Ideas

W

wakeboarder0

New member
I'm an ametuer film maker and I'm having a tough time coming up with ideas...any suggestions to help out the brainstorming process?

I've made one movie but after that had difficulty coming up with original ideas
 
wakeboarder0 said:
I'm an ametuer film maker and I'm having a tough time coming up with ideas...any suggestions to help out the brainstorming process?

I've made one movie but after that had difficulty coming up with original ideas
Click to expand...

yes, adapt or steal someone else's idea.
 
Read the paper...it's full of idea starters. I'll be watching something and get a "what if they had taken it in this direction?" vibe. Or, "it would have been so much better if they had done this..."

wakeboarder0 said:
I've made one movie but after that had difficulty coming up with original ideas
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry too much about that right now, neither can Hollywood.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Last edited:
Find out the themes/ motivations that compel you. A good starting place is to write down your top 10 films/ fictional characters. Pick the characters apart and find out what make them tick and write down keywords for each one. Then start to notice any re-occurring themes and take a look inside yourself, a good starting point. Papers and news can be good sources. I also approach from the standpoint of what I'd like to see being made that isn't and blue-sky a few ideas. Maybe you have friends and family with interesting stories to tell.
Best of luck.
J.P.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, or get someone to write you one, I know friends and student friends who write and ich for a chance to get their "movie" or "ideas" made. Even by their lame giddy ego animal meglomaniacle film geek friend guy. (me).

I mean, I was bored one day, filmmed myself doing weird things, ending up putting on a old white theatre beard my grandfather had, a white hooded sweater lying around and a golden shower rod, and became a gandalf parody. Not a film but that short inspired a full fledged sequel and actual weird story including (see avatar) =)

So inspirations can come anytime and anywhere, with just the things at your disposal. Just go with it.
 
I've found that listening to different types of genres of music really helps. I'll hear a song, and be like "Oh cool, this song would work well in a scene where a guy is trying to do this or the guy and girl are talking about this or this happens, etc. From there it will start to grow. I created an idea for an entire TV show just by hearing one song that stood out to me. Then as the ideas start to develop, listen to other songs and they'll help create more scenes. Pretty soon, you've got enough to start something. I've got a few custom burned CDs of songs for movies I've thought of. Play them and they help you develop the scene and the pacing of the scene.
 
Something else you can do it trying combining genres of film. Sci fi is easiest to do, but try combing others and see what you can come up with. I had a great idea for a sci fi western ( Which was before I knew Firefly existsed, I thought Whedon had ripped me off) or comedy period piece or fantasy drama.
Sometimes the more wierd the better. Look at films like Being John Malcavich ( I know I spelled that wrong). You'd probably see them on paper and think, man this is dumb. But at least it's creative, and in the right hands it can be a good film. No idea is too wierd!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top