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THIS PIONEERING PERFORMER MERGES AN ANCIENT ART FORM WITH NEW MEDIA
Storytelling, Dana Atchley says, is as significant today as it has been for centuries, and for the same reasons: "Storytelling is how we define who we are - as a culture and individually. It's how we define what we care about, where we're going and where we've been. Storytelling has always been an important way of embodying knowledge," Atchley continues, "but it's especially valuable today. Because our society has become so multicultural and diverse, it's easy to lose sight of all the distinctive cultures and beliefs. Stories help us remember those things."

Atchley's approach to storytelling is traditional and nontraditional at the same time. His acclaimed Next Exit performance is a rich, autobiographical narrative that draws on more than 60 stories from his own life. He also helps large corporations - such as Coca-Cola and PricewaterhouseCoopers - tell their stories. Atchley calls what he does digital storytelling. The tools of his trade include computers, scanners, old photos, animation, video, and Adobe® Premiere®, Adobe PhotoShop®, Adobe ImageReady®, and Adobe After Effects®.

The Adobe suite of products are tools that changed my life.

- Dana Atchley

Next Exit comprises about 25 media types, ranging from daguerreotypes to digital video. An interactive theatrical performance created and presented by Atchley, his art is a form of storytelling that defies easy categorization - a blend of performance art, memoir, stand-up comedy, and documentary film.

"Atchley has firmly grasped the essence of what interactive multimedia can do for the performance artist," said a Microtimes review of Next Exit. "The most important element of Next Exit is its emotional content, which proves most convincingly that multimedia will be a vehicle for personal expression." A San Francisco Examiner review said it "underscores a lesson many performers in this field have not yet taken to heart. Computers can't be the main event; they should be a blank slate for the creative mind."

In his Next Exit performance, Atchley sits on a log next to a video campfire. Behind him a large screen provides a canvas for projected digital images. Atchley controls the flow of the images using a Macintosh G3 laptop while telling stories that are in turn humorous, touching, and surprising. He regularly performs at major film festivals, conferences, expositions, and other events around the world. His corporate clients turn to him for stories that take "emotional branding" into the evocative realm of digital storytelling.

His Center for Digital Storytelling, located in Crested Butte, Colorado, testifies to Atchley's pioneering role as both a performer and evangelist in the medium of digital storytelling. The center provides a base for his popular annual storytelling festival as well as a series of special events throughout the year, including workshops and community outreach projects designed to teach and introduce people to the art of digital storytelling.

Moving his art and workshops to the Web is a natural next step for Atchley: "We plan to start a digital story exchange on a Web site, where people can go for interactive workshops and training, design examples, and learn how to use these storytelling tools."

When Atchley first began using technology to tell stories, the only digital tools available to him were proprietary systems that were both too costly and offered limited capabilities.

"Digital storytelling simply wouldn't exist for me without Adobe tools," Atchley says. "With the release of each new Adobe program, all the pieces began to fit together for me. I use Photoshop everyday. My favorite compositing tool is After Effects, which offers endless possibilities. ImageReady is a wonderful tool for my Web-based media. At this moment, I'm experimenting with the new capabilities of the latest version of Premiere. The Adobe suite of products are tools that changed my life."