Freekstorm VFX Blog

I used to know a Druid High Priestess who was also a professional storyteller. She was taught by her mother who was taught by her mother before her, the skill of telling stories being handed down through the ages from mother to daughter. The stories were always vivid, rich and captivating. The storyteller skillfully wove her words so that the listeners were held spell-bound, drawn into the story and unable to escape until the climactic final scene, until they found out what happened in the end.

Humans are set apart from animals in that they have evolved to tell stories. It’s how we learn. Films are simply another means by which we tell our tales; they are the modern medium for the storyteller. They reach an infinitely wider audience than our story-telling ancestors – a single story told through a movie and distributed via cinema, DVD or the web, has the capacity to touch the imaginations of billions of people all over the planet.

We, the viewers, live through the lead characters and their adventures. We empathise with them through equating our own experiences with theirs. We connect with them, we suffer with them, we draw analogies and ultimately (if the story is successful) we learn something new about ourselves. If the stories are based in reality, then all the better. The best fiction is usually a metaphor which is based in reality. Stories which reflect some inner truth are always going to be more powerful to the audience because humans are always seeking a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them. When the story is told well, reality, fiction and truth are all one.

Movies are our metaphors. Scriptwriters and directors are our modern-day storytelling druids. Through the art of their storytelling, they seek not only to entertain us but also to enrich us, to help us grow and evolve into wiser human beings.



A belated Halloweeny shot of my younger son (he's sure gonna be mad with me for posting this!) Nothing to do with the movie, I'm afraid, but I can't post VFX piccies forever.

Labels: philosophy