How do you get past mental blocks?

Castor Troy · Post by **Castor Troy** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 3:59 pm

Go to AWA.

Beowulf · Post by **Beowulf** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:19 pm

I find the best way to work past a creative road block is the slowly remove all the limiting rules you've set upon yourself.

Sometimes I think we become so engrossed in what we think a video is, we don't notice the tremendous limits we place on ourselves. Is it an action video? Stray away from the beat synch for a while. Throw in something completely out of the ordinary for an action video. Go off on a tangent. Is it a drama video? Show some ass kicking. Is it a simple video? Splurge on an effect just for the hell of it.

Completely ignore that voice in the back of your head saying "no this won't fit" or "no way they would like that" or "man this sucks". Completely ignore it. Just blast through your timeline untill its finished and then turn that voice on again and touch it up.

I've been recently doing this and its helped tremendously with my work ethic. If you find you completely exhausted A, switch to B and see what happens.

godix · Post by **godix** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 8:11 pm

I find all my good ideas come when I'm halfway through some other project. I actually have started a project I knew I wouldn't finish just to see if I'd get some better idea halfway through. Oddly enough it worked.

megaman917 · Post by **megaman917** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 12:29 pm

This is what I'd do.

1. Stop caring
2. Finish the video
3. Don't upload it
4. Find other things to do
5. Keep re-editing the video until you're completely satisfied with the final product (regardless of how long it takes)
6. Never get stressed out about it

All the while, always keeping in mind how you want the final outcome to look.

Dark Sabator · Post by **Dark Sabator** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:13 pm

Well my tactic has always been to go through, making a shitty video, and I then spend more time tuning it up then actually creating it in the first place. But WMM really doesn't like it when I do...anything...and I'm using the method of getting everything right first time so that my work doesn't disappear due to crashes. Someone told me to get Adobe Premiere, but it rejects half the stuff I try to import into it. If anyone wants to see what i have so far and give suggestions, I'll upload what I have and give you guys the link (not upload to a-m-v.org, obviously)

Dark Sabator · Post by **Dark Sabator** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 1:38 pm

Sorry for the double post, but I'm uploading it right now, should be done by the time I finish the post. (11MB) Quick FAQ:

"ZOMGZ0R D00D! SUBTITLES SUX!"

I'll be cropping them out. No point in wasting effort cropping them out of a test preview. I felt that my earlier videos had suffered in quality since I was editing around the subtitles, rather than cropping them.

"U USE TEH DOWNLOADED ANIME WTF"

I don't care. This is a hobby of mine, a relaxing way to spend a few afternoons. I'm not making these competitively, nor am I seeking fame within this little community. I watch downloaded anime because I don't want to pay for it when I can get it free. It's wrong, it's illegal, it matters not to me.

"TEH VIDEO CUTS OFF WTF"

*twitch* It's. Not. Finished.

Now that you've read all that and understand it, if you want to see what I have so far, it's at http://www.sepwich.com/sabator/FMA1_test2.wmv

tuathaanwarrior · Post by **tuathaanwarrior** » Sun Apr 10, 2005 3:19 pm

Sometimes the best thing to do is just completely forget about it for a week or 2 and then come back and sometimes you will notice something you missed or an idea will pop up.

LuluandAuron · Post by **LuluandAuron** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:29 am

I did a year long project consisting of three videos and at times, it's best just to walk away for awhile (like the others have said).......you know, like when your drawing or painting, the more you do, the worse it gets (for me anyways) Especially on scenes that you've plotted in your storyboarding, and when you get them in there, they just don't work......and for me, if I just keep plugging other scenes in....it gets worse (much like my painting and drawing)

Beowulf, thats fantastic advice, thx

PS will dl when I get back on my own comp.

Farlo · Post by **Farlo** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 10:03 am

Castor Troy wrote:Go to AWA.

x2

that got me out of my slump

Dark Sabator · Post by **Dark Sabator** » Tue Apr 12, 2005 4:19 pm

don't rape my bandwith unless you're going to leave comments. I've logged 5 downloads. At least tell me how good it is so far.