What Works in Stories? Beyond Telling, Let’s do Storymaking

Presented in Melbourne, Australia at Chisholm TAFE https://cog.dog/roo/storymaking/

If I say say “Storytelling”, you may conjure the familiar metaphors- cave paintings, campfires, parents reading books. Often it suggests a mode of entertainment. Like most, I have my own internal conversation– “I’m not a storyteller” but I do know can create compelling narratives in teaching that do not give away the plot in the opening objectives.
Rather than defining, constraining storytelling, I share my experiences of creating digital stories and teaching to others of what “works” in formats we know well — books, movies, popular culture. Learn to deploy these elements hands on, with suggestions how you can think of it as more than just a magic spice you sprinkle on your work. A hook of interest, the shape of a narrative, a character to care about, suspension of belief, using less, media metaphors are story techniques that you can integrate into your work as educators.
We will explore storymaking with images, using principles of improv to enhance public speaking, a magic StoryBox, and deploying popular forms of media considered silly (memes and GIFs) for more more meaningful use.

Transcript

1. WHAT WORKS IN STORIES? BEYOND TELLING, LET’S DO STORYMAKING ALAN LEVINE cog.dog/roo/storymaking/
2. IRONICALLY YOURS, 2007 https://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/
3. cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by pasukaru76: http://flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/3694736727/
4. PICK A METAPHOR
5. PICK A METAPHOR
6. PICK A METAPHOR
7. PICK A METAPHOR
8. TELL ME A STORY
9. (1) FIND SOMEONE
10. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
12. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
13. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
14. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    TELL AND LISTEN
15. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    TELL AND LISTEN
16. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    SWITCH
17. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    SWITCH
18. (4) DOUBLE THE GROUP
19. * THE "SO WHAT?" *
20. (5) THE RE-TELL
21. (5) THE RE-TELL
22. WHAT WORKS? THE OPENING
23. ONCE UPON A TIME...
25. The last man alive on Earth sat alone in a room.
26. The Last man alive on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock at the door. "KNOCK" BY FREDERICK BROWN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_(short_story)
30. WHAT WORKS? CHARACTERS
31. A TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT COMMERCIAL http://youtu.be/9zf0dqzTUPk
32. ANOTHER TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT COMMERCIAL http://youtu.be/Lmf0F7JxxXE
33. MEET MOLLY, THE KID WHO NEVER STOPS INVENTING https://youtu.be/sucKTktHYA8
34. WHAT WORKS? JUXTAPOSITION
35. cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by kevindooley: http://flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2172001078/
36. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by chuck_heston: http://flickr.com/photos/chuckheston/383386494/
37. cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Pay No Mind: http://flickr.com/photos/paynomind/65010034/
38. WHAT MAKES A STORY?
39. STORIES WE TELL TRAILER HTTP://YOUTU.BE/YTQ4VZ2NYXG
40. STORIES WE TELL TRAILER HTTP://YOUTU.BE/YTQ4VZ2NYXG “When you are in the middle of a story it isn't a story at all, but only a confusion; a dark roaring, a blindness, a wreckage of shattered glass and splintered wood; like a house in a whirlwind, or else a boat crushed by the icebergs or swept over the rapids, and all aboard powerless to stop it. It's only afterwards that it becomes anything like a story at all. When you are telling it, to yourself or to someone else.” — Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace
41. TELLING ~= PERFORMING
42. creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by cogdogblog: http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/11023534043
43. TELL ME A STORY
44. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by g-mikee: http://flickr.com/photos/g-mikee/5202927662/
45. THE PYRAMID
46. THE LUMPY HILL
47. THE CYCLE
48. THE OBVIOUS
49. WHAT WORKS? STORY SHAPE
50. KURT VONNEGUT "THE SHAPE OF STORIES" http://youtu.be/oP3c1h8v2ZQ
51. Paul ZAK: Empathy, Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc http://youtu.be/DHeqQAKHh3M
52. The Story Spine by Kenn Adams http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/
53. WHAT WORKS? THE HOOK
54. http://youtu.be/IG1ZkW_u_Bw
55. This American Life: EPISODE 206 Somewhere in the Arabian Sea http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/206/somewhere-in-the-arabian-
56. WHAT WORKS? OVERCOMING TENSION
57. BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL RECUT http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/2014/09/07/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/
58. BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL FULL http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/2014/09/07/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/
59. http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/2014/09/07/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/ “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.” —Kurt Vonnegut
60. WHAT WORKS? EXPECTATIONS
61. "...a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." Samuel Taylor Coleridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
62. Troy Library: Book Burning Party http://youtu.be/AoT13m8-Kxo
63. WHAT WORKS? ANTICIPATION
64. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
65. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
66. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
67. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE "A REWARD THAT'S UNPREDICTABLE TYPICALLY COUNTS THREE OR FOUR TIMES AS MUCH"
69. WHAT WORKS? SHOW, DON’T TELL
70. JAWS Dinner table scene http://youtu.be/04mIMg4PTO8
71. BACK OFF “I’M A SCIENTIST”
73. Movies Grab Our Attention
74. Communicate & Grab Attention? http://youtu.be/9_LLj4_3ZRA
75. http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Such-Scientist-Substance/dp/1597265632
76. "When it's a simple as two things: arouse and fulfill. You need to first arouse your audience and then get them interested in what you have to say; then you need to fulfill their expectations"
77. http://www.youtube.com/minutephysics
78. http://www.storyofstuff.org
79. http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=10387 http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/
80. WHAT WORKS? THE “SO WHAT?”
81. TECHNOLOGY IS JUST A TOOL creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by katerha: http://flickr.com/photos/katerha/5746905652
82. “CLAUDE, IT’S JUST A PAINTBRUSH” creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by cavale: http://flickr.com/photos/cavale/5619905303
83. “JIMI, IT’S JUST A GUITAR” creative commons licensed (BY-NC) flickr photo by wiserbailey: http://flickr.com/photos/25084516@N03/5331538409
85. STORY OVER TOOLS creative commons licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo by kaje_yomama: http://flickr.com/photos/kajeyomama/4987968865/
86. MY STORY CARDS
87. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
88. creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by mictlan74: http://flickr.com/photos/mictlan74/3374564653
89. ! http://pechaflickr.net
90. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
91. ! http://5card.cogdogblog.com/
92. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
93. ! assignments.ds106.us
94. ! assignments.ds106.us/assignments/one-story-four-icons
95. A QUESTION WHAT REMAINS?