Week 4 Story Lab
TEDEd Videos on Creative Writing and Style: watch the playlist here
For this week's story lab assignment, I watched the playlist of TedED videos about creative writing and style. I thought all of the videos were really interesting and effective at explaining their points, but a few stood out to me as especially intriguing.
The first video about creative constraints by Brandon Rodriguez really resonated with me. Basically, although it seems like constraints would make a task or challenge more difficult, it often is actually the exact opposite. Having no constraints is the most difficult way to be creative or accomplish anything, since there are no guidelines for what to do or what success looks like.
I definitely experience this everyday in multiple parts of my life. When I create art, I have to set constraints for myself so the "problem" of creating an artwork becomes easier and my vision for what I want to make becomes clearer. These constraints can vary, such as the size of canvas I'll work with, the medium I'll work with, or the subject I'm tackling.
I also find that constraints make my graphic designer job easier. Here, constraints come in the form of a creative brief, which outlines what the client wants the final product to do and how it should look. A clearly defined creative brief makes my job as a designer a lot easier than a client who is vague and doesn't quite know what they want. Even if the creative brief is very specific with lots of constraints, it still fosters creativity in the form of problem solving.
The second video "What makes a hero?" by Matthew Winkler was also really fun to watch, mostly because the animation was so engaging and really helped explain the key points of the video. The video broke down common tropes of fictional heroes and explained the general journey that a hero follows within a fictional work. I thought the analysis of the Hunger Games and how well it followed the 'hero's journey' was a great way to tie the concepts into a real world example almost everyone is familiar with.
The last video that I especially liked was "What 'Orwellian' really means" by Noah Tavlin. 'Orwellian' is definitely a word that has seen an increased use lately, so it's helpful to know exactly what it means. I read 1984 in high school like many other people, so I had somewhat of an understanding of what it meant, but the video really helped clarify exactly what should or shouldn't be considered Orwellian. Simply put, an authoritarian government or organization isn't necessarily Orwellian, but if they're engaging in deceptive manipulation of language then it is Orwellian. This is known as 'doublespeak' in 1984, and occurs when words come to mean the opposite of what they're supposed to, such as the "Ministry of Truth" which spreads lies and propaganda to citizens. 1984 is still one of my favorite books, and I think Orwell's philosophy and thinking is really important in today's society with constant and pervasive exposure to media. That being said, I'm not sure how to tie this video back into this class, but I think one broader takeaway from this video is that words have meaning for a reason, and writers should be careful to use them properly to avoid slipping into doublespeak territory.
For this week's story lab assignment, I watched the playlist of TedED videos about creative writing and style. I thought all of the videos were really interesting and effective at explaining their points, but a few stood out to me as especially intriguing.
The first video about creative constraints by Brandon Rodriguez really resonated with me. Basically, although it seems like constraints would make a task or challenge more difficult, it often is actually the exact opposite. Having no constraints is the most difficult way to be creative or accomplish anything, since there are no guidelines for what to do or what success looks like.
I definitely experience this everyday in multiple parts of my life. When I create art, I have to set constraints for myself so the "problem" of creating an artwork becomes easier and my vision for what I want to make becomes clearer. These constraints can vary, such as the size of canvas I'll work with, the medium I'll work with, or the subject I'm tackling.
I also find that constraints make my graphic designer job easier. Here, constraints come in the form of a creative brief, which outlines what the client wants the final product to do and how it should look. A clearly defined creative brief makes my job as a designer a lot easier than a client who is vague and doesn't quite know what they want. Even if the creative brief is very specific with lots of constraints, it still fosters creativity in the form of problem solving.
The second video "What makes a hero?" by Matthew Winkler was also really fun to watch, mostly because the animation was so engaging and really helped explain the key points of the video. The video broke down common tropes of fictional heroes and explained the general journey that a hero follows within a fictional work. I thought the analysis of the Hunger Games and how well it followed the 'hero's journey' was a great way to tie the concepts into a real world example almost everyone is familiar with.
The last video that I especially liked was "What 'Orwellian' really means" by Noah Tavlin. 'Orwellian' is definitely a word that has seen an increased use lately, so it's helpful to know exactly what it means. I read 1984 in high school like many other people, so I had somewhat of an understanding of what it meant, but the video really helped clarify exactly what should or shouldn't be considered Orwellian. Simply put, an authoritarian government or organization isn't necessarily Orwellian, but if they're engaging in deceptive manipulation of language then it is Orwellian. This is known as 'doublespeak' in 1984, and occurs when words come to mean the opposite of what they're supposed to, such as the "Ministry of Truth" which spreads lies and propaganda to citizens. 1984 is still one of my favorite books, and I think Orwell's philosophy and thinking is really important in today's society with constant and pervasive exposure to media. That being said, I'm not sure how to tie this video back into this class, but I think one broader takeaway from this video is that words have meaning for a reason, and writers should be careful to use them properly to avoid slipping into doublespeak territory.
Eric Blair, more well-known as his pen name George Orwell.
(Image source: Wikimedia)
Hey Alyx,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I read through your story lab post. I agree that having no constraints seems to make work much harder. I like to have some structure. Your post made great points that made me want to go back and watch the videos that you highlighted.
-Andy