Storytelling

I liked these relics of bygone technology spotted at MMU yesterday. The tape reel reminds me of the kind my dad had for some reason (can't remember what), and the object it is sitting on is an overhead projector.

That last device of course is still in use, though usually injection-moulded and with a webcam attached, rather than hammerited steel with glass optics. Architect Ted Cullinan is a master of the medium, enchanting audiences with freehand pen sketches to illustrate anecdotes from 50 years of practice. I last saw him at a sustainability seminar at Bluecoat in Liverpool last year.

As a technique it seems to have a closer relation to speech than powerpoint which often seems like a publication of some kind, and therefore more fixed. As a result, it leads to a sense of storytelling rather than a show - which is sometimes just what an audience needs. I will to give it another try at the first opportunity.