Tag: storytelling
Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water
Stories are able to help us to become more whole, to become Named. And Naming is one of the impulses behind all art; to give a name to the cosmos, we see despite all the chaos.
The intersection of art, craft, and trade
“The truth is that story is an art, a craft, and a trade. Only when all three aspects are in perfect harmony do you get a classic.” – Robert McKee.
I’ve been preparing a 3-week podcast series on how to read comics for the uninitiated (aka n00bs like me). It turns out that picking up a comic book isn’t always as easy as it looks, particularly if you have years experience of reading “regular” books. The first episode goes up this Friday, March 15th.
My cousin Helen, who is in her 90s now, was in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. She and a bunch of the girls in the ghetto had to do sewing each day. And if you were found with a book, it was an automatic death penalty. She had gotten hold of a copy of ‘Gone With the Wind’, and she would take three or four hours out of her sleeping time each night to read. And then, during the hour or so when they were sewing the next day, she would tell them all the story. These girls were risking certain death for a story. And when she told me that story herself, it actually made what I do feel more important. Because giving people stories is not a luxury. It’s actually one of the things that you live and die for.
– Neil Gaiman
Philip Bloom on becoming successful in video
9: You don’t need a Red. You don’t need an Alexa, you don’t need a C300. Any camera will do, to a degree. Don’t listen to the chattering masses on the internet who say you MUST film on X camera as your Y camera is shit. X camera has .5 stops more dynamic range and Y camera has more noise than camera X, using camera Y would be INSANE! That is nonsense. Yes, some cameras will make your life easier and some will make your life harder. I don’t subscribe to the idea of using the shittiest camera you have because you are an artist and you can make anything shine. Nonsense. Use the best camera you have access to. The camera is NOT the most important thing. You and your ideas are. But don’t be a camera martyr and say “my work is what is important hence, not the camera, I shall film this on my iPad!” Don’t be silly now!!
(emphasis mine)