The Art of Creative Daydreaming With Director Chris Clark

There’s a brief moment that occurs just after you receive and read a script. A moment not limited by any practicalities, where uncaged creative thought happens. A place for daydreaming. I’ve found that taking an intentional creative breath before working on my Director’s Treatment is a powerful moment. That moment firmly plants the tone, rhythm and visual vernacular.

It's a habit I learnt as a kid. 

I was lying in my childhood bed on weeknights, having unrestrained creative thoughts about what I’d film that weekend. But then the weekend’s realities arrived like gravity! I’d push my Brother into the backyard in his wheelchair to make our latest VHS war film. While practical limits restrained us, such as his wheels getting stuck in the vege garden or us being unable to stage the treetop battle I’d envisioned, the core creative thoughts I’d planted remained. Despite our limitations, a thousand glorious battle deaths were filmed in that backyard. Learning the practical restraints of filmmaking early illuminated how a strong creative vision can endure if I took time to daydream at the start of the process.

When I first signed to a “big production company” and received my first “big campaign” script, it inevitably required a super-fast turnaround treatment. As we assembled the pitch, my D.A. was poised to help me, my Producer was waiting on me, but I had to unplug. I went for a walk and literally smelled the roses. The smell brought on memories of my Grandparent’s garden, which led to a beautiful creative “daydream”, which enabled a concrete vision to arrive, which ultimately won me my first big gig. Even in the hustle of a fast pitch, the creative mind needs just a moment. It pays dividends every time. 

But that’s the creative process, eh? Dream versus reality. When your imagination floods with possibilities, it’s like you’re weightless. In space. But here comes gravity. Which can lead to a super rough landing if you’re not ready. 

Fincher said, “Directing is an endless string of compromises”, and Kubrick said, “Directing can be like trying to write War & Peace in a bumper car in an amusement park.“ 

As a Director, I’ve got to be ready for those bumps. Yes, I need to float in space first, but as production realities arrive, I must land that daydream in the real world. Hurtling down from space, with the atmosphere burning away at my creative daydream, I need to know how to deploy parachutes to keep my vision intact as the ground hurtles towards me. But that’s a different insight and a different part of the process.

Always create a place to daydream. But know where the parachutes are.