Mind Mapping and Random Word Association

As promise in my previous post, I am going to share with you all about the process of producing the animation clip with the topic of "Creativity in the context of Multimedia University", starting from getting the idea until the production of the animation clips.

Much of the thinking done in formal education emphasizes the skills of analysis--teaching students how to understand claims, follow or create a logical argument, figure out the answer, eliminate the incorrect paths and focus on the correct one. However, there is another kind of thinking, one that focuses on exploring ideas, generating possibilities, looking for many right answers rather than just one which is creative thinking.

The first requirement to improve your creativity is to see what others are not seeing or at least to make an attempt to see things from a different perspective. This constant practice of forcing their brains helps them to make new connections with often unrelated subjects. There are a lot of methods that can be used to force the mind to make creative leaps such as mind mapping methods and random word association. This helps to come up with what others often call 'brilliant' ideas.

Storyline and Animation Clip Production Process 1: Mind Mapping
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying and organizing information, solving problems, making decision, and writing.

As I mention before in the previous post, in order to be creative, one must understand what the aim is and gather as much information as possible by using any possible ways. Mind mapping is one of the way to collect information. As the first step of producing a story based on the topic of "Creativity in the context of Multimedia University", I come out with a mind map as below.

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From this mind map, I choose "SWEET" to continue with the process of producing the story in a creative way. Next, by using the word "SWEET", I come out with the title of "Multimedia University, the Sweet Wonderland" for the story and the animation clip. Then I draw another focus mind map based on the title.

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 From this focus mind map, I create the story of "Multimedia University, the Sweet Wonderland" that is shown in my previous post. I also linked the story with the topic of how to be creative.

Storyline and Animation Clip Production Process 2: Random Word Association
Random word association is one of the Force-Fitting Techniques that can be used to 'force' the mind to make creative leaps. A symbol(picture, a word, a sketch, a number or a relationship) that may or may not be related to the problem is jot down. After that, we are required to think of something associated with the symbol. These ideas then become part of the brainstorming solutions. In order to produce a animation clip, I used random word association method to come out with the design of the clip. The random word that I choose is "POPCORN".

Association:
Pop - Pop art design
Pop - Using pop out animation
Explode - Using explosive comic dialogue box
Hot - Using some array of sunlight as the background
Cinema/Theatre - Using image of celebrities
Shape - Using halftone design that looks like popcorn shape
Paper box - Using old paper effects as the background to create the vintage look
Paper box - Using a bog box to contain all the criteria of creativity
Uneven color - Using uneven color for the background
Fun fair - Using happy song as the background music

Based on the association, I finally come out with the design of the animation.

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