Philosophy of Story Telling Revision

Humans are dependent on storytelling. It is a tool that we use everyday, and it is a tool that has multiple purposes. Stories are used as a means of learning, relating, and expressing oneself in a manner that provides deeper connection. Stories allow us to explain the more nuanced aspects of whatever it is we want to convey. They add layers and feelings that individual words by themselves cannot express. They allow people to reach the same emotional and mental ground. You could tell someone you are happy, but the word happy could be received and perceived in a way that doesn’t do the feeling you are experiencing justice. A single word can hardly be used to express the complex nature of human thought. A story on the other hand can depict everything you went through to achieve that happiness. The hardships you faced, and relief of overcoming them. The story gives context and allows the listener or reader to fully grasp and comprehend the feeling or emotion you wish to share. Stories teach us lessons. They are a means of teaching children ideas and notions that are hard to perceive with young minds.  They lay the foundation for cultures and societies. Stories tell us our past and they are used to predict our futures. Stories are also a way to convey one’s thoughts and emotions into something meaningful or entertaining. Stories can distract us from our ailments or give us hope to preserver through them. They allow us to sympathize and relate to people across the globe and across time.  Stories naturally have a visual component to them. Before man could express stories verbally he used images to convey his thoughts. Drawing shapes in the dirt or expressing a story through paintings on cave walls. Images always have been an integral part of a story. If the storyteller does not present images, the listener will naturally stir to mind visuals. Both forms of imagery can be powerful in driving a story. Picturing a story play out without given any visuals allows the listener to perceive his take of the events being told to him. Unleashing the creative imagination, which we all possess, to add structure and form to the story that is being heard. Withholding a visual component when presenting a story creates a new unique visual in the mind of every individual who hears the story. On the other hand presenting a visual component to the listener allows the storyteller to express how the story is playing out in his mind, the creator of the story. By being given visuals the audience can better understand the storyteller and the place he is coming from. This can lead to a connection between the storyteller and the audience. Since my last draft of my project I’ve changed my documentary a tad, but the main addition to my documentary is the addition of visuals. I’ve mostly used images from the Internet that aren’t literal versions of the text. I feel like this gives more flexibility with what I am saying and allows for better visual interpretation from the audience. I have most of my images in place but I still need to fill some small gaps. It seems like my topic, copyright, makes it somewhat challenging to capture my own footage.