If you’re a creator, pursuing ideas and projects can feel like an ebb and flow: Sometimes it’s easy to come up with and work on interesting ideas, other times, you can have a total mental block. Whatever step of the process you’re at, there are challenges along the way.
If you’re looking for motivation or new approaches to the creative process, here are some strategies we’ve found helpful!
Idea
When you’re in the idea stage, it’s easy to get caught up thinking about the big picture. For example, maybe you can’t stop thinking about beautiful landscape shots of your local mountains.
While having these mental images can help you brainstorm, start by thinking about what kinds of stories you want to tell. Do you want to explore ideas of community in your area, or display the connection of outdoor athletes with nature? By thinking about these bigger story ideas, and refining the kinds of content you want to produce, you can help yourself develop new projects.
The Pitch
Once you have your project idea, it’s time to pitch the project to a potential client. Before you get to the pitch, refine your idea, and tailor it to suit your pitch to a potential business. Research the brand you want to work with. What projects have they done in the past? How can your ideas fit in with their business?
In the beginning stages of your idea, you want to be open and adaptable. After you’ve settled on a promising project, be critical about your own work and ideas. You want your work to be as strong as possible, so be honest about trimming off parts that aren’t as strong, sometimes to a single theme or concept.
During any editing process, remember you are just critiquing your work. Your ideas and creative process will improve with time. Put in the time to be confident about your work while still being open to new ideas.
Planning
Now that your project is approved, it’s time for the planning stage. Depending on the shoot and your resources, you will need to form a team. Identify the positions you need filled, and find people who match your creative style.
After you’ve assembled your team, plan a pre-shoot meeting to introduce everyone, go over everyone’s specific rolls, and address questions about the project. You want to make sure that everyone can work safely and efficiently on the actual day of the film shoot.
Once you’re ready for the shoot, it’s important to be able to adapt to the situation once you’re there. Especially when working on location, plan out time to walk around and experiment with different ideas. Even though film projects are a lot of work, they’re also supposed to be fun!
If you have questions or need help with your own projects, contact us. We are always looking for new people and businesses to collaborate with.