The entertainment field requires a constant flow of creativity and innovation. The functioning and success of a production house lie in the hands of creative minds. Innovation is identified as a creative muscle which requires to be flexed and exercised regularly. It is essential to regularly nurture innovation for it to get stronger and more effective with time.
Enhancing creative thinking is essential to work successfully in a production house. It is crucial for creating digital brand films. Digital brand films require a crisp script that promotes the brand yet oozes creativity. For the production houses trying to engage their team’s creativity to boost the innovation process is often quite a task.
There are various activities and exercises carefully devised to encourage the creative teams to think creatively. Such practices have often benefited the production houses as the employees brought in serious enhancement in the innovation department. Creative thinking is all about thinking outside of the box. It implies on both individual and team fronts where there is an assigned task like creating a digital brand film.
Creative thinking is a boastful skill which helps in versatile industries. The best production house India stresses on creative thinking to be the most essential skill. These production companies often conduct activities which help enhance creative thinking. They can create effective digital brand films by gaining a profound sense of innovation.
The following features the activities that help boost your creative thinking to work in a production house to create a digital brand film.
3 Top Activities That Will Boost Your Creative Thinking
1: Engaging in Forced Connections
“Engaging in forced connections” is a technique used in creative thinking activities to generate new and unexpected ideas by linking seemingly unrelated concepts, objects, or ideas. It involves deliberately connecting disparate elements to uncover unique perspectives and creative solutions. Here’s how the technique of engaging in forced connections works:
- Identify two or more unrelated concepts, objects, or ideas. These can be anything from everyday objects to abstract concepts.
- Find commonalities or points of connection between the selected elements. Look for shared characteristics, properties, or associations, even if they seem unrelated.
- Explore how these connections can generate new ideas, approaches, or solutions. Consider how the attributes or qualities of one element can be applied to the other or how their combination can create something entirely novel.
- Challenge assumptions and think beyond conventional boundaries. Embrace the unexpected connections and use them as a springboard for innovative thinking.
For example, let’s say you’re working on a brand film for a technology company and want to develop a unique visual concept. By engaging in forced connections, you might link the concept of “cloud computing” with “a flock of birds.” Initially unrelated, you can explore the idea of using birds’ graceful movement and collective behaviour to symbolize the seamless connectivity and data flow in the cloud. This connection could inspire visually striking scenes or metaphors for the brand film.
Engaging in forced connections helps break free from conventional thinking patterns and encourages the exploration of uncharted territories. It can lead to surprising and imaginative solutions that might not have been discovered through more straightforward or linear thinking processes.
2: The 30 Circles Exercise
The 30-circle exercise is an ideation exercise that helps push the employees’ creative thought boundaries. It falls under the design thinking process, which is conducted by having the individuals turn shapes into recognisable objects in a limited time frame. This exercise is conducted both individually and in groups. Here are some steps to follow:
- Set up the exercise: Gather the creative team in a conducive environment, such as a meeting room or brainstorming space within the production house.
- Introduce the exercise: Explain to the team that you will conduct the “30 Circles Exercise” to stimulate creative thinking for the digital brand film project.
- Provide materials: Distribute sheets of paper and writing/drawing tools, such as pens or markers, to each team member.
- Instruct the participants: Explain that the objective is to create as many unique and imaginative drawings as possible by transforming each of the 30 circles on the paper into a recognizable object or concept related to the digital brand film.
- Set a time limit: Specify a time limit, such as 10-15 minutes, for completing the exercise. This encourages quick thinking and prevents overthinking.
- Start the exercise: Announce the start of the exercise and encourage everyone to transform the circles into different objects, symbols, or visual representations related to the digital brand film. Emphasise that there are no right or wrong answers, and creativity and imagination should be encouraged.
- Generate ideas: Encourage participants to think outside the box and explore various possibilities. Remind them that the focus is on generating ideas rather than perfecting the drawings.
- Promote collaboration: Encourage team members to share their ideas and drawings, fostering collaboration and inspiring additional creative thinking.
- Wrap up the exercise: Once the time limit is reached, announce the end of the exercise. Ask participants to share their drawings and briefly explain the ideas or concepts behind them.
- Reflect and discuss: Facilitate a discussion where team members can reflect on the exercise.
- Encourage them to share insights, connections, or new perspectives gained during the process.
- Relate to the digital brand film project: Guide the discussion towards linking the ideas generated in the exercise to the specific requirements and objectives of the digital brand film project. Explore how the creative concepts or themes identified during the exercise can be applied or adapted to the production.
- Document and capture ideas: Ensure that the ideas and concepts generated during the exercise are captured and documented for future reference. This can be done through notes, sketches, or digital documentation tools.
By following these steps, the 30 Circles Exercise can serve as a valuable activity to boost creative thinking within a production house, helping the team generate fresh ideas and unique perspectives that can contribute to developing a compelling digital brand film.
3: Brainstorming sessions
For every production house, conducting a brainstorming session is a must. Though it comes with mixed reviews, the experts claim it hinders creativity as shy people might find it difficult to speak up. Spoke might even be afraid to anchor their thoughts when participating in an active brainstorming session.
- Define the objective: Clearly define the purpose and objective of the brainstorming session. Whether generating ideas for a specific project, problem-solving, or exploring new opportunities, having a clear focus will guide the session.
- Select the right participants: Invite individuals with diverse perspectives, expertise, and creativity relevant to the brainstorming topic. Ensure a mix of team members from different roles and levels of experience to foster various ideas.
- Create a conducive environment: Set up a comfortable, open space where participants can freely express their thoughts. Remove distractions and encourage an atmosphere of respect and non-judgment.
- Explain the rules: Establish the ground rules for the brainstorming session, such as encouraging all ideas, avoiding criticism or judgment, and building upon others’ suggestions. Emphasize the importance of active listening and open-mindedness.
- Warm-up activity: Begin with a warm-up to get the creative juices flowing. This can be a quick icebreaker, a related game, or a thought-provoking question to stimulate initial ideas.
- Brainstorming techniques: Introduce and facilitate various brainstorming techniques to encourage idea generation. These techniques may include mind mapping, free association, role reversal, SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse), or others that suit the session’s objective.
- Generate ideas: Encourage participants to generate as many ideas as possible within a specified time frame. Remind them to focus on quantity rather than quality during the initial phase to foster a free flow of ideas.
Following the pattern, which involves using challenging questions to boost focus, encouraging wild and bold ideas etc., and ending with dot voting, is highly beneficial. Hence, brainstorming is one of the go-to exercises to boost creative thinking.
Thus, these are some of the top activity exercises that help boost creativity. The Film Service Production India encourages these exercises, which have yielded positive results. These exercises boost creative thinking in varied industries and are especially helpful for production houses as it helps bring together stunning digital brand films.
