One of my former workshop participants contacted me recently and said she needed to submit an application for funding for a film and was stuck on what to say about why she wanted to make the film. I sent her a couple of ideas, and it struck me that these probably could help you generate ideas that may be hiding in your mind, too. Here's what I suggested:
1 - Draw a mind map with the word "reasons" in the middle and the various reasons that pop into your mind on the branches that come out from the centre. First jot down as many as you can think of.
Then go over them again, one by one, and ask "Why?" and "So what?" Jot down new ideas that come from that. For example, "It hasn't been done before" -- So What? Why should it be done at all? and Why? Why hasn't it been done before? This should yield some additional useful material.
2 - Relax, close your eyes, and in your imagination go forward to a time when you've made your film and it has reached the desired audience. Imagine you are being interviewed by a friendly reporter. Imagine the questions they might ask you,and your answers.
Questions might include: What gave you the idea for this film in the first place? Who did you hope to reach with it? What is the overall message of the film? Why is the important? What makes film the best medium for this message? etc. To make sure you don't lose any ideas, you might want to answer the questions out loud with a tape recorder running. If not the, stop every few questions and jot down any new ideas.
Can you think of a way these two approaches might help you?
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