Developing a creative concept might seem easy to those who are practicing it daily. However, at times, most creative directors or producers are stuck with possibilities and outcomes. Even scriptwriters struggle at times to build an ending to a story or take a story to the next level. So, having a few guidelines can often help to not only finish up the creative concept but also reach its optimum output. Here are a few ways in which you can ace creative concept development or ideation in 2020:
In-depth Research
The more you know, the better ideas you can probably get. Therefore, in order to develop creative concept research, all about the concept through every available source. Base your concept on strong research, and support it by understanding the situation, audience, communication, objectives, and goals. Conduct a survey to learn about the current scenarios in the same situation. Learn from your survey, participate in group discussions, and collate data. Finally, go ahead with an online and offline campaign to get in-depth knowledge.
For example, if you’d like to learn about cinematography and develop a creative concept upon it, then you should know the contributors, their contributions, and so on.
Defining the Problem Statement
Once you have done ample research on the subject, you must lay out the important problems pertaining to it. Take your client's and customer's feedback into consideration. Thereafter, you should come up with questions like, What is the core problem? What should be the mode of communication? What will be the end-result of stating the problem? The concepts, ideas, and answers that you think should answer all such questions.
For example, if you are doing script writing, then you should keep the following questions in mind - what will be the message from the story? Who will be the lead characters, and why? What role will other characters play? What concept will the script showcase? Does the script follow the requirements of my clients? Is it conveying the message that it is intended to tell? What will be the mode of video production after the script has been prepared? What should be the apt locations in accordance with the script? Does the script demand scenes that will need extra lighting? And so on...
Brainstorming with Experts
Gather your team of experts for a brainstorming session on the objectives and outcomes of the concept. Lead your discussion and involve everyone present for the discussion in it. Collate and write down the best ideas for the concept. For example, while doing a video, a production gathers everyone related to pre-production. Then be the lead person and ask every one of them to share their ideas. Some might tell you about editing, some about lighting, others about graphics, marketing, and so on. During the discussion, you can make a note of ideas shared by everyone so that you can develop the best concept.
Personalized Sessions
Once you have finished taking notes from everyone, ask them to share their suggestions on a piece of paper or email them to you. This will help you to learn about their ideas and suggestions and pick the best one out. The secondary option is to tell everyone to explain their ideas on their own. This will clarify their idea, objectivity, and outcomes.
For example, if a light man tells you that a particular location will be better than others, then ask him/her - Why so? The person will explain to you the answer, and you will get to know the best possible locations for your concept. Similarly, if you ask an editor to suggest his/her views, then the video editor will guide you through all the possibilities suitable for the video. Therefore, it will once again provide options for choosing the best possible options.
Feasibility and Execution
Once you have finished all the steps mentioned above, it is now your choice to select the best concept and outcome. Also, select your best options based on your budget and timeline. After that, you can proceed by executing and developing your creative concept. Start by developing concept boards, headlines, taglines, while considering their visual aspects. For example, if you have to prepare a film, then you should have a script, storyboard, background sound selection, characters, etc.
Conclusively, if you follow the above-mentioned five steps, then you can most probably ace creative concept development or ideation in 2020.
