Alternative ways to learn storytelling.
Don’t let schooling interfere with your education. – Mark Twain
The knowledge of our craft must be pooled, as it is in the sciences and other professions, each of us absorbing and in turn contributing. – Andrew Loomis
Education, whatever benefits it may confer, is transmission of traditional doctrines and valuations; it is by necessity conservative. It produces imitation and routine, not improvement and progress. Innovators and creative geniuses cannot be reared in schools. They are precisely the men who defy what the school has taught them – Ludwig von Mises
When it comes to making art, degrees and certificates are nice to have, but have little to do with how an artist produces work.
While the purpose of going to school is to learn and refine skills and techniques in a craft, school has a mixed record when it comes to the specific area of visual storytelling.
Fact is, you need to learn multiple disciplines that, together, become the specialized skill of visual storytelling.
You would need PhD-level studies in:
- Creative writing
- Perspective
- Figure drawing
- Cinematography
- Computer science
- Film history
- Creative thinking
And then, you’d need to somehow learn how to put that all together.
The information you need is out there, and you don’t need to drop $100k at an art school to get it.
There exists a lot of alternatives to learn how to make art and, more interestingly, how to make visual stories.
Storytelling is also known as problem solving.
Making a film or visual story is basically a never-ending list of problems that need to be solved.
You probably already have a list of your favorite movies. Try to figure out why you like them.
Study films. Pause shots. Sketch compositions. Break down story beats.
Learn composition
Choosing what to include or exclude within the frame is fundamental.
Learn creative writing
Most stories begin in written form. Read more.
Read comic books
Comics combine visual + written storytelling.
Find a mentor
A mentor is simply someone ahead of you willing to guide you.
Constantly practice
Create stories. Share them. Improve.
Your skills are what matter
Degrees don’t matter once the story starts.
Story never ends!
Jason