Creativity Theories

How can I relate media theory to my Question 1(a) answer?


Theory 1 :  "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 interpret this theory as creativity is about overcoming difficulties and that it is not always a natural gift that few people have but many people have with or without this natural ability.

In my AS work, when filming my thriller film we came across many difficulties. They mainly included are locations, it took a long time to get to our first location and it was too dark. Therefore we had to find new places to film. We took a long time to find a new location but when we did finally find a new location we found that our problems had been overcome and that our new location was actually better than our original one.
In my A2 work, we had the idea of using Polaroid pictures in our music video. We found that this was going to be very hard to do as it involved a lot of editing on the computers. We decided that we would try it out, but we then found a scrapbook effect on the Apple Mac's. Therefore we solved our problem of wondering how to create our Polaroid pictures, and it again worked out better than we thought it would.
Also the theory suggests that creativity does not always come from a natural ability. Now I wouldn't say that I had natural ability for the arts. But making my CD cover and Magazine advert I realised that I could actually be quite creative and therefore I feel the theory is quite relevant and real.


Theory 2 : "The making of the new and the rearranging of the old" (Bentley, 1997)

• I interpret this theory of creativity as creativity is using the old to make the new.

In my thriller opening sequence for AS we studied many Alfred-Hitchcock films including Psycho. This film was in Black and White, due to the age of the film. But many films after this used black and white effects as they thought that it fitted the conventions of the thriller genre. Therefore we decided that we would also use black and white effects. Therefore we created a film, using conventions from the past that are very much the new.
In my A2 music video we have again used the old to make the new. I did this by using the idea of Polaroid pictures. I used this idea as the music had a definite vintage feel to it, therefore I wanted to incorporate some kind of vintage feel to both the music video and CD/Magazine covers. Polariod pictures are something now of the past, as we now have new digital technology that enables us to take digital pictures and store them on a computer. Therefore I have used this theory as I have made new products from rearanging the old.


Theory 3 : Rule Breaking/Boundary Testing


In my AS work I tested the boundary's of the genre. I used a controversial storyline - 2 girls and one getting hurt/abducted/followed by a stranger. Although Thriller storyline should be unexpected and scary. But I used a sensitive issue, that many people could object to.
In my A2 work I have broken the common conventions of a narrative music video. I did this by using many indirect looks from our actress. But we did this for a reason; we wanted to sell the music on its beauty and not on our artisits beauty. Therefore we made sure that the music was the main focus of the video rather than the narrative. Narrative music videos usually have mnay direct notions of looking, to promote the artist.