests His Brothers
114c Joseph Forgives His Brothers
115 Slaves in Egypt
116 Moses-Birth and Early Manhood
117 Moses and the Burning Bush
118 Moses confronts Pharaoh
119 Ten Plagues in Egypt
120a The Israelites Leave Egypt
120b The Lord Provides in the Wilderness
121 Israel at Mount Sinai
122 The Gold Calf
123 The Ten Commandments
124a Constructing the Sacred Tent
124b Levites Begin to Serve
125 Miriam and Aaron Criticize Moses
126 Spies Explore Canaan
127 Moses Dishonors God
128 The Bronze Snake
129a King Balak Asks Balaam to Curse Israel
129b Balaam Blesses Israel and Tempts Israel to Si
130 Moses Dies
131 Joshua Sends Spies to Canaan
132 Crossing the Jordan River
133 The Israelites Destroy Jericho
134 Achan’s Sin Causes Trouble for Israel
135 The Lord Gives Joshua More Victory
136 Joshua Divides the Land
137 Deborah Leads Israel
138a Gideon Learns to Trust the Lord
138b God Gives Victory to Gideon
140a Samson and the Philistines
140b Samson and Delilah
141 Ruth
142 Samuel the Prophet
143 Saul Becomes Israel’s First King
144 God Rejects King Saul
145 David Is Anointed King
146 David and Goliath
147 Saul Is Jealous
148 Jonathan Warns David
149 King Saul Pursues David
150 King Saul Dies
152 King David Shows Kindness to Saul’s Family
153 King David and Bathsheba
154 King David’s Son Absalom
157 God Gives Solomon Wisdom
161 Elijah and the Widow
170 Jonah’s Story
176 Daniel in Babylon
177 The Fiery Furnace
178 The Writing on the Wall
179 God Rescues Daniel
180 Esther
201 John’s Birth
202a An Angel Visits Mary
202b The Birth of Jesus
203 Star Watchers Find Jesus
204 Young Jesus Visits the Temple
205 John the Baptist
206 Jesus–Baptism and Temptation
207 Jesus’s First Disciples
208 Jesus’s First Miracle
209 Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
210 The People of Nazareth Reject Jesus
211a Jesus Heals a Leper
212 A Roman Officer’s Faith
213 Jesus Forgives a Paralyzed Man
219 Jesus’s Authority and Power
222 Jesus Sends out the Twelve Disciples
235 One Grateful Leper
Localization of the templates:
The SP app guides the users to localize the video templates in several ways.
Translation of the story narration into the local language with local voices.
○ Transcribing the oral story narration into the local language using the local orthography (if it is developed and stable) to provide textual captions for each image.
○ Customizing the background of the title slide with a photo emphasizing the local culture’s identifying color, design, view, icons, etc.
○ Complementing the story with an appended audio recording of a locally composed song performed in the culturally preferred music.
What personnel are needed to bring this resource to fruition, (make the resource available in another language)?
3-6 local people, part-time
What kind of technical expertise is needed to adapt this resource to your situation?
5 or 6 people. Some of the team members should be able to speak a major or national language. At least one team member should be trained to check the Bible stories for accuracy (e.g. experienced translator).
How much time is required to do all the work required to bring the resource to completion?
1 week to learn the software and process and become independent; it can be used at any time in a language program. It takes an average of 7 hours to produce each story video.
What sort of logistical setting is needed? (e.g. quiet space for recording, good Internet access)
a locally owned Android phone with 64GB + micro SD card to hold the APK and templates.
What challenges or difficulties are there using this resource?
The challenges to using the Story Producer app are:
- Requires one week of training. (This is to ensure accountable, responsible translation processing of Bible stories.)
- The SP app and the language of wider communication templates need to be introduced to a local community and installed (side-loaded, not downloaded) by a certified trainer.
- The local community needs the assistance of an experienced language translator who can do the accuracy checking.
- The output products are Bible story videos ranging in size from 10 – 500 MBs, so people who receive these videos usually need to have genuine micro SD cards for storage space.
Unique Characteristics
The products created are localized animated slide-show type videos—Bible story videos and other kinds (AIDs/health) of story videos.
The intuitive Story Producer app guides and empowers you in the process from start (learning & translating & dubbing) to finish (production & distribution). The Bible videos, once produced and shared, can be used in multiple types of Scripture Engagement activities like Sunday schools, small group Bible discussions, sermon preparation, family devotions, and individual learning and meditation.
How To Get Started
For further information visit our website.
Distribution Methods
Videos produced via the Story Producer app are free and distributed under a Creative Commons license. They can be distributed offline from a smartphone with the Story Producer app to almost any other cell phone or smartphone via Bluetooth or SD card swapping. These videos can also be distributed online from a smartphone with the Story Producer app in numerous ways such as in Whatsapp attachments, being posted on Facebook, uploaded to YouTube, attached to email, etc.
Not a Good Fit? You May Want to Consider One of These
Translating from a story template or shell can sometimes result in story structures that seem unnatural to the local community. In addition, sometimes the images utilized in the story templates are confusing for people from different cultures to understand. If this is your situation, the Story Producer app might not be your tool of choice. Rather, consider doing oral Bible storying and recording the naturally produced stories in audio only. Or, if you prefer inserting visual images into a more naturally produced story, perhaps Reader App Builder (RAB) could be utilized.
Sometimes the images utilized in the SP app templates are confusing for people from different cultures to understand. SP app users can swap out template images for their own images.