Me, a storyteller

Summertime

2013-06-14T09:00:00.000+02:00

Summer is short in Sweden and I want to out there. I'll be back August the 5th. I hope you'll join me then.

Natasha Tsakos' multimedia theatrical adventure

2013-06-13T09:00:00.000+02:00

Can you make theater a multimedia experience? Natasha Tsakos thinks so and show us this at TED.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-06-12T09:00:00.000+02:00

She ran in the rain. Had it been a movie she would have been in a lousy mood and world was about to end, but as it was, her life was not a movie. Not even a short story. She was just. . . she. Real life. And she was happy. Not that she very much enjoyed being soaking wet, but apart from that, she found rain uplifting. It was cleaning, both the items and buildings it brushed as well as her mind. The coolness made her relax. Well, if she had been under a tree or a shelter she would have been more relaxed. She smiled at herself. Relaxing was so much more than getting fried like bacon on some beach in the sun. Running in the rain was, in her not very humble opinion, far more relaxing than that bacon-thing other women tend to lend themselves to.

She reached a reasonably dry area under a balcony. Rain cooled things off. It gave life just as much as the sun did. Too much of either killed. And the best of days were the hour or two after a heavy rain. The air was so fresh then; The birds sang the glory of the clear, blue sky; And all else was quiet, just for a moment, like every car stopped to gaze at the disappearing clouds. Yes, rain had every right to be in her world. If you just followed the rhythm of the weather and found rainy-day-doings instead of being upset for missing what ever important need-of-sunny-day-doing you were doing, a rainy day was just as good as a sunny. Rain was as inevitable as sun, yet so many in this part of the world considered sun the good thing and rain the bad, as water from the sky was something evil jumping down on you just because you had planned something on this particular day. Did those people enjoy hours of watering in their gardens, she wondered. That at least would make them all enjoy rain.

Article from Studio System News

2013-06-11T09:00:00.000+02:00

This is an interesting article about the history of screenwriters writing on speculation. (Did you know that the studios had full-time writers as employees as long as into the 1940th?) It is also about the situations today and what the future might have in store.

Here it is.

Animation Monday: The Mighty Hunter

2013-06-10T09:00:00.000+02:00

Up to something vulgar and morbid? Well, here it is!

Here is a link to the film

Bumping around in the world

2013-06-08T09:00:00.000+02:00

I'm told that I once complained to my mom that I felt so different from all the other kids at school. My mom suggested that if I felt that way that maybe I should adjust myself. I objected wildly and proclaimed that that was not the problem; the problem was that they weren't like me!

I still feel that way. Yes, I am an adult now and should know better. But is it really such a bad thing to feel that you are alright as you are? I realize that if most people had been as me, I would likely feel like I followed the stream instead of stumble over obstacles all the time. I can feel a sting of envy of all those sailing down the quiet river towards the sunset most days of life, but for that to be me, I would need to remove or dampen so much of what is me, that I would just feel mentally locked up.

A Girl Bargains with her Dad and Changes the Fate of an Entire Village.

2013-06-07T09:01:00.000+02:00

This is a link to a wonderful story. Both the story in itself and the way it is told makes it well worth its time. Enjoy.

Ira Glass on Storytelling, part 4 of 4

2013-06-07T09:00:00.000+02:00

Ira Glass, longtime American radio personality and television show producer talk about the need for you to be yourself and find your own voice and why this is important.

Here is a link to the video.

Dan Ariely: What makes us feel good about our work?

2013-06-06T09:00:00.000+02:00

Dan Ariely shows us at TED that money and joy are not the only way to motivate us to work. How does motivation work? He shares some of his experiments about this with us.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-06-05T09:00:00.000+02:00

"Magnificent creatures, aren't they?" the priest said with obvious pride. They boy and his father followed the long neck with their eyes up to the sky where it ended in a head, eating from the tree.
"Are they dangerous?" the boy asked and tightened his grip on his father's hand.
"Of course" the cloaked man replied with muse, taking no heed of the boy's fears. "They couldn't care less of us."
"I think my son meant if they will hunt us and eat us" the father said, coldly. "And as far as I can see these creatures of yours are vegetarians." The priest met the father's eye firmly.
"Do you take bacon to your apple?"
"What?"
"Do you never eat vegetables just because you don't mind eating meat?" The priest didn't bother to wait for a reply. "Of course they could eat us. It happens too from time to time." As the boy squeezed his hand even more the father grit his teeth in a rising anger.
"Then why worship them?"
"We don't!" the cloaked man snapped. "They are no gods. They are solid beings, just as you and me. Except they need protection. You don't. I am a guardian! A guardian of Life. These creatures are Life in its purest form."
"Pure life?" the boy dared to ask. "As pure without any sin? I thought animals didn't sin." The boy dodged for the man's heated stare.
"Sin is a man's invention! Animals do not care for those trifles. No, this is an Unaffected Life. A Life as it should have been. If not affected and spoiled."
"Affected by what?" the father spit.
"Men!"
"No matter how men came to this land, we affected all life. Just as they affected us. To claim that this singular species is left unaffected is insane." The father's rage was going to its peak.
"Yes" the boy added enthusiastically. "You are here, aren't you? You said yourself it ate humans."

Ira Glass on Storytelling, part 3 of 4

2013-06-04T09:00:00.000+02:00

Ira Glass, longtime American radio personality and television show producer talk about the process of creative work and that you shouldn't give up because it doesn't become what you want - just because you notice that it's not good.

Here is a link to the video.

Animation Monday: Gentleman's Duel

2013-06-03T09:00:00.000+02:00

This one is just hilarious. I really enjoyed this one. I hope you do the same.

Here is a link to the film

Ira Glass on Storytelling, part 2 of 4

2013-05-31T09:00:00.000+02:00

Ira Glass, longtime American radio personality and television show producer talk about how hard it is to find that great story. That it actually takes longer time to find it, than produce it.

Here is a link to the video.

ShaoLan: Learn to read Chinese ... with ease!

2013-05-30T09:00:00.000+02:00

ShaoLan has a short lesson at TED about how to learn Chinese. Has this really anything to to with storytelling? Yes, I think it has. Watch and see for yourself.

Here is a link to the talk.

An article about this.
And a Facebook page.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-29T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: flickr.com via Désirée on Pinterest

A feather floating in the breeze.

Was it freedom?

He sat in a wheelchair watching its wavering path in the air.

Free to fly. To float around, weightless in the sky. Instead of being stuck here on the ground with useless legs and a damaged spine.

He caught the feather.

Who is free now, my friend? I caught you. Easily. Neither of us can really move on our own can we?

He threw it up and gave it a puff of air as help on the way to new adventures. He grabbed the wheels and got the chair moving.

At least I don't need to follow the wind, he thought to himself.

Ira Glass on Storytelling, part 1 of 4

2013-05-28T09:00:00.000+02:00

Ira Glass, longtime American radio personality and television show producer talk about the two major building blocks of a good story.

Here is a link to the video.

Animation Monday: The Key to My Heart

2013-05-27T09:00:00.000+02:00

I know, there are a certain use of stereotypes in this little short. . . But, I felt is was time for something less deep and heavy today.

Here is a link to the film

What is Sweden like?

2013-05-25T09:00:00.000+02:00

It is also found here.

Better quality but with German voice over.

Flashing all those contacts

2013-05-24T09:00:00.000+02:00

There is a fine line between bragging and healthy self-promotion. Sometime it is not a line at all, but a twilight zone. You need to tell what you can do, yet stuff it under everybody's nose unasked for is not acceptable behavior in many situations. This is not easy.

What is easy, however, is the use of others' names: Don't flash with your connections unless the people you are exposing have given your permission to do so.

All production companies talk to eager newbie writers. That they talked to you does not mean they like what you do, or that they want to be connected with your name. Don't ever expose a company you are talking to, unless very private or a contract has been signed.

Then it is also a matter of your own credibility. If you have called a production company and gained a name, and talked to someone in person over the phone, it is not like you have an exclusive hot-line to them. If you claim that you are in contact with that production company - like they were truly interested in your writing - you are shooting yourself in the foot.

I've gained personal feedback on one of my feature scripts by two internationally known actors. This is true. If I flash with their names as they liked my work and are interested in a future production just because of this personal reply, do you think they will ever speak in favor of me, if they find out? Dream on. As a matter of fact, what ever they will say about me will lessen my chances to a successful career. So, don't flash with anybody's name unless granted permission to do so.

I've eaten breakfast in LA with a Hollywood director. I have. It's the truth. You might be impressed and think I'm greater and better than I really am. This might give me work from you and maybe it will be my big break as a writer. Sure. More likely, you will find out that the director in question indeed is a director in Hollywood, but no matter how talented he is, he is one of many struggling to find their lot of good fortune there. I've told the truth, yes, but made a deliberate impression of him being Steven Spielberg. Will you then consider me a trustworthy, reliable team player? Think not.

Your credibility is the only thing you have as a writer apart from your work. Your work will not be read, if your bad reputation precedes it.

Remember that what you sell is your writing skill. If it is as good as you say, it ought to do the work without your need to flash with others' names to back it up. If someone wants to speak in your favor, let them do so on their own.

Juan Enriquez: Your online life, permanent as a tattoo

2013-05-23T09:00:00.000+02:00

Juan Enriquez has a short and very affective talk at TED about our digital immortality. Very much worth watching.

Here is a link to the talk.

Wednesday exercise: Improvise a story to a photo

2013-05-22T09:00:00.000+02:00

Source: gypsypurplehome.tumblr.com via Désirée on Pinterest

A window? Here? Andrew and Thea looked at each other. It was a boulder! A large one, but a boulder just the same. Boulders did not have windows.

They walked up and leaned to the window to see if they could spot something on the other side. When Andrew leaned on his half it turned inwards, flipping the other half outwards and knocked Thea in the face.
"Thanks. . ."
"Sorry." Andrew pulled his arm out from the now open window.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Sure. . ." He leaned his head to one of the open halves, but the opening was too narrow for him to get further inside.
"Hello? Anybody here?" he called into the darkness. The echo returned came from some place far larger than the boulder was capable of.
"Come, Andy, let's go. This is creepy."
"Great idea, but I'm stuck." And he was. His head was stuck between the frame and the window's middle pivot.

As they stood there, trying to pry Andrew lose, a whisper came from the darkness inside that made their blood freeze: "Curiosity kills the cat. Curiosity kills the cat. Curiosity kills the cat." The whisper rose in volume as well as tempo and they both worked frantically to get free of the window.

"CURIOSITY KILLS THE CAT!" And the window slammed shut. Knocking Andrew out of it, falling backwards to the ground.

They sat there watching the closed, dark window.
"If I had had my head on the other side of that pivot. . ."

The Moon People Fragments

2013-05-21T09:00:00.000+02:00

Thank you your interest in The Moon People Fragments.

I started this as a test to see if this was the way to tell this story. As it evolved, and from the feedback I got, an idea formed itself of what I would like to do with this tale.

This will be the last post in this form.

I'll continue to work on the Leonard Adams' journal and Alice' diary and the other writings and the next time you'll hear about The Moon People it will be in a new form. A form you will hopefully embrace as you did with my blog entries about them so far.

Animation Monday: Replay

2013-05-20T09:00:00.000+02:00

This one hit my heart. There are so many things in this story that I have a knack for adding in my own writing. For a reason.

Here is a link to the film.

A Storytelling Collaboratory Meeting

2013-05-18T09:00:00.000+02:00

Sometimes, things happen that you more or less slide into from the side on a slippery banana peel.

I’m a member on a Facebook page for movie makers in Gothenburg. There a “Storytelling collaboratory meeting” event appeared that seemed very interesting to me indeed.

“A improvised meeting to talk about creating a new platform for storytellers to meet and exchange knowledge, have a working space and meet people of all ages. A politically independent free zone for labs, bridging initiatives and synapses. A first step for open dialogue and design determined by the attendees.”

An absolute must, I felt and joined.

The meeting took place in Gothenburg Film Studios’ locations. In walked Jasmine. Can you not love a woman with part of her hair purple and with zebra striped market stall mittens? Of course there was more about her than that, but I think you get the picture.

She talked about DIY-days earlier this year (which I did not know anything about) and then mentioned that the floor below us was empty. And now she wanted to use this as a politically independent free zone for labs, bridging initiatives and synapses. A physical workshop with tools and workbenches, yoga corner and children’s area.

“So, what do you need?” she asked the group.

What did I need to. . . ? Oops. . . What on Earth was I suddenly a part of?

I have no idea how many of us that thought that they would go to a meeting where we should network and build some form of storytelling platform of some other kind, but I sure didn't think the it would include a very real floor of a building.

There were no strings attached. I could leave the meeting without saying a peep and no one would be offended or remember me. Her enthusiasm and all-included and non-questioning attitude towards people smitten me. If I was there without being questioned that I had any rights or interests in being there, and she promoted an area that I too missed but thought of as unrealistic, why would I not participate?

An airbrush and a lathe are things I long to have access to. A “display-case” for things you have done that might get you work or connections would also be a great thing. Maybe a writer’s corner is a little too much to wish for since the level of noise probably could be rather high, but what the heck, why not?

I have no idea what will come out of this meeting. But it was inspiring and uplifting and positive in every sense.

Here are some stuff from the DIY-days and the Learn Do Share events.
And Jasmine's page.

Free download movie script template

2013-05-17T09:00:00.000+02:00

Here is the same template I have had posts about before but now it is found on Google Drive without any need for sign-up or anything. Just download and enjoy.

Here is the link.

It is a template made in FreeMind, which is a free brain storming software. The structure is based on ideas by Blake Snyder.

If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact me.

Please note that the template is only for your personal use.