Storytelling MasterClass with Suresh Eriyat

So, last Saturday, I attended this MasterClass on storytelling by Suresh Eriyat (of Studio Eeksaurus fame), organised by IndieFolio (here is a list of other such opportunities), at Khar Social.

Here are some highlights, thoughts, and notes. Please note that these are my observations.

A.

There must have been good 90-100 people (mostly students) there. Most of them were there by 10:45 a.m. (for a workshop that was to start at 11 a.m.).

Till Loy walked in, I was the oldest in the room. Which is a good thing. And a bad thing. Good that young ones are so keen on learning things from masters like Suresh. Bad that I am so old that I was the odd one out in the gathering.

PS: Where are these young people who are willing to work hard and learn new things? Can I meet them somehow? I am at sg@c4e.in, in case.

B.

Suresh talked about the structure of the story and how there is a beginning, an end, and most importantly, there is this middle where the meat of the action is.

He started with a story of his own, took us through some of his work, some other films and talked about each of them.

He said stories are everywhere, hidden in plain-sight around us and we just need to keep our eyes and ears open! He said that he has found some of the best stories in the most mundane places — when he’s walking at the beach, from the balcony of his home, at a desert, the airport, and so on and so forth. He even talked about how the mass-commercialisation of music by Kenny G inspired one of his stories!

He spoke about how three simple things can inspire you to tell great stories — Observe , Absorb and Reflect. You ought to keep your eyes and ears open. You ought to let them simmer in your head. And finally, when you create your stories, you pour it all out!

While you are at it, please see this video where Kurt Vonnegut is explaining the universal shape of stories. Everytime I see this, I learn a new thing.

He ended the workshop with an assignment. He asked us to think of a character from our regular, day-to-day lives. Think of that person’s backstory. And imagine what would happen to him in the middle. What could make that person’s life interesting? What could inspire something that will make the ordinary stand out? I’ll probably do this over the next weekend and share with him.

C.

He showed us a short edit of his multiple awards winning film, Tokri. Trailer here. It took him 8 years to make this film! 8 freaking years! When asked why, he said that he had to work on it as a side project. They would take up a commercial project, make money from it, and then invest it back in Tokri.

To me, this is an important lesson. To not give up on dreams and ideas, even if there are no resources per se. Also reinforces my belief in the sex and cash theory. And in side hustle.