A secret to great storytelling lies in an available vault you’d do well to master

It’s a secret in storytelling that’s resurfacing and maturing. I’ve made, taught and trained in the art of storytelling around the world, internationally across Africa, China, Russia, India, UK, Europe, Beirut and the US/ Canada etc. Sometimes I can skip the air miles because the global community gather in one place where I am.

I’m always amazed at what I end up seeing and strategies and techniques learned over the years that guarantee how to boost creativity and productivity (usually in a short space of time).

Learning to use any form of equipment for storytelling is a learning procedure in itself, but the art of storytelling is cognitive. So whether you’re using a mobile phone or an ARRI camera for a blockbuster, the problem-solving to create an indelible piece of work lies in your own black box.

We each have our own unique box, it frames our identity locally and in groups, but there are general traits, and in some cases universal indexes that help frame approaches.

And this is where it get’s interesting, not just in the communication of ideas, but in creative awareness. Teaching in Russia, I noticed one journalist, seating stoney-faced. She wasn’t engaging and she was the alpha woman in the group. When I asked a question, she gave a terse response. I hadn’t even started to talk about the art of storytelling, but knew it would be a disaster if I didn’t try to understand what was going on.

I held her hand and asked her to stand up and waltz with me. Strange approach yes, and then I followed up through our interpreter with I can see she’s very well versed in video, so I shall not be so prescriptive, which can sometime’s be misinterpreted as a lack of trust.

Several things were going on. Brits are generally what’s called low communicators i.e. they’re explicit in sharing information and doubling down on it. This is what you do etc? Relative to Russians, their messaging can often be implied. Watch this film to understand; it’s about Italian filmmaking.

Whilst I tend to eschew literal approaches internationally ( depending on the country) this comms flow is a cultural drape. Her directness too wasn’t rude either, it’s a frankness for communicating info, and whilst I’m not taken to holding all my client’s hands to waltz with them, it broke the ice and removed me from being hierarchical. I then went on to share ideas in storytelling firstly focusing on Tarkovsky, Pudovkin and Vertov.

Language shapes literature and visual schema, which in an electronic medium like film is evidenced in visual storytelling. This thing called news, docs, features and journalism can often be an enforced explicit Western model for making sense of the word.

Culture is the currency that underpins smooth transactions, and hence leads to good business. But decoding culture takes time. It’s the baseline for driving diversity and inclusion. How do you tell great stories?

By understanding what made good stories, a country’s cultural capital, and then perhaps innovating within.