Ideas and how to find them

or How to be creative. A practical guide for filmmakers and storytellers.

This course – divided into weeks – is about how to find ideas. Mainly for films, but it also can be used for storytelling in general and other creative work. It is about learning how to train this muscle, which we call imagination, on a daily basis. At the beginning of each chapter I will give you a short summary and at the end there will be some exercises and some films I would like you to watch – if you don’t know them yet. Take your time, do the exercises, watch as many of the films mentioned as possible. The latter will broaden your horizon and show you, that there are as many possibilities to tell a story when it comes to film than stars in the sky. Without all of them, the exercises and the films, this course makes no sense!

Week 1 – Introduction

Week 2 – State of Play

Week 3 – Playing CLOSAT

Week 4 – Getting Started: Preparations

Week 5 – Where Ideas Come from

Week 6 – Going into Detail

Week 7 – Locations and Places

Week 8 – On the Road

Week 9 – The Image

Week 10 – The Sound

Week 11 – Moving Pictures

Week 12 – Objects