The Four Ps of Creativity

An Analyse of a Significant Creative and Innovative Thinker in Terms of the Four Ps A concept labelled as the ‘Four Ps’ has been used to help understand the influential factors around creative beings and how these factors influence their final creative products. According to Mel Rhodes in his book An Analysis of Creativity (1961) these Four Ps; person, place, process and product are the underlying factors of creativity itself. By understanding how the 4 Ps work we are able to venturing into the life of a creative thinker and conduct and analysis of there creativity. In this case we will look at a German media artist, Tom Tykwer who has constructed a variety of unique films due to his high level of creativity. This creativity has been shaped by the Four Ps or in other words, his individual characteristics, the environment he is surrounded by and the particular processes he under took in order to create his productions. In this analysis we will begin with the first P, Person. The personal attributes of someone influences ideas and how these ideas are produced into being. Determination, imagination and curiosity are all personal attributes found in a creative artist (Sternberg 1988). Born in 1965 (The Auteurs 2010), Tom Tykwer always had a strong passion for filmmaking, making his first films at the age of eleven. His friends where unfortunately vaguely interested in his products (Haase 2007) yet this did not stop him from creating. After High School Tykwer failed to receive a place in almost all of the film schools in Europe (Haase 2007) though his determination to make films did not allow this fall back to prevent him from achieve his ambitions. Tykwer merely created his own film studio in which he could create at his own accord. The act reflects Tykwer’s ability to think of alternative situations which is a highly regarded creative personality trait (Sternberg 1988). When Tykwer was a child the first film he viewed was Peter Pan (Haase 2007). The possibility of a parallel world struck Tykwer as fascinating and became his first inspiration in film making. Peter Pan sparked an imaginative streak in Tykwer which entranced him for almost 30 years. His imagination is what defines his earlier films, such as Lola Rennt and True, two movies which expanded the realms of reality through innovative techniques and unique narrative structure. In regards to curiosity every single one of Tykwer’s movies, short and long, reflect a high level of experimentation and risks to portray his own personal feelings and willingness to manipulate media to create magnificent effects. Another key feature about Tykwer is that he calls upon varies types of film genres. He claimed, ‘I like everything that speaks to me loudly, and that gives me a vision. I don’t care about the genre’ (Tom Tykwer 2010a). This is reflected in all his productions as he uses a mixture of crime and thrill (_Perfume_) romance (_Truth__)_ and action (_The International) _ to portray his ideas. His desire to not stick to just one style of film demonstrates a large amount of curiosity and desire to experiment with ideas and cinematic styles. Tykwer demonstrated a high level of curiosity for film at an early age, something along with imagination and determination is an essential aspect to creativity. The second P, place, also has a profound impact on creativity. Place includes the environment which a person is surrounded by and the influence this has upon someone’s creative ability. The German director was brought up surrounded by a modern and artistic culture. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1990 was a significant cultural movement in Germany (The Guardian 2010), further enhancing modernisation, innovation and artistic products which expressed revolution and a movement to new approaches to life. Berlin was fuming with a large variety of artistic expression inspired by the strong political change. Movement such as feminism became popular, something which is reflected in...