23/10/2012

Street Voices 4 – the first ten questions

I love stories. I am, as someone wittier than me once said, a narrative junky. Not just fiction. But I have to get my fix every day. I walk around listening to podcasts, I read comics on my phone on the bus, I get home and watch an episode of Firefly. More, more, give me more story!

‘There is only one story,’ says Henry Swindell to the crowded screening room at the Bradford Media Museum. Or rather there are only eight elements to a good story. Or ten questions to answer to write one. And he and Mark Catley take us through them, with clips from some of my favourite TV series and some that I have to rent soon.

And then the Street Voices writers and I head back to the Freedom Studios offices for more, thinking about how to break down our favourite films. ‘What is the inciting incident in Jaws?’, ‘No, but isn’t it when?’ They say they might have ruined our ability to enjoy stories for the rest of our lives. I think they’ve given us the tools to never run out of pub-conversations again.

‘Does Indiana Jones have an inner emotional need in Holy Grail, or is his father a joint-protagonist?’ Ah, my geekdom can now rise to another level.

As I look around the room at this varied and lively group of writers my inner director whispers in, over the sound of my inner geek. ‘Just think how exciting their stories will be.’  And I can’t wait to hear how those stories develop over the coming weeks.

Tom Wright, Associate Director