I came across this excellent blog post, Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno by Scott McDowell. There’s a nice paragraph about a tool Mr. Eno uses:
Oblique Strategies cards, a series of prompts modeled after the I Ching to disrupt the process and encourage a new way of encountering a creative problem. On the cards are statements and questions like: “Would anybody want it?” “Try faking it!” “Only a part, not the whole.” “Work at a different speed.” “Disconnect from desire.” “Turn it upside down.” “Use an old idea.”
This had me looking at my corkboard where, among other things, there are two index cards pushpinned above the monitor.
This one is a reminder of what editing is about. Distilled from Walter Murch’s excellent book on editing, In the Blink of an Eye:
And this one is just kind of how I make a lot of decisions:
Niall David
I love that last card – “What’s the less obvious choice?” Priceless in creative decision making.
David Licata
Thanks, Niall. Do you have similar prompts when you’re taking photos? Do you find you have to tell yourself, “What if I shoot this from over THERE? Or from this angle?” etc.
Niall David
Yep. Every shoot starts anew so I often “warm up” by photographing the obvious things, while in the back of my head I’m planning the more complex and less obvious ones – like from on top of that loft, or through that twisted tree brance, or on a ladder above this, or of the mirror reflecting the subject, and once we nail this composition let’s stick a few hidden speedlights under those benches….
Once I’m in my groove and hit my comfort zone, I get into the things that make the end product more original. Is that somewhat similar to how it is when planning shots for your films?
David Licata
Yep, very similar. With documentaries, when we’re shooting, we often don’t know what the lay of the land is and a lot of it is on the fly. But we wind up setting up for the master shots first, the wide shots that establish where we are and who we’re dealing with. Then we starting thinking closer, closer. Then, how can we make the shot a little more interesting. How can we get in the shot a little bit more creatively.
With narrative films, where there’s more control, I storyboard and that can help me figure out the more unusual shots, but even there, I’m originally thinking “simple” and then thinking “simple, but less obvious.” I’m kind of a simple guy…
With editing, I find you ask a lot of the same questions.
Niall David
Very cool. I learned from a mentor that (especially when time is tight) it’s always best to go for the easy and basic stuff first then move to the more exploratory and creative items. In my case it’s basic headshots or environmental wide shots (similar to your master shot filming method). It quickly became a methodology that ensures you have content for the shoot/location if you run out of time, client has to leave, it starts raining cats and dogs on an outdoor location, or all else fails!
Going that route when possible helps one to be more comfortable moving into the more exploratory creative things knowing you nailed it either way and you’re on your way to really nailing it! On the contrary, I’ve also had shoots that start crazy and end simple. All in a days work 🙂
Hopefully we’ll get on a set together someday. Cheers David.
David Licata
Exactly. With me, as a shooter, I always have to start simple, because I’m not really a shooter. I don’t have that background and those hours and hours of experience that count for so much.
Yes to getting together. It’s possible I’ll be out there again within the next six months. And of course if you’re on this coast…
And thanks so much for commenting.
D.