What is Storytelling?

story1 /ˈstɔːri/ noun an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment.  “an adventure story” a report of an item of news in a newspaper, magazine, or broadcast.

storytelling /ˈstɔːrɪtɛlɪŋ/ noun 1. the activity of telling or writing stories. “the power of cinematic storytelling” adjective 1. relating to the telling or writing of stories. “the oral storytelling tradition

“Virtually all human knowledge is based on stories constructed around past experiences” – Roger C. Schank, Robert P. Abelson 1995

Within my project, I want to use an old method of storytelling and combining it with a new method. I want to achieve this by using masks in conjunction with augmented reality, but I want to question whether new methods of storytelling should be used and to question whether it benefits it or not. Before I can answer that question I will need to look into what storytelling is and how it has evolved throughout history.

Storytelling describes the social and cultural activity of sharing stories. All cultures and societies also possess their own stories or narratives about their past and their present, and sometimes about their view of the future. (Chaitin 2003)

Stories have existed long before recorded history and the art of storytelling has changed and evolved throughout history. The earliest form of storytelling that has been discovered is from the Lascaux Caves in the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France. Discovered in 1940, a series of cave paintings that date back to some time between 15000 and 13000 B.C. of different animals and a human. (Big Fish Presentations, 2012) The  Australian aboriginal people painted symbols from stories on cave walls as a means of helping the storyteller remember the story. The story was then told using a combination of oral narrative, music, rock art, and dance, which bring understanding and meaning of human existence through remembrance and enactment of stories. (Eder, D., 2010)

Celestial imagery in the cave paintings of Lascaux (STAR MYTHS OF THE WORLD, 2011)

Clay tablets were used in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC, The Epic of Gilgamesh a poem is often regarded as the earliest surviving work of literature, carved on stone pillars around 2100 BC.

World oldest mask (Gannon, 2014) 

Although masks were worn for protection in hunting, sports and war. They were additional instruments for storytelling and performances. The oldest mask found is believed to be 9,000 years old is held in Jerusalem. Masks are used for their expressive power as a feature of masked performance.

Origins of theatre in ancient Rome and Greece around 550 and 200 BC set the precedent for theatre all over the world. Originally used to celebrate the festival of Dionysus, it expanded to colonies around Athens and eventually around the world. However, during the middle ages, the Catholic Church banned all theatre and therefore formalized theatre was nonexistent during that time period. Much of the theatre that did exist took place in inn yards or travelling wagons or on wagon stages taken from town to town. It wasn’t until Queen Elizbeth brought back its notoriety again because of her fondness of art and drama. Notable playwrights of the Elizabethan time were William Shakespear, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson.

In the 200s B.C., Aesop’s fables were written down, and continue to teach lessons today in many areas of life.  Aesop lived in the 500s B.C., but his stories were remembered for hundreds of years without a single shred of paper or other printed material.  Isn’t that amazing?  Oral storytelling was so powerful and people remembered Aesop’s tales so well that even 300 years later the stories were revered enough for mass production. (Karmin, 2013)

New inventions and techniques also introduced new ways for people to convey images with beauty and realism. Artists such as Michelangelo’s painting ‘The Creation of Adam 1508-1512″ were able to create work that tells the story of creation or Picasso’s “Guernica 1937” painting which tells the story of the city that was bombed by Nazi planes during the Spanish Civil war.

The evolution of visual storytelling moved onto new technology which has been able to capture powerful visual stories through a lens. The modern tool of visual storytelling- the camera- and the new mediums through which these stories could be shared; television, smartphone, internet etc have created visual stories that have impacted our daily lives.

The first ever photograph was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 a process known as heliography. Which was quickly followed by Eadweard Muybridge’s first ever motion picture device which was used to study motions of horses in 1877.

Unlike painting, theatre, books and oral stories, new techniques and technology meant that visual stories were accurate, it meant that you could get an insight on the ideas, events or truths of the images even if we choose to ignore it because of the ugly truth behind it.