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/
   

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2. IRONICALLY YOURS, 2007
   https://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/
   

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3. cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by pasukaru76: http://flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/3694736727/
   

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4. PICK A METAPHOR
   

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5. PICK A METAPHOR
   

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6. PICK A METAPHOR
   

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7. PICK A METAPHOR
   

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8. TELL ME A STORY
   

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9. (1) FIND SOMEONE
   

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10. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
    

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12. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
    

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13. (2) ONE MINUTE:
    THE PROMPT
    

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14. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    TELL AND LISTEN
    

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15. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    TELL AND LISTEN
    

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16. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    SWITCH
    

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17. (3) TWO MINUTES:
    SWITCH
    

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18. (4) DOUBLE THE
    GROUP
    

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19. * THE "SO WHAT?" *
    

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20. (5) THE RE-TELL
    

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21. (5) THE RE-TELL
    

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22. WHAT WORKS?
    THE OPENING
    

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23. ONCE UPON A TIME...
    

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25. The last man
    alive on Earth
    sat alone in a
    room.
    

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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)
    

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30. WHAT WORKS?
    CHARACTERS
    

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31. A TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT COMMERCIAL
    http://youtu.be/9zf0dqzTUPk
    

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32. ANOTHER TECHNOLOGY PRODUCT COMMERCIAL
    http://youtu.be/Lmf0F7JxxXE
    

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33. MEET MOLLY, THE KID WHO NEVER STOPS INVENTING
    https://youtu.be/sucKTktHYA8
    

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34. WHAT WORKS?
    JUXTAPOSITION
    

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35. cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by kevindooley: http://flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/2172001078/
    

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36. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by chuck_heston: http://flickr.com/photos/chuckheston/383386494/
    

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37. cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by Pay No Mind: http://flickr.com/photos/paynomind/65010034/
    

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38. WHAT MAKES A
    STORY?
    

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39. STORIES WE TELL TRAILER HTTP://YOUTU.BE/YTQ4VZ2NYXG
    

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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
    

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41. TELLING ~= PERFORMING
    

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42. creative commons licensed (BY-SA) flickr photo by cogdogblog: http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/11023534043
    

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43. TELL ME A STORY
    

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44. cc licensed ( BY NC SD ) flickr photo by g-mikee: http://flickr.com/photos/g-mikee/5202927662/
    

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45. THE PYRAMID
    

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46. THE LUMPY HILL
    

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47. THE CYCLE
    

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48. THE OBVIOUS
    

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49. WHAT WORKS?
    STORY SHAPE
    

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50. KURT VONNEGUT "THE SHAPE OF STORIES"
    http://youtu.be/oP3c1h8v2ZQ
    

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51. Paul ZAK: Empathy, Neurochemistry, and the Dramatic Arc
    http://youtu.be/DHeqQAKHh3M
    

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52. The Story Spine by Kenn Adams http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/
    

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53. WHAT WORKS?
    THE HOOK
    

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54. http://youtu.be/IG1ZkW_u_Bw
    

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55. This American Life: EPISODE 206 Somewhere in the Arabian Sea
    http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/206/somewhere-in-the-arabian-
    

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56. WHAT WORKS?
    OVERCOMING
    TENSION
    

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57. BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL RECUT
    http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/2014/09/07/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/
    

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58. BUDWEISER COMMERCIAL FULL
    http://www.ishmaelscorner.com/2014/09/07/budweiser-puppy-love-storytelling/
    

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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
    

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60. WHAT WORKS?
    EXPECTATIONS
    

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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
    

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62. Troy Library: Book Burning Party
    http://youtu.be/AoT13m8-Kxo
    

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63. WHAT WORKS?
    ANTICIPATION
    

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64. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
    

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65. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
    

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66. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
    

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67. MONKEYS & APPLE JUICE
    "A REWARD THAT'S
    UNPREDICTABLE TYPICALLY
    COUNTS THREE OR FOUR TIMES
    AS MUCH"
    

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69. WHAT WORKS?
    SHOW, DON’T TELL
    

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70. JAWS Dinner table scene
    http://youtu.be/04mIMg4PTO8
    

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71. BACK OFF
    “I’M A SCIENTIST”
    

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73. Movies Grab Our Attention
    

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74. Communicate & Grab Attention?
    http://youtu.be/9_LLj4_3ZRA
    

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75. http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Such-Scientist-Substance/dp/1597265632
    

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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"
    

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77. http://www.youtube.com/minutephysics
    

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78. http://www.storyofstuff.org
    

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79. http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=10387
    http://threeacts.mrmeyer.com/
    

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80. WHAT WORKS?
    THE “SO WHAT?”
    

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81. TECHNOLOGY IS JUST
    A TOOL
    creative commons licensed (BY) flickr photo by katerha: http://flickr.com/photos/katerha/5746905652
    

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82. “CLAUDE, IT’S JUST A
    PAINTBRUSH”
    creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by cavale: http://flickr.com/photos/cavale/5619905303
    

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83. “JIMI, IT’S JUST A
    GUITAR”
    creative commons licensed (BY-NC) flickr photo by wiserbailey: http://flickr.com/photos/25084516@N03/5331538409
    

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85. STORY OVER
    TOOLS
    creative commons licensed ( BY NC ) flickr photo by kaje_yomama: http://flickr.com/photos/kajeyomama/4987968865/
    

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86. MY STORY CARDS
    

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87. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
    

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88. creative commons licensed (BY-NC-SA) flickr photo by mictlan74: http://flickr.com/photos/mictlan74/3374564653
    

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89. !
    http://pechaflickr.net
    

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90. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
    

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91. !
    http://5card.cogdogblog.com/
    

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92. I DEAL STORIES (NOT ‘IDEAL’)
    

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93. !
    assignments.ds106.us
    

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94. !
    assignments.ds106.us/assignments/one-story-four-icons
    

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95. A QUESTION
    WHAT REMAINS?
    

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