The second entry in a regular blog reviewing our pick of the most inspiring videos on offer in the TED talks series, which showcases visionary ideas
For this entry, I am indulging my first love of film and the transformative power of story.
Andrew Stanton (Pixar): The clues to a great story
Views to date: 855,000
Ignore the poor taste ice-breaking joke at the beginning. Watch the creator of Wall-E and Finding Nemo offer an intriguing insight into the ideas behind a phenomenally popular series of films told through completely original modes of story.
His medium is animation, his movies truly epic and their popularity almost universal. Stanton pushes the boundaries of animation forward from sweeping musicals into a genre that can equal any live action equivalent. This is a great opportunity to discover the mechanics of the mind of one of the world’s most gifted storytellers.
Shekhar Kapur: We are the stories we tell ourselves
Views to date: 289,000
When acclaimed Indian film director Shekhar Kapur pitched the script for Elizabeth and The Golden Age, his globally successful double bill based on one of England’s greatest monarchs, he wanted to show a soon-to-be powerful queen, simply dancing. He received a cool response from the producers, complaining that it was ‘too Bollywood’.
But he wanted to reveal a young Elizabeth in the prime of her life, a woman like any other, before she was forced to transform into the formidable Virgin Queen of legend. Kapur stuck to his guns and proved hands down that his clean, simple approach worked beautifully to set up the entire story, character and narrative in a short, soulful, music-lead scene.
In this talk, Kapur speaks passionately about the collective approach to creating a film; how story, cast, architecture, lighting, music and design work with equal force to create believable, totally immersive worlds. This is a renegade’s insight into the creative challenges behind every film-making process.
