Creativity (Q1A)

What is creativity? - "Creativity is the making of new things and the re-arranging of the old", furthermore it is the ability to have your own idea and not just copy others.

Where did your original ideas come from?

• For AS I was creative coming up with the ideas by designing a mind-map, this helped me visualise certain ideas and get a rough idea of the type of story line I wished to portray. I also did creative research such as basic questionnaires to find out what people interpret/ expect from an 'thriller' movie opening sequence.
• For A2 I was more creative coming up with ideas by not only designing a mind-map but also designing a Microsoft power point which I used to discuss possible locations with the use of 'google' imagery as well costumes and possible story line concepts in order to be more visually appealing and adapting to the use of digital technology. As well by planning digitally makes the presentation more portable and easy to access unlike planning a mind map that is on easily lost paper. I also designed an storyboard animation, which meant myself and my partner drew up the music video;s storyboard to which we then photographed and placed onto Imovie which would be played at the same time as our chosen song.

Locations/ sets/ costumes - 

• At AS I was creative by choosing locations which were nearby and easy to access, In which we chose to film in our local park/ forest which helped us to truly capture the 'thriller' set we were searching for. For our costumes chosen we primarily based off what we had seen in existing 'thriller' products which was simultaneously casual and true to the year the movie was based in. 
• Then at A2 we were more creative in our choice of location, in which we largely expanded more on. We chose to film up Central London which was not local to our nearby area however was still very easy to access via trains. Filming up London allowed us to be a lot more creative since we could include lots more recognisable scenery and creative sets. This included bright lights, shops and well known trademarks. It was imperative for our location to be interesting considering our video concept did not include a narrative and more a montage of settings and a chain of events. We wanted to be creative via the setting as we felt the stranger places which we filmed would stand out broader to our target audience in comparison to other EDM music videos.We went into further depth researching for costumes during our advanced project. I used sites such as Missguided and Prettylittlething to research which outfits are on current trend, considering our video was based to be set within the current time era/ generation it had to look realistic and appeal able to young people. 

Camera - 

• For AS our shots were very practical, filming mostly medium/ establishing shots due to being unaware of the other way to shoot angles. For our prelim task we had a set list of specific camera shots we had to include which meant we had less room for creativity to implemented.
• For A2 I have now developed my camera skills and have started to film in more of a creative way. For example for my music video we includes high/ low angles, panning shots and close ups in order to represent developed skills and and progress in creative thinking. This made the music video/ product better since we could further expand on the perspectives being shown, furthermore the perspective angles we anticipated to look as though were from the two main protagonists POV, in order to have to take an creative approach, instead of the protagonists being stereo-typically filmed together we anticipated that our filming angles would be an representation of a vlog in which the protagonists were filming each other throughout their journey.

Editing - 

• At AS we weren't very creative via our editing skills. The editing we completed was very functional by putting shots next to shots and assigning in continuity order, in order to create some anticipated meaning for the opening sequence.
• At A2 I was much more creative regarding my creative skills since I had to edit to the flow of the music I could be much creative regarding my chosen effects. For example I used the tool stabilization in order to make the footage appear as steady however shaky at the same time to disperse the vlog effect being anticipated. I was able to split clips and not necessary place in continuity order however still fit the lyrics of the song which in our purpose was contrasting between day/night imagery. By being able to edit creatively enabled our video to come off as better polished and unique whilst fitting the genres conventions of fast paced clips with a slight subvert ion from the verse going into the chorus.

Genre/ conventions (including casting)- 

• For AS we did very basic subverting of our chosen genre, i.e by replacing a male dominated role with a female. Furthermore, we casted one of our team members to play the protagonist's role. We followed the basic principles for a thriller i.e dim lighting, eerie music/ location and fast cut shots/ angles. 
• However for our A2 production we highly anticipated converting our chosen genres general features. First of all similarly to our AS, subverting usual male dominated roles into females, since EDM music videos usually heavily sexualised females to be an object/ assistance to the male artist. Furthermore, we featured both me and my partner as the protagonists which meant we had to bounce between being both the filmer and the actor. We also subverted EDM music videos only featuring party scenes to also present various locations and trademark situated around London in order to subvert from not only featuring the usual party atmosphere. Furthermore, we did not limit ourselves at A2, furthermore enhanced our creative skills from better analysation of genre to perpetrate into our own production. 

In conclusion - to be truly creative it is crucial to involve practicalness in your own work, without solid research and planning it was be impossible to venture on to creativity missing the essential stepping stone which is required. To be truly creative is a learning and understanding process. You must understand and take in what has already been done and take inspiration from existing products, however also however take under account how these generic conventions can be changes and be assembled into your own from of visual art. You cannot simply take another persons work and put your own label on it, the video has to be labelled for its own unique reason. Through being creative furthermore, helps a person gain confidence in there skills, with the knowledge of how they achieved the product and what mistakes had to make in order to reach the point of pure inventiveness.

Extra advice: you cannot only DESCRIBE how you developed creativity, but furthermore EVALUATE and comment on your work throughout the entire essay.

• How important creativity was?
• Why was creativity important?
• What effect did creativity have on your final work?
• What problems are there with being creative?
• What would you not have been able to do without creativity?
• How did creativity benefit you?