Telling better stories.... how a filmmakers perceptiveness can supercharge your stories.
5 things worth sharing this week.
Hey Crashers,
If you’re like us, you have that one person in your circle of friends that’s a great storyteller. It comes naturally to them. They’re engaging and funny and have all the right gestures and facial expressions.
But storytelling doesn’t come that easy to most of us. For the rest of us, it’s a skill to learn and develop. This is especially true when it comes to telling the Gospel story in new and interesting ways.
So this week’s rapid 5 is all about story. It’s intended to get you to think about the films you watch and make, the stories you tell, and the ways to communicate.
Enjoy!
THE WRITERS JOURNEY
The Writers Journey, by Christopher Vogler, is where all the modern screenplay structure paradigms come from. It teaches the stages of great stories. The book is also super helpful for helping to understand the language of filmmaking and storytelling. It’s also great for learning to give notes on how to make scripts and stories better.
The video below features the author summarizing the origin and storytelling method contained in the book.
PIP DECKS
Got writer’s block? These card decks are a pretty handy tool for helping you to move past the stagnation.
In the Storyteller Tactics deck, you’ll find 54 frameworks, prompts, and exercises to help you ditch dull presentations and tell great stories.
They’re not cheap - but they are a great resource for you and your team to have on hand.
SAVE THE CAT! - BLAKE SNYDER
Industry go-to and brilliant resource for screenwriters and novel writers around story structure. Similar to “The Writers Journey” but with more resources than just the story structure.
Here’s what they say;
Blake Snyder provides writers the resources they need to develop their screenplays and novels based on a series of best-selling books, primarily written by Blake Snyder (1957- 2009). Blake’s method is based on 10 distinctive genres and his 15 story beats.
The website offers “beat sheets,” tips and tactics, informative blogs, and guidance for writers. Their “beat sheet mapper” is a brilliant tool for mapping out a story for films and novels - check it out here.
THE POWER OF THE ANECDOTE - IRA GLASS
Ira Glass is an American television and radio personality best known for his radio and podcast show called This American Life. The show reaches more than 4 million listeners each week, with 2.6 million downloading the weekly podcast and 1.6 million listening across 500+ public radio stations.
In the video below, Glass talks about storytelling and the simplicity yet the power of anecdotes. If you’re learning to tell better stories, this could help.
And when it comes to the power of storytelling, this quote says it all…
“The story is a machine for empathy. In contrast to logic or reason, a story is about emotion that gets staged over a sequence of dramatic moments, so you empathize with the characters without really thinking about it too much. It is a really powerful tool for imagining yourself in other people's situations.”
- Ira Glass
FILM TO WATCH: SUPER MARIO BROS.
Super Mario Bros. has been in cinemas for a short time now. Have you seen it?
A friend in the film industry wrote this about the movie;
Okay bear with me: We saw Super Mario Brothers, and my husband had a visceral response. The combination of nostalgia and relentless joy on screen made him feel all kinds of ways… and I had zero nostalgia but loved the joy.
It is definitely not the best story or acting or anything, but it reminded me how movies can bring joy and light by tapping into our desire for the good old days but also reminding us we have grown up. It’s a bit silly but I really loved the experience.
This reminded us of the power of telling to produce unexpected responses. What an incredible inspiration for us all as we retell the ancient story of Jesus. There are ways to continue to communicate the same story in new and fresh ways that bring joy and life, and freedom. And this may be completely unexpected for those engaging with our story.
It may be a stretch, but maybe, just maybe, the Super Mario Brothers movie could be the inspiration you need to see things differently. Who knows!? But we hope so. 😊
Oh, and don’t forget you can email us at rapid5@thehopefulrhino.com if you have a topic you’d like us to cover or if you’ve seen or created something inspiriting to share.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
When my knees hit the ground.
Grace and Peace,
Cass & Rich