The Magic of Creative Accidents
To tap into true artistry when you create, embrace the unexpected
Everywhere there are beautiful accidents. — Orson Welles
When it comes to the creative process it can be helpful to differentiate between idea and execution. The idea is the core concept underpinning your movie, short story, music video, commercial, or whatever it is that you’re making. The execution is the way you choose to realize the idea, to make it real. For any one idea there can be a thousand different potential executions.
While the moment of inspiration when the idea hits is magical, mysterious, and beyond explanation, the execution of the idea is a much more rational and methodical process. To make the idea real we have to think practically about how we might achieve it — we have to consider time, space, and money; we have to storyboard and sketch; we have to plan.
Anyone who has been involved in shooting a film or a commercial will know that there is usually an extensive pre-production process. Every detail of the shoot is considered: the cast, the costumes, the locations, the lighting, the lenses. A good director is said to be one who can visualize a scene in their mind’s eye before it has been shot.
