If we’re talking about how concepts for film are created, we would often have a discussion about inspiration, stimulus or natural creative ability. However, there is one method that still baffles me, and is often a method that is not disclosed when reflecting upon the constructing of filmic concepts or narratives. This is called the ‘From God’ method. This is when we, as auteurs, can in visage a story or a scene in our minds using nothing but our imagination. We have the capacity to create whole worlds from nothing, as if it just came to us. It is often hard to elaborate on that creative process, as we feel it is spontaneous and not a product of long term pondering or thought. This is what I want to investigate in this writing, how we have these ‘From God’ visions of our films and their content. 

I was sitting at my desk in my mother’s house, thinking of a new idea for a film. This is harder than it sounds, basically because I don’t want to invest in any old idea, unless I know that this is worth an investment of over 500 hours of work. It is a huge investment, so I am very particular about what I want to write. 



So, as I sit there, I begin to listen to different pieces of music to be able to feel different emotions based on the tempo, the rhythm and feel of the pieces of music. In this process, I listen to music in a very deep sense, I analyse the lyrics, and what they mean, I analyse the rhythm and if it makes me want to dance or sit there with a whiskey and cry my eyes out. Feeling these ranges of emotions, I consider which ones I like, what do I want to feel, and what do I want others to feel if these pieces of music were my film. There is a direct influence of music in my films. So, I pick a few songs and listen to them in chronological order, one after another, this creates a connected flow of emotion that remains consistent for the duration of the listening. I have now created a emotional response in myself to the music that will last for a while, almost like eating until I am full, then waiting it out until I am hungry again. 

Now that I have this emotional foundation, I envisage this emotion being the basis for the film I want to create, then I ask, how would I convey these emotions, and what is it that I want to say? This is all taking place in my own mind, I am not speaking, I am not sharing this with anyone, this is a psychological process that is unique unto myself as a ‘From God’ method. I would think about how the selection of songs inform my thinking, what am I thinking? I am thinking that a woman did me wrong, and now I am a broken man, a shell of what I used to be. So, the music would probably be something like Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley, right? What do I want to say about this? Do I just want to tell a story of a woman doing wrong to her lover, or do I want to say something unique and unheard of before. This is where I say something, something that has come from my own experience, my own thoughts and life lessons. It’s almost as if I am consoling those who can relate to this experience, or as if I am validating the mystery of human emotion in love. 



I have my message now, and what am I going to do with it? How am I going to get this across in a film with this kind of emotion. This is the part where the ‘From God’ method comes in. I feel as if automatically a character assembles him or herself in my mind, then another, then a conflict arises between them, then a setting, then the emotional foundation of music comes into it, then a narrative construct of the protagonist overcoming an obstacle to better him or herself. It all happens so quickly in my mind, it feels like flood gates open and that I cannot control the water just rushing and flooding my mind with this whole universe. 

I believe that this may be a product of conditioning to having created stories for a long time, an ability to construct unique stories and characters based on a creative neurological pathway inside the auteurs mind being so exercised that it can come as naturally as a handshake or a sneeze. But for some reason, this only happens once I have taken the steps involved that were mentioned previously, then there is this rush of creative input and creation.

The reason that I call it the ‘From God’ method, is because the creation of a universe happens so quickly, and in such a mysterious psychological pattern. In the religion of Christianity, the Bible states that God created the universe in 7 days, for myself, I create the life of one person, and the universe around him in a short burst of imagination that is triggered by a psychological pattern of consideration and informing my (or the film’s) emotional foundation through music. I become invested and involved in the film itself as god.