The past couple years I've had an idea percolating in my head for a picture book that somehow takes inspiration from the silent films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. In a way, old silent films employ the same storytelling aspects as do some picture books.
One example is the use of the film card. Is the separation of words and visual storytelling that much different from the separation of words and image in picture books?
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Modern Times. Such a great movie. The first fifteen minutes is magic. |
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Have You Seen My Hat? A modern take on the classic picture book layout. Used to hilarious effect. |
Another way (which a lot of modern TV and film constantly abuse to death) is the placement of the camera (or shot). In older films (because the industry is just figuring out how to edit and didn't use multiple cameras yet), camera shots were set in one place. Kinda like a stage play. It was the film director's prerogative to capture as much as possible in one shot. Just like a picture book.
So I'm thinking all these thoughts the past couple years and only now I may have discovered a little scamp of a robot to start playing around in these ideas. Mashing of ideas. More to come.