New music video ‘Skinn’

Over 3,000 photos were taken over two days to create this music video. The music video has recently been featured on Promo News and has also been nominated for an IF Award. If you like the music video, please take two minutes to vote here: Vote for ‘Skinn’.

 

Director: Johnny Blank
Production Company: Little Peeperz Productions
Producer: Sonny King
PM: Jacqueline Bender
DP: Warwick Field
Prod. Designer: Tammy Knox
Cam Asst: Anthony Koreny
Gaffer Asst: Johnny Flynn
Gaffer: Michael Hughes
PA: Filip Petrovic
Make-up: Vivienne Kitchell
Editor: Peter Garnish
Cast: Lucy, Sonny King, Marcus Laging, Deanna Inkson, Albert Goikhman, Karen Arecia Powell, Gillian Pinder, Peter Muehlenberg, Leonie Huber, Max Davine, Danielle Matthews
Lucy’s Crown official website

Johnny Blank Showreel

New music video released!

It was a long, yet fun project: the new clip, ‘Hit The Bottom’ is finally completed. Song by Lucy’s Crown. The clip is best viewed in fullscreen. You can watch the clip here: http://hitthebottomnow.com

You can also view hundreds more stills, watch the trailer, and join the fan page here: http://facebook.com/hitthebottom

Time for the Digital Revolution: Engaged Media.

I am a terribly infrequent blogger who is mainly writing this because I’ve got days of rendering ahead of me waiting for my video’s to be converted for new website!

So a good excuse to write about the current media landscape. These are just some general observations from my recent experience.

1. No-one in digital media has any clue what they are doing (but some are making some great guesses). We are like a bunch of kids in diapers learning to walk.

2. No-one in TV has any clue what they are doing (the empire is crumbling and they don’t know how to stay afloat). There is however, a wealth of production knowledge to draw upon.

3. TV and digital peeps are in an uneasy dance looking for the dollar and at this stage no-one quite has the funky moves to make that dance the next ‘Thriller’.

4. I wonder when there will be MIPDigital? I attended MIPTV for the first time this year, and while a great event, it failed to bridge the divide between digital and TV. There was little discussion of how to take the great ideas and lessons that are being learnt in the digital realm and applying them to TV or vice versa. Once people get over the idea that TV is somehow sacrosanct and accept the fact it is just another screen, then we may enter a happy place where young mediamakers with exciting ideas and powerbrokers can meet and make real deals that connect with how audiences are consuming media today.

5. All media should now be truly transmedia – I’m tired of TV shows that then add an ad-hoc online component, or on the other side cheaply produced online episodic content, that lacks the production values and care needed to be truly effective. It is time that the old land of TV, with its depth of experience in production joins forces with the digital arena, with companies and people that understand and are part of the new digital landscape and start producing truly transmedia experiences. Actually scrap that. I hate the word transmedia. Let’s call it an engaged media experience. People want to connect. People want to find. People want to explore. Give them content that is professionally produced and written, that doesn’t require them to consume it at a specific hour, and that is delivered across multiple channels of discovery and you have the formula for an engaged audience. (Yes, non-professionally produced content sometimes gets fantastic audiences too, but that’s outside the scope of this limited discussion. Another blog perhaps…)

6. Digital has allowed for the first time in history for people to (relatively easily) showcase their talent to the world. It should thus be easier for those with money and or power (still currently TV networks) to provide a conduit for developing this talent. If the bottomline is money (which unfortunately for every business and most people it is) then it is imperative that TV, brands and investors start embracing the relatively low cost of digital to incubate talent and develop audiences. For in the end it is only an engaged audience that will spend a dollar. Most of us simply click away or don’t tune in.

7. I’m calling for the Digital Revolution: let’s embrace the lessons from the past, build upon the great foundations of TV and now take storytelling to the next level of connection. We need to allow audiences to find stories wherever they are, whenever they want to. It is up to us as mediamakers, to find ways to reach these audiences and stop being confined to traditional ways of thinking. We are not living in a traditional time, we are living in the digital revolution. Embrace it, or be tuned out. The choice is yours.

iSnack2.0? I say call it iSpreadIt2.0 – the viral spread. #vegefail

If I hear the word ‘viral’ again I may have to consciously go and contract a virus so that I may curl up and die. Ok, perhaps I’m being slightly melodramatic….

Everyone I speak to wants their video to ‘go viral’. Back in my day, you’d ask the cute girl’s best friend if she wanted to ‘go steady’ with you. Now the kid in the playground SMS’s their friend a message saying how much they like the cute girl. The kid knows full well that the ‘friend’ can’t keep a secret and has a ‘quick finger’ (aka a postmodern big mouth). The apparent friend then forwards the message to their friend and so on. Before you know it the kid is now ‘going viral’ with the cute girl. They never meet behind the school playground for a pash – how eek! They might contract a virus! Instead they link up on facebook and announce that they are now in a relationship with each other – and all without even saying a word to each other.

How the hell does the above anecdote relate to Kraft and their naming of the new Vegemite as iSnack2.0 you may well ask? Well, it doesn’t entirely……

(A quick note to those non-Australians reading this: Vegemite is the black tar spread that Aussies love to lather on their toast for breakfast. Most non-Australians tend to want to throw up or have other similar reactions to its taste. But for generation after generation, it has been a staple, so much so that everyone in Australia knows it happy little jingle, ‘We’re happy little Vegemites, as bright as bright can be, we all enjoy our Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea’)

So Kraft ran a competition to decide on the name of their new spread that basically combines Vegemite and cheese in the same jar. (Brilliant – why has anyone thought of this earlier? Nothing like a bit of processed cheese mixed in with Vegemite. I’m already drooling.) Out of some 40,000 entries they chose the new name iSnack2.0.

Within hours Twitter and the usual social media suspects were inundated with disgusted responses to the name. Some commentators claimed it was a conscious decision to get free publicity. Either way, I hate it too – the whole iPod name ripoff has gone waaay too far. It’s not even like the product is a snack – it’s a spread. That’s why I’m calling for it to be renamed iSpreadIt2.0 – it’s a spread, and it’s gone viral. Or more simply:

iSpreadIt2.0 – the world’s first viral spread.

In digital media, it’s always got to be ‘the world’s first’.

Which actually leads me to finally make a point – the apparent ‘viral’ phenomenon is nothing more than the overuse of a word. If you truly want something to go viral, follow a couple of simple rules:

1. Make great content.
2. Make content that people will react to – either in a positive or negative way. The key factor is to provoke a reaction. People share information when it provokes a strong emotional response in them.
3. Stop trying to make something viral. Make something great and then use the broad range of new tools such as social media and online video networks to spread your content.
4. Forget one-off gimmick videos: If you really want to create a message that will stay in people’s minds for longer than the one second it takes to click away from your content – start thinking about engaging episodic content.
5. Don’t limit yourself to one platform or type of medium – blogs, video, websites are all packages of information – try combining them to tell your message. Investigate other ideas such as ARG’s, games, microsites, augmented reality or a combination of all of them etc.
6. Don’t forget about the real world – the best way to make a long lasting message is to make content that reflects and engages people in the real world.

And who knows, you may well be the world’s next great online viral, sounds charming doesn’t it? And if all else fails, at least you’ll have made something you’re proud of.

Interview (including live performance) with the extremely talented folk singer, Chloe Hall.

In this interview I talk to independent folk singer, Chloe Hall about storytelling, folk music and the struggles faced by independent musicians. I’ve have been working with Chloe Hall recently to produce a weekly online show that follows the Chloe Hall Trio as they tour Canada and Europe. The main aim of the show is to encourage people to start supporting independent artists, who with little support from funding bodies or major labels, are trying to make a go of it. It’s time people like you, me and everyone else out there actually do something to keep original storytelling and music alive. So take the time to read this interview and watch Chloe perform live and if you like what you see, I strongly recommend you to go to www.chloehall.com.au, show your support for The Chloe Hall Trio by registering that you’ve listened to their music and help keep their dream alive.

* What’s your story? (in 140 char. or less)

I’m an alternative folk singer-songwriter from Melbourne. I love making and sharing music, and I’m trying to work out a way to build a sustainable career.

* How did you start out?

I’ve written songs as long as I can remember.
After high-school, I studied composition at the Con in Melbourne, where I realized I was not only a terrible opera singer, but I actually didn’t like 20th century music that much. I dropped out after 2 years and hit the folk festival circuit (with my first demo – on cassette)…

* Can you remember the first song/story you ever wrote?

Uh huh.
There might have been others, but the first song I remember was when I was about 3, looking out of the back seat of the car watching the moon through the passing overhead wires. “When the moon was shining brightly and the stars were in the sky”. Genius.

* Tell us a bit about your new tour, ‘the 10,000 mission’ and the your online show, ‘Show on the Road’. What you are trying to achieve?

During this tour, we’re running 2 online campaigns.
“Chloe Hall is on a Mission” is about getting 10,000 people to hear the new album before the end of the tour (3½ months). They don’t have to buy it (although they can!), they can just go to the website, stream it, and register that they’ve heard it.
The way I see it, there are lots of people out there who will love the music, and particularly the new album – and it’s my job to find them.
I’m genuinely proud of this album, and I want to get it in front of as many people as possible – to give it the best chance that I can.

“Show on the Road” is a weekly web-based documentary of life on the road. It’s filmed by me and my trio on the road, the raw footage is uploaded… and the superstars at Agent Blank edit it and upload it each week.
It’s a fresh and exciting way of staying in touch with fans and giving a fly-on-the-wall experience of what life is like on the road.

* What makes a good story?

For me, people make good stories. If there’s real emotion there, you can bet it was triggered by a decent story. If it’s boiled down, I think a good story is an access point into a shared, simple emotion. An offering, from the teller to the listener.

* What’s your favourite story? (can be a film, book, myth etc)

I don’t have a tidy answer for this one. I’m probably most involved with the story I’ve most recently heard (and I’m always on the lookout for a good story!). I’m typing this from an alternative community in BC, Canada, where a group of American college friends bought land 35 years ago. They built the most extraordinary houses, reared chickens, pigs and cattle. Grew gardens and crops. Through summers and snowy, 40-degrees-below-winters. They led both independent and communal lives. Held legendary parties. Somehow, they’re still here – stronger than ever. All still friends. Continuing to build, play and work together. It’s inspiring. So, right now, it’s my favourite story.

* How do you think technology is changing the way we tell stories?

This is probably not a popular answer, but I think technology is changing the methods and appearance of the way we tell stories. But the stories themselves aren’t that different. Storytelling has been the same (in different forms) since we first began communicating our shared experiences.
Whether we sing a song passed down orally through generations, write a story on paper, type a blog or stream a live art-piece live on the web, we’re still connecting with people through common experience.
I think technology is opening up channels for broader communication though – allowing us to reach more people, more easily.

* Let’s talk about the difference between recording an album and performing live, how do you think the two processes change the way you tell your story?

I love them both, but recording and performing are very different.
For me, performing live is about a particular moment, with a particular group of people. We’re all a part of it. It only occurs once, and it’s a unique experience. It’s alive.
Recording is more like visual art. There’s so much preparation and refinement. It’s an exciting process – an intense exploration of the ideas and sounds, and often an amazing experience for the musicians and technicians involved. Once it’s finished, like a novel or a painting, it becomes a one-way communication with the listener/reader/viewer. It’s complete. It doesn’t change. It’s a moment captured.

* How will ‘Show on the Road’ be distributed?

Each week, Show on the Road is being uploaded to my website, youtube and other web video channels.

* What are the major hurdles to making a career from being a musician and trying to tell your stories?

The two big ones are self-belief and money.
There is an incredible amount of rejection in a musical career, so you need to have a strong belief in what you’re doing, have a thick skin, and have confidence and faith in the fact that there ARE people who will love what you’re doing, and be excited to be involved. So much of making a lasting career in music is finding a supportive community of like-minded people. On both sides of the stage/stereo.
And money? I think that’s self explanatory. Hard, hard work!

Tell us particularly about how/why folk music seems to be more about storytelling than other styles of music?

Folk music is, funnily enough, about ‘folk’. It’s by people, for people. It’s not driven by an industry, but it has a long, proud history of telling people’s stories. Remembering, sharing, sometimes protesting and resisting through music. It’s about communities and the strength of people working together. It’s real stories about real people and genuine emotions. It’s not just pop music played on acoustic instruments. It’s not always cool, but it’s timeless, classic and rich (but, you know, I might be a little bit biased!).

* Is the tour/show self funded?

I didn’t intend for this tour to be self funded (I made what I thought were 3 very strong applications for government and industry funding), but it’s ended up being a completely self-funded project. It’s wiping me out, actually. I’ll come back from this tour in debt, with no real idea of how to get out of the financial hole that I’m putting myself in. But I’m too far down the track to stop now! And you never know, if we just keep going around that next bend…

* Greatest fear in life?

Yeah right, that’s an easy question…

* What is your idea of freedom?

Setting off in the morning on a push bike. That first pedal down, where you feel the momentum of the bike take over and the wind against your face. I never tire of that feeling.

* Your greatest ambition?

This might sound a bit clichéd, but ultimately I want to be a happy, healthy, loving, loved, confident woman with a fantastic community of friends and musicians, making my living through music and songwriting. Living a rich and colourful life full of good company, good food, good music and adventure. True.

* Your tips for spreading the word and getting online support for your projects?

I’m just learning about this. At this point, I’m in other people’s hands. Definitely using social networking sites (although I could do this a lot better I think)… It’s all quite new for me at the moment, but I’m hoping we develop some good strategies along the way.

* Can you tell me the favourite song you’ve ever written and why you like it so much?

This changes all the time. At the moment it’s Shipwreck (listen to it here). It just feels so good to sing live – especially when the harmonies kick in!
It’s about being single… ‘Are you the rose or the thorn? Are you the teacup or the storm? Are you the one worth waiting for? Are you the shipwreck or the shore?…’ and I love seeing the single people in the audience (men and women) light up in recognition. It’s light, but there are seeds of truth in there… Ultimately though, it’s a very uplifting song.

* Why are you drawn to storytelling?

For the way it breaks through and makes us feel. For the way it connects people. For the way it makes us think, and question, and laugh and look around. I love hearing stories and songs just as much as I enjoy writing and sharing them. It feels important to me. Part of our own strange human story.

* If you had to live by a motto, what would it be?
I really don’t know, but I asked my (very helpful) band mates:
Teal said “Carpe PM”
Chris said “Look both ways before you cross the street”
Our host, Bob, said “Do what you like, like what you do”.

So you can see how easy that one is to answer!

– I thank Chloe for taking the time out of her extremely busy tour schedule to answer my questions. If you’ve read this far, then I encourage you once more to show your support for independent music and take a couple of minutes to check out http://www.chloehall.com.au.

Truth, the fox & a little twitter.

A number of interesting facts came to my attention this week which I feel compelled to bring to your attention.

The first fact that left me absolutely gobmacked, yet somehow reassured was that Fox successfully argued that they could use the first amendment to essentially lie when telling the news.

Why did this reassure me? It reassured me that the old media guard is under siege and surely can’t survive much longer in the face of the power of tools such as Twitter. When real time news can be spread directly from the source to the masses, there is hope that news will become less about ‘spin’ and more directly accountable. Let’s also hope that people will no longer tolerate the ‘pop’ and/or fear propaganda masquerading as news being thrown at them daily on the television or through tabloids.

My hopes in this department are encouraged by a recent interview by TED in which they interviewed Clay Shirky regarding the situation in Iran and how Twitter has been used to encourage collective action. You can read the full interview here. Essentially Clay talks about the fact that Twitter actually encourages empathy because we feel faster than we think. It’s definitely an interesting point, and the worldwide impact of the Iranian people’s use of Twitter has been extraordinary. They have not only brought their plight to the worldwide stage, they have also encouraged collective action on the issues at stake.

In this change toward real-time news there must be a mechanism to ensure that sources are checked and crossed checked. However, it seems to me that with the power of Twitter any false sources will be quickly weeded out in less time than it takes traditional media to verify, pull together a story, and print or run the story on television. A recent example of this is the absurd announcement on Australian national television that Jeff Goldblum was dead. Within minutes of the claim, a number of tweets from friends and associates of Jeff Goldblum confirmed the actor was in fact alive and well.

I’m not advocating the death of journalism, good research or storytelling. Far from it, I think that real-time news feeds and tools such as Twitter will simply weed out average writers, presenters etc as they simply won’t be necessary.

Hopefully those journalists etc that remain will do so because they have meaningful insights or impeccable storytelling abilities. Either that or they will be famous and/or goodlooking in a plastic way. I’m hoping there will be more of the talented former and less of the plastic latter.

There are those that are scared that the move to news feeds and social media will lead to information overload and a lack of empathy. However, we need to keep in mind the fact that tools such as Twitter are just that – tools. If we also keep communicating in other meaningful ways with each other then I think we’ll just be fine. We should all heed Julia Angwin’s advice and next time we make a call or see someone face to face ask them, ‘How are you really?’

And I’m all for bringing back a sacred tradition – let’s all start to switch our phones off when we’re sitting at dinner with our friends, family or colleagues. Technology can never replace the intimacy of face to face conversation and the importance of taking the time to actually listen to other people.

Technology certainly can add another dimension to the sharing of information and conversation though.

Embrace tradition, discover a flexible mind.

I am sick and tired of hearing the debate between ‘traditional’ media and ‘new’ or digital media. The old guard of the media world are grimly holding onto the term ‘tradition’ to keep themselves afloat in the rapidly changing media landscape. What disgusts me most about the old media guard, the ‘traditionalists’ of the filmmaking, television, newspaper world etc are that they blatantly misuse the term ‘tradition’. They brandish it as a weapon against the ‘new innovators in tradition’, like myself, who are more interested in telling a good story than in the eventual form it takes.  The old guard fire their ‘tradition propaganda’ so they can maintain their balance sheets and/or elite ‘art’. Tradition is being used as a tool to maintain power and money in the hands of a few select individuals. Well, those days are numbered. Tradition is bigger than all of them and here’s why:

One of my great pet hates in life is the way that people buy into ‘tradition propaganda’ and fail to think through issues for themselves. As a result they use tradition to disguise their own inflexible, and narrow mind.

Let’s look at what tradition actually is:

‘The word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means “handing over, passing on”‘- thanks Wikipedia.

Now let’s split this debate over tradition into its form and its function.

• The FUNCTION of tradition is to pass on stories or beliefs that represent an important aspect of humanity
• The FORM tradition takes can vary from the macro level of religious institutions, political systems, symbols and mythology through to the micro level of families, village cultures etc.

I studied architecture for a number of years and there was often the debate over form vs function. There was always a great deal of discussion over what should come first, form or function. The end result was always crystal clear for me. Those architects that began with the function of a building and allowed the form to develop always created the most unique, breathtaking, and engaging works of art. Those that began with the form, were generally left with a showy, useless piece of crap that fell apart in a few years.

So for me, the debate around tradition is fairly simple. Those that start from the position of form are either:

1. Wankers: largely defined by the way they mask their insecurity through megalomaniacal displays, verbose self-congratulatory language and recycled ideas (think the old guard) Or;
2. Narrow-minded: and unable to think outside the fear box being broadcast at them. They are scared that if they do start thinking for themselves, those vile, persuasive messages being thrown at them might jump out of the screen and make them so obese that they won’t be able to stop their family being captured by paedophilic terrorists. Or;
3. Both. These are the worst kind: Wankers, that have no idea what they’re talking about.

I’ll throw the types outlined above into the same category of ‘Dumbos’. These people have an inherent need for the existing superstructures to be maintained. That is, they either have a vested interest in maintaining their own power (wankers), or asserting their own stupidity to make them feel better about themselves (narrow-minded).

It is these very people that tarnish the word tradition. They usurp the function of tradition and then deride innovators or original thinkers for not being respectful of tradition.

Hence pioneers of digital media are often derided by ‘traditional’ mediums as being crass, cheap and unmindful of traditions.

Dumbos are also the ones that can be found arguing that a political system, religion or village culture is inherently good or evil. (Let’s not get into a debate on Fascism etc here). It is the people in charge of instigating the policies in such systems that do good or evil. I believe there are some underlying, basic human morals and innate beliefs that transcend a political, religious, village or family system. These are what together make up the FUNCTION of tradition, not the political, religious or other FORM they may take.

Which leads me back to the story. And digital media.

The medium of delivery whether it be a film, novel, artwork etc is not the tradition. Just as a religious or political system are not the tradition.

They are the FORM that tradition takes.

Let’s start thinking for ourselves again and look at the FUNCTION of tradition. What are we trying to say? What is our story? How are we going to communicate our tradition most effectively to future generations?

By starting from the FUNCTION of tradition some interesting, innovative and engaging FORMS of tradition may emerge.

Let’s embrace tradition, and hand over and pass on the messages and stories that are really important to new generations. Let’s start sharing stories about climate change, cultural diversity and shared growth, how we value an individual’s contribution to society beyond dollar signs, and the mechanism’s we need to not only ‘advance’ but to ‘connect’ as humans. I could add many more stories to this list, but you get the idea.

And while we’re at it, why not embrace the new technologies that allow us to share these stories with the world like never before? Even more than sharing them, we can make them calls to action by getting people involved in the conversation. Yes, sometimes we all want to passively absorb media, but we all also want to communicate and share our ideas.

Welcome to the world of The Digital Wave, the real-time ambient conversation. But that’s another blog.

For now, don’t be scared. You’ve got a flexible mind, should you choose to use it. Within our tradition is your story waiting to be discovered and shared.

Interview with Frank Kelly, creator of the Twitter-inspired 140 film project.

I’m excited to share this email interview I conducted with Frank Kelly, the organiser of the 140 project. This is the first, in what is hopefully an ongoing series of interviews with storytellers from around the world.

I’ve mentioned the 140 project before in an earlier blog, but for those who aren’t familiar with the project, Frank has been inspired by Twitter to come up with a new way to make a film. On June 21st, 8pm GMT, 140 filmmakers from 140 locations around the world will record 140 sec of footage each. I’m one of the filmmakers involved, and I’m very interested to see the results of the final product. Find out more about the project here.

In this interview Frank provides some interesting insights into his life, the changing face of storytelling and his own personal quest to find and tell great stories.

Please note, that as this is Frank’s story I haven’t edited any of his answers, so excuse the odd mispelling etc.

What’s your story? (in 140 char. or less)
I make films. I’ve written screenplays for about 10 years, shorts, features, TV shows. Made some shorts and won a few awards doing it too!

How did you start out?
First film I made was Emily’s Song, a short about two brothers which played in festivals around the world. That was the first real step into filmmaking. But I had been writing for years before that, learning my craft as a writer. Before that I studied Animation Production in college, but decided to go into live action when I graduated, live action being my first love.

Tell us a bit about the idea behind this project.
I was frustrated with not getting anything made, I had made a film in a year and there didn’t seem to be anything coming up. Right about then I signed up to twitter, my first thought was ‘I don’t need this,’ I figured it would just be a distraction, but then I started to think about how I might use it to get something going. Seeing how quickly you could communicate with a lot of people and taping into the expedient nature of twitter I started to think about connection and synchronicity.

How do you think technology is changing the way we tell stories?
Storytelling is as much a part of our DNA as the colour of our eyes. As humans we tell stories everyday, perform little plays for each other, try to entertain each other. One of my favourite things to do is watch people telling stories, in a cafe, on the town, one is usually the audience, while the other is the story teller, waving his or her arms around stepping in and out of different characters, retelling some tall tale of something that happened last week, exaggerated ten fold for effect. I think technology will simply be another outlet for telling stories, we’ll tell the same stories, but in another way.

One of the filmmakers on 140 is Zach Helm, the writer of Stranger Than Fiction, and probably one of the most unique story tellers of this generation. He is using twitter in a new way to tell a story. He has a fictional character called Henry Thorpe whose life he is played out in real time as he twitters his adventures, which is an interesting use of the medium.

Do you see this project being fiction, non-fiction or both?
It’s non-fiction, although some filmmakers may chose performance pieces, I’m not sure yet, I won’t know until I see everyone’s footage. It’s a documentary of sorts, an experiment. It will cut together as visual experience that will, hopefully, perhaps have a message, an over all feeling.

What tools are you using to bring the various filmmakers and footage together?
I’m bringing the filmmakers together online, mainly through twitter, but also via email. I’ve asked the filmmakers to shoot on whatever format they have available to them, as the filmmakers come from every degree of experience, from student to seasoned professional. They will then send to footage to me as a file and I’ll upload it and begin cutting… which should be fun!

How will your project be distributed?
I will promote the film on the film festival circuit for about a year and seek distribution.

Is this project self funded? Or do you have sponsors onboard?
There is no funding. The idea was to make something from nothing, using the internet and the ingenuity of the artists involved. I don’t have any money, so I figured there was no point in trying to make something that cost a fortune… or even €10!

What makes a good story?
I’m not sure, something that surprises you. It’s a mixture of Deja Vu and Jame vu, something you know you’ve seen before, but at the same time, something you’ve never seen before. It’s old and new at the same time… tricky!

What’s your favourite story? (can be a film, book, myth etc)
Back to the Future is my favourite film, I think it’s a wonderful film and a brilliant story. His Dark Materials are my favourite books, masterful storytelling. I loved the Lord of the Rings movies. I think I like grand adventures, something I can be completely absorbed and lost in.

Where did you get the name pale stone productions?
Pale Stone is the name of a character in a story my writing partner have been working on for several year. I wont tell you too much lest it spoil some of the plot.

Greatest fear in life?
Losing someone dear to me.

What is your idea of freedom?
I akin freedom to happiness. And not sure happiness exists as a complete and constant state, we have moments of happiness, but we could always be happier! We’re still tied to so many worries and anxieties: bills, dept, health concerns, car payments, mortgage, credit cards, all of us struggling to make something good, make a living, make a mark. Freedom, or happiness are not things I feel everyday, whereas I feel worry everyday, and freedom is life without worry I think, which is impossible. Maybe only when we’re dead will we really find freedom… Happy answer!

Your greatest ambition?
To provide a good living for my family, make sure they are looked after and safe.

Your tips for spreading the word and getting online support for your projects?
The network theory. I tell everyone I know and ask them to tell everyone they know and so one, hopefully soon everyone will know! We’re all connected now, so it should work.

'Broken Wall' by Frank Kelly

The favourite photo Frank Kelly has taken called ‘Broken Wall’. You can see more of Frank’s photos here.

I took it in a place played as a child. I later found out it is the factory where my grandparents worked and indeed met, so it has a strong significance for me.
It was part of an exhibition I did called ‘Old Shoes and Broken Walls’ about the crumbling factories around my town and simbolises, for me, how easily we forget, and how we get so fixated on what’s directly in front of use that we forget about where we came from, who made us, how we got here, and there is no reverence for that. I think there should be.

Why are you drawn to storytelling?
Simple answer; I don’t know. Something to do with the fact that I like being surprised, I like feeling part of something, I like making people feel surprised and making them feel part of something. There’s a big hole in all of us, something we strive everyday to fill, with food, money, cars and all the material things we want. I don’t think any of those things are as satisfying as a good story, when we hear a good story, whether in a film or a book or from a friend, we feel complete for a few moments. It’s something primal.

If you had to live by a motto, what would it be?
I have no idea!

– Many thanks for Frank for sparing the time to answer a few questions. You can also find out more about what he is up to at his blog.

Storytelling independent of medium.

I’ve have been getting a number of responses to my previous post on Ag8 and the future of storytelling. I believe a lot of people seem to be confusing the medium for the message. I simply believe that paradigm is outmoded. The internet, by its very nature lends itself to discussions around technology. I want to start hearing more conversation around our story.

Storytelling throughout history has been independent of the medium. Sure, as a result of the medium certain forms, genres and archetypal characters of storytelling emerged. An incredible history has built around the shared myths and symbols that have emerged from the various mediums.

However, a good story usurps any medium.

When you read a great book, the story doesn’t stop there, you tell your friends, you discuss the book with others, and a myth is built around that book. This will largely be shaped by your close networks, what you have seen/read/heard about the book in other media etc. While the audience may not be actively communicating with the author, they are certainly shaping the subjective story that emerges. For the story, once read, becomes independent of the page and subject to the experiences, views and symbolic belief systems of the audience.

In a sense, nothing has changed. Their are still people creating and people consuming. However, the crucial aspect is the currency of openness and speed. The creator must now use the feedback of the audience to refine, defend or promote their story and be clear in their reasons for producing the story in the first place.

If story is truly about educating as much as entertaining then it is up to every storyteller out there to be clear in their convictions. They must tell stories that connect meaningfully with their audience. This doesn’t mean they ever have to lose sight of the story they are trying to tell. It’s just that instead of telling stories in a linear, clear-cut way, storytellers must now develop multiple levels of meaning. They must create, or allow the audience/creator to create, through-lines that are more human in nature than traditional narrative structure.

The story needs to embrace worlds to truly reflect the many worlds that make up our existence (e.g. internal, local, national etc).

Humanity will always require leaders to balance the needs and wants of society. As such, it will require creative leaders and storytellers to guide these communal stories. However, sometimes the best stories come from the most unexpected places. It might just be that we all have a story to tell. This may come as a shock to all the history saturated, culturally elite, traditionalists out there. I’m not interested in tradition for tradition’s sake. I’m interested in the human story. Aren’t we all?

Respect where the story has come from, but also be open minded enough to see where it may go.

The future of the story is out in the wild world. You better get ready.

What’s your story?

NB: While all mediums were created equal, we needed the internet to bring our story together.