The Digital Story

The last 2 classes have been about Interactive storytelling, so pretty much video games. There was a lot of discussion about RPGs and the popular video games of this generation. This is when have of the class loses track of the conversation as not all of us play RPGs. For me the simpler the game the better, it is not the I don’t comprehend story, I just don’t often enjoy the storyline of most video games. I like to play the classics video games. A classic for me would have been almost any game on the Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and Playstation 1 to name a few. The games seemed endless and fun, such as Supermario and Sonic. Both these games I grew up playing and I know in the future I would want my children to play the same games.

Breaking the 4th wall is term to describe when a character in a film or television show stops and turns to the camera and says something to the audience. I’ve noticed that this really can only be done in a comedy as it can take away from a more serious tone of a film or television show. For me personally, the 2 most memorable and best used examples for breaking of the 4th wall would be Zack Morris in Saved By The Bell and by Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In both, the character breaks the wall when they want to comment on something that just happened or give the audience more information or background about what is happening in the story. It often makes for a good laugh too.

I have been thinking about a story of mine to right my short non-fiction about and it got me thinking about something the might have happened to me in the past that had strong emotional ties for me. This got me thinking about the emotional effects of documentaries. Often people have a negative connotation with documentaries (again, that they are boring) yet, of most of the documentaries I have watched if they talking about something sad they have stronger emotional effect then any fictional Hollywood movie. Documentaries allow people to relate to the real people and real emotions. In some ways I think it is because we after seeing so many movies get are de-sensitized to the acts of emotion. I think it is easier to sympathize with something that is real.  

In last weeks class we talk about the documentaries.  I’ve noticed that often people has the misconception that all documentaries boring, but this is wrong. One of my favorite documentaries that I have seen is Don’t You Forget About Me. It is about these four filmmakers that searched down John Hughes the director of films such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Sixteen Candles to name a few. Throughout the film, it cuts to interviews of people who had worked with Hughes. This documentary is a favourite of mine as John Hughes was an amazingly talented director who created the teen movie genre and defined a generation. This film is a must see for anyone who has seen a John Hughes film.

The details are key in any good story. Both the verbal description and visual aesthetics in the scene of a film rely on detail, which can easily make a story better but when over used can drown the story. It is also important that in the use of detail you’re writing does not fall into clichés. I think that when writing you want to describe things in a new light or in a way would not come to mind first, giving the viewer a new way to look at the situation. Along with your details when writing a story you want the words to flow properly, in this case you want to pay close attention when describing something as you want your descriptive words to continue in the same style in which you are writing and in some cases in time and/or place the your story is taking place. Such as if you were writing an old western style story you would not use words like ‘fabulous’ or ‘awesome’ as they just wouldn’t work with your story style.

Whether you like them or not, or whether they are good or evil, a story is not a story without characters. There is many arguments on whether a character has to be likeable to be popular, I believe this is not necessarily true. There is many people who’s favourite characters of a film or show are the ones who are the least likeable, the villain. I think that there just needs to be some aspect of the characters that you enjoy, or in some cases relate to for a character to be successful(i.e. popular). An example from my personal life would be from the Harry Potter movies, a lot of people would say that Harry the main character is the best character in the book, for me this is not true as my favourite character is Ron as I connect with the loyal best friend aspect of him. Another example from the same movie, from a friend of mine, is Voldemort, as they find the Harry is too winy.

It is quite common these days for actors to drastically change the way they look to get apart in a movie. Whether it be losing weight, gaining weight, or become extraordinarily buff; some actors do what ever it takes to attain the role they want. It seems as though the crazier the transformation the more likely they are to get that role. Although it is not uncommon for female actresses to make drastic changes it is often seen more in male actors. It is also more likely for the actor to being getting extremely fit for a role rather then gain or lose weight, but it is not unheard of. A couple of examples of drastically changed actor would be Edward Norton for American History X, Tom Hanks for Castway, Christian Bale for The Machinist, and Charlize Theron for Monster. It is insane what people will do to get the job..

Learning about the basics of storytelling changes the way you think about film and television. Knowing how a story is created gives you a deeper understanding about what is going on and help you see how the characters end up in the end. This can be seen as a good or a bad thing. It can be frustrating at times when you want a story with twists, turns and an ending that will surprise you, and you don’t get it because you can see what is going to happen next. I’ve just learned that although I know what is going to happen I need to find the stories that I just enjoy in general, no matter how it ends. I guess after 4 years of communication technology, and having a passion for film there is no way that I could ever hate movies.

Storytelling has been around since the beginning of humanity, starting with cave drawings and word of mouth(oral storytelling). As history went on storytelling evolved along with the technology that changed it. From the invention of the books, typewriters, television and film, these all have altered the way we as humans tell stories. On one end of the spectrum technology has just changed the way well tell the stories of the past, transitioning from oral to written was just the first major step technology has  taken over from there. Developing new ways for people to read the stories building up from the scroll and codex the the original book was a bound manuscript from here we have just created books that will target different age groups, i.e. pop-ups for kids, hard-backs for adults. Now we even have the audiobook the developed into the e-book so that we don’t physically need to have a ‘hard’ copy of the book itself.On the other side of spectrum oral and written storytelling developed into plays, radio dramas, television and film which is a visual way of storytelling. All this is not to say that oral storytelling is extinct though. We still talk to people face to face, or on the phone, telling the stories of how our day went, etc. So as technology developed throughout history in parallel storytelling did too.