Editor's Note: Storytelling and presentation has always been the focus of the School of Creativity and Art at ShanghaiTech, whether among a series of elective courses offered by USC screenwriting faculty when the School was still in its infancy or the localized exploration after the formal establishment of the School.
The two key words emphasized in storytelling and presentation are empathy and communication, allowing science students to break through the myth that they must be good at writing or major in a screenwriting to do creation. The course encourages students to explore themselves inward, explore the details of life and culture, organize information and ideas into stories through specific skills and techniques, and be brave enough to accept the scrutiny from readers and audience.
Now, Yijun Zhu, the assistant professor of SCA and graduated from UCLA screenwriting, has been opened storytelling and presentation for three consecutive semesters. The following is a summary of Narrative and Expression in the fall from the professor and students.
“Non one ever made a decision because of a number.
They need a story.”
--Daniel Kahneman
Behavioral economist，author of Thinking, Fast and Slow
The screenwriting group of Fall 2020 Storytelling and Presentation
The reason why a good story can be remembered is often not the brain-burning plot and stunning special effects. Rather, at the end of the story, the audience has felt joy, anger, sadness, joy - the most primitive emotions or not.
In fact, there are always many good stories around us, but there are not enough good storytellers.
My Storytelling and Presentation is such a course about storytelling, formerly known as Introduction to Screenwriting from a collaborative workshop between ShanghaiTech and USC.
Storytelling and Presentation is not an essay writing class, a speech training class, or a literary competition.
Instead, we will teach screenwriting structure, story logic, narrative skills; and more importantly, how to experience these powerful emotional experiences such as being understood, gaining trust, and empathy through stories.
Students discussing scripts
Students may worry that there is no material to tell. In the first three classes, I will take everyone to explore their own experiences. Let's sit on the time machine together and go back to a certain day that has a profound impact on you. At a certain moment, we experience your joys and sorrows together.
Under the premise of mutual trust and respect, we share, analyze, evaluate and support each other. We gain new thoughts and insights into our past experiences. Maybe you will be surprised to find that the worst thing that happened to you was not as bad as you thought. Or maybe you've made up your mind to draw a line with your past self and start to change.
Students words at the end of the course
Only after deconstructing our own experiences do we begin the practice of fictional storytelling. Step by step, we transfer to script writing. How to let the audience understand the inner drama of the characters without the assistance of voice-over? How to make the audience laugh or weep through an object, a look or a sentence? This is all the self-cultivation of screenwriters.
Later in the course, there will be directors and psychologists on site to guide students in their scripts. They will analyze the stories and characters from their respective areas of expertise to expand their thinking and deepen their understanding of the characters.
Jingjing Ma(left) and actors in rehearsal
Post-class discussion by Peizhao Liu(first from left) and other students
Worried about not having the opportunity to show yourself? Worried that the script won't get a chance to be shot? In the closing performance, these new screenwriters will share their journey in creating their stories.
Everyone who creates scripts as screenwriters needs to switch roles to become directors, try to communicate with actors, and present the proudest drama in their hearts to the audience. The writers will also act out the stories of other screenwriting students' scripts. In the process of rehearsing and directing the play, they can cultivate leadership skills and teamwork.
Diyun Sun thinking about his character in his self-written, self-directed and self-acted script
Siqi Qu and Xiangwei Kong during rehearsals
It’s a very impressive class. That's how college education should be in my mind: a few students discussing together and being able to express their opinions freely.
There was lots of real stuff in the course, and Yijun's critical analysis always hit the nail on the head.
I thought writing a screenplay was easy at first, but when I started to do it myself, I realized how difficult it is to write a good script. The course content was step-by-step, from the shallow to the deep, and introduced us to the basic methods of writing a screenplay.
This class should be renamed ‘How to Become a Better You’ and I'm lucky to have met such a great teacher, Mr. Zhu.
The end of a class can also be the beginning of a great friendship
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
--Maya Angelou
Moments captured by Hongsong Liang
Students' Stories
A puppet, endowed with human feelings and denied the right to possess them.
Pinocchio by Siqi Qu
“It's like loving someone and going over a mountain, like a river of stars stepping through and a sea of mountains walking through. After all, only those who dare to break their hearts dare to love”
A Long Dream Stopped by Xiangwei Kong
Mr. Wang returned to his wife's ward. The wife fell asleep with her eyes closed, her expression stiff. Mr. Wang was stunned and quietly approached, testing her breath with his fingers. (Pause) He sighted with relief and held her hand tightly with both hands. The wife then woke up from her dream.
The Road to Healing by Peizhao Liu
The script "Innocence" in front of Zhaolun Wang(in his 30s) has been marked beyond recognition. Sitting for a while, he got up to practice the role of a thief. In this scene, he was chased by the police and forced to jump off the stairs. He pretended to fall from the chair, but he was still not embarrassed enough. He looked around, hesitated to act. Looking at himself in the straight mirror, he found that he had always been missing the state of a real thief and now he looked like a thief in a textbook.
The Actor by Jingjing Ma
The entrance wall of the small study room is covered with paper. Amin walked closer and looked at the newspaper snippet reported his photo exhibition. Amin walked forward slowly, touching the sticker on the wall. Turning around, he saw the desk. He slowly opened the drawer, and inside was a photographic magazine with his own works. Then he close the drawer and look at the window through the curtain.
Suddenly, his eyes were attracted by the photo on the left. He walked in and saw that the picture was hung on the wall. It was The Best Work. He was watching in front of the photo. Light and shadow float on the photo. He took out the torn photo and put it together again. In the photo, Ming is holding his mother's hand.
The Best Work by Hongsong Liang
BRUCE looked around the entire auditorium. There were countless families sitting together in the auditorium, but he didn't find the figure he was looking for, so he was a little disappointed. BRUCE lowered his head and took a deep breath, moving closer to the microphone.
BRUCE
Mom...
He suddenly saw the familiar yellow silk scarf in the shadows of the last row of the auditorium. BRUCE closed his eyes. His lips squirmed but no sound comes out.Shame by Sun Diyun
All writers and actors of Fall 2020 Storytelling and Presentation
All participants in the final performance of Fall 2020 Storytelling and Presentation
List of Fall 2020 Storytelling and Presentation
Xiangwei Kong
Hongsong Liang
Peizhao Liu
Jingjing Ma
Siqi Qu
Diyun Sun
Yilin Zou (Teaching Assistant)
12 weeks of creative storytelling training
+
Screenwriting workshops of British and American drama
+
{your passion}
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Moving Storyteller x Better Yourself
If you are interested in telling and writing stories, please feel free to contact Xiangwei Kong, the teaching assistant for Spring 2021 Storytelling and Presentation.
WeChat: Kongxwww; Email: kongxw@shanghaitech.edu.cn
Lecturer
Yijun Zhu
English-Chinese bilingual Screenwriter, Assistant Professor
She received an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Yijun has worked for Hollywood veteran producer Joe Roth's Roth Films (xXx series, Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland) on China-U.S. feature co-production as story analyst. She is currently teaching Storytelling & Presentation (aka. Screenwriting 101), Script Analysis, and U.S. & U.K. Television Analysis at SCA, ShanghaiTech University.
