Whenever we begin to consider the potential of applying a creative interest, we can often get ahead of ourselves. We might think that in order to find ‘our style,’ we should apply ourselves dramatically to being subversive.

We think that if only we had the capacity to develop and understand ourselves, and to come across the right inspiration, we would figure this out immediately.

Subverting the rules can be attractive. We want to become noticed for our new contributions, to do it better than anyone else, to gain the success that led us down this path.

But subverting the rules isn’t always the best path forward in a creative art, particularly when you’re just starting out. In fact, it’s often best to learn the rules and to find your expression through that, such as by studying at Kent State.

This helps you become informed, appreciated, educated, and bring out your skillset using a worthwhile format that is tried and tested. After all, you need to know the rules if you hope to break them.

Let us see how this might work for you:

You Pay Homage To History

The history of a discipline is very important. It can help you understand its progression more, what insights have proved to be timeless, and how you might learn them yourself.

There is value here. What writer worth his or her salt hasn’t read a couple of the classics, or what musician, hoping to attend a prestigious college such as Kent State, hasn’t listened to the classical refinement of the old composers?

When you pay homage to history, you pay homage to your craft, and feel more surety when applying some of your own contributions through that lens.

Networking

When you learn the rules, you can be put on the same page as others. Think of how a band need to play within an established musical metre, or how writers apply similar standards of grammar. An art or a craft is not always a completely solitary affair.

Sure, we might see works by Jackson Pollock or a range of other artists as totally isolated – but when getting discovered, when marketing his art, or when explaining some of the meanings?

He uses standards to communicate himself. You can bang on a drum in a strange rhythm all day, but unless you have a purpose and can win people to the idea, it will be seen as odd.

Learning the rules helps you break them better.

If you truly want to apply yourself to visionary filmmaking, then you need to understand the basic rules of editing, shot composition, and how to trace the important moments of a scene.

If you can’t do this, then your attempts to subvert this will be random, have little purpose, and might not even be subversive – just bad. Learning the rules can help you break them more appropriately and with a better artistic vision. To us, that’s a great means of going forward.

With these tips, you’re sure to apply a worthwhile creative expression.