Pecos is in Tibet
- By : Mkinde
- Category : Education
- Tags: Buckaroo Banzai, Storytelling, Unschooling, World-Building
Anna recently sent me a short video that summed up everything I ever loved about comic books and science fiction movies from my childhood:
The video discusses how movies and comics build complex “worlds” by including references to other people, places and/or events outside the framework of the current storyline. Over time, these small hints and allusions create a context for other stories and draw in readers/moviegoers by giving them access to a large body of secret knowledge.
I thought that we could use this technique on multiple levels with Anna’s unschooling project. On the literary side, I suggested that she could start creating her own universe for future stories and characters. On the more reality-based side, I thought she could start digging into world history to find examples of items that could serve as templates for her literary universe as well as provide insights into today’s current events.
Updates:
- 6/21/2021 – Nice article on storytelling and world building in the Star Wars universe: https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/a-new-hope-for-star-wars/ar-AALgCEh
Interesting counterpoint suggesting that the building of these universes has supplanted good storytelling: “Hollywood no longer tells straightforward stories. Instead it creates universes — sprawling, interlinked franchises that serve as advertisements for themselves while rewarding die-hard viewers who return again and again … But in the quest for predictability, [movie studios] have adopted an approach that inherently rewards repetition rather than innovation. It’s a strategy that creates a sense that the stories aren’t really designed to be stories, at least not the kind with a beginning, a middle and an end.” Great article from NYT – 20171219