I’m always interested in exploring ways to make my creative pursuits a Blue Ocean Strategy.
This term (believed to be first mentioned by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne in 2004, as an optimal outlook for new markets) is a metaphor for a sea where creatures do not need to consume or destroy each other to survive and thrive.
The ocean is blue (i.e. not red with the blood of my enemies or prey).
There is not a sense of competition. Only peaceful growth.
(In contrast to confrontational ideas like a shark tank).
There is not predatory behavior.
Open seas for a sense of adventure, plenty of empty space to flourish with new ideas.
You are the largest whale, unthreatened by anything or anyone. Veganism encouraged, supported and condoned but not required, really it’s just a metaphor, forget about acid rain, Japanese factory boats, etc., just stay with me here.
The vastness and uncertainty of the blue ocean may intimidate lesser creatures who seek only a safe harbor (which tends to get crowded and competitive). So this wide-open peaceful world also requires a certain willingness to risk exploring new uncharted waters. Your own soul spirit and imagination.
Think courageous and athletic Lara Croft TOMB RAIDER Alicia Vikander or captain Lucky Jack Aubrey in ‘Master and Commander’ as embodied by Russell Crowe.
This mentality along with a consistent yoga practice helps me dismiss any anxiety about whether my screenwriting is good enough or whether my cinema concepts have street-glow.
I’m just adventuring out on the waves of creativity and entertainment with joyful enthusiasm, treasuring the work of developing in solitude the creative ideas to drive tomorrow’s market rather than following yesterday’s.
Surf the tidal wave.
Vibes for 2023, I enjoy playing my own game the way I see it and flourishing in a welcoming environment with plenty of elbow room.
In this infinite space can our creative ideas truly expand to their full potential, it’s a world of peace love and joy where there is no hurry and no anxiety, just the magic of the sounds of the sea, encouraging you to live in full optimism and growth.
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I've never heard of the Blue Ocean Strategy, Daniel Stuelpnagel, but you said, "...metaphor for a sea where creatures do not need to consume or destroy each other to survive and thrive." I thought about screenwriters when I read that. We don't have to consume or destroy each other to survive and thrive. We can support each other and still survive/thrive. There are a lot of opportunities out there.
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Love this, Daniel...thank you for sharing. It reminds me of articles I've been reading/seeing lately that our idea of "survival of the fittest" is all wrong. "Fittest" means survival of the most able to adapt and those most able to get along with others.
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Brywn Philips what a great moment for us to rethink and reframe such fundamental ideas!
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Maurice Vaughan yes and our ocean can feel crowded, yet there is plenty of room for limitless imagination.
I'm glad to share this because I think sometimes solid concepts can emerge from the business world and find relevance in the creative sphere.
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I agree, Daniel Stuelpnagel ("I think sometimes solid concepts can emerge from the business world and find relevance in the creative sphere"). Such as pitching. That's a business concept, but we all know how important it is to screenwriting and filmmaking.
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Maurice Vaughan yes and I know various management philosophies come and go, yet I love to gain some random tactical intel from sources like Harvard Business Review that might not specifically relate to the creative fields or film industry, then I often find connections between these tangents.
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Daniel Stuelpnagel I have heard of the term Blue Ocean. It's from the title of a Marketing book called: "Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant." Anyway, Thanks for a super post. I hope it's the way things should be and can be for many.
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Thank you Amman Mohammed, that's a very thoughtful encouragement, and I do think in keeping with the idea of making competition irrelevant that our creative endeavors can share that positive way of co-existing side-by-side.
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Amman Mohammed by looking at your Profile page I'm interested to know more about how you are defining this new cinema screen format, what is the appearance of this format for the viewing audience?
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Maurice Vaughan what are your main news sources that you consult say weekly or monthly? Inside the film industry and outside?
I read the Sunday New York Times almost every week and I find various sections might include random stories that are relevant kind of background research for screenplays or characters ...
I guess I'm curious as to how eclectic other writers cast a wide net so to speak or mostly do a lot of following news in the film industry?
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I read the trades, Daniel Stuelpnagel (The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Deadline Hollywood). I'm trying to get to the point where I read them daily. I also read Script Magazine (https://scriptmag.com/).
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Here is the Screen. How it's defined is a creative's prerogative...? (Check out the concentration table entries for what's possible https://www.stage32.com/blog/reinventing-the-cinema-screen-3084)
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PS. That rectangle in the vignette stands for the Heritage screen. Onwards and upwards tho. ;-)
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Thanks Maurice Vaughan that's a really solid reminder, inspiration and momentum, it can be a lot to try and keep track of and as always I admire your diligence.
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You're welcome, Daniel Stuelpnagel. You're right. It can be a lot to try and keep track of. I think I might start reading the trades early in the morning before checking Stage 32/emails and writing. And I appreciate it ("and as always I admire your diligence").
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Daniel Stuelpnagel Maurice Vaughan I've got 2 S32 connections in mind for a Blue Ocean project. If y'all want to hear it, DM me. (Blue Ocean here is everyone benefits.)
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I love this, Daniel! One of the big hurdles I have had to overcome is facing my fears of the competitiveness of the industry - mainly because I have previously had some creative work stolen. It puts me more into a hermit mode as a result. So this is a great strategy for me to keep in mind.
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Kirsty Louise Joyce I'm so glad - and especially with that experience I can imagine that sort of philosophy requires an additional leap of faith - and in this field we are required to make so many leaps of faith after a while we sometimes get broken. I know I have.
Best wishes to you for a very welcoming season of creative growth and abundant prosperous opportunities for you!
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M LaVoie it's a less literal interpretation I'm thinking of, with due respect to your admirable experience.
Not necessarily the industry, more of a mindset.
Example would be as a writer that I am in firm belief and confidence and authority with the original material I am writing and developing, that it's deep enough from my resources that I am digging, mind body and soul, that there is no overlap with the crowd.
It's a creative mindset that I choose not to dwell on what might encroach, on perceived scarcity of opportunities, rather I choose to live in a world of abundance and infinite expansion for all.
Not a so-called "deficit model" of thinking.
You might call me delusional in my optimism, I might say you lean towards cynicism, it's a choice that shapes our every thought, word and action, the mindset we create each moment.
I plan to spend a good deal of time and energy in 2023 simply reinventing myself as a filmmaker and producing excerpts of my own scripts. Distribution via social media. Setting realistic goals instead of trying to sell an epic three-hundred-million-dollar romcom to Paramount.
In any case, may we all thrive going forward!
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Kirsty Louise Joyce Feel free to help yourself to ANY IDEAS from here: - https://www.stage32.com/blog/reinventing-the-cinema-screen-3084
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Amman Mohammed would you say that your theoretical example is reinventing the 'screen' per se?
It looks like the elements of an experimental film to me, in the sense perhaps of momentarily "reinventing" the creative montage in display upon the picture plane (as with many art forms),
however of necessity these visual elements would still be displayed on screen, so while I laud your ambitions it seems more like the components of a specific cinema project?
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Daniel Stuelpnagel Hey Daniel, it's a "Yes and No" answer. YES, it re-invents it to the extent that it is a new and empowering way to think about and to write for the screen. But, NO, it does not re-invent the screen PER SE due to the fact the screen shape remains the same - rectangular. On a specific cinema project, I have 3 projects - a short film (working on that now), a Feature film and a new type of cinema/photography lens (family of lens) with patents. BLUE OCEAN is the way to go.
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Amman Mohammed thanks very much for connecting and I will check out those links, I appreciate that you are bringing your vision into the forefront on both the artistic and technical side as well.
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Thank you Daniel and Amman