The Black Box of Production
PROLOUGE /
As an avid fan of physics I often think in formulas, especially when building operational systems. The following was written because… well… I am not sure actually. I think I was just deriving a creative production process formula one night instead of watching a TV show like a normal person.
OCTOBER 12, 2016 /
Any conceptual idea that is going to fruition from concept to a final product follows the same production process across the board. Whether you are creating a TV show or manufacturing pencils, there is a way to approach creative production that insures that all desired results will be accomplished.
The variables in the red box have values of (I) Conceptual Idea, (Y) Planning, (X) Production and the (P) Product. The (I) Conceptual Idea and the (P) Product are constants in the formula of production. Any creative production starts with an idea, concept, epiphany, dream. By the end of the production process you will inevitably end up with one final result from what your produced, whether you are proud of the creation or not. The (Y) Planning part of the production process is a highly dependent variable upon what the (I) Conceptual Idea calls for speculation.
(X) Production is a process that I like to consider the Black Box.
The mind isn't given enough credit for its mastery of creation. Have you never experienced a dream while sleeping before? By definition, a black box is any complex piece of equipment, typically a unit in an electronic system, with contents that are mysterious to the user. Especially for individuals outside of the filmmaking industry, the contents of the filmmaking production process may seem like they are entirely unknown. While swimming your way through a production process of any creation there is always the chance that something remarkable will happen. Will an invention come out of a need on set that can't be made with current technology? If you let production work it's magic, much like the mind, new ideas will be born and you'll have better odds of experiencing growth intellectually and financially (with letting your intuition guide you to a box office hit right?).
When going into production of any product make sure the Black Box is big enough for you and your crew to cultivate innovation.
If you didn't notice earlier, the equation in the purple box below the production diagram is in a different order. That my friends, that is how my particular brain breaks down the production process. For those who are familiar with the sciences and deriving equations it will be easy to understand that my brain is hardwired to see the (P) Product first. Within moments of seeing the completion of the project in speculation I am able to unravel the product into it's purest form and see what elements it will take to create the product. This backwards way of processing information is deductive, also known as the top down approach to reasoning. As you could imagine this technique has been quite useful to harness while I've been making my way through building projects and stitching together all of the moving pieces that are required to have final a product that utilizes all of the elements that that particular product needed from the very beginning to function properly.
There are many ways to approach production. At the end of the day, the production process all starts with a concept and ends with either a satisfactory or undesirable result (don't be too hard on yourself, it's all about perspective).
ANALYSIS /
You tell me.