Transit Planning, What’s the Story?
Workshops for Urbanists to use Storytelling as a Design Tool
“Most people think storytelling is an afterthought — a method to communicate the finished product. We want to flip that notion and have people to think of storytelling as a design process.” — Fay Darmawi, Executive Director of SF Urban Film Fest
Our workshops are designed to teach storytelling as a design process that urban and city planners can use to best serve people. All of our workshops aim to relay these takeaways:
- Design for people.
- Be cognizant of the story you are trying to tell and to whom you are telling it.
- The human impact of your work can often be lost in technical jargon.
- Be clear about your desired outcome(s) and/or with your call to action.
To learn more about the value of our workshops, check out this testimonial video of our 2018 workshops.
To inquire about a workshop for your organization please write us a note.
Level 1 - Storytelling for Transportation Planning
Led by Keith Battle, Filmmaker & Educator responsible for Advanced Training at the Bay Area Video Coalition and Fay Darmawi, Community Development Banker, Urban Planner, & Founder and Executive Producer of the SF Urban Film Fest.
Municipal transit systems can be a great equalizer in cities. Providing residents the necessary mobility to access their cities’ various offerings while being efficient, sustainable, and a venue for a shared lived experience (community!). Often times the benefits of transportation projects are lost as an agency shares its plans with the public. Technocratic jargon or an over-reliance on data can damage an agencies credibility and create a rift that leaves a projects full potential unrealized. Effectively communicating a project begins with community in the forefront and an intent to create more just and equitable cities. This approach builds a foundation that can endure far beyond the completion of a planning or development project.
“I want you to walk away from this workshop with an understanding of story that allows you to watch films more critically — so that you can steal… or borrow… the best elements to use in your own storytelling to craft more effective powerful stories.” — Keith Battle, Lead Storytelling Workshop Instructor
Our Level 1 Storytelling Workshop begins by outlining a framework of four basic components; story, audience, message, and style — which can be remembered by the mnemonic SAMS. The following is a very brief description of each element within the SAMS framework.
Audience
To create the most effective story (or project) it is increasingly important to take a user-centered design approach. Understanding your audience consists of defining who needs to experience the story, and how and where (the medium) the audience consumes content. For instance some communities will engage best with a 30-second video, while others may take more from a blog post or a written poem.
Message
The message is often a call to action. For example in the realm of transportation planning it could be, “support congestion pricing to reduce commute time.” Your message should focus on the desired outcome of the project. Further dissect the message into a few bullet points, which can serve as the elements that build your story’s arc. It is helpful to remind yourself throughout the process that ultimately you are creating connection. Empathy is deeply important when telling stories to form alliances and foster community engagement.
Story
Story is the vehicle (pun intended) in which you convey the Message. Story refers to the sequencing of elements, for example the events and narratives used to propose or share your project. At the core of every story is a vivid setting and a clear journey. You are responsible for leading your audience through an experience. Begin developing your sequence by asking: What is the central conflict? How is it solved? Or not solved? Some stories are not yours to tell, be mindful about the narratives you choose.
Style
How you package your story is vital to making a connection with your audience. A podcast for NPR and an episode of the Daily Show use drastically different editorial tones. The style with which you deliver your message can dramatically shift how it is received.
The SAMS framework can be applied in verbal and written communications to galvanize communities and government leaders around any transportation (or planning) project. For the purposes of this workshop we focus on how the SAMS framework can be applied to film or video production.
The tools for high quality visual storytelling have become almost ubiquitous. Smartphones, open source software, and knowledge sharing platforms like YouTube have drastically lowered the barriers to entry. But high production value only can only get you so far. To illustrate this point we screened two videos created by the Los Angles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and compared them through the SAMS framework.
This first video was created to announce new bus rapid transit (BRT) lines connecting the NoHo and Pasadena neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Our attendees identified that because the video cites an abundance of data, uses technical jargon, and runs for upwards of four minutes non-professionals may not fully understanding the videos message. Furthermore the group agreed that it was unclear if this video was intended for those already in the planning field or the community at large.
The second video is a call to action inviting Angelenos to “join the movement” — to utilize public transit because it is efficient, sustainable, and creates a sense of community. Workshop participants felt that because of the aspirational tone, uplifting music, and breadth of demographics featured the audience was more likely to empathize and receive the intended message. The group acknowledged that while these two videos ultimately served different purposes, the second video was clearly more effective.
Level 2 - Make a Bad Video Better: SFCTA Implements Congestion Pricing Study
Written by Amber Sweat
After a morning of video analysis, popcorn discussion, and artistic exploration with Lead Instructor Keith Battle, the second portion of our storytelling workshop came with a very particular task at hand.
The group was joined by Paige Miller and Eric Young of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), who introduced workshoppers to their ongoing project on congestion pricing policy, a hopeful resolution to increasing traffic jams in San Francisco. Their research showed that the majority of San Francisco’s congestion was the result of those who currently live in San Francisco proper as opposed to neighboring suburbs, rendering the issue as one that is generated by a metropolitan “us” as opposed to an othered “them.” As San Franciscans, the problem became ours to fix; thus, how could the video project convey both governmental resolution and a sense of conviviality?
The video that the SFCTA had prepared — hilariously and purposefully “rough” — was given to the group for improvement. Immediately, workshoppers broke up into five different groups and flurries of brainstorming began. Utilizing the skills learned in our Level 1 Workshop, storyboards were drawn up within each team (comprised of roughly four to five participants, most working in urban planning or related fields), with each group employing creativity and storytelling to demonstrate the issue of traffic congestion as individualized and personal experiences. Groups were led by filmmakers Leah Nichols, Deanna Mitchell, Ken Fisher, Laetitia Jacquart, and Serginho Roosblad.
From tales of a rock band running late for a show taking different modes of transit, to those of the quotidian “rat race” commute, each group skillfully cultivated stories that were familiar to Bay Area residents, underscoring the human dimension of what is commonly perceived as a strictly administrative issue. At the end of the workshop, one group was awarded our “Golden Clipper Card”. Their creative tale (the aforementioned narrative surrounding a rock band) was one of many that tastefully combined the personal and the professional — as well as the individual and the communal — in the creation and consumption of this bureaucratic video project.
This event took place on February 9, 2020 at SPUR — a non-profit research, education, and advocacy organization focused on issues of planning and governance in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland. For more information about SF Urban Film Fest or to inquire about a workshop for your organization please write us a note.
