An oriel is a window that stands out from the wall of a house. Because it juts out, it catches light from more directions than a flat window can. We named the channel after it, because that is what we hope each film does for a small part of an ordinary day: lets a little more light in.
What each film does
Every film begins with something you will recognise from your own week. A free evening that will not settle. A phone that lights up at the wrong moment. Then it follows the question underneath, with wisdom from across cultures in conversation with modern psychology, told as an animated story.
The old teachings are quoted exactly, in their original language beside a translation, with their source. Each tradition is described on its own terms. Research is cited with its limits, and where a film goes beyond what its sources say, it tells you so. Founders of religions, prophets, saints and deities are never drawn as people.
The pieces of each film
Each film comes as a small set of pieces, each made for the screen and the place it will be seen.
- The film
- A few minutes long, on YouTube.
- The Short
- Under a minute, cut from the film’s own narration, on YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikTok. It ends by pointing to the full film.
- The carousel
- A few lines from the film, one to a slide, over one picture that runs on across the slides, to swipe through on Instagram.
- The wallpaper
- An abstract picture from the film’s world, with no words on it, made to live on a screen for months. It comes in sizes for phone, foldable, tablet, desktop and TV, free to download here.
- The article
- Here on the site. It goes further than the film: the full passage in its original language, the studies with their samples and limits, and every source.
Where to find us
We are @orielstories on YouTube and Instagram and @oriel.stories on TikTok, and the home for all of it is this site, oriel-stories.co.uk.
The first film is Why Rest Feels Like Falling Behind. It begins on an evening with a novel and a phone, and ends with something Seneca wrote to a friend about day and night.
Thank you for coming by. We hope something here keeps you company this week.