The Mystery of Story Telling

Stories

What are they?

Why are they so compelling?

Millions of people want to tell their stories…

…but they are BORING!

Why is it so difficult to write stories?

Stories are more about…

audience

..than they are about..

character

plot

or storyteller

The basis of storytelling is the creative understanding of the human behavior.

Stories defines us, not language!

Why so compelling?

What compels people to tell stories?

George Orwell generalizes it as because of…

George Orwell generalizes it as because of…

• Sheer egotism

George Orwell generalizes it as because of…

• Sheer egotism

• Immortality

George Orwell generalizes it as because of…

• Sheer egotism

• Immortality

• Try to make world a better place

George Orwell generalizes it as because of…

• Sheer egotism

• Immortality

• Try to make world a better place

• Avenge! i.e, getting back to the people who put you down

FormulaIs there any structure for storytelling?

Aristotle has defined a formula which comprise of three words…

Pity

Connects audience emotionally

Emotional connection and identification makes audience fear for character

Fear

Catharsis

Release character from the worse situations to make audience feel catharsis

Suffering, struggle and overcoming

Will this alone make a better story…?

No.

Why Stories?

To tell stories better, understand “why do we need stories?”

Masai tribe

Rehearse fear

Ancient cinema

That’s why we have literature, theater and cinema to make people experience something that they can relate with themselves

Case study

American cinema verses European cinema

Why American movies travel far better than European movies?

Accessible Characters

Sentimental happy endings

Two thirds of dialogs as compared to European movies

Humans believe on what they see more than what they hear!

Shorter scenes

Allows audience to fill the gap and thus makes them active viewer Allows insertion of music which helps to connect audience emotionally better

The idea here is to engage audience emotionally and intellectually, keep them active and make them feel as if they are watching their own reflection on screen.

Recap

Credits

This presentation is based on the work and TED talk given by Julian Friedmann

Disclaimer

Created by Namrata Yadav, IIT Roorkee, during an internship byProf. Sameer Mathur, IIM Lucknow.

www.IIMinternship.com

Thank you!