I Am Not Creative, What Should I Do?

Steven Bogda

Steven Bogda

Well-known member
I have to make a 3-5 minute long documentary. It can be on absolutely ANYTHING. I think it can even be 100% fake! I have spent a few days thinking about it and I CAN NOT COME UP WITH ONE SINGLE IDEA.

Anyone have this problem? I think it is because I have never had to make one before. I am really looking to just put something together that isn't bland and looks decent.

Unfortunately, I don't know a single person who is worthy of having a documentary made about them. I don't know anywhere cool that is worthy of making a documentary about. And I don't want to make something about a museum or a organization, unless they are interesting.

I live in Philadelphia, and wanted to stick to something that can be done in the area. I am completely brain dead when it comes to thinking of stuff to make, which is why most of my videos are ridiculously pointless for the most part.

Input or ideas anyone?

I am looking for the standard interview driven documentary pretty much. I only have 8 weeks or so.

Thanks:badputer::shocked:
 
You could make a documentary about the grueling process of coming up with a documentary.

Find something that you like to do then make a documentary about that.
 
I dont know where in Philly/Jersey you are, but there are a couple of truly colorful things happening in the Camden area coming up.

On July 19th, the South Jersey Caribbean Carnival is gonna be going on. There will be lots of color and its free.

Also in the same area, The Warped Tour hits on July 25. That always draws an interesting crowd where I am from. I imagine Jersey would be an interesting crowd.

Or you could do both and have the doc be about cultural diversity (boring terminology but fun subject) because I would think those two things up there are about as different as night and day.
 
Thanks for the ideas. At one point I was thinking about making a documentary, about another classmate, who was making his documentary. Warped Tour sounds cool I will look into that
 
I Am Not Creative
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Just because you think you're not creative, doesn't mean you aren't.

What about making up something to make a documentary about ? That way, it can be anything you want. Tell it like it's true. No-one will ever know:happy:

Have you seen The Comic Strip Presents - Eddie Monsoon - A Life ? It's made like a documentary about a fictional character called Eddie Monsoon. It's quite a short comedy film made back in the 1980s sometime.
Not to everyone's taste I'm sure, but interesting to see how it was done . . . .

http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=eddie+monsoon&search_type=&aq=f
 
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Hi,

Although I might get some flack, I'd venture that there's some difference between being creative and the ability to tell a good story.

The fact that you asked the question here suggests that you have an affinity for film at least as a viewer and might want to at least try your hand at making one.

When writing a story, the best advice is always, 'write what you know'. Same is true here, only modified in that you might 'shoot what you want to know', or 'tell what you want others to know/learn'.

I'm a sometimes teacher, mostly adults, but occasionally their students who may be middle school. One project we've had success in working with in teaching them is doing biographies of folks in their neighborhoods of people who have made a difference - the Hero Next Door - someone who by some act of kindness or sacrifice, has made a contribution. It's not my idea. It's from Billy Field, a gifted writer and friend of mine living in Birmingham, AL. He wrote for TV and does seminars every now and then. If you get a chance, go.

There are stories all around you, no matter where you are. Some of them are not necessarily big, but they are worth telling; but some are big but aren't really worth telling simply because they bear such a striking resemblance to all other occurrences as to be commonplace (I'll likely get flack for that, too).

Maybe the easiest and best thing to do is pick someone in your family, your grandfather or grandmother and ask them to tell you what it was like when they were younger. Get a snapshot of the pre-digital age. There's a lot in just that.

Good luck!
 
Take the Seinfeld route and make a documentary about nothing. Allows you to follow such investigations as: Why is there something, rather than nothing?, and When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back, and go on, I can't go on. Emptiness is a rich mine, when you get beyond the anxiety of its blanktitude.
 
To say you have no ideas for a documentary is like saying there's nothing you're interested in- like saying there's nothing you're curious about, nothing you love, nothing you hate. If that's the case, then you shouldn't be making documentaries.

But, if there IS something you're interested in, something you're curious about, etc. then that's where you start. That's where your ideas are and where you should be looking for inspiration.

(BTW, some of my best ideas have come from listening to National Public Radio. Great stories are told there that are just screaming for outstanding visuals.)

Good luck, Forest
 
you could make one about a kid taking a film class he'll never use with sub-plots of many young people trying to find their way into the industry they were meant to be in.
 
Your avatar is a picture of a guy on a bike. Tell me something about that picture and why you've chosen it as your avatar.
 
dont make one about someone making a doc for the same class.... i saw that one like a million times in film school.

Philly is a rad place. Its the reason i'm still here. Plenty of interesting people. Dont be afraid to track down interesting people. Saw an interesting article in the city paper? track that person down, its part of the documentary process. Dont be afraid to go out of your element or circle of friends. the technique end of making docs is not hard (imo), finding the best stories is the hard part.

I have shot short docs in philly about everything from sword swallower to ultra conservative youth rallies or art galleries to bike culture to r5 production to congressman patrick murphy.

Read newspapers, blogs, weekly papers, magazines, etc. Keep a running list of ideas you might want to do.

and if push come to shove, get one of your friends to ride his bike through love park and get arrested. That would be a good story. ha
 
like watson said, you could do something with love park. make a documentary about skating in love park and how it has been sadly been eliminated. you could interview skaters you find around the city.
 
Steven Bogda said:
I have to make a 3-5 minute long documentary. It can be on absolutely ANYTHING. I think it can even be 100% fake! I have spent a few days thinking about it and I CAN NOT COME UP WITH ONE SINGLE IDEA.

Anyone have this problem? I think it is because I have never had to make one before. I am really looking to just put something together that isn't bland and looks decent.

Unfortunately, I don't know a single person who is worthy of having a documentary made about them. I don't know anywhere cool that is worthy of making a documentary about. And I don't want to make something about a museum or a organization, unless they are interesting.

I live in Philadelphia, and wanted to stick to something that can be done in the area. I am completely brain dead when it comes to thinking of stuff to make, which is why most of my videos are ridiculously pointless for the most part.

Input or ideas anyone?

I am looking for the standard interview driven documentary pretty much. I only have 8 weeks or so.

Thanks:badputer::shocked:
Click to expand...
I have an idea for you. Interview people who have run up the steps of the Art museum in Philly pretending that they are Rocky. I think pritty much everyone that visits - who grew up in the 80's watching Rocky movies, does it. I did. I wish I could help.
Let me know if you do it.
 
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Man on the street...Go to University City and act like a Penn film student...ask people if they know how many colleges and universities are in metro Philly...name them:

The American College • Arcadia University • Art Institute of Philadelphia • Bryn Mawr College • Cabrini College • Chestnut Hill College • Cheyney University • Curtis Institute of Music • Delaware Valley College • Drexel University • Eastern University • Gratz College • Gwynedd-Mercy College • Haverford College • Holy Family University • Immaculata University • La Salle University • Lincoln University • Manor College • Moore College of Art and Design • Neumann College • Peirce College • Penn State Abington • Penn State Brandywine • Penn State Great Valley • Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts • Pennsylvania College of Optometry • Philadelphia Biblical University • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine • Philadelphia University • Reconstructionist Rabbinical College • The Restaurant School • Rosemont College • Rutgers University • Saint Joseph's University • Swarthmore College • Temple University • Thomas Jefferson University • University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey • University of the Arts • University of the Sciences in Philadelphia • University of Pennsylvania • Ursinus College • Valley Forge Christian College • Villanova University • West Chester University • Westminster Theological Seminary • Widener University
 
Brennan said:
I have an idea for you. Interview people who have run up the steps of the Art museum in Philly pretending that they are Rocky. I think pritty much everyone that visits - who grew up in the 80's watching Rocky movies, does it. I did. I wish I could help.
Let me know if you do it.
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Now there is your topic.

Investigative piece: where the h*** did the statue of Rocky go????
 
Steven Bogda said:
I live in Philadelphia, and wanted to stick to something that can be done in the area. I am completely brain dead when it comes to thinking of stuff to make, which is why most of my videos are ridiculously pointless for the most part.
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That whole post cracked me up, LOL, hey at least you're honest! Ridiculously pointless, hahaha, that is awesome.

Well your first problem is Philadelphia. It's been a few hundred years since anything of note occurred in that area of the country. Now it's mostly just bitter sports fans booing Santa Claus. ;) haha, just kidding.
 
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