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Generating ideas
Just as in an essay so too in a production-an idea is the basic unit. We brainstorm to generate ideas before sitting down to write an essay. We pick the best idea, mull over it, and try to develop it into a full-fledged essay by using the best of words and sentences to express ourselves. Similarly in a video production, we choose a worthwhile idea and examine various ways and means of presenting it in the form of a good, appreciable video. But between the germination of an idea and its taking shape as a full-fledged production, there are many rigorous, sometimes painstaking, stages.
But then where do ideas come from? Ideas can come from various sources. They could be from a letter to the editor, a story in a magazine, an experience someone has shared with us while travelling, our own experiences, or from our interaction with people. They could well be from a novel we have read or a name, place, or event that has triggered a reaction.
Well, there could also be times when our mind goes totally blank and we are devoid of ideas. How do we get our minds brimming with ideas again?
Observation is the solution. When we combine our observation with creativity, we have a presentable idea on hand! Whatever be the source, we have come up with an idea for a production. Now how do we proceed with it? The first thing to do is to keep a note book handy and down all the ideas that come to our mind.
The next stage is to finalize anyone of them. How do we zero in on a topic? The simplest test to apply is to check objectively if we ourselves would be interested in watching a programme based on that idea. If yes, we proceed. So now that we have an idea, how do we expand on it? After all, a single idea alone is not enough to produce a full-length programme! Experts suggest drawing up a mind map. A mind map is basically a visual chart that we can use to find links, develop further links, and see how a story could be created from a basic idea. We apply the Five W s and the One H principle: who, where, why, what, when, and how?
Let us consider an example. We want to produce a film on child marriage. This theme has appealed to us because this scourge still afflicts many societies around the world. Applying the Five W s and the One H principle, we generate these questions: Why do we want to make a film on child marriage? Why do parents still marry off their minor children? Who are the people we would want to include in the film? What is the point we want to convey through the film? Where do we want to shoot? When do we want to shoot? How do we intend to convey the point we wish to make? If we are satisfied with the answers, we write them down in our note book. The moot point is, when we are stuck for ideas, we should resort to brainstorming. This will help us break the conceptual blocks, move away from the routine, and throw up ideas that may be refreshing.
Our idea having been crystallized, we need to work on the what factor a little more. Find different angles to the idea. Do we just want to present the plight of child marriage victims or make a film on the reasons that push parents into marrying off their young children, or do we want to just look at how NGO intervention can help solve this problem? Obviously, there is no single correct way of making a film on a given topic. However, drawing up the mind map helps narrow down on the angles we want to present in the film. In the process of brainstorming, we could also come up with an angle that has not been thought of so far. Further, working out different angles provides us with a range of aspects that we can finally choose from to produce an effective and engaging video. Even as we are doing so, it is very important to keep in mind two aspects: Who is the target audience for the video? What do we want to achieve through the video? We should answer both these questions extensively in the note book.
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