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How to Know You Have a GOOD STORY

How to Know You Have a GOOD STORY. With Brian Bird @ brbird. World Vision Website for JOURNEY TO JAMAA. http:// jamaa.worldvision.org. 1. Do you have CONFIRMATION?. Do you have confirmation from at least TWO other people whose opinions you trust ?. 1 . Do you have CONFIRMATION?.

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How to Know You Have a GOOD STORY

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  1. How to Know You Have a GOOD STORY With Brian Bird @brbird

  2. World Vision Website forJOURNEY TO JAMAA http://jamaa.worldvision.org

  3. 1. Do you haveCONFIRMATION? • Do you have confirmation from at least TWOother people whose opinions you trust?

  4. 1. Do you haveCONFIRMATION? • Do you have confirmation from at least TWOother people whose opinions you trust? It can’t be: Mommy Aunt Connie from Albuquerque Anybody who is so biased toward you, they won’t be honest

  5. 1. Do you haveCONFIRMATION? • Do you have confirmation from at least TWO other people whose opinions you trust? It should be:Another qualified story-teller/ communicator who will be honest Somebody’s who’s been in the media/story battle for a long time Respected Thought/Opinion leader

  6. 2. Tell a TRUE STORY if you can • Why are true stories better… as opposed to fictional stories?

  7. 2. Tell a TRUE STORY if you can • True stories… • Are more promotable • Provide story credibility • Help an audience identify/relate/put themselves in the story • Affirm life as opposed to being just dismissed as entertainment

  8. 2. Tell a TRUE STORY if you can Bonus lesson about True Stories… • If you’re making a documentary… stay as close to the facts as possible • If you’re making a narrative film… stay as close to the facts as possible… … • but never let the facts get in the way of telling the most effective story (dramatic license)

  9. 3. Do you have aGASP FACTOR? Others have called it the WOW or GEE WHIZ FACTOR

  10. 3. Do you have aGASP FACTOR? Others have called it the WOW or GEE WHIZ FACTOR • When pitching the story, it’s the one idea that causes the biggest physical reaction from your audience

  11. 3. Do you have aGASP FACTOR? In J2J, our GASP came from our mysterious box on wheels

  12. 4. Do you have a strong CHARACTER QUEST for your Protagonist? • There is only one kind of story-telling in which a protagonist doesn’t grow…

  13. 4. Do you have a strong CHARACTER QUEST for your Protagonist? • There is only one kind of story-telling in which a protagonist doesn’t grow… … REALLY BAD STORY-TELLING

  14. 4. Do you have a strong CHARACTER QUEST for your Protagonist? • There is only one kind of story-telling in which a protagonist doesn’t grow… … REALLY BAD STORY-TELLING • A character that does not grow, is a really poorly drawn character

  15. 4. Do you have a strong CHARACTER QUEST for your Protagonist? • The only predictable thing about human nature is that it is always changing. Well-drawn characters must go on personal quests or journeys. • So you must know your characters thoroughly • It’s the way to help your audience fall in love

  16. 4. Do you have a strong CHARACTER QUEST for your Protagonist? • The only predictable thing about human nature is that it is always changing. Well-drawn characters must go on personal quests or journeys. • It is a journey of growth: • From despair to hope • From uncertainty to conviction • From animosity to love • From hope to despair

  17. 5. Does your story have a natural 3-ACT STRUCTURE? • All great stories throughout history (even Jesus’ parables) were told in a 3-Act sweep • Beginning, middle and end • 3 Acts seem to resonate with most human actions or interactions, whether real or fictional • Before the Action • During the Action • After the Action

  18. 5. Does your story have a natural 3-ACT STRUCTURE? • Act 1 is about WHO • introducing your hero and his quest (also poses the BIG QUESTION of the story) • Act 2 is about WHAT • intensify quest with complications • Act 3 is about HOW WHO accomplishes the WHAT • resolves the quest either tragically, or triumphantly (also answers the BIG QUESTION of the story)

  19. 6. Do you know your ENDING? • Does your story naturally build to an exciting or rewarding Act 3 climax or resolve? • Always build your story with the end in mind…

  20. 6. Do you know your ENDING? • Does your story naturally build to an exciting or rewarding Act 3 climax or resolve? • Always build your story with the end in mind… … or you will wind up with an end that is mindless

  21. 6. Do you know your ENDING? • The benefits of a good ending…

  22. 6. Do you know your ENDING? • The benefits of a good ending… • Culminates the action • Fulfills the hero’s quest • Answers the BIG QUESTION asked in Act 1 • Rewards the audience love affair with your central character

  23. 6. Do you know your ENDING? In J2J, our children find their new home… the answer to the central question of the story

  24. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? • A “Rosebud” is that central object/token/souvenir/memento that serves as a “golden thread” woven through your story.

  25. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? • A “Rosebud” is that central object/token/souvenir/memento that serves as a “golden thread” woven through your story. • It symbolizes your hero’s: • Central goal of the journey • A lost, or hoped for ideal • Object of biggest fear • Reward for going on the quest

  26. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? In Citizen Kane, Rosebud was the name of Kane’s boyhood sled. It represented the purity and innocence of his childhood, the last time he could remember actually being happy.

  27. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? In Inception, the spinning top represented a totem for Leonardo DeCaprio’sCobb character. The top spinning or not spinning was the only evidence Cobb had to tell him if he was still dreaming or back in the real world. But it also represented for him his last connection to the real world… like a lifeline to pull himself back from the brink. Audiences were haunted by the ambiguous ending of the top still spinning… or was it wobbling?

  28. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? In Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, the white straw hat of La Forge, the man who was pursuing them to the ends of the earth, represented their greatest fear and the unforgiving march of their mortality. Imagine, two hardened outlaws afraid of a white straw hat?

  29. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? In The Passion, Mel Gibson used the eerily evil androgynous woman with the man’s voice and her strange “old man” baby to represent the looming specter of Satan and his demons flagrantly operating on the human plane where only Jesus could see them. But they symbolize the eternal fear we have of the spiritual realm and battle that exists just beyond the veil.

  30. 7. Do you have your “ROSEBUD”? In Cinema Paradiso, the box of filmed kissing scenes clipped by the priest out of all the movies showing in the town’s cinema become a discovered souvenir for adult Toto. They were left to him him by the town’s projectionist Fredo upon his death. As Toto watches a compilation of them at the end of the film, they represent for him a return to the innocence of youth, the joy of first love, and the celebration of community.

  31. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • From the beginning of time, what do children ask of their parents at bedtime?

  32. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • From the beginning of time, what do children ask of their parents at bedtime? • “Tell me a story”

  33. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • From the beginning of time, what do children ask of their parents at bedtime? • “Tell me a story” • Why do people love stories? 

  34. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • Throughout history, human beings have responded to common themes or meta-messages in stories:

  35. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • Throughout history, human beings have responded to common themes or meta-messages in stories: • Forgiveness • Sacrifice • Redemption • Resurrection • Courage, nobility

  36. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • People love stories that explore transcendent themes because…

  37. 8. Are you communicating aTRANSCENDANT THEME? • People love stories that explore transcendent themes because… • We are hard-wired for meaning in stories • We have “violin strings”in our souls. When plucked, they resonate with transcendent themes • C.S. Lewis called Christ “myth that became true” • Transcendent themes are heavenly truths set in human circumstances

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