Reflective Journal: Creativity, Innovation, and Design in Film

This reflective journal chronicles a student's journey through a film production course, focusing on creativity, innovation, and design. The student reflects on initial expectations, learning outcomes, and how these will influence future behavior. Key areas explored include the creative process, conflict management using B.A.T.N.A., team cohesion through the 'norming storming forming' model, and the impact of cultural diversity on innovation. The journal also touches upon strategic frameworks like Porter's competitive strategy, creative methodologies such as brainstorming and the Delphi technique, and the influence of social, political, and historical factors on creativity. The student emphasizes the importance of understanding these concepts for success as a film producer, highlighting the value of the course in shaping their approach to film production endeavors.

Student’s Last Name 1
Creativity, Innovation and Design
By (Name)
Course
Professor
University
Date

Student’s Last Name 2
Introduction
In this course, where I was a film producer, I have learned a lot about films and working
in teams to produce films as outlined in this paper. At the same time, this course has ended with
its fair share of challenges. Almost everyone in the film industry will agree that the role of a
producer is arguably the excellent job for the all-rounder with a fascination in the big screen.
One of the fundamental concepts that this course has taught me is that creativity is one of
the important factors for the modern film production environment, but creativity is not natural
for every person (Hodgson and Briand, 2013 p. 315). Additionally, a team leader should do some
things to prioritize creativity and make it an encouraged trait in the film production environment.
This course also taught me more about norming storming forming. In essence, it is impossible
for a new team to do well as a unified and strong team takes a considerable amount of time to
build. In this regard, Bruce Tuckman’s Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing model
illustrate these steps. A good understanding of this model can help me as a film producer ensure
that my new team becomes effective more hastily. In the process of building a good team,
conflicts may arise and thus the need for conflict management approaches such as B.A.T.N.A., a
term which was coined by William Ury and Roger Fisher in 1981 (Sirmon and Hitt, 2003 p.339).
In brief, it denotes “best alternative to a negotiated agreement.” Increasing ones BATMA is
essential as it improves the negotiating power. Notably, building a strong team may be
challenging as it needs great determination as well as excellent leadership qualities.
This course also enlightened me about all there is to know about strategy with a special
focus on Michael Porter's definition of strategy. Porter’s framework comprehensively explains
how organizations can outdo their competitors in the face of cut-throat competition (Alves,

Student’s Last Name 3
Marques, Saur and Marques, 2007 p.30). As a film producer, I feel that this concept was
essential to me as it explains an organization’s distinctive strategies to competition and the
competitive advantages on which it is grounded on. In essence, a good competitive strategy has a
potential of creating unique value for a certain section of customers. As such, this concept will be
highly essential to me as a film producer. Besides this, creative methodologies and techniques
including Delphi Technique, De Bono, and brainstorming were also discussed in this course.
First, brainstorming entails generating creative solutions and ideas through comprehensive group
discussion (Hotho and Champion, 2011 p. 30). As a film producer, this concept is important as it
allows me to think aloud and come up with as many ideas as possible, despite how bizarre or
outlandish they may be. Second, the Delphi method is used to study an issue with an extensive
group of individuals in an effort to move them towards consensus (De Sousa, Pellissier, and
Monteiro, 2012 p.26). It entails identifying the problem that needs a solution and noting it down
clearly so as to ensure anyone can understand. The next steps involve giving the problem to
everyone, collating the responses, giving everyone the collation, and repeating when necessary.
Week 5 of this course saw me acknowledge cultural diversity and its impacts on creative
innovations. While multicultural living may be seemingly difficult for communities, diversity of
cultures can enhance innovation and creativity (Cheng, Leung and Wu, 2011 p.810). In the
modern world which is characterized by frequent changes, the ability to innovate is regarded as
the central competitive edge and thus the film production process must aim at developing more
diverse teams. Hence, assuming an anti-diversity inclination may ruin the long-term profitability
of an organization (Shin. and Kim, 2013 p. 260). In addition to this, social and political factors
have a great impact on creativity, innovation, and design. In this regard, I learned more about the

Student’s Last Name 4
various social and political movements such as the K-Pop in Korea and multiple American
genres in music (Kwon and Kim, 2014 p.425). Week seven presented a rather interesting concept
about the first peoples, primarily focusing on Australian Aborigines. The discussion presented
me with a rare chance to broaden my understanding of creativity, innovation, and design. The
concept of corporate governance also has an impact on creativity, innovation, and design as seen
in this course. In essence, corporate governance has impacted business models as well as the
wider society and economy (Oakley, 2009 p.410). This course was successful in establishing a
historical basis on how authority and power impact creativity. The WW1 and WW2 saw women
engage in the workforce as well as the development of mass production techniques. Another
crucial concept that was essential to me as a film producer is the matrix management model
which is primarily founded on a customer-supplier scenario where the customer outlines his/her
specification and the supplier provides the skills and resources to execute the outcome (Lampel,
Shamsie, and Lant, 2006 p. 23).
In conclusion, this course was of great essence to me as a film producer. A proper
acknowledgment and understanding of all the aforementioned concepts will see me thrive in my
film production endeavors.

Student’s Last Name 5
Bibliography
Alves, J., Marques, M.J., Saur, I. and Marques, P., 2007. Creativity and innovation through
multidisciplinary and multisectoral cooperation. Creativity and Innovation Management, 16(1),
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Cheng, C.Y., Leung, A.K. and Wu, T.Y., 2011. Going beyond the multicultural experience—
creativity link: The mediating role of emotions. Journal of Social Issues, 67(4), pp.806-824.
De Sousa, F.C., Pellissier, R. and Monteiro, I.P., 2012. Creativity, innovation, and collaborative
organizations. International Journal of Organizational Innovation (Online), 5(1), p.26.
Hodgson, D. and Briand, L., 2013. Controlling the uncontrollable:‘Agile’teams and illusions of
autonomy in creative work. Work, employment, and society, 27(2), pp.308-325.
Hotho, S. and Champion, K., 2011. Small businesses in the new creative industries: innovation
as a people management challenge. Management Decision, 49(1), pp.29-54.
Kwon, S.H., and Kim, J., 2014. The cultural industry policies of the Korean government and the
Korean Wave. International journal of cultural policy, 20(4), pp.422-439.
Lampel, J., Shamsie, J., and Lant, T.K. eds., 2006. The business of culture: strategic
perspectives on entertainment and media. Psychology Press.
Oakley, K., 2009. The disappearing arts: Creativity and innovation in the creative industries.
International Journal of Cultural Policy, 15(4), pp.403-413.
Shin, S.I. and Kim, L., 2013. Organizing K-pop: Emergence and market making of large Korean
entertainment houses, 1980–2010. East Asia, 30(4), pp.255-272.

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Sirmon, D.G. and Hitt, M.A., 2003. Managing resources: Linking unique resources,
management, and wealth creation in family firms. Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 27(4),
pp.339-358.