An Introduction to Creativity

This is what Pete Fraser, the chief examiner for OCR Media Studies, has to say about creativity:

"One of the possible areas you could be asked about in the exam is creativity. The projects you have undertaken will hopefully have felt like an opportunity to display your creativity, but you will need the chance to discuss what you understand by creativity and what it might mean to be creative.

The assignment options at AS and A2 all offer constraints for your work, whether it be making pages for a music magazine, the opening of a film or the packaging for an album; one of the reasons why you aren't offered total free choice is because people often find that working within constraints gives them something to exercise their creativity, whereas total freedom can sometimes make it really difficult to know where to start. It's why genre can be interesting- how has something been created which fits with certain structures and rules but plays around with them to give us something a little bit different?

The word 'creative' has many meanings- the most democratic meaning would really suggest that any act of making something (even making an idea) might be seen as a creative act. In more elitist versions of the term, it is reserved for those who are seen as highly skilled or original (famous artists, musicians, film-makers etc). An interesting third alternative is to think about how creativity can be an unconscious, random or collaborative act that becomes more than the sum of its parts."

Working with constraints

Unconcious collaborative, random act

Challenging/changing rules/genre

Act of making something

Highly skilled or original

AS WORK - (my AS work was in the genre of "Hip Hop"constraints:
 that we had to create a music type magazine (front cover, double page spread and contents page.)

random:  i unconciously chose to add the effect of a shadow behind the font on the front cover of my magazine

genre: i followed conventions

making: cutting out the background from my model on my front cover

skilled: i arranged conventions in an effective way showing skill

A2 WORK- (my A2 work was in the the genre of "rock")
constraints:
we had to create a music video digipak and advert
random: i chose to use a silluete cut out of a cat and all band members to create a sense of mystery

genre: my "rock" genre was challenged with the use of