Film: Storytelling as a basis for short films

In class we've been learning some of the basics of storytelling and we looked at The Moth's Story Map which helps identify the different parts of a story: 

1. The World As It Was... What do we need to know about you to understand this story?
2.  And Then One Day… What happens to set the story in motion?
3.  Raising the Stakes... What do you have to win or lose? What matters to you and why?
4. The Moment of Change... What happens that changes how you see things?
5. The World As It Is Now... How are you different after the events of this story? 

Today we'll be taking our stories and examining the structure based on the map and we'll look at a few examples of stories that were told an turned into short films like the example above from This American Life.

Media Art: The Short Documentary

Today we will continue our look at documentaries by watching a segment of the 1st episode of one of my all-time favorite series from Showtime called This American Life which stems from the public radio show on WBEZ Chicago. 

The stories are all personal and engaging and they utilize a few different techniques that help tell the stories which we'll discuss tomorrow in class.  Above is a short clip of Ira Glass, the host and creator of the show working with Google in creating their recent Google doodle, something you should all be familiar with after creating your own for the Doodle for Google contest last week.

In April we will each create our own short documentary so keep that in mind while watching.  We'll be talking about the basics of storytelling and the different documentary terminology and styles.  Before we begin you need a story and that's often the toughest part so think about the stories that you, you friends, and your family tell others and start there.  I'll be creating a story with you so you'll get to see the process before you go through it!

Media Art: School Shorts

Today we are going to look at some really successful short films about school in preparation for our work on the White House Film Festival.  Above is a short from the This American Life series on Showtime, one of my all-time favorites.  The short has a great true story illustrated with Chris Ware's drawings animated by John Kuramoto.  It is a professional example by should help giving you an idea of a different approach to your short.