“New technology is the friend of the storyteller.”
In the 1950s, one of the great storytellers of our time spoke the statement above through the technology of early television as he introduced America’s first theme park with its classic story environments. Connected by many winding roads, Walt Disney’s vision placed his guests directly into a movie set where young and old became part of the action, at one with the story as it materialized all around them. Today, the science of neuroplasticity is proving there is more to the magic of dimensional storytelling than mere fantasy. We are, indeed, influenced and physically changed by our environment.
Geoff has followed the Disney park tradition since the late 1960s and was a Disney Imagineer across the 1990s. He intimately understands the key stages and outcomes of environmental storytelling. When all the senses are activated, an experience literally becomes part of us. Beyond memorization, story environments engage imagination so we actually invent our own personal event variation moment by moment. It’s this participatory sensory stimulation which physiologically changes perceptions, beliefs and ultimately – actions.
In studying George Lucas’ association with Hero’s Journey author Joseph Campbell, Geoff has come to understand story must always come first, with technology playing a supporting role. Star Wars was a hit in 1977 because its characters and situations resonated with key psychological markers throughout the adventure. What catapulted Star Wars into another galaxy were cutting-edge photographic effects of spectacular models and imaginative environments serving to communicate the story. However, without Campbell’s classic mythological structure laying out essential psychological events the galaxy far, far away may have fallen dark.
GPG creates stories based on the Hero’s Journey and other time-honored models. We apply technology to grandly bring reality to written words. Our ultimate goal is to make story-driven places which command attention and communicate ideas to live on in through imagination.