Storytelling – Page 2 – Latest News from MediaStorm

Eight Things I (Re)Learned Editing Travel Anonymous

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:August 18, 2015

Sometimes having no limitations is the hardest obstruction. * To paraphrase the late novelist E.L. Doctorow., “[Making a movie] is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights but you can make the whole trip that way.” * In other words, the only way out is through. * It’s hard to be spontaneous if you’re clinging to the some vague notion that what you’re doing is wrong. If you let yourself fail extravagantly, you might succeed beyond expectation. * "The first draft of anything is shit." - Ernest Hemingway * The unconscious mind loves to work out problems. You may feel doubt and uncertainty but your brain is busy untying knots. * Write down insights and ideas immediately. You’ll forget them otherwise. Seriously, you will. • The simple answer comes last, after you’ve worked your way through all the rest. It’s like sculpting: you…

Travel Anonymous: Lessons Learned, Again

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:July 14, 2015

I’m a big proponent of working within a set of limitations.

I’ve purposefully done this numerous times both at MediaStorm and in my own work: from setting out to make a film that’s exactly one-minute long to creating a fictional movie with the attributes of a documentary. Setting yourself up against restrictions can be a powerful means of encouraging creative problem solving.

But with Travel Anonymous, a MediaStorm collaboration with photographer Jeff Hutchens, I could literally do anything. Nothing was out of bounds.

Case in point: at one of my first meetings with Jeff, he told me he liked the idea of using only the tiniest portions of his images. A corner here, an interesting blur there. To work without regard to the “sacredness” of a photographer’s pictures felt both exhilarating, and quite honestly, a bit blasphemous.

There was just one objective: to convey what it feels like to travel so much that you lose all sense of time and place. This was to be an immersive, sensory experience.

Early on, though, I was confounded. (more…)

Join Us for #ICPMEETUP: Photography and New Storytelling Platforms

Post author:Cortney Cleveland
Post published:May 18, 2015

MediaStorm's Executive Producer Brian Storm will serve as the moderator for Photography and New Storytelling Platforms #ICPMEETUP on Wednesday, May 20th, 2015 from 7:00–9:00 p.m. in the ICP Student Lounge in New York City. The session will explore the future of visual storytelling with the minds behind Atavist, Medium and The Rockefeller Foundation. Register online to attend this free event. Event Details In the last years we have seen the emergence of new platforms allowing image makers to combine words, still and moving images into beautiful self-published stories and connect them organically to different communities. These storytelling platforms such as Medium, Atavist, and Rockefeller Foundation's toolkit platform for storytellers Hatch help image makers, journalists, but also nonprofits and other social impact organizations to use the power of narrative and networks to increase their reach, resources, and impact. What can we learn from these empowering tools and how do and will they shape the future of visual storytelling?…

Kalish Workshop 2015 Dates Announced

Post author:Cortney Cleveland
Post published:March 19, 2015

The Kalish Workshop will be holding its next workshop June 12-17, 2015 in Rochester, New York.

This five-day storytelling workshop is taught by Emmy and Pulitzer Prize winning editors. Application deadline is April 1st.

The Kalish Workshop

The Kalish Workshop is an inspirational and intense five-day experience in editing visual storytelling. It is designed to benefit anyone who touches photography with a narrative storyline for online and print.

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How to Make a Kitchen-Sink Sandwich

Post author:Eric Maierson
Post published:January 28, 2015

When you edit it's easy to become enamored with your favorite moments, maybe a bit of narration here or a visual sequence there–parts you think are really working. It's easy to do and it's natural. But the more important question is, do these sections actually work within the context of the larger piece? Sure, they're beautiful on their own but how do they affect the overall story? Do they advance it? Or are they like a beautiful roadside dinosaur attraction, striking but totally out of place next to the suburban highway? The question is, are you making a kitchen-sink sandwich? Have you fallen in love with every ingredient in your refrigerator: the mayonnaise, the bleu cheese, the horseradish, the sauerkraut? Sure, they're all fine on their own but slap them together and nothing quite makes sense anymore. So when you're structuring your movie, ask yourself this, does the section in question connect…