Creativity Theories Explained.

"The making of the new and the re arranging of the old" (Bentley 1997)
I believe that this theory means that by 're arraging' and using the 'old' as inspiration, we create 'new' things. I agree with this theory to some extent as I believe that Bently is almost defining creativity and I believe that we are influenced by old things or things around us to create new things but I don't agree with the fact that he all most states that new things can only be created as copies of old things.

"The creating of bringing something new into existence -"this is particular understanding of creativity involves the physical making of something, leading to some form of communication, expression or revelation." (David Gauntlett)
After reading this quote, I believe that Gauntlett is saying that by having creativity, you are able to create something new and empose it upon the world. I believe he also says that in order to do this, you need to use your phisical skills to bring something into the world as well as communication skills to show it to people and express why you have created something. I agree with this quote as I believe that nothing creative should end at an idea otherwise if you do not take the time to create the thing you invision, you cannot share it with the world and explain your vision to the rest of us.

"Media producers can learn nothing from studying the conventions of old texts"
I definetly disagree with this quote as I believe that nothing can be completely origional to begin with and by studying other texts and other media works, producers of media can gather ideas and evolve their own vision through the eye of others. I also think that by studying older texts, we can adapt to the ideas we created in previous years and create something inventive and new to show to the world which is the whole point of media production isnt it?

"There is no absolute judgement (on creativity). All judgements are comparisons of one thing with another" (Donald Laming)
I do agree with this quote by Laming as I think that to judge someone's creativity and ideas as good or bad is impossible as it would be someone elses opinion of an opinion. I do think however that we can judge someone's ability to produce something creative by comparing the production of their work to other media pieces.

"Technology has taken all the creativity out of media production"
I completely disagree with this quote and think that in every way, technology has elevated media production. I think that in this day and age, with the use of photoshop and other ediing software, you have to have a technical ability to use the programs however you also have to have a creative streak otherwise the media product you are working on may as well not be produced.

"A project that is too well planned lacks opportunities for spontaneity and creativity"
I agree and disagree with this quote as I feel that if an idea is planned in advance, it doesn't mean that it is not a creative idea as someone thought of it and has decided to put it into action - its a creative idea. However, I do also agree with the fact that if a creative idea is too well planned then the oppertunity for spontaneuity is greatly dicreased and I feel that unless an idea is evolved and changed throghout research, planning and development of a media piece then it cannot turn out to be the best it can be.

"A process needed for problem solving...not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people" (Jones 1993)
I agree with this theory to some extent as I think that most people have some sort of creative streak as to have ideas about things and 'create', then you need to be creative. However, I do disagree with this theory in the way that I think a few selected people have more creativiy than others and as a result of this are praised in their work that requires a lot of this skill. For example, not everybody can write both the melody and lyrics for a new Lady Gaga pop single.

"Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation" (Csikszentmihalyi 1996)
I think that this theory explains that in order to create something and be creative, there needs to be outside ideas and influence from a culture, a creative person who can take an idea and create a vision in their head from that culture, and finally an expert e.g. the viewing public, to give their views on the media product created and therefore the idea is recognized as a successful creation. I agree with this theory completely.

"If creativity is not inherent in human mental powers and is, in fact, social and situational, then technological developments may well be linked to advances in the creativity of individual users" (Banaji, Burn and Buckingham, 2006)
I can understand from this quote that the theorist understands that there are many people and not just a selected few who believe they are creative however, he gives an explanation to this that technology is the reason for this. I do agree with this theory as I think that in this age of technology, it is not hard for someone who is not born creative to learn a skill that can be seen as creative. For example, if someone is not born talented to paint a detailed portrait of someone, they can discover hat they are creative through photography and take a photograph of that person that may become seen as beautiful. Similarly, if a person cannot paint or take amazing photographs, they can learn the technical skills required to edit the photograph on a computer software which could bee seen as a creative skill.


Two theories I agree with:

• "Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation" (Csikszentmihalyi 1996) - I definetly agree with this theory as all of my media work has followed the conventions of the three elements: a culture i.e.research and planning, archived on my blog, a symbolic person i.e. myself with my own ideas about my media products, and an expert i.e. my teacher who viewed my work as well as my peers who gave their own views and constructive criticism of my work. I feel that by following all of these conventions, I have also recognised where I need to change ideas and am validated of my innovation through the grades that I recieved.
• "The making of the new and the re arranging of the old" (Bentley 1997) - I do agree with this theory as relating back to both of my years of media work, especially A2, I can say that I have definetly 're arranged the old' through my research and planning stages especially and developed my ideas to create my final media products. I feel that by researching other media texts, I can be inspired to be creative and create my own 'new' media product.

Two theories I disagree with:

• "Media producers can learn nothing from studying the conventions of old texts" - I disagree with this theory as from my A2 media coursework, I think it would be strange to say that I havent been inspired by the 1960's era and previous texts created around Warhol and Sedgewick. My whole idea for my A2 work evolved around an old idea and image evolving into a new text and media piece. During the research and planning stages of my work, I also studied the conventions of old texts more than newer texts and even if they are more recent, for example, 'star image', than surely those texts should be seen as old also?
• "Technology has taken all the creativity out of media production" - I completely disagree with this quote as all of my media work from both by AS and A2 years has been created using technology such as Photoshop and iMovie. As well as the production, my creative ideas also evolved around research of outside references I could include in my final work which envolved me to use the internet to research and blog my ideas so that I could archive and develop them. In a way, this could also be useful for other media texts being produced around the same topics as they can view my previous creative work from the internet which would help them develop their own.

How have I applied 'creativity' throughout my AS and A2 years?

Originality, imagination, inspiration, ingenuity, inventiveness, resourcefulness, creativeness, vision and innovation.

These are all words linked to creativity that we were given in the lesson to analyse and apply to our own work.

Media CW AS

View more presentations from Matthew Needham.

Applying 'creativity' to my AS coursework.

Originality - When producing all of my media work, I always had in mind to keep my ideas unique and origional. Although nothing can ever be completely original, I took ideas from various places and pieced them together with my own flare to create my final magazine cover, contents and DPS. I took inspiration from my chosen genre of music and used outside references although I feel that I tried to make my final layouts 'original' and memorable.

Inspiration - When researching for my AS coursework, I looked alot at different magazine layouts, magazines of my genre, star image, factories, locations, fashion magazine shoots etc. and I was very inspired by everything that I saw. Taking all of these images and websites I had researched previously, I took that inspiration and compiled all my faviourite ideas together in order to create something that was inspired and influenced by 'real world' situations.

Imagination - In order to produce my final coursework pieces I definetly needed imagination to envision what the overall look of the magazine would look like etc. A big use of imagination in my AS coursework was the fact that we had to create a fictional band and in doing so, I needed to use my imagination to create a fictional artist although some of it was based on truth. Imagination was used also when interviewing my artist on the DPS as well as styling and creating a 'star image'.

Applying 'creativity' to my A2 coursework.

Ingenuity - I feel that I have needed to be ingenious to apply my ideas and make them reality. I feel that I do this although maybe applying ingenuity throughout the process of creating something for example my digipack cover where I was unsure about how I could overlap the images of Rickie to begin with although I used my ingenuity and evenually figured out how to do it. I think I also used this creative skill when one of my origional band members decided she didn't want to go through with filming and I found a friend who suited the brief.  

Resourcefulness - I had a big production idea for my A2 coursework and in preperation for this I knew that I needed to research alot into background knowledge of my referenced characters, Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgewick, as well as historical elemeents and styles that I would later apply to the mise en scene and styling of my band. I think that with research into locations and where I could film was an example of me being resourceful as I discovered a studio in Oadby where I paid and we filmed for two hours. Finding all the props and costumes could be another example of being resourceful as well as creating sets such as 'the factory' in my garage and 'edies dressing table' also in my house.

Innovation - Innovation was one of my chosen words in my 25 word pitch at the start of my A2 coursework year. I wanted to create something that would elevate from the norm and become fresh and innovative. I think that I achieved this through my A2 coursework with my use of innovative Photoshop effects aswell as the way that my idea to take inspiration from something old and make it young again was an innovative idea in itself.

Overall, how creative do you think you've been?

I believe that over both my AS and A2 years, I have continued to strive to be creative with everything I have priduced whether this be through the production of something or the research and planning that has gone into it before hand. I think that in media, I have been fascinated and obsessed with pushing the boundaries and trying out new ideas that sometimes don't work out but sometimes they do and when that happens, I have been very happy with the result. I am happy with what I have achieved and hope that I have consistently shown my passion for creativity in media.

Did you have any limitations?
In the first year, I don't feel like I did have any as I produced alot of my work at home due to the facilities and lack of computers at school however in my second year, I have been limited at home due to my editing software expiring and as a result have had to struggle to find a suitable computer to edit on.
I felt like my time was very limiting over this year as it was hard to get all three band members to be free to film on the same day, this was also limiting due to the weather and the lighting.

What is Creativity?

Coursework Analysis over two years

Mrs Hammond asked us to analyse our final coursework pieces over the two years in answer to these few questions below.

The task was to apply the words meaning 'creative' and apply them to the pieces of coursework I created at AS and A2. Then, I needed to create a mindmap for each of my c/w peices, justifying how I have demonstrated any of them.  

1. How creative do you think you have been?
2. What has prevented you from being more creative?
3. Has a set menu of tasks made it easier to be creative or would you have preferred a free choice on what you could make? Were you pinned down too much by the task, or did it free you up to be creative within the boundaries of the task?

Creativity

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

 In Nazi occupied France, young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus witnesses the slaughter of her family by Colonel Hans Landa. Narrowly escaping with her life, she plots her revenge several years later when German war hero Fredrick Zoller takes a rapid interest in her and arranges an illustrious movie premiere at the theater she now runs. With the promise of every major Nazi officer in attendance, the event catches the attention of the "Basterds", a group of Jewish-American guerilla soldiers led by the ruthless Lt. Aldo Raine. As the relentless executioners advance and the conspiring young girl's plans are set in motion, their paths will cross for a fateful evening that will shake the very annals of history.

Cast:

• Brad Pitt - Lt. Aldo Raine
• Melanie Laurent - Shoshanna Dreyfus
• Christoph Waltz - Col. Hans Landa
• Eli Roth - Sgt. Donny Doniwitz
• Michael Fassbender - Lt. Archie Hicox
• Diage Kruger - Bridget von Hammersmark
• Daniel Bruhl - Fredrick Zoller
• Til Schweiger - Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz
• Gedeon Burkhard - Cpl. Wilhelm Wicki
• Jacky Ido - Marcel
• B.J.Novak - Pfc. Swithson Utivich
• Omar Doom - Pfc. Omar Ulmer

Facts and Figures:

Source: IMDB  

Release Date: 19 August 2009 (UK) 

Also Known As: Bastardos sin gloria

Budget: $70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $38,054,676 (USA) (21 August 2009) (3165 Screens)

Gross: $321,455,689 (Worldwide) (17 December 2009)      

The Odessa Steps and Its Descendants.

Family Guy Postmodernism.

The Searchers - Ending scene