Contest: Storytelling
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Voting closed, awards soon.
The Premise
Make a doll that tells a story.
Almost all of my dolls are based on characters from (mostly unwritten) stories. Some of them, however, could just as well be portraits of nameless, storyless characters. Others have so many bits of significant detail that there just has to be a story behind it.
Your goal for this contest is to make a doll that inspires people to think, "I wonder what the story is?" I'm not looking for dolls that are just confusing - I'm looking for dolls that include clues that hint at hidden depths. Here are some things that you might think about including, just to get you started:
- Props
- Details
- Something unexpected
The Rules
- The regular contest rules still apply, of course (including the size requirements).
- One entry per person. It can include up to three dolls, as long as it stays within the size requirements.
- It's up to me to determine if the story elements are sufficient. Basically, there needs to actually be a story and you need to tell me about it. Just submitting a doll and claiming that there's a story behind it is not enough.
You can send your entry to aranel_ah@yahoo.com with the subject line "Storytelling Entry". Please include the following information:
- Your name.
- Your URL (if you have one; if you don't have one, tell me if I can post your email address).
- The URL for the base site (be sure to tell me if it is your own base).
- The name of your doll (required).
- Your doll, as an attachment.
- A brief description of the story elements that the doll illustrates. (I probably will not display this on the site.)
Examples
Here are some dolls that might be appropriate entries, along with sample explanations and some of the questions that these dolls might inspire.
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| Story: | Mia is my idea of a (somewhat less than serious) Hogwarts student. The pencil is actually her wand, which she received because the wizarding folks are so oblivious to the outside world that they missed that it's a pencil. The wireless connection is magical, because Hogwarts seems not to have computers and what modern teenager could live without the internet? | Commander Marena Eilatt is one of my old Star Wars characters. She was an Imperial officer before she defected; she joined the Imperial Navy because she came from a military background, but she grew frustrated with the lack of opportunities for female officers. (The story here is more in the tiny details, such as accurate rank insignia, the Shadow Base patch on her sleeve, and the long hair. Also the difference in expressions.) |
| Questions: | Why is the pencil magic? And for that matter, why is the wireless adapter magic? | Are they adversaries, sisters, or fellow agents, or is it the same person? Why is the second one smiling? |
If you need inspiration, you should take a look at Ice Shadow Dolls. Like me, Salli mostly makes dolls that are based on characters, so there is almost always a story.
The Awards
Standard awards. Probably something for "best storytelling" and possibly a story award.
Entries (10)
Scroll past the entries to get to the poll. Please vote fairly, and ask your friends to come and vote fairly. :) Voting will be open for approximately two weeks, beginning January 2 and ending January 14.
Names in italics are names that I made up, to make the voting easier. They did not come with the dolls.
 Arya 1 base |
 Níniel and Túrin 2 base |
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 Ailethyn 3 base |
 Wenzel Glain 4 base |
 Rylie Windrider 5 base |
 Susanna 6 base |
 Jade Adams 7 base |
 Ailbhe 8 base |
 Aubri 9 base 1 2 |
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 Deryn, Lindriel, and Kit 10 bases |
 Eben, Nari, and Raul 11 bases |
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