Story Fest 2017: Paths of Storytelling a Discussion

[Cross]

We all know about storys, we read them all the time. Being here is proof enough of that. But just how aware are we of the OTHER forms of storytelling? 

 

Here we'll discuss other methods of telling a story. Through art, photography, music, food. Yes even food. Our lives revolve around our ability to communicate, and that, in several forms. 

 

So first up, outside of books, and reading what is your favorite method of 'reading' a story? do you listen to music and feel the impact of the notes? Do you read a piece of art? 

[Ryrin]

I remember reading about the time before television. People would gather around the radio and listen to stories/dramas that were delivered verbally. They weren't "read," they were played by different characters. On vintage radio, I once heard "Mystery Theater."

 

A couple of years ago, my youngest son and I were on a trip and the rental car had Sirrus radio. We listened to Edgar Allen Poe stories.

 

I know that story telling among some cultures is a way to pass down the history and lore of that particular culture.

[Cross]

ooo good one. there was a while when i looked up old radio shows (you can still listen to them) it's really more than just fictional stories with them its a glimpse into the past. when you hit specific dates and theres a news break about Pearl Harbor and the like, it becomes living history. absolutely fascinating. 

 

and absolutely pretty much every culture has passed history through the use of storytelling, verbally and visually. cave paintings tell stories of hunts, the types of food they ate, belief structures. 

[Adella]

Ry you hit right on my favorite one! I had no idea that this one was pretty specific to my hometown. Every year during the Christmas season and local radio station will play Cinnamon Bear, an old recording of a wonderful seasonal radio show. I loved it! It actually got me interested in radio as a career, which is what I majored in at my high school. The field is pretty tough to break into so I gave up and didn't take any college classes on it, but I should have...

 

My next favorite method of storytelling is music. It pulls out all the emotions as they mean you to feel them, just a couple of minutes can make you dance, make you happy, bring out tears, make you angry, anything they want... It's so beautiful.

[Ryrin]

I remember one winter musical performance at my son's high school. One song stuck out in particular. It was called "Mary, Did You Know?" I'm not even Christian, but I am a mother, and the way the young man sang with all of his heart was so moving. I found out later, he graduated and intended to become a Pastor.

Edited July 13, 2017 by Ryrin

[blank]

I've been to see a few ballets and they are a wonderful method of telling stories!

 

I am not going to pretend I know a lot about dance but I found them quite moving.

[Elgee]

Oh I definitely agree with you on the ballet, blank! It's quite fascinating how the ballet has its own "universal" language, even, as certain movements and poses have certain meanings.

 

Pictures are the same, whether they be paintings or photographs. They really can tell whole stories.

 

We didn't have television in South Africa until the mid 1970's, so our main form of entertainment was the Radio and photo stories. I remember that my mother used to listen to stories (dramas, comedies, etc) every day. They were properly acted out, as Ryrin said.

 

One of my favourites as a pre-schooler was Jet Jungle, who had a black panther called Jupiter. I can't remember the stories, but I remember so badly also wanting Jupiter! lol

 

I'll quote some more about this from Wikipedia:

 

 

Jet Jungle is the name of a mid-sixties scifi adventure superhero, who appeared in a hit radio play: "The incredible adventures of the most amazing man of our time" broadcast on South Africa's Springbok Radio as well as a Sunday comic of the same name. The main character Jet Jungle (created and voiced by Brian O'Shaughnessy).

 

Synopsis

Jet Jungle appeared with his black panther Jupiter, red-headed girlfriend Samantha Muller (Diane Appleby) and scientist and faithful friend Prof. Giuseppe "Spaghetti" Valetti (Victor Melleney). The team would routinely fly off from their island headquarters, Orion's Peak, in a Vertijet at the behest of their government liaison "the Minister", to battle criminal masterminds and the occasional extraterrestrial menace.

Presentation

The show was broadcast every weekday at 4:30 p.m.^{[citation needed]} in the afternoon on South Africa's English radio service, Springbok Radio from 1965 with re-runs continuing until the stations close in 1985. It was also broadcast on Radio Rhodesia in Rhodesia (the present day Zimbabwe). It is not known how many of the episodes were actually recorded, or how many of them were rebroadcast, since so little of the Springbok Radio archive exists. There appear to be screenplays and sound bytes available, and a number of archivists have attempted to preserve the work.

Sponsorship

The enormously successful show, sponsored by Black Cat Peanut Butter and Jungle Oats was used to promote these South African products. Jet Jungle attributed his enormous powers of persuasion to the use of special ingredients, and his mastery of time, caused as a result of exposure to the Star Master, a mysterious entity. They appeared in several episodes similar in vein to the Project Farstar episodes.

 

 

I have only now realised that this could be where my love of SciFi and Fantasy comes from! OMW! Listen to this:

 

In 2009, Radio Researchers uncovered several episodes of this program. These are twenty episodes of a storyline entitled 'Project Farstar'.

The Jet Jungle theme tune is probably the most striking and distinguishing feature of the series, aside from the all-in-one black suit, vertijet and panther.

Words to the Theme tune are: When your world is in trouble / and you need a fighting friend / who will come on the double and keep fighting to the end /Get Jet! Get Jet! / Jet Jungle is the man to get! Jet Jungle. Jet Jungle Jet Jungle is the man to get! / Get Jet!

Since television broadcasts only came to South Africa in 1976, the country had followed the Apollo moon missions on radio. The series thus fed the popular imagination about outer-space and children's delight in hearing what would become a virtual retelling of the saga in the form of a fairy-tale. Africa's participation in the event, which sent Jet Jungle and Jupiter as far out as Andromeda, told of things to come. In Project Far Star, Prof Spaghetti voices his concern about defeating the forces of Einsteinian space-time, "going out young and coming back old".

 

 

 

Oh wow .... you've really put me on a trip down memory lane now, Cross  - thank you :)

Edited July 13, 2017 by Elgee

[Ryrin]

This is really pulling me back to listening to stories. I need to go check out some Podcasts. There was one here that I remember that some people followed. It's called "Welcome to Nightvale."

[Cross]

oh there's one i listen to, if you're into zombies and stuff http://www.werealive.com/ is pretty good. there is some language though so be warned. its interesting to see how the form hasnt changed much. sound effects, acting has improved over the years and its not on the radio anymore but listening to drama's is still very much a thing. 

[Ryrin]

Language doesn't bother me, LOL, you should hear mine. I'll check that out.

[Ryrin]

When my sons were in Boy Scouts and at a camp out, stories would often be told around the fire, usually scary ones. Then there would be "The Scoutmaster Minutes." They even have a Scout Master Minute Book. The book contains short stories and sayings for scoutmasters to use to close a meeting or campfire.

 

I really like this one: http://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/minute/filling_my_jar-914.

[Elgee]

My one brother-in-law, Loekie, worked for the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation), which is owned and run by the Government. Back then all radio stations belong to it. He started out as a sound technician, and he became in charge of the sound effects department. I remember one time he had to record what would sound like a sail ship's sails flapping, for some radio story. We lived on the farm then, and had these huge combine harvester machines which were covered in massive tarpaulins. The sound that makes when it flaps in the breeze was the exact sound he wanted, so it was literally "all hands on deck", with all the farm staff and the whole family holding this thing up and flapping it, while he tried to record the sound. It took hours and hours before he could get enough sound bite that sounded exactly right,  WITHOUT geese quacking and cows mooing in the background :P

 

They had a whole sound library at the SABC, with rooms full of LPs containing any sound imaginable. It's quite fascinating to hear (and experience) what they actually did to produce those sounds, some of which are still used today in movies and the like!

 

You won't believe how many types of creaking door sounds there can be, and what their descriptive names are! hehehe

[thehumantrashcan]

I once went to a Renaissance Fair and the meal the served was essentially a trip through the different classes of people during the middle ages starting out with common food and working our way up to the delicacies that the noble class would eat.  With the servers dressed up and a bard telling stories and food as an American I was not used to it was quite a great story.  My favorite music story is  The Planets.  That's an experience that takes you through space and ancient mythology at the same time, it's spectacular.  I've never seen it performed just listened to it, just wow.  I certainly can't go without mentioning comic books.  Right there is a wonderful medium that skips descriptive writing and plunges the reader eyes first into the story, it's wonderful how just the style of art can influence the tone and emotion the story tells without needing a single word.  Of course most comics do have words but when you stop and think how much it tells without the need of writing can be quite fun when the art's style can add to more than just a physical description and spacing.

[Cross]

thats so awesome oscar, and right to the point. we as a people find ways to tell stories in any manner we can devise. food, music, art. i truly believe that there is something inherent about us that we need to create. we need to tell a story, whether true or fictional. and we will find ways to do it, if we cant write we draw, cant draw, music, cant do that? food, etc etc etc