StoryGuide is your source of tips and advice about creating great videos. If you are working in a large organization or you are a student, if you are documenting your family or recording your vacation, StoryGuide will help you produce content that captivates an audience.
StoryGuide host Drew Keller is an award-winning television producer, editor, web developer, project manager, technology evangelist and educator with experience in documentaries, network prime time specials, special events, national advertising, multimedia and children's programming. Additionally he is an instructor in the University of Washington's Graduate Program in Communication Leadership, lecturing on web-based storytelling, streaming media, video syndication models, and the effects of web video on social networks. Mr. Keller's most recent broadcast documentary was for PBS titled "Three Minutes to Change the World". drewrkeller.com
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hey drew, lovely story that was !! i recently moved to the north pole ( kirknes, norway ), to persue my dream of working here as a doctor. i wrapped up my life in warsaw poland, where i have i studied for 7 years and it was tough. it was harder then when i left dubai (i'm iraqi) , where i was born and lived for 17 years. your story resonated with me and i loved the whole series, sometimes its the right choice it leave everything and start all over. i am excited about life here and i hope it will be kind to me, 2 weeks in now and its going alright. please keep the stories coming as i enjoyed them.
23:35 I'm Norwegian and that's a lovely door. We all love your videos and we hope you make many more.
I really enjoy your videos, and I hope you continue sharing your life in Norway. My grandparents came from Norway. I was there last year in July and this last May, and I fell in love with being there. I've thought about the idea of moving - it's certainly a huge decision! But I appreciate you showing the process to make it feel more achievable. Thank you!
I liked your videos. To establish oneself in different country and very different culture is quite challenging. I know from experience since I spent several years in the US but now back in Oslo. We learn learn a lot about ourselves by stepping out of our comfort zone. Thanks.
Thank you for taking the time to share your insight. I agree completely. Each day I learn about myself, and the impact of my inculturation as an American. It affords one the opportunity to compare and contrast the shape of different societies and cultures - what each nation values, what each fears, and how each envisions the future. I feel I have a deeper understanding of myself by doing the best I can to face the daily challenge of living life to the fullest while adjusting to my new life. Bergen has become our home. It has not been an easy path, but for us, it is worthwhile.
"I'M NOT GETTING PAID FOR THIS!" I'm cackling harddddddd This video maybe a 7 years old, but the content is gold and still relevant! And I love how witty yet easily to understand by a noob like me :)
Still one of my favorite lines in a video. The funny part is I didn't catch it until I was editing, weeks later. It still makes me laugh. He is a funny kid. The basics of production don't really change, only the technological details. The premise of double system sound is over a hundred years old. But it is a heck of a lot easier to do now. Thanks for watching.
I love these videos. Please keep them coming
Thank you. I just discovered your videos recently while looking to move to Bergen
Hey, thanks so much for sharing your experience. Im currently in Uni and i hope to someday, when i graduate and get a job, be able to move to Norway. I've been really onto the idea of it, evaluating pretty much every pro and con of it (leaving family, friends and pets behind, the loneliness of being in a new place, the paperwork needed, etc.) and even though it's someting for the far future it makes me anxious. Your videos have been a great way of taking notes for future reference.
The algorithm wants me to keep up with your journey apparently, and I do not mind! Although I know factually how huge it is to move country, leaving most everything you know and love behind. This video really contextualized it for me. Your home looked so beautiful and cozy filled with the care and memories you guys have given it over the years, and your family looks absolutely lovely! I cannot compliment you enough about your filming and video editing either. I can't remember if you have used music with singing in past vlogs(it's been a while since I saw them), but 15:58 just sounded so beautiful when the song faded in, and fit so well. Also, that fork thing is very relatable to me! lol While growing up, I had a guardian very particular about my table manners. No elbows on the table, sit politely, eat silently, wait for everyone to sit before eating, and wait for everyone to be done eating. Always say thanks (tusen takk) for the food before you can ask to leave the table. It's good knowledge to have I think, how to be and act polite. But holding the fork in my left hand had to be (not literally) beat into me! It felt very unnatural for me and ended up just making me very confused every time I ate😅 But I realized quickly when I had the freedom to eat how I wanted that it really does not matter and no one cares. You just hold it in the hand that feels natural and no one has ever commented or criticized me about it since. But it almost became a life journey for me, figuring out my fork-holding technique lol So I was very surprised when you commented about the fork holding as part of the cultural language! I never realized it was limited to Norway(or maybe neighboring countries?) 😂
Wow, what a kind and thoughtful comment. Thank you. I appreciate that you took the time to watch, and the story resonated with you. The fork thing may be more of a European v. North American contrast. In the states we are taught to switch our fork back and forth between our left and right hands - left hand when cutting, right hand when shoveling in the food. When I started venturing beyond the isolation of my American cultural reference points by traveling the world, it struck me that in many cultures you keep your fork in the left hand for most two-utensil meals. Far more efficient. Although I was amazed the time I was sharing a meal with someone who was so skilled at the endeavor he could eat peas off the blade of his knife. If I had tried that I would have probably flung them around the room. Again, thank you for watching.
Well made and said. I lived in the country for only a couple years before having to move back, and miss it with everything I have. Since moving back, life has continued and the idea of moving back feels harder and harder to make; family, friends, memories. I could see my home in that final take off shot and it was very emotional. Thank you for this amazing video, og håper dere trives i Norge! Jeg ser frem til den neste videoen :)
Please, can you continue telling about your new life in Norway.
Thanks! That is very kind. I have shot a ton of footage, but I am trying to find a storyline that makes sense. The good news is we have purchased a home here in Bergen. The bad news is with the pace of renovation it could take a long time to get it ready. My kids want me to document the process, but we'll see if I can find enough content to make it more than a home fixer upper channel. :) That said, there are definately more stories to come. Thank you for watching.
Have you become an F1 fan? We have a friend that has moved from the States to Norway (where we live) and she struggles a bit. Will show her your videos - your a great story teller - and very observant when it comes to our Norwegian culture.
Thank you very much. It can be difficult to adjust to any new culture. We have been here almost 3 years and I still have days where I wonder, "Will I ever figure this out?" But those moments are fewer in number as Bergen becomes home. We feel very fortunate to have found a place in the world that feels right to us. This is a great community.
I forgot to add, I've been a Formula 1 fan since I was a kid. Not sure why, but I have always found it very engaging. For me it has always felt like the best drivers with the best technology on tracks steeped in history. The sport has evolved, with each era having benefits, but my interest has never waned. And now I follow the series that are feeding the next generation of drivers into the sport - F2, F3 and the W series. Always interesting.
Awesome videos and storytelling. Now, Im grabbing some popcorn and waiting for the next video "The Landing". :)
Love your writing - combined with your voice, makes for a soothing watch 🥂
What did you use to capture audio when using the Insta360 One X camera? The Audio (and Video) is terrific!
Well thank you, that is very kind. I think at that time I was using a Zoom h6 audio recorder clipped to my belt in the back (by today's standards, it is huge) and a Countryman lavalier mic hidden in my clothes. In editing I then synchronize the audio from the digital recorder to picture, using the audio on the camera as a reference. I did a video about how to do this process (double system audio) a while back that you you can find here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/gpl1ptyAlNKYnKw.htmlsi=ENZdk9C-CZNT1gdj I use this approach with a lot of different digital audio recorders - from a Rode to my iPhone. With practice it can be second nature. Thanks again for watching.
Quick question: Do you screenwrite before shooting vlogs? What process do you think works for you best?
Thank you for the question. This question is difficult for me to answer as I do an odd combination of things. For this one I first outlined the basic structure of the video. After I had an outline that I thought would work I then wrote out ideas for what I planned to say for each scene, and thought about how to best illustrate the point (what shots and angles I would need). When it came time to shoot I would read through out loud what I wanted to say in the segment, memorized the key points, and then threw away the paper so I could adlib each on-camera bit. I didn't want it to feel too formal, and I didn't want to read off prompter. When I do that I am pretty stiff and it feels rather disingenuous. In editing I string out all the segments, figure out what might work better as a voice over, and then write scripted parts to glue everything together. Because this is more of a "how to" or skills based video it usually needs to have some structure so I don't ramble too much. I have a completely different approach for something like my "Moving to Norway" series. For that, I shoot like crazy as events unfold. Whether it is moving or not, I shoot it. I may speak directly to the camera (off the cuff) if there is a feeling or description that could prove helpful to the story. Once I have an idea what the story should be that I want to tell I collect all the footage I've saved - anything that could be relevant to the story - and I start stringing it out in editing. For a 15 minute video I may have over 2 hours of footage on the timeline. I begin the process of organizing the parts that could fit together, and mostly discard footage that isn't relevant. I refine, and refine, and refine until I have moments and images that tell part of the story. From there, I start writing my voice over/script for the scene I am working on. At times I may write something that directly explains what is happening on screen. And other times I may to tell one part of the story with video while I advance a different story with my voice over. I continue this process of writing, revising, and revoicing, allowing the story to evolve during editing. It is messy and time consuming, but I find the stories I tell this way have a little more integrity, honoring the feeling of being in the moment that I captured. I am not forcing the story to something it is not. I'm not sure if this information helps. One approach is very systematic, the other is organic and difficult to describe. Thanks for watching and for asking the question.
@TheStoryGuide this is beyond helpful for me. I've been meaning to start creating videos for my youtube, but I find it hard to figure out the best process from pre, in prod, and post-prod
Thank you so much for these insights
Beautilful and a video that let the thoughts starts spin. My mother was planning to leave Norway for Seattle in 1964. Bought the big chest, got Visa - and then... met my father here in Norway. So, we have a unused "Amerika Koffert" (chest) in the basement...
Damn if only she could have went anyway. You would have grown up in the States in the golden years.
God Jul from Copenhagen ❤
we moved from Seattle to Helsinki the same way - sold everything and never looked back
Watching your videos about your move to Norway and Bergen have been such a joy! I hope you enjoy your new life in Norway, and I hope to see more videos from you :)
It's wonderful to hear about your move to Bergen! As someone who grew up there myself and now lives near Oslo, I warmly welcome you to this beautiful part of Norway. Watching your journey, from navigating the challenges of covid in a hotel to missing your loved ones and finally settling into Bergen life, has been truly inspiring. I hope you're finding comfort in the unique social norms here, like the quiet respect for personal space on public transport and the more reserved nature of street interactions. It's clear you're an amazing parent, partner, and family member. Here's to your continued enjoyment and discovery of all the incredible experiences Norway has to offer. Welcome!
"promosm"
Thank you for watching. I am sorry my point of view as a storyteller strikes you as self-promotion. You have an interesting perspective, as these videos are neither monetized nor focused on advancing a specific agenda. When I share my experiences they are nothing more than that, personal observations about life's rich pageant. Still, I can understand how someone on the outside looking in could categorize my stories as "promote so much". I find it curious that your channel info directs folks to your website, which is focused on promotion. I hope you are successful in discovering content and storytellers that better meet your expectations. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I dream of going to Norway one day! hopefully to live and work there
Same
I absolutely love Norway! Will move there any day. Such a beautiful country and Bergen is a stunning city!
Hi, I'm very interested in what company you work for. I've worked from home now for going on 4 years I know you said it was based in Seattle but have offices in Norway. As another American trying to move to Norway.
Greetings from Hilfarth!!
7:11 Impressive. 😊 18:26 Yikes, that's more then my old apartments worth...
Kordan stå det til med språket?
Welcome to my country. You will never completely leave your life in the US, nor will you totally convert into Norway, but you can enjoy the best of the cultures and continue to find out what is behind the next corner or mountain. We have also moved between countries before we came back home. Would not be without the experiences.
Im from Göteborg in Sweden, so I have always felt drawn towards Bergen. West coast, rainy, second biggest city….and so on. Love Bergen. And your storytelling made me sub at once:) Tack fra Sverige!:))
Just love your videos,and welcome to Bergen😃😃
En utrolig fasinerende video.
Hope i bump into you one day in Bergen! Welcome and hope you thrive here 🙂
I just discovered your videos now... at work... And I just had to watch them all in one go! Thank you so much for sharing your journey! I hope your past 48 hours haven't been too difficult with the terrible wind! I haven't been to Bergen in such a long time even though I am a Norwegienne, but was tempted by all your beautiful footage of the less famous areas and streets!
Admire your bravery and commitment! Not an easy choice to make im sure! My wife and I have twice had similar experiences once moving from Norway to Italy, and then back again from Italy to Norway when we were expecting our daughter, "all" of our belongings crammed into a station wagon 😅! So we know a little about adapting to life in a new country. That said, we had it much easier as we didnt have kids at the time, cant imagine how difficult it would have been to do so now! My wife is Italian and can identify with a lot of the experiences you had adapting to life in Bergen. Yes, I am a born and raised "bergenser" and happy to have the both of you as a fellow citizen! Dont be suprised if we say hello should we spot you in town 😉 , I guess we are not your typical Norwegians like that... please make more videos! We truly enjoy them and cant wait for the continuation! Tusen takk!!
I would love it if you said "hei". I am always a bit surprised when someone mentions they have watched these stories, and flattered when they mention they enjoyed them. I can not imagine driving with my belongings in a station wagon. It must have been a long and exciting trip. What a change from Italy to Bergen. I look forward to bumping into you here. Thanks for the message.
I startet watching your series yesterday, and i love the way you make these videoes. I really enjoyed it! As a born and raised "Bergenser" it is very interesting to see the journey through a foreigners eyes. Velkommen hjem!
Thank you for the welcome home. I envy that you have always called Bergen home. But perhaps my appreciation for the community comes from my experience living in many different places in the States. It makes it easy to recognize all that is good about this town. Thanks for watching.
Yay! New episode!
Your videos are so beautiful! We are also moving to another city in a few months and this is so inspiring! Thanks for everything!
Best of luck with your journey. Thank you for watching.
My wife and I moved from Seattle to Drammen in Norway in 1985. It was the time when jobs were scarce in Seattle. After months of job hunting, we came on the idea of looking for a job in Norway. I have dual citizenship. My father was Norwegian and my mother American and old laws made it possible for me to keep both. It also made it a lot easier to move and get a job in Norway, but I had to find a job. In our vacation in Norway two years earlier we had gotten a list of manufacturing companies in Norway from the American embassy in Oslo. I sent applications to 50 companies and got replies from 3, and one possible offer. They asked if I knew CAD, I said yes even though, at that time, I had taken one evening class. I figured I knew more than them and I had used computers for more than ten years. The job was for a CAD operator with an engineering background, 6 months guaranteed. The offer was over the phone. I turned to my then girlfriend, in bed, and said “I suppose we should get married” thinking it would make the paperwork easier. We had 3 months to get married and move. We were living in a rented basement apartment, so the big problem was getting rid of everything. We had a large group of friends, being members of a Norwegian dance group, where I met my now wife, so they helped with yard sales and wedding preparations. Everything we wanted to take with us went into a 4ft x 4ft x 8ft crate and shipped by boat from Seattle to Oslo. So at he end of 3 months we got married on Saturday, picked up my renewed Norwegian passport on Monday and flew to Norway on Tuesday. My new boss met us at the office where I was to work so he could show us the company apartment we were to live in. It turned out that it was livable in summer but not winter since it had no heat. My boss found an apartment in the upper floor of a house owned by a family of Pakistanis. I was born in Norway and had lived there as a kid in the early 1960’s, and I had spoken poor Norwegian all my life and the job, being in oil, was mostly in English. My wife had taken a Norwegian class some years before but she sang more Norwegian than could speak it so she suffered at first but she is musical and good with languages and eventually got into Norwegian class for immigrants. For the first month, before the crate arrived, we lived out of our backpacks we had taken with us and help from some dancing friends we met though the dance group. We have now lived in Norway for longer than the Røråsbanen train set has been running. We were at the christening of the train when we first arrived and now it has been announced that the train sets will be retired. We have been back to Seattle and the US periodically and have no plans to move back.
Interesting. As you probably know, Drammen had a bad reputation in the 80s,90s, and early 2000s., So it was a lot "easier" to establish yourself there in those days. I just saw the first flat that i rented for 4500kr in 2005, being listed for 23.000. 55m2 by the train station.
I have binged every episodes now and can't wait to the next. All I can say, you did a great choice, and I want to welcome you and your wife to my homecountry Norway <3
Well thank you! We do feel welcomed by so many of the amazing people here. For us, this is the perfect balance of culture, community, nature and society. Each day we are reminded how fortunate we are. I have a feeling we will never take this opportunity for granted. Thank you for watching.
Hi its me Who say hi at the X mas market 👋🏾. So its final you moved to Bergen 😮😬
I really appreciate that you took the time to comment here. I have mentioned to family and friends how humbled and flattered I was that you took the time to say "hello". When we spoke I was nearly done with this episode and was wondering if folks would watch it since it was less about life in Bergen and more about our commitment to live here. Our intent is this move is final. Let's hope our efforts with Norwegian classes and meeting the other requirements ensure we can stay. The fear is getting here may be the easy part, staying may be the difficult task. But for now, we are good and take the task one day at a time. Thanks again for watching and for the kind words. See you in town.
🙂👍🇧🇻
Always looking forward to watching your storyguide. Gutsy move. Now it's gonna be exiting to see when the contaioners arrive, if your belongings has survied the long journey across the Atlantic. A bit crossed that YT don't give me notificatrions, but anyways, I'm here 8 days after the release.😜 Let me say, I admire your decision, awaiting the day(video) you're gonna reveal what made you choose Norway over the US. For a Norwegian, it's always intriguing to know the reasons why, and what tipped the scale in "our" favour? Thank you for sharing your journey. greetings from ARctic Lo-Ve Islands! Have a happy, loving and successful 2024❣🥳🎉🎉🎉🎉
You are not the only person to mention that KZread did not surface this video with subscribers. My guess is too much time has passed since episode five was released. Disappointing, for sure. But this series has a pretty long shelf life and folks tend to find them over time. I started this series for my family and friends, and I am still surprised that others have shared they enjoy the stories. The reasons for moving here are rather nuanced and touch on a wide range of reasons - personal, cultural, social, political. Darcy and I are struggling a bit how to tell that story without casting aspersions on those who might feel differently. We don't want to stand on a soapbox preaching about how things are "awful" in one place or "perfect" in another. We do want to tell the story of "why", but with a global audience we want to be sensitive to how we present it. It will come, but I am not sure how it will land. Stay tuned. :) Thanks again for watching and the kind words.
Beautiful video, thank u for sharing! x
My best wishes for a happy and good life for you and your wife here in norway. A tough decision to make, I'm sure. Then again, variety is the spice of life. Så hjertelig velkommen til norge:) Ønsker og håper at dere får det fint her og at dette også blir "hjemme".
I am happy to have seen your journey. I hope your life in Norway is amazing. Me and my wife are looking at moving that way to into Bergin as well. Software engineers are needed over there and it is beautiful. Would you have advice for someone that is looking to go that way?
Finding an opportunity for work can be tricky. I am certainly not an expert, but my understanding is if you are not from a country in the Schengen Area (most of the EU countries, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), to work in Norway you will first need a residency permit. This means you will either need to secure a job before you come or enter on a temporary permit like as a student. The system is not really set up for someone to move here and then look for a job. Additionally, your employer will be the one to manage and coordinate securing your visa. As that can be expensive and complicated, many employers will choose instead to look for a potential employee who is a Norwegian citizen or already has the right to work here. Honestly, that is why the system exists - to ensure that Norwegians have the best opportunity to fill Norwegian jobs. Your advantage is there is demand for tech workers, therefore that should afford you a better path. There are plenty of resources available online to help you create a strategy. UDI's website clearly outlines the requirements. Websites like Life in Norway have a slew of articles that outline where to look and what to do. Most every available job will be posted on Finn.no, and you can filter by location, skills, and requirements. That might be the best approach to finding an opportunity that meets your needs. No matter what, start learning Norwegian now. Even rudimentary language skills will help you land a job. It is true that many folks here speak better English than most Americans. But while your workplace may accommodate non-Norwegian speakers, to acclimate and thrive in the workplace basic language skills are a must. The conversations over lunch, after work, or in the hallway will be in Norsk. The focus here is on collaboration and respect. Beginning the process of learning Norwegian will signal to both an employer and coworkers that you want to be part of a team. Don’t be dissuaded by the effort because it is certainly worth it. Best of luck and I hope this helps a little.
I just stumbled onto this video series today and watched all six parts. Was curious if you would choose to stay afterwards, and now I have my answer. Definitely understand your love for Bergen, I've lived here nearly two decades and absolutely love the city. I'm originally from further up the west coast, so Bergen felt a lot like home to me really fast. Similar weather, similar attitudes in the people, and it has that unique way of feeling like a small town but with large town offerings. I think the mountains separating the different boroughs really help with that. Curious to how you've been experiencing the language, I know it can be a little bit more challenging to learn if you're a native English speaker since we automatically switch to English whenever speaking to non-natives. Plus you can get by so easily with using just English most of the time. I had a French flatmate several years ago and he had to insist on me speaking as much Norwegian as possible around him so he could have a chance to properly learn it. And I had to convert to an Oslo-ish way of speaking whenever speaking to him to make it easier (then got to go back to using my regular dialect after about a year).
Ah... my struggles with the language. Funny you should ask. My wife is doing well. She will take her B1 exam in the next few months. For me, the primary challenge (excuse) is that my daily environment is in English. As I work remotely for an American company, and the program at the university is in English, every conversation, every meeting, every memo is in English. Most days the only Norsk I hear is from the news, on television, or online. I am envious of your flatmate. It is just my wife and me in the house, so there is little use trying to practice here. Too often we fuss a little because neither of us are sure who is right. It appears that we accomplish little more than reenforcing our poor skills. An additional excuse I tell myself is that in having responsibility for two jobs I find creating the time for things like språkkafé can be challenging. When out and about Darcy and I do our best to speak Norsk. I am amused when someone immediately switches to English. I can't help but assume that listening to my Norwegian is so painful they use English to save their ears. OK, more likely they see it as a favor so I am not struggling. I must admit I am amused when trying to sift through the more formal bokmål as opposed to the bergensk I encounter on the street. More than once I have had to refer to Study Bergen's learn-bergensk glossary to sort out what folks are saying. This year my focus is on bearing down and getting better. I have never been great at memorization or the "rules" of language (grammar, spelling, etc.) so that is something I will continue to overcome. Despite all these excuses, learning the language is important to me for many reasons. Not just for assimilation and communication, but also because I want folks to know that I am truly invested in my life here. Despite the struggle it will come. Just not fast enough for me. (In rereading this it appears I've become rather defensive. Lots of excuses and not enough action. Guess I better get in gear.) Thanks for the nudge and for helping me publicly share my commitment to get better. And most of all, thank you for watching and the kind words.
If I switch to English around someone it is never as a reaction to their skill, but more an accomodation to them. I honestly have a lot of respect for people who are learning Norwegian as a second/third/etc language, because I know how difficult our diverse dialects make it for them (I've heard from people that relocating to a different part of the country can almost set them back to the beginning in terms of learning the language because the new dialect will be so very different). I attend the boardgame club at Nordnes most weeks, and we have a bunch of members who primarily speak other languages than Norwegian. Some of them are competent enough in Norwegian that it doesn't matter whether I speak Norwegian or English with them, but other members have not yet reached that level and would not understand (much) if I spoke only in Norwegian. So any public announcements at the club is done in English to accommodate them and for me, whenever I sit down to play with people who I know don't have Norwegian as their first language, I ask if they prefer I speak Norwegian or English with them. Sometimes they tell me to go ahead with Norwegian, other times they need me to use English and I'm honestly fine with either (plus I love any opportunity I get to speak English, lol) To be fair, bokmål doesn't really resemble most dialects at all (even nynorsk which is technically based on a myriad of dialects don't do that good of a job either, least of all with my dialect). That's just how it goes with written versus spoken Norwegian. Don't expect them to match up all that much. And don't worry about what people think, most of us will just appreciate that you are trying and give it time.
Beatiful video.
We happy to have you .teacher thanks. :-)
I want to wish you great new beginnings in Norway…your new home!