Further Thoughts by McLaren on the Creative Process

reading summary by Cami Dodson

In this article of sporatic thoughts on creativity, McLaren hits on many relatable issues that any artist will encounter at one time or another. The only sections leaving me with unsure feelings was his comment that backgrounds, settings, apparel, and lighting can lead to impurity in the cinematic film. I agree that these elements are there to supplement or complement the subject of the film, but I believe they can also add needed texture. And he says "the spoken word is often used to adulterate and rob the cinema of its purity" but gives no more explaination. Language can be used as another form of communicating your ideas and need not be thought of as hindering the medium.

I enjoyed his section on unity where McLaren explains his biggest driving force in his animations. He feels "easier to work within a set of strict limitations than not", turning away from the freedom of dreams and expressing his ideas with such simplistic clarity that these ideas can be told in a greater length of time. Short chaotic life versus long unified structure. I like that he finds his own style to become "boring and monotonous" and he now sees the need for diversity aswell. "In between, somewhere, you get the nice balance, a diversity within a unity."

His words inspire me to create fuller storyboards for my game project when he states "you have to have visual concept of what you're going to do. It's best of all if you have a total concept of the whole film" before you film it. And that "I had to do details always keeping in mind the overall picture". I have heard these words over and over again, that I can work on the pieces and know they will fit if I keep a secondary focus on the overall ideas of my piece. He also expresses the importance of paying attention to your feelings when you feel you're going in the wrong direction. Listen to that, and find what feels wiser.

McLaren also explores the frustration in artistic creation when there are so many possible directions and the perfectionist in him trying to find the one best move. He loosens up by finding "there are half-a-dozen fairly good possibilities...I should say 'What the hell! I'll choose one and get on with it!'" It's often difficult for me to make small choices, but when I start going for it, I find my piece developing and changing, growing. I like that he points out the utter impossibility of always choosing perfection and that if I choose what's pretty good, I can actually make my work and show it to others.

Moral art versus amoral art, where amoral is made to appeal to our senses, moral art finds a higher ground containing "an even more precious quality - a consciousness of the human intelligence, the human spirit and that man is a social creature." Wow. I wanna make moral art!