Friday, September 14, 2007

Update, youth and the Internet: 96% use it for social networking

Class- You are reading an article to present in two weeks about how diffused the Internet is in the lives of our youth, particularly as it relates to producing digital information rather than just consuming it. Here is an update to that article, which says in essence that of those youth who use the Internet, 96% use it for social networking. Click here to read the entire article.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Hidden Persuasion or Junk Science?

A great article about how neuro science is trying to help the advertising industry. The article Hidden Persuasion or Junk Science was written by Mya Frazier and was published at the site.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

What makes stories work

Some important points about why stories work:
  • Stories "hook us" because we want to know what is going to happen next.
  • Stories succeed when what happens next makes sense, is believable, but is not predictable.
  • Stories have heroes or protagonists who change, realize things and grow somehow. If a story is well done, then we ride the journey of transformation with that person. Really powerful stories change not just the people in the story, but the audience as well.
Documentaries can adapt the point of view of the hero in three ways:
  1. The narrator is the "hero" and is changed by the events s/he documents.
  2. The documentary follows a particular person and the transformation s/he undergoes.
  3. We, the audience members, become the protagonist because we change. In this case the 3 points of the story core work as follows:
    • Problem: There is something we don't know about or don't understand.
    • Solution: The documentary provides the information we need to resolve that.
    • Transformation: In the process we see a part of life we did not before, learn things we did not know, understand things we did not understand.

Story Core and Story Map Resources

To review the information about the story core and story map information that I referred to in class, visit the part of my storytelling website.

Your head on advertising

Here is the basic diagram I have referred to a few times in class about how advertising tries to pierce your neocortex and feed it at the same time. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Eight Levels of transformation

As promised here are the 8 levels of transformation. In most stories, the hero or protagonist changes. The 8 levels of transformation help describe the kinds of changes s/he undergoes.

They are not mutually exclusive my any means. They overlap, and characters can change at many levels at once.

  1. Level 1: Physical kinesthetic. Character develops strength or dexterity. Popeye eats spinach and grows muscles; Baby (Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing) learns how to dance and wins the contest.

  2. Level 2: Inner strength. Character develops courage, overcomes fear. Lucilla and Proximo (Connie Neilson and Oliver Reed in Gladiator) help Maximus (Russell Crowe) in his effort to restore the republic of Rome.

  3. Level 3: Emotional. Character matures, thinks beyond his or her own needs; Han Solo returns to fight the good fight in Star Wars.

  4. Level 4: Moral. Character develops a conscience; Schindler develops his list

  5. Level 5: Psychological. Character develops insight, self-awareness. Neo (Keanu Reeves in The Matrix) understands who he is in relation to the Matrix.

  6. Level 6: Social. Character accepts new responsibility with respect to family, community, or a group; Max (Mel Gibson in Road Warrior) sticks around to help the small community defend itself against terrorist bike gangs.

  7. Level 7: Intellectual/creative. Character advances his or her intellectual/creative ability in order to learn or do something new; this allows him or her to solve a problem, puzzle, or mystery, leading to new understandings about a situation (Neo in The Matrix). This level captures the essence of making students heroes of their own learning stories.

  8. Level 8: Spiritual. Character has an awakening, which changes his or her entire perspective. With the help of a spiritual mentor, Larry Darrell (Bill Murray in Razor’s Edge) achieves a sense of enlightenment that alters his perspective about what is important in life.