-Cultivating Creativity

No reason to elaborate I guess. I have entered the following presentation in Slideshare’s World’s Best Presentation Contest. Looking at the competition it’s unlikely it’ll win any prices, but I had some fun creating this and succeeded fairly well in what I set forth to do.

I’m planning to run a series of posts about the creative process behind the presentation. Anyone interested in learning how I attack the creative process should look in over the next few weeks. Cheers!

Edit: as the version on slideshare is lagging quite heavily I’ve included my own Flash-file here.

Edit2: After a less than perfect experience it now seems everything is in order over at the Slideshare-site, so I’ve put that version back up...

I remember reading that George Lucas wouldn't start work on the Star Wars prequels before he felt the technology was ready to serve his vision. I am, in case you were wondering, not a legendary writer/producer/director with a huge foot-print on our popular culture. I do however have an experience not unlike the bearded one's: Technology becomes cheaper over time and now even average-Joe's like me can afford tools that used to be the exclusive domain of the film-studios. This means that today "anyone" can produce films of a professional quality. Luckily, having the technology is not enough. Talent is still a necessity but at least the stinking-rich-but-talently-challenged will have a harder time succeeding. And there are a other things to be happy about: Thanks to the web new channels makes it easier to reach an audience.

George Lucas is not considered a rich dilettante by this blogger

So this should mean everything is in place for a new quality=success regime, right? Unfortunately, dilettantes with deep pockets still have an advantage: Despite sites like YouTube making it possible for anyone to share their work with the world "anyone" might find it hard to get noticed. It is still possible to get more attention simply by shouting louder (spending more money). All is not lost however, but it takes your help!

Let people know! If you find something you really like, share it with your friends. If you find a small clip you like, an article, a piece of music send an email to people you think might enjoy your find. Be honest though, don't go head over heels to share every mediocrity you come across, this will just turn people off after a while. However if you are truly moved/inspired/cracked up by something you really shouldn't keep it to yourself. If we all pass it on perhaps we can reach a state where the web truly becomes a stage full of interesting niches.

We'll probably never get completely rid of the moron-with-money but at least we can make him run for his...

Before anyone ask: no George Lucas is not my uncle!

At the moment of writing my computer contains no less than three film-/video-projects that are all well out of the starting block. It also contains one lousy second draft film-script and two script-treatments. Furthermore one short children's-story that need some refinement and about half a children's-novel in a non-readable state. This all comes in addition to a gazzilion photoshop-projects, the start of a shoot-em-up-game and half a fantazillion Garageband-tunes that are nowhere near the finishing-line.

Now, this might look like a wow-look-at-me-I'm-incredibly-creative-post, but that's not where I'm heading. Yes, I pride myself with being a creative person, but I am fully aware that I have very little to show for when it comes to finished projects. Neither is this a poor-me-I-have-to-spend-too-much-time-at-my-day-job-please-send-money-post. (Allthough it could have been so please send some money). No, I would like to talk about those entities from the headline, better known as new ideas. From talking to friends I've found that my experience with these seductive destroyers is not unique. This is how it normally happens:

I'm happily working away on a project based on what used to be a new idea. This, by now mature, idea and I are happily co-operating to make it into a fully-fledged film/script/whatever. We know each-other by heart and our common goal, while some time away, is clear to us both. This is when it happens. The appearance of the new kid on the block. The new idea. Somewhere in my brain zynapses are forwarding this flashy supermodel of an idea to the front of the consciousness. It's just so… new! The mind overflows with thoughts about how to bring it towards a glorious fruition. This is the one that will put my name on the lips of people everywhere and lead to world-domination.

So I begin to move time away from the old idea to the new one. Just a little bit to begin with as it clearly deserves the attention. Before I know it, the old idea has been relegated to the darkest backwaters of my hard disk. But it doesn't matter, cause I'm over-joyous with where the new idea is taking me.

For a while...

Because after a while the new idea is no longer new, and before I know it that blasted brain of mine has conjured up a new new idea. The old new idea has now become another, mature but, boring one ready to be forgotten.

So is there no way out of this conundrum? Well, I guess there is, but I'm not sure it's a happy one. I should probably just clench my teeth and struggle through the old idea before jumping onto a new one. But that struggling bit sounds an awfull lot like work...