Ok, here it goes. When you have writers block, most people tend to try even harder to come up with something. So what do you do? Do something else. Take a break. Come back to it later. Have fun. Go someplace you have always wanted to go. Hang at the beach. Do something but just walk away from your work for a bit. When you return, you will feel refreshed and maybe even have a new and better perspective.

Hello
Odds are your trying too hard or have some burn out. I am fairly new to Vegas and films but I have been drawing, painting and wood carving for 40 years. This happens once in a while. Sooo read and do something different. Tolally different. Clear the bean bag of past projects. May take some time but sooner or later you'll say "Hey that would be cool in... so and so." I generally head to the libery or go fly fishing. A couple of dunks in the water snaps you right back. If your versital then your ideas will reflick that. Then everyone can call you wiedo too LOL.. Ceative is searching all aspects and fields then appling them to your needs. So doing the same things everyday also hurts your Veiw Point on things. I hope it helps you. fishbelt

There was a similar post in Sept. 2005, posted by FrigidNDting that you might check for some great replies.

This may be way off base, but I was trying to decide on some conceptual designs and was getting nothing- absolutely nothing. I watched a video and laughed my head off for a good 10 minutes or so; repeated as necessary, then spent some time with my wife and the next day I went back to work on the project and came up with some decent designs if I do say so myself.

Oh, by the way, here is the link to the video Rejected

You may not find it funny, but it is the hardest I laughed in a long time!

j razz

Try these sure fire creative block busters!

(Be sure to do a "Save As" before you start this procedure)

* If it's a client piece: vodka, tonic, lot's of ice (or straight out of the bottle under extreme deadline situations)

* Personal piece: Wild Turkey (or any 101 whiskey avoid the watered down Jack Daniel's) and coke (or diet coke for the obvious health benies)

* Before noon: vodka and orange juice or a bloody Mary with lots of hot sauce (I prefer the former)

* General Stress and/or anxiety: a good full bodied red wine or nice dark beer, but only after all work is done for the day since you'll be drowsy and relaxed.

* If the above isn't possible (say your boss doesn't enjoy the smell of booze in the edit suite) I'd actually recommend exercise... treadmills seem to work.

* Hot bath

Notes: If you work at home or it's a personal video project, the nice thing about drinking is that even if the video still sucks, you won't think so. Bingo, problem solved since we are own worse critics and the next day you have a "surprise" video to watch! Vodka is hard to detect on the breath... don't drink and drive and "save as" often. People used to drink at work, people that did stuff like design the Empire State building... draw up battle plans.... now we all pop Prozac every time we start to think things suck. (rant off)

Good Luck!
-Jeff

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone.... but they've always worked for me." - Hunter S. Thompson

(p.s. geez, this is the SECOND time in two weeks I've been forced to quote the good doctor)

DO suffer a little from SAD - doing light therapy for it. Hate the idea of meds...

Lack of stimulation.. hmm..

Lack of exercise - I swim an hour everyday at an outdoor pool...

A Rut? Very well could be...

Was discussing this with my girlfriend today and she seems to think it's a lack of networking with other creatives. The town I live in has a small arts community related to video, but with the amount of people exceeding the amount of work available here, the mentality is one of scarcity - "Don't want to give my cempetition any ideas" type of thing.

Been doing research on the topic and am trying the various solutions - listening to music, looking at others work, etc. So far.. blah....

I may read a good book and literally take a vacation from trying to be creative, although this rut has been with me for a lot longer than I let on - on the order of over 2 years now... :(

Cliff, I presume your block is in regard to underwater videos. I find that one of the most exciting type of dives for me is shipwreck penetration and exploration. I really enjoy editing shipwreck footage and try to convey to non-divers, particularly through music, the mysterious and dangerous environment of such dives. Even if you are not certified for penetration, you can still shoot through portholes or drop into hatches to get interior shots without venturing beyond daylight.

If you can find something about the ship while it was operational it is neat to show "before" and "after" shots. With regard to music, you can use some very eerie compositions which you can combine with strange sounds and effects (lots of reverb and echo). Just a thought.

Hope it helps, dive safe. - Peter

Hey Peter - actually it's overall creative block. I'm even having difficulty just coming up with something fun to shoot just for the heck of it. The weather has been unusually gloomy here in Oregon for this time of year - sun is suppose to come out by monday so maybe that will help things.

Am touching base with those whom I networked with when I was working in photojournalism - people involved with the platypus workshops - hopefully some mentoring on story ideas will jar my creatrive juices back into gear...

Am trying to come up with a topic to shoot a short documentary on... so far - nothing...

Honestly, doing something physical really clears my head. AKA the house/barn/shed gets fixed up when I'm blocked. :)

Anothre thing that helps me is playing this:
http://files.seriouszone.com/download.php?fileid=419

well, the full version anyway. I play for ~15/30 minutes pretending I'm rambo & yelling "Want some more?!!?" at my monitor. Really clear the head. :)

Roller coasters. Lots of them. Shake the cobwebs out!