Home » Posts tagged "storytelling" (Page 6)

I Don’t Like Horror, But…

Barbara Vey at Beyond Her Book has written an interesting post that I quite agree with. It kind of goes along with why people like Stephen King- he’s a fantastic storyteller. And Vey’s premise is that that is the job of both books and movies- to tell a good story. If it’s a good story, even if it’s not “your kind of story”, it’ll capture you. If it’s not, it’s not gonna grab you, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the only kind of story you read, ever. Vey wrote about her experience with two different movies this week. The first, Mirror, Mirror, caught her interest because she’s been sucked into the addictive world of Once Upon A Time (okay, those weren’t exactly her words, but I’m there with her). So she was primed to like it… but found the characters unlikable and shallow, and the movie boring. Moral of that story: even if you want to like it, if the characters and plot can’t grab you, it’s not enough.

She also saw Cabin in the Woods. It’s probably unfortunate that this was billed as a horror film, since there are a lot of people who immediately dismiss a movie labeled “horror”. Vey says she “doesn’t do horror” but the story was good and the characters were interesting. She called it “funny and clever”. The fact that the story is good- that it’s not straight out gore, that the characters are relatable (and also that Joss Whedon is involved) means that even someone who assumes they can’t like horror, may be able to find something that appeals. Heck, even my mom, who is completely unenthusiastic about horror in all of its forms, finally found a movie, The Selling, that she thinks is totally great.

If you want to catch the folks who don’t like horror, you do what Cabin in the Woods, and what Stephen King, have figured out… get past the genre label and tell a fantastic story. And getting fantastic stories, however they’re billed, into the hands of readers, watchers and library lovers of all kinds? That’s what it’s all about.

Posted on April 27, 2012 by , Reply

Immersive Storytelling: Coming Soon To A Fictional World Near You

I just finished a great book called The Art of Immersion, by Frank Rose, about how storytelling is changing. It’s both exciting and a little discombobulating, at least for a digital immigrant like me. Rose isn’t writing about changing format, exactly, although there is certainly both excitement and discomfort in the world of readers, authors, and publishers about the general shift from paper books to ebooks. What he’s talking about is more like a shift in the way we experience the world. Stories are essential to that.

In today’s world of overwhelming media exposure and social media tools, many people want multiple, connected, participatory approaches to fictional worlds. One of Rose’s examples was the Star Wars universe. Movies, toys, books, comics, games, and much more originate from George Lucas’ empire, but he’s given Star Wars fans license, within limits, to produce their own content as well. There are endless discussions and forums online, websites dedicated to Star Wars, YouTube videos inspired by the movies: there’s even a wiki called Wookiepedia. George Lucas created a world that felt real, in every detail, but the fans have taken it deeper, farther, and wider than he could ever have expected. Using every connection and media tool at their disposal, fans have made Star Wars into far more than a movie (or even six movies). It comes at you from every angle. It’s what Rose calls an “immersive experience”.

An immersive experience doesn’t have to be that large or complex- I was recently pointed towards a review of a theater production inspired by Macbeth called Sleep No More. It takes place on three floors, each with many rooms. The audience members are masked and have the opportunity to wander randomly through the the production, following a character, seeking out hidden places, touching things, almost a participant in the action- immersed in the experience. Macbeth, of course, has been interpreted in many ways, and in other media- maybe a love of the play attracted some audience members, and maybe a show like this one could inspire someone in the audience to check out other interpretations. Or maybe someone who liked the idea of participating in such a creepy experience will try out another live theater performance. It’s all good.

So, immersive experiences don’t HAVE to directly involve digital technologies, advertising, movies, social media, or whatever. But they have to involve people and stories, and when you don’t have the ability to engage people one on one like Sleep No More can, those are ways to reach a lot of people quickly- and even to engage them in the story you’re creating on both an individual level (by empowering them to participate or express themselves in the ways they want to) but also on a collaborative level via technology tools and social media that gives them ownership, too, and it has the opportunity to take storytelling to a completely different place, involving outer experiences as well as (to quote a poem I love) the pictures that storm inside our head.

Posted on September 8, 2011 by , Reply

School Librarians, Children’s Librarians, and Teachers- What Will You Do For Halloween?

I know you already know what your lessons and programs will be- I had to plan months in advance when I worked in the public library and in the schools (why yes, I did work in both). For October, for the little ones, I had programs on bats and pumpkins and owls. For kids a little older, I made Jell-o brains and did programs on monsters… and for upper elementary, I told scary stories, with the lights out. Fourth and fifth graders like to think they are so cool, and they’ll tell you they are scare-proof, but High Beams scared them stiff and Tailypo mesmerized them. If they’d been a little older, I would have loved to do a reading of the Tell-Tale Heart.

So already this year I have gotten a call from my son’s school, where they were concerned because he kept asking for books about monsters and didn’t want the non-scary, age-appropriate suggestions he was given. And when they talked about school parties Halloween was not one they mentioned. Valentine’s Day, sure, but not Halloween. I hope they just overlooked it. It is such a great opportunity to get kids involved in art projects, practicing listening and speaking skills (I’ve taught storytelling to third graders), measurement (my son is obsessed with Halloween cookbooks, and you’ve got to be able to measure to cook).

One of the coolest places we get hits from here is a lesson plan from a education website, and that always brings us extra visitors at this time of year. And here’s a site that just linked to us as a good place to come to build literacy skills. There is a place for Halloween and for a good scary story in the classroom or library. How do you incorporate these into your lesson plans or library programming? If you send me your plans, I’ll post them on the site for other teachers and librarians to find.

Thanks!

Posted on August 27, 2011 by , Reply
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