What's your creative process like?

[threadhanger]

I'm just curious about how other people go about making their videos/short films. When you go out shooting do you keep a list in your pocket of things you want to try? Or do you shoot random stuff?

What about editing. Do you start with some music that you had in mind? How do you go about choosing which clips/events should go on the timeline? Do you render several versions before you are happy?

Any tips or insights would be appreciated.

[VideJo]

First let me say, that my main subject is travel movies.
So before I depart, I fight myself into the subject, by reading books about the location(s). So I will know the importance of any location I will go to. From that I shoot on the feel. Shots not to short. On some locations I am encountered by a typical sound. For instance a priest singing in a cathedral with tremendous accoustics. I will then shoot the whole lot and I will use this clip in post, to place inserts form other places in the cathedral.
I edit in chapters. When all chapters are finished to my sattisfaction, I write the project back to tape en watch it on tv. My experiance is that I have to go back to post at least 5 times. Only then I will start to look at the sound. I use a fully closed headset to get a full impression of the sound. First I level all sound, so that there will not be unrealistic peaks.
Music under your video can not be chosen on forehand. The only way to sellect the best music is by playing your edited film, while you play the music on another player. Only then can you feel wheter the music joins the feel of your film.
After that I will go to do the voice over. After inserting that, I will need to adjust the levels of the setnoise and the music, where the voice over is.

[Terfyn]

I always go out with a subject in mind and a story to record. This gives me a target and an idea of the shots I want to take. The sound usually follows this. i.e. For my lifeboat film, the hymn "For those in peril on the sea" gave me both music and a title.
I rarely log my shots although I may list what I want to shoot. Studio 11+ attempts to break the tape into a series of shots in their "Album". I use the fact that I am sitting quietly at my computer to review and study the shots. This is when I make a log of what I want to use. Often, at this stage, I will revisit the "location" to add "filler" shots or atmospheric sound bites.
The editing process will include adding a background sound track and a "scripted" voiceover.

[threadhanger]

Thanks for the insight. I wish other members would contribute some posts on the subject.

[DaFireMedic]

I shoot a lot of training films at work. The storyline for the video is already set by the skill or evolution of skills that I am trying to capture on video. I will often do a quasi-storyboard to plan the shots by drawing stick figures from the different angles that I would like to catch. I am already familiar with the location, as I almost always film these at our training tower.

I then film a wide shot of the whole evolution from start to finish from at least one angle, then I film each of the involved tasks close up at least once, but usually two or three times from different angles. This usually gives me plenty of video for post.

I will then come back to the computer and edit together the sequence in such a way that the skills are as clear to the viewer as possible, as these are intended as instructional videos. The main video is laid out and edited first. Any intro scenes are then put together to inform the viewer of safety issues and equipment needed to perform the evolution. I also add conclusion scenes to emphasize and reinforce key points.

Music is always added after the entire video has been edited. I have a few royalty free music tracks to use, and its not too difficult to choose because the pace of these videos are pretty consistent throughout the series. Finally, I add a voice over track to explain each of the steps as they are being demonstrated on the video. To do this, I write a script, record it in Audition, then add it into Premiere.

I am always writing down new things that I want to try, otherwise I will forget them. I also look at other instructional videos for a variety of different activities, from mountain biking to construction. These give me ideas for shot selection and other production techniques.

[Ian-T]

Wow you guys are amazing. Keep em coming..I have a feeling this thread is going to help a lot of people structure out their own ideas.

[the_amo]

I first do a kinda brain storm: With the rough idea I have for the vid, I start writing words and things that come to my mind.

After that, I join them correctly, and of course, complete the story.

And then, I do a rough storyboard, writing down which cameras and movements I'll use in the shot.

And, if I have time, I do the shooting



(then I edit, include SFX and all that, of course)

[Worley]

When I'm videoing my children, you never know what they are going to do, or for how long. So I try to video as much as I can, and from as many angles as possible and with a mix of wide and close up shots. I try to take shots that are at least 10 seconds long.

When editing, the different angles and mix of wide/close-up shots make it much easier piece together and interesting film. In general, I cut out at least 75% of the footage I record. It may sound drastic, but it makes the final DVD much more interesting and viewable.

When shooting something that is scripted, I use the same haphazard method, but keeping in mind all the time what I want the final cut to look like.

Again, with scripted material I shoot for longer than necessary, and using many angles and using a mix of wide/close-up shots. And probably 90% of what I record is not used.

Next year I hope to try my hand at documentary-type videos. But I have to find my subject first.

[DaFireMedic]

Anyone else????

[Frank]

I storyboard everything, then make a shot list to try to be as efficient as possible when shooting. For example, I would group all the shots which have the same perspective and subject together, even if on my storyboard they are not consecutive. That way you maintain continuity and avoid wasting people's time.
Once on my computer, I log every take and circle the ones I decide to use for the final edit. This allows me to keep track of the assets and know which clips need processing (like pulldown removal).

[the_amo]

Anyone else????

+1
Come on!

[Philminder]

After the idea, I script everything, which is the hardest part for me because I hate writing. But while scripting I keep in mind the final movie so that later I don't have to worry too much about how I want to frame my shots or where I want people to move, and also where exactly I will be filming. It really helps to know your location. After scripting I try to storyboard a bit (but I don't always). I try to draw something rough for each different cut, and sometimes for most of the dialogue as well. Because I don't have a lot of time for filming when I do, and I'm pretty much the only crew and my friends the actors, I try to make sure I don't have to do more than what will be seen in the final movie. But I do comedy all the time, which makes for some fun on-set moments, and those can always lead to unexpected things that you just decide to throw in. I like to encourage improvisation from the actors as well. It just makes things more fun for everyone if they have some freedom to break from the rigid structure of the script.

When editing, I always capture in small clips. Like, one clip per line or cut, and for the sake of saving harddrive space I review all the takes before capturing so that I only end up capturing the good ones. It takes a little longer, but it helps keep those file sizes down, and I feel editing goes more smoothly when I don't have to sift through multiple takes. When I start editing, I just throw all the clips in in order and then start chopping them up to fit nicely. Usually I'll have a good idea of the sound effects and music I want, so I tend to edit my clips to the music rather than adding music last. I find it kind of necessary since I don't create my own music to work with the movie. I'm using preexisting music that has its own time and rhythms and feelings.

After editing I'll sometimes send a copy to my friend for some peer editing, and he'll say what's good or what could be changed. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I don't, but I like to get another person's opinion before showing it to a larger audience.

[bmirman]

"When editing, I always capture in small clips. Like, one clip per line "?

That's insane. You must have thousands of clips, even for a short film. Why not just know what you shot well enough to make one clip out of each take

[Richard Bock]

I am making a television show of my own making. I am seeking new people new things, new places. I consider myself a medium between me and the audience. I am very interested in challenging and entertaining an audience. I am interested in finding out what makes people tick. I am interested in their core values. I look for people on the fringes, on the edges. I like rebels and people outside the mainstream. I also am interested in people who are just average folks. I prepare myself thoroughly before a shoot with a list of questions. If I am shooting the 'man on the street' spontaneously, I do the best I can. I am a listener and relate to people with a relaxed manner. We all have a story to tell. I am curious about them. I try and keep fairly 'invisible' when shooting. I look at filmmaking as a noble adventure and try to bring to the process, care, love. compassion and hope for a better world.

http://richardbockfilms.blogspot.com/

[tgiffilms]

I'm a bit scatter brained when it comes to planning. Once I find a good idea or some sort of inspiration, I think about the best way to go about shooting it. I think about how I want the overall picture to look. I think about what my primary equipment will be (IE: Handheld, steadicam, dolly, etc). After that I might write down some words and ideas. I've written the story out in prose, full screen plays or nothing at all. I can't draw for shit but sometimes I draw one or two frames. Something I tried once was I used a digital camera to storyboard a scene. I just took pictures of the most important shots and used them as a reference for the shoot.

I try and get as much footage as possible, I'm not afraid of over shooting. I like to work my magic on the PC.

I need to get better @ story boarding and all that though.

[Dr. Benway]

What is your preferred genre?

Coming out of art school I would ask if you have any artist friends that you respect; as in truly like their work? Perhaps you could have a cup of tea with them and ask them about the process of conceptualising a work of art.

My process begins with thinking of my prior work and how to advance that; I like threads from past work to be woven into future projects. By this I mean aesthetics, feel, quite a range of subjective qualities.

I write myself a brief and think it through from beginning to end, visualise and make notes; it'll change as I reach hurdles. It is good practice to stick with your brief as it's good discipline. It can be all too easy to give up or convince yourself that a change was necessary when it was driven by laziness or a fear of technique.

Think of precedent. Where in the world of film does my work or desire sit? Do I have a hard and dry documentary bias, am I interested in luminous/surrealist works; video as art, am I interested primarily in humanist/character studies?

Watch your favourite movies or clips repeatedly; know them inside out, absorb it, forget it, make something. What are they doing? How do they use colour, sound and motion or stillnesss? Think of the formal qualities. What have you been presented with?

I know some people may bite my head off for writing this but plagiarism teaches technique.

I hope a little of that helps.

Take care and work hard.

[DaFireMedic]

I know some people may bite my head off for writing this but plagiarism teaches technique.

Not at all, you are exactly right. There is a big difference between learning from how someone else has done something, and taking their work and claiming it as your own (which obviously would be unethical). As I mentioned with regards to my training videos, I will watch other instructional videos to learn how they might present techniques. I've learned a lot from seeing how the professionals do things, and as such my videos are more effective.

[blondandfun]

My creative process in as follows:

Think about my boring life and strive to add an ounce of emotional and creative clarity to it by creating film.

Think about how I can use my life experience and knowledge to benefit others and if I'm lucky enough down the road be able to sell that product to make enough money to get the hell out of dodge.

Seriously, its all about intention and your gut feeling to get off the couch and turn off the TV and create something. That to me is the hardest part which consumes 90% of the effort. This whole filmmaking thing in my opinion is a joke, I think most of the effort is in the planning and the desire to make money. I have an engineering degree so I have this feeling that I think I have an ability to work very hard. I personally believe that filmmaking is extremely hard, because you are combining visual art, music, script writing, and videography and you have to put on many hats.

[lordtangent]

I come up with the idea. Write it. Come up with a shot list. Sometimes I story board it.

By this time I know the "look" I'm going to use for the lighting but I htink about it a little more before shooting. (Then I know how much or little gear I'm going to need) Then I shoot the shots I need and edit.

Making movies is easy... It just takes a ton of work.

[Lunchbox]

I got really creative when I drive on highway. I sometimes drive on highway around just try to find a way to solve a problem or get creative.

I remembered I have to come up with an interactive game for a school project. I drove from Abilene, TX to Dallas (3.5 hrs). Then came up this game.

[Lucasberg]

I make 3 types of movies pretty much. Test videos, family/vaction montages, and stupid funny to only to me and my friends movies.

For video my kids,family events, and vaction stuff I pretty much just make a montage-ish quick edit for those.

For test stuff I will see something or think of something then see if I can do it and test it till I get it right. Stuff like Macro, slowmo, editing techniques, or special effects. Thinking one day I will use it for a movie.

Then I have the funny only to me and my friends videos. These are made with 2 of my friends when we get together which is rarely. Usually we will think of an idea and wing it the entire time. We have made 4 in the last 2 years but we made alot when we were in High school. All four were shot in less than 3 hours making up the story as we went along.

[SenorKaffee]

Well, Kamusical and Sonnenblumen are my first projects that are based on my own video material. Everything I did at work was puzzling together mountains of preproduced material and adding fancied-up presentation slides.

For the fictional project I first made a bunch of notes, sorted them in a flowchart and then wrote a script based on it. Some of the notes are what I could shoot in which locations, how I could build this or that effect, who the characters are and why they would do certain stuff. This project only had one and a half days of shooting yet, but a few days before I revisited the location, walked around everywhere and looked for nice angles and then I wrote a shotplan. On the day of shooting I just worked through the plan, taped some additional spontaneous shots and invited everyone to lunch after cleaning up.

The documentary style projects is a little more chaotic. It should be about a person and a mental condition without scientific parts, giving a lot of "slice of life" feeling. 8 tapes already filled and I estimate another weekend of shooting plus maybe another one to fill the gaps.

In both projects music is very important. On my MP3 stick there is some preselected music for both projects and the way to work is perfect to close the eyes and cut to the music in your mind. Let´s just hope that the scenes that are in your mind are really on the tapes somewhere.

[MithrilFox]

I absolutely have to know exactly what I want to shoot. While in the field, I might find something I didn't think of and shoot that, but I basically have a list of things I want to get.

My wife and I will write down what we want the end product to look like, then we think through the steps necessary to get each of the shots. We revise the original plan to make it more realistic (sometimes we go overboard on the first visualization). Then, we write down specific shots.

For example, we put together a video for our family and friends about our life abroad. First, we brainstormed what kinds of "sections" we wanted. Then, after writing them down on sheets of paper, spread them out on the floor. Looking at them all, we slowly put them in order. Then, we added individual scenes or shots to each paper.

Then, we grab a paper, and go out into the field and shoot those specifics. One particular roll was of me putting on a leather jacket and getting on my bike. It was meant to be funny because I was acting stereotypically "cool." So, my wife wrote it down like this as I said what I wanted to do:

-Take coat from rack
-Put on left arm
-Put on right arm
-Zip up
-Pat down
-Grab bike key
-Grab door handle, slowly open door
-Close up of putting glasses on
-Putting foot on right pedal
-Putting foot on left pedal
-Revving with right hand (fake, it's a bicycle!)
-Revving with left hand (fake)
-Upper body shot, look at camera, zoom out
-Ring bike bell
[end shot]

So, we grabbed the equipment, and we started filming, one after another. Granted, it was easy enough to follow the order that the video would appear in, but if it's more economical useful to follow a different order, do that. For example, you may want your character to appear in a park several times throughout the video. It would be silly to go back to the park each time you wanted the videos, unless you need different weather. Instead, shoot all of the park scene, and then move on.

As for idea gathering, I am constantly writing stuff down on sticky notes and a small notepad. If I see something I want to emulate (such as the Star Trek transporter effect), I write it down (and maybe a brief idea of how to do it, too). If I think of something cool, even while lying down to sleep, I quickly write it down in my notepad.

Watching videos/movies is essential for me, because we as a people are dependent on the work of others to create new things.

[kafeero]

This is a nice thread that shows the challenges that preproduction poses.

I do not know if this is related but I remember reading somewhere that creativity comes most during a state of body which I forget the name of. But it is right before sleeping and when a person is sort of not thinking about much. Right before I sleep I get really creative with not only ideas for film but I can think of different tunes in music. But when I wake up in the morning I do not remember much. This state of body apparently does not only happen before sleep but also when walking the dog or ... when person is not thinking of much....

Moral of the story: Keep a notepad or something to take notes with all the time.

I get ideas all the time and I try to write them down. Not only plot ideas but also certain shots, sequences, images etc. Even the simple or small things.
If there is an opportunity to make the idea in to a video I then go about developing on that idea by:
-Writing a script (even without speech)
-storyboarding
-making a scene list
The scene list is quite important as it is sort of a checklist for the shooting.
I also find it very helpful during shooting if I have a storyboard that contains every single shot.


The most important thing is to put the ideas down on paper so that they are not forgotten and so that you can develop them

Even with documentaries. Write something down before shooting.

[rjfiske]

Because I'm still learning, I try to start the creative process (serious ones anyway) with a montage of clips I've kept. That's why Motionographer and all of the links on the left side of the page are so useful to me. There's some amazing work there that not only show different techniques, but different emotions.

When brainstorming ideas, I try to emulate (but not outright copy!) the same type of feel as the projects I've seen. When writing a script, I try to ask, "Is there anyone I know or have met, that would say something like this?". If there is, I've got the dialogue. If there isn't, I erase and try again. When shooting, I K.I.S.S. Remember the rule of thirds, watch the background, be mindful of triangles and all the other techniques we've heard about. When editing and choosing music, I again go back to what it's supposed to feel like (these editing & music choices are usually fleshed out in the brainstorming sections anyway).

And I love the quote I heard recently on the VFX podcast. It goes something like, "A [visual effects] artist never finishes a shot... he/she only gives up on it." I myself haven't completed any project I've started... I've only given up on them!