26 Variations: An experiment in storytelling

Nineteen: As a News Story

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:34:24 -0500

(Runs 2:02) With apologies to Sylvia Poggioli, senior European correspondent for NPR's foreign desk. Some people have been looking forward to the “with nouns” version of this story -- it is imbedded in this episode.

Aesop was a Greek and that his story couldn’t possibly have been about Rome, but I can visualize the Roman colosseum and liked the idea of placing the story in a city that is still humming along today.

Eighteen: Point Two

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:22:23 -0500

(runs 4:10) This is what I made when someone challenged me to tell .2 of the story, in keeping with the marathon theme. This is also a story with really important clues to the big family soap opera that is wrapping around the fable. Listen to it in combination with Episodes Three, Six, Thirteen, and Seventeen (oh, and perhaps Twelve counts as well). Murder and courtroom drama is on the way.

Seventeen: Switched Characters

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:10:59 -0500

(Runs 3:00) More of the family epic that is beginning to wrap around this once simple fable. This one will make more sense if you listen to episodes Six and Thirteen first.

I continue to experiment with technology for this project. This episode has a little switch with the artwork, starting with the series logo and switching to the episode logo after the title. I also used some filters on my voice (but really, I know that it is high time I found a real microphone for this project!).

For those of you curious about the podcasting technology, I have to confess that it is all built in with my Apple iLife software. I record in GarageBand and export directly to iWeb, which sets up the podcast subscription process through iTunes. I have not yet submitted the podcast for iTunes store because the technical quality of the recording is so rough. As in, “slow and steady wins the race.”

Officially, the Arts for All Marathon is over, but I’m still enjoying this project, and with only 9.2 episodes to go, I’m clearly over the hump! If you’d like to make a contribution to the Community School of Music and Arts, you can still do it through the Marathon site.

Sixteen: Personal Experience

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:03:13 -0500

(Runs 2:40) This one is a tribute Brother Blue, Hugh Morgan Hill, who passed away on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009.

Brother Blue was the most amazing storyteller ever because he challenged the art form to its utmost. Dressed in bright blue clothes, festooned in butterflies and balloons, singing and dancing his stories, he could be quite a challenge to many stodgy New Englanders. When he performed on the streets in Boston and Cambridge, he had so little time to minister to the busy people passing him that every line of his story included his message of love and joy. He didn’t seem real to many people, and because the fable in this series concerns performers and reality, I’m dedicating this episode to Brother Blue. My poem “Blue is Always Blue” was published in the anthology Ahh: A Tribute to Brother Blue and Ruth Edmonds Hill, 2003, published by Yellow Moon Press, Somerville, MA.

Fifteen: At the Mall

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 11:23:44 -0500

(Runs 2:00) I will admit to getting teary eyed whenever children sing. It’s something to do with their innocence and honesty, even singing to a Karoke machine. I also admit to watching that nasty reality show “Toddlers and Tiaras” with horrified fascination.

This episode involves my further exploring GarageBand and multi-tracking.

If you’ve been wondering about the background noises, you’re hearing my three small parrots chirping and the whoosh of our noisy forced air heating (which was not an issue when I started this project). Last admission: it really is time for me to get a better microphone! I’m debating the purchase of a good performance mic, or new software to use with my MBox, or maybe a cheap headset from Staples. As long as it doesn’t get in the way of having fun.

Fourteen: As Science Fiction

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:19:55 -0400

(Runs 3:25) I love science fiction and fantasy, especially the more thoughtful works by Ursula LeGuin, Robin Hobb, and Octavia Butler. But fables are not an easy form to translate into the sci-fi genre. The shortness of the fable form is one problem because at least half of the joy of a good sci-fi novel is the exploration of a new world, leading to simpler plots and more descriptive passages. But fables are also firm in the sense that animals and people of different types of can’t and shouldn’t mix; there’s little room for cultural exchange, deeper understanding, redemption, or even much transmission of thought or idea. The fable is a very conservative form. Alas. So, I’m proud of this variation but I don’t really it’s message.

Thirteen: Introduce a New Character

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:06:38 -0400

(Runs 3:21) The half-way mark! This truly is a “marathon” in terms of the challenge. Perhaps I cheated with this variation: there are five new characters here! It’s a fascinating experience to work with such a simple story over and over again. My imagination is expanding the world of this story in many directions.

Apologies to anyone who thought that storytelling is just for kids. We’re in new territory now.

I often create story boards in the developmental stages of my stories. In this case, I “wrote” the story board, thinking about exactly how I would compose this story if I were making a graphic novel. Which was huge fun. I did this because I wanted to tell a story in multi-year gaps and that’s hard to do with my kind of storytelling. But graphic novelists don’t have any problem zipping through long time shifts.

For this variation, I also allowed myself the pleasure of doing multiple takes of particular voices and extensive editing. My first job out of college was as an audio tape editor, working with 1/4 inch tape and a primitive razor blade and special tape. Editing on GarageBand is heaven! Especially the “undo” option!

Twelve: With Sympathy for the Devil

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:07:24 -0400

(Runs 1:15) On Saturday, I had the good fortune to share some of these stories with an audience for the finale of the Arts of All Marathon. The titles of nine variations were put in a box and I let audience members pull them out at random after hearing the fable in something like the original form. I did the 26 and 13 word versions, Extreme Close ups, and Second Person.

Eleven: One Important Detail Missing

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:08:28 -0400

(Runs 45 seconds) You had to be there. This would perhaps be a case of parallel universes getting crossed.

Ten: Only Nouns

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:53:00 -0400

(Runs 1:03) Now this is odd: telling the story with only nouns isn’t any faster than most other versions.

Nine: in 13 words

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:29:52 -0400

(Runs 7 seconds) In the storytelling community, we’ve noticed that our major festivals are almost entirely focused on humorous personal stories. I think that is because America is a democracy which holds the individual’s personal experience in high esteem.

Also, we’re always in a rush, so our traditional tales are jokes. In 7 seconds, it’s hard to tell a story but at least you can “click-and-go” with something this short.

Eight: in 26 words

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:23:19 -0400

(Runs 20 seconds) Ah, love the short form. If I record these variations before doing all of the middle section, is that like skipping to the end of the novel to find out whodunnit? I might be getting a little bored with this project, might be a sign that the project is doomed, or it might mean that I am about to get really creative with the next stories.

Seven: Second Person

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:48:52 -0400

(Runs: 1:18) There are those days when your internal voice, your monologues and first-person commentary, becomes your critic. When you hear -this- voice, you know you’re in trouble as a performer. You might actually be doing a good job but as soon as you hear the critic, the game is up. And there are those days when you look up and realize that you’ve placed yourself in a really ridiculous situation. Welcome to the farmer’s world.

Six: First Person

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 13:29:08 -0400

(Runs 3:15) To my surprise, I really don’t like The Clown. 26 years later, he’s a drunk and it turns out he was a really mean competitor and a self-centered bastard. Maybe I’m just jealous. More pig shit and one pissed off farmer here.

Five: Reverse

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:25:46 -0400

(Runs: 1:06) This is a simple exercise that I challenge myself with when I’m still learning the plot of a story, learned from the book Backwards and Forwards: a Technical Manual for Reading Plays by David Ball and Michael Langham.

Just last week, President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, somewhat to his own chagrin. When you’ve got the respect and love of an audience, you’ve just got to accept it, right?

Confessions: I’ve begun to edit these little projects in small ways, as I get more familiar with GarageBand’s amazing tools. Oh, not much! I have tightened some pauses and allowed myself a couple of retakes on lines.

And while I’m confessing, can I just say that this is a -lot- of fun!

Four: Present Tense

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:48:15 -0400

(Runs 1:52) I admit to watching and enjoying some of the talent competition shows, especially So You Think You Can Dance but that is because the choreographers have been given a wonderful canvas on which to paint their talent without being graded at every turn. Really, I could watch an entire season of twenty talented dancers, and would love to see a special of Mia Michael’s choreography to Steve Reich music. But that’s just me.

But in the arts, the idea of judging and ranking artists at every turn strikes me as a really odd idea. Yet, it seems to be what American viewers need before they will actually watch young artists.

Three: Future Tense

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:24:53 -0400

(Runs: 1:51) One of the odd things about being a storyteller is that we sometimes start to learn stories before we know why we’re working on it. I read about 30 fables rather randomly before my book opened to the story of the Clown and the Countryman. At first I thought, “How odd!” and left it at that. But the book stayed open to that page and when I came back to my desk with a hot cup of tea, I read it again. “Maybe,” I said and went off to my job.

Two days later, I remembered that I still hadn’t decided on a story, but there was the book, still open, with the crazy story about the pig squeals. It occurred to me that the story fit well with the few reality TV shows that I enjoy: Project Runway, American Idol, and So You Think You Can Dance. All are about creative process, and all have judges asking young people to be more “authentic” whatever that means.

Like the previous episodes, this one was pretty much made up on the spot -- there are a few stumbles, not to mention choices I’d probably not make the same if I told this version again.

Two: Playing with the Images

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:07:35 -0400

(Runs 7:49) This version is really like doing rough sketches or free writing. I let my mind wander into all sorts of images, some are focused on the story, and some are background material. I have edited out a cough, but left in the uhs and ums, the cliches, and a reference to pig shit. I forgive you if you skip this one, but if you get curious about some of the developments of the rest of the variations, you’ll hear hints in this variation.

One: The Fable

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:20:48 -0400

(Runs 2:06) I’ll tell it in my own words, but if you are curious, here is the text of the story as found in Aesop’s Fables, translated by V.S. Vernon Jones, with illustrations by Arthur Rackham, originally published in 1912.

The Clown and the Countryman

A nobleman announced his intention of giving a public entertainment in the theatre and offered splendid prizes to all who had any novelty to exhibit at the performance. The announcement attracted a crowd of conjurers, jugglers, and acrobats, and among the rest a Clown, very popular with the crowd.

On the day of the performance, the theatre was filled from top to bottom. Several performers did their tricks, and then the popular favorite came on empty-handed and alone. At once there was a hush of expectation: and he, letting his head fall upon his breast, imitated the squeak of a pig to such perfection that the audience insisted on his producing the animal, which, they said, he must have somewhere concealed about his person. He, however, convinced them that there was no pig there, and then the applause was deafening.

Among the spectators was a Countryman who disparaged the Clown’s performance and announced that he would give a much superior exhibition of the same trick on the following day.

Again, the theatre was filled to overflowing, and again the Clown gave his imitation amidst the cheers of the crowd. The Countryman, meanwhile before going on the stage, had secreted a young porker under his smock; and when the spectators derisively bade him do better if he could, he gave it a pinch in the ear and made it squeal loudly. But they all with one voice shouted out that the Clown’s imitation was much more true to life. Thereupon he produced the pig from under his smock and said sarcastically, “There, that shows what sort of judges you are!”