Storytelling through photos

Many media experts are predicting a bleak future for theatrical film and TV now that an entire generation has turned away to short YouTube amateur videos and the pleasures of being the hero in video games.

But storytelling itself and our primitive desire to devour great stories will always remain, no matter what the platform or length.

When you think about the projects you want to accomplish, does it have to be a 300 page novel, or could it be a 50 page Amazon singlet? A 120 minute movie, or just a photo with a paragraph caption that makes people laugh, weep, and change their prejudices? 

I'm talking of course about Facebook sensation HONY - Humans of New York. (If you aren't on Facebook, here is the less interactive website).

If you haven't heard about HONY yet, you will. The phenomena has 10.2 million viewers today. That's more than beloved icon and King of the Internet Uncle George Takei's 7.8 million!

There's a new King of the Internet, and his name is Brandon Stanton. He's a goofy white guy with a high voice, and a lanky 6 foot plus frame he slouches to be less threatening to the strangers he approaches, often in the roughest areas of New York burroughs.

You might assume Brandon studied photojournalism, and a star college student. But in fact he'd barely picked up a camera before his daily three-mile walks began to include photographs so powerful that Facebook users are demanding he win the Nobel Peace Prize.

And his undergraduate career was so bad his alma mater now proudly bears a plaque commemorating his achievement as their only student to get five F's in one semester! So yes, there is hope for you and your projects. In less than four years of walking around NYC talking to the six strangers a day he photographs, this 29-year-old has become a big NYT best-selling-author (Authors on average get a $1 a book, so do the math on how "comfortable" he is now!) who does special projects for the UN, has speaking engagements at colleges that wouldn't admit him, and is stopped on the streets as an icon and hero.

The lessons here are to follow your passion, do what other people aren't, brand yourself by your differences, and above all TELL US A STORY.











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Here is another beautiful example of outside-the-box photographic storytelling done for the cost of a camera by photographer Nicholas Nixon.

The Brown Sisters at Forty Years

This is another deceptively simple but powerful idea (40 portraits in 40 years) that has viewers openly weeping at museum exhibits.


Both of these artists have told incredibly powerful stories simply, and changed the world for the better.

So stop worrying about the future of the film and television industry, and focus on story.


What will your story be?

Tonight's Topic: Journeys, Quests, and Odysseys

"O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a brilliant movie from 2000 directed by the Coen Brothers. For once there is no debate about whether a film is based on past material, because the Coen Brothers declare on the first title card that it is based on The Odyssey.

This popular film is a terrific example of how to update a cultural myth, in this case taking the well-known story of The Odyssey and recreating it in Depression Era America as a musical. The hit soundtrack went on to sell 5 million copies, and win the Country Award's Best Album and Best Song. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. George Clooney received the Golden Globe for his performance.

IMDb citings of Odyssey references

Quizlet Chart comparing The Odyssey to O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Comparative Mythology



The Latin translation of George Clooney's name Ulysses is Odyssseus, which means "Man in Constant Pain and Sorrow". The hit song Ulysses records is "Man of Constant Sorrow."

Ulysses discovers his wife hasn't waited for his return and is marrying another man.


Big Dan Teague is the Cyclops.



Baby Face Nelson machine guns the cows for no reason during his getaway, echoing the fools' slaughter of Sun god Helios's cattle, for which Ulysses is later punished with the threat of the electrical chair, and taunted as a "cow killer". (In the Odyssey it is the Sun god's lightning bolt.)



The Sirens homage needs no explanation:




Pete is changed into a frog mirroring Odyseus's men being changed into animals. Ulysses frets about his hair, pride in appearance being his tragic flaw.

 


The Hogwallop barn fire fight references Odysseus' journey from Scylla to Charybdis.



This scene mirrors Odysseus hiding as sheep from the Cyclops.




The flood scene is an amazing reference to Poseidon's many floods in The Odyssey.




The Coen Brothers would go on to do another mythological adaptation in 2009, with "A Serious Man" taking on the Book of Job. That acclaimed film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Screenplay.

The Hero's Journey as explained by puppets

This six minute supporting video is one of my class favorites. It clearly explains the supporting characters in a monomyth, shows great examples from famous films, has humorous recreations, and...it's puppets!