The Future of StoryTelling (FoST) is an organization that produces innovative media about the rising and changing modes of storytelling. “FoST produces international technology exhibitions and showcases, a daily blog, a weekly online speaker series, a newsletter, quarterly influencer salons, the FoST Prize for Innovation in Storytelling, and dozens of short films highlighting the big ideas shaping the storytelling landscape,” according to their site.
At ivoh, we’ve been following the way technology influences storytelling and the Restorative Narrative genre. FoST embraces the evolving technologies and works to create transdisciplinary dialogue between media leaders from a wide variety of background to explore the intersections of technology, media and communication.
Here are three recent FoST videos that focus on storytelling, technology and community building.
Empathy, oxytocin and plot drive Dr. Paul Zak’s film about how the brain responds to the narrative arc. The video begins with a sad story about a terminally ill child and his father who is trying to cope with the situation. Zak uses this emotional story as an example of how an effective, yet simple narrative, which follows the classic dramatic arc outlined by the German playwright Gustav Freytagcan, can elicit empathy in the brain.
Teaching poetry to prisoners, Clint Smith uses storytelling to break down the barriers of race, gender and class to create an empathetic and united humanity. This short documentary style video questions the divisions, stereotypes and social divides that are sometimes further caused by media.
Maintaining a sense of wonder is a priority for award-winning author and activist Margaret Atwood. This video focuses on how content is presented and it examines the new technologies that shape storytelling today. Atwood is interested in the ever changing landscape of storytelling during this time of heightened collaboration and online media.