Day 38: Film-thoughts

How do you find a creative spark to feed your imagination?

This is definitely a BIG question, one I have tried to answer in a number of different ways over my blog entries so far (still 327 to go!). There is one way I haven't really looked at in a lot of detail yet and that is films...

I am not into writing/making films myself, but watching them helps me a LOT when it comes to inspiring my creativity. Even films that seem pretty generic can show me something I've never even thought of.

If you think about it, they touch on a lot of creative ends; story writing, plots, characterisation, photography, choreography, costume design, set design, styles, fashions, ideas, current thinking...you name it, film includes it!

Are you the kind of person that thinks about the films you've watched? If so then great, if not, I encourage you to give it a go.

Do it now with the last film you saw (DVD or cinema). Answer these questions:

-Did you enjoy it?
- Why?
- What was you favourite scene and why?
- Were the characters believable?
- Do you think the script was good?
- How did the characters achieve their goal?
- Was this believable?
- What style was the film going for (ie, dark and sinister)?
- Did their clothes match the setting/time period?
- Was it deliberate?

There are SO many questions you could ask of a film and many of the answer will tell you a little bit about what you like and where it could lead your creative work.

Let me give you an example from my own 'film-thoughts.' I went to see Twilight (the first one) when it came out which lead me to thinking about impossible relationships. Bella and Edward are like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, lovers who should be enemies. They should not be together because they are from different 'worlds.'

This idea inspired a story of mine. A well-to-do guy called James from a wealthy family ends up falling for a homeless girl, Lola. As you can see this idea seems to have nothing to do with vampires and werewolves, but its the concept I've borrowed!

Get it? I hope this helps.

Give it a go yourself and see how the films you watch can inspire YOUR creativity...