The Story of ____

One of the things I enjoy is a good story, whether it’s reading one, listening to one, watching one or telling one. I’m always looking for ways to incorporate story lines in the things I create because the end result becomes much more richer in meaning and is more engaging. Everyone enjoys stories, otherwise much of the entertainment industry wouldn’t exist nor the book industry.

The Story of Bottled Water is a good example of using the elements of storytelling to explain something that seems rather mundane. How can the subject of bottled water be so interesting, you might wonder. If you watch the video, you’ll soon understand that there is a whole history encapsulated in that bottle of water and that the most important character in this whole story is you! Without you, this story would not exist.

If you haven’t seen The Story of Stuff yet, this is also a good video to watch because it gives you the big picture of the things you consume. A lot of times people have no idea the amount of resources it takes to produce something, sell it and discard junk. If they did, they might think differently about their role in the story. They may think they have a small part in this story, but in fact they are the lead role!

And another story, if you have time is on Cap and Trade. This story puts this concept into simple terms on a proposal to manage the carbon emissions on this planet—how it works and what makes it flawed.

Notice that all these stories are illustrated with simple one-color drawings and animations along with narration and video of the presenter. The engagement factor here is really driven by the story line and not by lots of fanciful effects or rich graphics. You can have an engaging story without all the eye candy, but it’s hard to have an engaging story with nothing but eye candy and a weak story line.