Comments on: Sleep-Drunk Commentary

By: dy/dan » Blog Archive » Digital Storytelling Carnival Entry

dy/dan » Blog Archive » Digital Storytelling Carnival Entry — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:53:50 +0000

[…] took exception to my democratic optimism: I still think that there is a particular language to film making that only a few will pick up just […]

By: Mathew

Mathew — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 15:32:02 +0000

I still think that there is a particular language to film making that only a few will pick up just by osmosis.

If you want to make good videos you have to be aware of certain film language in the same way that print design requires adherence to certain principles. http://tinyurl.com/3ydx2g

By: jeffreygene

jeffreygene — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 22:33:27 +0000

A Whole New Mind, thanks JD! I knew I’d read something that totally linked in to what Dan was saying here…but it just wouldn’t come off the tip of my tongue.

It’s definitely worth checking out, Dan, if you haven’t already. One of the arguments is that storytelling (and the right-brained people that go along with it) will become essential to selling a product, because the differences in cost / function / aesthetic appeal are going to become so minor. The main difference between products will be the story behind them.

By: ken

ken — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:06:33 +0000

Find the Commander’s Intent!

I think that’s in a book…

By: J.D. Williams

J.D. Williams — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:14:53 +0000

Either you are reading, or should be reading the following books:

Made to Stick: Why some ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip & Dan Heath – http://www.madetostick.com/

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink – http://www.danpink.com/

My guess is your reading Made to Stick.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:01:17 +0000

Couldn’t agree more – story-telling is everything. If you really can’t sleep and want something to get your teeth into have a look at “When Metaphors Bewitch, Analogies Illustrate, And Logic Fails: Controversies Over The Use Of Metaphoric Reasoning In Philosophy And Science”.

That’s a bit of a mouthful and I don’t normally read this stuff but Chapter II is superb – it’s all about the contest between the idea of teaching as “transmitting idea objects” and “teaching as guiding” – Protagoras describes teaching as a form of motion, which is just delightful.

http://zakros.ucsd.edu/~trohrer/metaphor/diss.htm

By: dan

dan — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:00:32 +0000

Design – particularly information design – is the only way I know to bring storytelling into mathematics. That enthusiasm won't recede even a little as I explore its parent skill.

By: Christian Long

Christian Long — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 04:49:18 +0000

At the end of the day, everything we do — if we do it well and with unapologetic passion — comes down to sitting around a ‘
‘campfire’ telling stories.

Or, as you said (and perhaps one of the finest lines I’ve read from you in a long time, amongst many that grab my attention):

“Storytelling is the skill. Everything else is just its instrument.”

Amen.

I do hold true to the premise that ‘design problem solving’ is a skill that must become fundamental in all educational settings. But design — or technology or roller skate tuning — is but an instrument to something more epic: storytelling.

And frankly, it’s profoundly human, unapologetically universal. And there is no ‘beta’ or 2.0 version needed. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

As my head nods up and down tonight, Dan, let me say: “Well phrased and well provoked.”