Big Think: Humans tell stories. Many of us live interesting lives; developing a way to deliver the narrative is to our advantage. Others lead less than adventurous existences, and so stories become transcendent vehicles for our imagination. Epic mythologies and religions are nothing but collections of stories that inspire and transform us.
6 comments:
This article bothers me for many reasons. I think the program created by Pixar is intriguing and useful, but the explanation and reasoning for the course used by this author is stereotypical and a bit constricting. First, the writer assumes only people who live interesting lives can tell interesting stories while those who live boring lives must make up stories to seem more interesting. He states, "Humans tell stories. Many of us live interesting lives; developing a way to deliver the narrative is to our advantage. Others lead less than adventurous existences, and so stories become transcendent vehicles for our imagination." But who is to say what an interesting life is. Moreover, stories are individual to the both the teller and the listener. What is interesting to one individual may be boring to the next and vice versa. Additionally, Pixar is referred to as a storytelling machine. by using the word machine, the author makes Pixar appear stale, repetitive and mechanical, which could not be farther than the truth. My advice for this writer is next time your trying to advertise a product, try using words that praise what it does instead of undermining the amazing work being done with poor word choice.
I am really excited that Pixar is offering this! As a storyteller i find it difficult to find resources that help me develop and tell a story. The article mentions that Pixar will be teaming up with Khan academy to develop courses. Having worked with khan before i feel this is a really smart move. its readily available to many people and i feel that the people at Khan really do a good job developing online courses that really teach well.The article talks about tying personal experiences to your imagination to create stories that anyone can connect to. I defiantly agree that this is at the base of storytelling and that even if you have not lead an interesting life you can draw from mundane experiences and let your imagination pave the way for the story to blossom. If these courses focus on how to harvest and use this ability efficiently i feel they will be super useful.
I’ve always liked Pixar and their films. Well, most of them anyway. All the Cars films are garbage if you ask me. I was pleased to see that the Pixar employee they interviewed directed some of the best films from Pixar (Up, Monsters, Inc., and Inside Out). Those are some of the better stories Pixar has crafted, and to gain insight into the process is extremely valuable. I liked learning about the process, the director states :” The film needed an emotional hook. As Docter was learning how to become a father at that time, the movie became about a monster raising a child. The storyline was universal; the audience was able to connect more. And what’s the point of telling a story other than to relate to others?” This quote really hit home to me. The ability to get closer to other humans through story telling is one that I’ve always cherished.
Diving into someone’s imagination can be the most inspiring thing you ever do. The fact that every person is constantly having a different thought or idea leaves the opportunity for learning to be endless. I am definitely someone that loves to learn from watching and experiencing other people and when people express emotion it becomes even more interesting to watch. Being able to hook your viewer to what they are watching can arguably be the most difficult part to achieve but that is what the creators at Pixar’s have been able to do with everything they create. Up and Monsters Inc. are both great examples of this and I am looking forward to what comes next. Being able to tell a story is so important that CMU Drama requires its design students to take a class purely on that art of storytelling, although I don’t think I will ever be a perfect story teller but I will continue to do my best and get better over time. Maybe with the help of this course, I will be one step closer to achieving that.
I could not believe my eyes when I saw this article. I have been so interested in learning more about animation, but it has always been out of the way, expensive or offered at to advanced of a level for me. I have grown up with Khan Academy, so I am surprised I have not heard about their partnership videos before now. Now that I am aware of this course, I will definitely be looking further into it and hopefully I will have time to go through with the whole course. Even though we do not study animation techniques here at Carnegie Mellon University, School of Drama, I feel taking this course would definitely enhance our studies. No matter our individual major or interest, we all need to be exquisite story tellers. Anyone can tell a story, but it is easy to get sidetracked, get off topic, go off on a tangent, or just loose their argument completely. Being able to take readers or live audiences on a journey and keep them with you the whole way through, is a skill that must be developed. I hope to achieve at least competence in this when I complete my BFA in 2020.
One of my favorite ways to imagine the internet is as a modern day version of the library of Alexandria. A place where all of the knowledge of the world is accessible to anyone (provided they have access to a computer and wifi). This is why I get really excited about initiatives to provide online learning tools like this course that can help people develop their abilities and talents. I’ve had an interest in animation for some time now and over the summer I was able to help out a production at our theatre by creating some animations for the show. However, I have never been able to afford expensive animation software, but I have been lucky enough to have access to open-source animation software and online video tutorials. To see Pixar, a company I have come to admire a lot, adding to that wealth of available knowledge is really exciting and I will definitely be checking out this online course when I can find a few minutes to spare. Hopefully creating more and more free and accessible resources will help foster a new generation of diverse and innovative storytellers.
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