There are few organizations in the world that can claim more expertise when it comes to storytelling than Pixar. The Disney-owned animation studio is known for its ability to consistently create…
Pixar has released lessons on the technical sides of movie making before, but these lessons are an emphasis on storytelling itself. This reminds me of The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar written by a storyboard artist for Pixar. Some great insight into what makes a great story.
#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
I’m guilty of this… A lot.
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
I wish more of Hollywood would follow this rule.
#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
Both of these are a nicer way of paraphrasing Kurt Vonnegut, “Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.”
One San Jose private school has come up with a unique solution: The Harker School, self-described as “one of the nation’s top college prep schools,” is putting teams of sixth grade applicants through a virtual escape room. Over a Zoom call, the 11-year-olds work together to solve a series of Harker-themed puzzles, and admissions officers observe their…
Rather than filling garages with flashy cars, the data show, today’s rich devote their budgets to less visible but more valuable ends. Chief among them is education for their children: the top 10% now allocate almost four times as much of their spending to school and university as they did in 1996, whereas for other…
I popped my head into one session: there were only two people in the room — talking about Mentoring New Principals. Initially, I was saddened at the small turnout in this particular session. Until I realized the these two people would not have met and had a professional discussion about a topic both cared about if it wasn’t…
Can we safely conclude that the cell phone battle between educators and kids is over – and that the kids won? Source: The horse is out of the barn: cell phones – Home – Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog Schools need to research and implement a sane cellphone policy now, before one is forced on them.
Since Pearson is now working on an AI tutor to go along with its worksheets, I expect many politicians and school admins who rise and fall on test scores will buy in, and robots will indeed come into schools. Self-driving classrooms … Source: Why robots make the best teachers The dark side of robotics teachers.
Our digital lives may be making us more distracted, distant and drained, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association. For instance, even minor phone use during a meal with friends was enough to make the diners feel distracted and reduced their enjoyment of the experience, one study found. Source: Dealing…
